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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/31677-8.txt b/31677-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..56ce242 --- /dev/null +++ b/31677-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12044 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Studies in Contemporary Biography, by James +Bryce, Viscount Bryce + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Studies in Contemporary Biography + + +Author: James Bryce, Viscount Bryce + + + +Release Date: March 17, 2010 [eBook #31677] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDIES IN CONTEMPORARY +BIOGRAPHY*** + + +E-text prepared by David Clarke, Dan Horwood, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page +images generously made available by Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/toronto) + + + +Note: Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/Canadian Libaries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/r8548972200brycuoft + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). + + Text transcribed from Greek is enclosed by plus signs + (+Greek transliteration+). + + + + + +STUDIES IN CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY + +by + +JAMES BRYCE + +Author of +'The Holy Roman Empire,' 'The American Commonwealth', etc. + + + + + + + +London +Macmillan and Co., Limited +New York: The Macmillan Company +1903 + +All rights reserved + +Copyright in the United States of America 1903 + + + + + To + + CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT + President of Harvard University + + IN COMMEMORATION OF A LONG AND VALUED FRIENDSHIP + + + + +PREFACE + + +The first and the last of these Studies relate to persons whose fame +has gone out into all lands, and about whom so much remains to be said +that one who has reflected on their careers need not offer an apology +for saying something. Of the other eighteen sketches, some deal with +eminent men whose names are still familiar, but whose personalities +have begun to fade from the minds of the present generation. The rest +treat of persons who came less before the public, but whose brilliant +gifts and solid services to the world make them equally deserve to be +remembered with honour. Having been privileged to enjoy their +friendship, I have felt it a duty to do what a friend can to present a +faithful record of their excellence which may help to keep their +memory fresh and green. + +These Studies are, however, not to be regarded as biographies, even +in miniature. My aim has rather been to analyse the character and +powers of each of the persons described, and, as far as possible, to +convey the impression which each made in the daily converse of life. +All of them, except Lord Beaconsfield, were personally, and most of +them intimately, known to me. + +In the six Studies which treat of politicians I have sought to set +aside political predilections, and have refrained from expressing +political opinions, though it has now and then been necessary to point +out instances in which the subsequent course of events has shown the +action of Lord Beaconsfield, Mr. Lowe, and Mr. Gladstone to have been +right or wrong (as the case may be) in the action they respectively +took. + +The sketches of T. H. Green, E. A. Freeman, and J. R. Green were +originally written for English magazines, and most of the other +Studies have been published in the United States. All of those that +had already appeared in print have been enlarged and revised, some +indeed virtually rewritten. I have to thank the proprietors of the +_English Historical Review_, the _Contemporary Review_, and the _New +York Nation_, as also the Century Company of New York, for their +permission to use so much of the matter of the volume as had appeared +(in its original form) in the organs belonging to them respectively. + +_March 6, 1903._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + Page + I. Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield 1804-1881 1 + II. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Dean of + Westminster 1815-1881 69 + III. Thomas Hill Green 1836-1882 85 + IV. Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of + Canterbury 1811-1882 100 + V. Anthony Trollope 1815-1882 116 + VI. John Richard Green 1837-1883 131 + VII. Sir George Jessel 1824-1883 170 + VIII. Hugh M'Calmont Cairns, Earl + Cairns 1819-1885 184 + IX. James Fraser, Bishop of Manchester 1818-1885 196 + X. Stafford Henry Northcote, Earl of + Iddesleigh 1818-1887 211 + XI. Charles Stewart Parnell 1846-1891 227 + XII. Henry Edward Manning, Archbishop and + Cardinal 1808-1892 250 + XIII. Edward Augustus Freeman 1823-1892 262 + XIV. Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke 1811-1892 293 + XV. William Robertson Smith 1846-1894 311 + XVI. Henry Sidgwick 1838-1900 327 + XVII. Edward Ernest Bowen 1836-1901 343 + XVIII. Edwin Lawrence Godkin 1831-1902 363 + XIX. John Emerich Dalberg-Acton, Lord Acton 1834-1902 382 + XX. William Ewart Gladstone 1809-1898 400 + + + + +BENJAMIN DISRAELI, EARL OF BEACONSFIELD[1] + + +When Lord Beaconsfield died in 1881 we all wondered what people would +think of him fifty years thereafter. Divided as our own judgments +were, we asked whether he would still seem a problem. Would opposite +views regarding his aims, his ideas, the sources of his power, still +divide the learned, and perplex the ordinary reader? Would men +complain that history cannot be good for much when, with the abundant +materials at her disposal, she had not framed a consistent theory of +one who played so great a part in so ample a theatre? People called +him a riddle; and he certainly affected a sphinx-like attitude. Would +the riddle be easier then than it was for us, from among whom the man +had even now departed? + +When he died, there were many in England who revered him as a profound +thinker and a lofty character, animated by sincere patriotism. +Others, probably as numerous, held him for no better than a cynical +charlatan, bent through life on his own advancement, who permitted no +sense of public duty, and very little human compassion, to stand in +the way of his insatiate ambition. The rest did not know what to +think. They felt in him the presence of power; they felt also +something repellent. They could not understand how a man who seemed +hard and unscrupulous could win so much attachment and command so much +obedience. + +Since Disraeli departed nearly one-half of those fifty years has +passed away. Few are living who can claim to have been his personal +friends, none who were personal enemies. No living statesman professes +to be his political disciple. The time has come when one may discuss +his character and estimate his career without being suspected of doing +so with a party bias or from a party motive. Doubtless those who +condemn and those who defend or excuse some momentous parts of his +conduct, such as, for instance, his policy in the East and in +Afghanistan from 1876 to 1879, will differ in their judgment of his +wisdom and foresight. If this be a difficulty, it is an unavoidable +one, and may never quite disappear. There were in the days of Augustus +some who blamed that sagacious ruler for seeking to check the +expansion of the Roman Empire. There were in the days of King Henry +the Second some who censured and others who praised him for issuing +the Constitutions of Clarendon. Both questions still remain open to +argument; and the conclusion any one forms must affect in some measure +his judgment of each monarch's statesmanship. So differences of +opinion about particular parts of Disraeli's long career need not +prevent us from dispassionately inquiring what were the causes that +enabled him to attain so striking a success, and what is the place +which posterity is likely to assign to him among the rulers of +England. + +First, a few words about the salient events of his life, not by way of +writing a biography, but to explain what follows. + +He was born in London, in 1804. His father, Isaac Disraeli, was a +literary man of cultivated taste and independent means, who wrote a +good many books, the best known of which is his _Curiosities of +Literature_, a rambling work, full of entertaining matter. He belonged +to that division of the Jewish race which is called the Sephardim, and +traces itself to Spain and Portugal;[2] but he had ceased to frequent +the synagogue--had, in fact, broken with his co-religionists. Isaac +had access to good society, so that the boy saw eminent and polished +men from his early years, and, before he had reached manhood, began +to make his way in drawing-rooms where he met the wittiest and +best-known people of the day. He was articled to a firm of attorneys +in London in 1821, but after two or three years quitted a sphere for +which his peculiar gifts were ill suited.[3] Samuel Rogers, the poet, +took a fancy to him, and had him baptized at the age of thirteen. As +he grew up, he was often to be seen with Count d'Orsay and Lady +Blessington, well-known figures who fluttered on the confines of +fashion and Bohemia. It is worth remarking that he never went either +to a public school or to a university. In England it has become the +fashion to assume that nearly all the persons who have shone in public +life have been educated in one of the great public schools, and that +they owe to its training their power of dealing with men and +assemblies. Such a superstition is sufficiently refuted by the +examples of men like Pitt, Macaulay, Bishop Wilberforce, Disraeli, +Cobden, Bright, and Cecil Rhodes, not to add instances drawn from +Ireland and Scotland, where till very recently there have been no +public schools in the current English sense. + +Disraeli first appeared before the public in 1826, when he published +_Vivian Grey_, an amazing book to be the production of a youth of +twenty-two. Other novels--_The Young Duke_, _Venetia_, _Contarini +Fleming_, _Henrietta Temple_--maintained without greatly increasing +his reputation between 1831 and 1837. Then came two political stories, +_Coningsby_ and _Sybil_, in 1844 and 1845, followed by _Tancred_ in +1847, and the _Life of Lord George Bentinck_ in 1852; with a long +interval of silence, till, in 1870, he produced _Lothair_, in 1880 +_Endymion_. Besides these he published in 1839 the tragedy of +_Alarcos_, and in 1835 the more ambitious _Revolutionary Epick_, +neither of which had much success. In 1828-31 he took a journey +through the East, visiting Constantinople, Syria, and Egypt, and it +was then, no doubt, in lands peculiarly interesting to a man of his +race, that he conceived those ideas about the East and its mysterious +influences which figure largely in some of his stories, notably in +_Tancred_, and which in 1878 had no small share in shaping his policy +and that of England. Meanwhile, he had not forgotten the political +aspirations which we see in _Vivian Grey_. In 1832, just before the +passing of the Reform Bill, he appeared as candidate for the petty +borough of High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, and was defeated by a +majority of twenty-three to twelve, so few were the voters in many +boroughs of those days. After the Bill had enlarged the constituency, +he tried his luck twice again, in 1833 and 1835, both times +unsuccessfully, and came before two other boroughs also, Taunton and +Marylebone, though in the latter case no contest took place. Such +activity in a youth with little backing from friends and comparatively +slender means marked him already as a man of spirit and ambition. His +next attempt was more lucky. At the general election of 1837 he was +returned for Maidstone. + +His political professions during this period have been keenly +canvassed; nor is it easy to form a fair judgment on them. In 1832 he +had sought and obtained recommendations from Joseph Hume and Daniel +O'Connell, and people had therefore set him down as a Radical. +Although, however, his professions of political faith included dogmas +which, like triennial parliaments, the ballot, and the imposition of a +new land-tax, were part of the so-called "Radical" platform, still +there was a vague and fanciful note in his utterances, and an +aversion to the conventional Whig way of putting things, which showed +that he was not a thorough-going adherent of any of the then existing +political parties, but was trying to strike out a new line and +attract men by the promise of something fresher and bolder than the +recognised schools offered. In 1834 his hostility to Whiggism was +becoming more pronounced, and a tenderness for some Tory doctrines +more discernible. Finally, in 1835, he appeared as an avowed Tory, +accepting the regular creed of the party, and declaring himself a +follower of Sir Robert Peel, but still putting forward a number of +views peculiar to himself, which he thereafter developed not only +in his speeches but in his novels. _Coningsby_ and _Sybil_ were +meant to be a kind of manifesto of the "Young England" party--a party +which can hardly be said to have existed outside his own mind, though +a small knot of aristocratic youths who caught up and repeated his +phrases seemed to form a nucleus for it. + +The fair conclusion from his deliverances during these early years is +that he was at first much more of a Liberal than a Tory, yet with +ideas distinctively his own which made him appear in a manner +independent of both parties. The old party lines might seem to have +been almost effaced by the struggle over the Reform Bill; and it was +natural for a bold and inventive mind to imagine a new departure, and +put forward a programme in which a sort of Radicalism was mingled with +doctrines of a different type. But when it became clear after a time +that the old political divisions still subsisted, and that such a +distinctive position as he had conceived could not be maintained, he +then, having to choose between one or other of the two recognised +parties, chose the Tories, dropping some tenets he had previously +advocated which were inconsistent with their creed, but retaining +much of his peculiar way of looking at political questions. How far +the change which passed over him was a natural development, how far +due to mere calculations of interest, there is little use discussing: +perhaps he did not quite know himself. Looking back, we of to-day +might be inclined to think that he received more blame for it than he +deserved, but contemporary observers generally set it down to a want +of principle. In one thing, however, he was consistent then, and +remained consistent ever after--his hearty hatred of the Whigs. There +was something in the dryness and coldness of the great Whig families, +their stiff constitutionalism, their belief in political economy, +perhaps also their occasional toyings with the Nonconformists (always +an object of dislike to Disraeli), which roused all the antagonisms of +his nature, personal and Oriental. + +When he entered the House of Commons he was already well known to +fashionable London, partly by his striking face and his powers of +conversation, partly by the eccentricities of his dress--he loved +bright-coloured waistcoats, and decked himself with rings,--partly by +his novels, whose satirical pungency had made a noise in society. He +had also become, owing to his apparent change of front, the object of +angry criticism. A quarrel with Daniel O'Connell, in the course of +which he challenged the great Irishman to fight a duel, each party +having described the other with a freedom of language bordering on +scurrility, made him, for a time, the talk of the political world. +Thus there was more curiosity evoked by his first speech than usually +awaits a new member. It was unsuccessful, not from want of ability, +but because its tone did not suit the temper of the House of Commons, +and because a hostile section of the audience sought to disconcert him +by their laughter. Undeterred by this ridicule, he continued to speak, +though in a less ambitious and less artificial vein, till after a few +years he had become one of the most conspicuous unofficial members. At +first no one had eulogised Peel more warmly, but after a time he edged +away from the minister, whether repelled by his coldness, which showed +that in that quarter no promotion was to be expected, or shrewdly +perceiving that Peel was taking a line which would ultimately separate +him from the bulk of the Conservative party. This happened in 1846, +when Peel, convinced that the import duties on corn were economically +unsound, proposed their abolition. Disraeli, who, since 1843, had +taken repeated opportunities of firing stray shots at the powerful +Prime Minister, now bore a foremost part not only in attacking him, +but in organising the Protectionist party, and prompting its leader, +Lord George Bentinck. In embracing free trade, Peel carried with him +his own personal friends and disciples, men like Gladstone, Sidney +Herbert, Lord Lincoln, Sir James Graham, Cardwell, and a good many +others, the intellectual _élite_ of the Tory party. The more numerous +section who clung to Protection had numbers, wealth, respectability, +cohesion, but brains and tongues were scarce. An adroit tactician and +incisive speaker was of priceless value to them. Such a man they found +in Disraeli, while he gained, sooner than he had expected, an +opportunity of playing a leading part in the eyes of Parliament and +the country. In the end of 1848, Lord George Bentinck, who, though a +man of natural force and capable of industry when he pleased, had been +to some extent Disraeli's mouthpiece, died, leaving his prompter +indisputably the keenest intellect in the Tory-Protectionist party. In +1850, Peel, who might possibly have in time brought the bulk of that +party back to its allegiance to him, was killed by a fall from his +horse. The Peelites drifted more and more towards Liberalism, so that +when Lord Derby, who, in 1851, had been commissioned as head of the +Tory party to form a ministry, invited them to join him, they refused +to do so, imagining him to be still in favour of the corn duties, and +resenting the behaviour of the Protectionist section to their own +master. Being thus unable to find one of them to lead his followers in +the House of Commons, Lord Derby turned in 1852 to Disraeli, giving +him, with the leadership, the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer. +The appointment was thought a strange one, because Disraeli brought to +it absolutely no knowledge of finance and no official experience. He +had never been so much as an Under-Secretary. The Tories themselves +murmured that one whom they regarded as an adventurer should be raised +to so high a place. After a few months Lord Derby's ministry fell, +defeated on the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget, which had been +vehemently attacked by Mr. Gladstone. This was the beginning of that +protracted duel between him and Mr. Disraeli which lasted down till +the end of the latter's life. + +For the following fourteen years Disraeli's occupation was that of a +leader of Opposition, varied by one brief interval of office in +1858-59. His party was in a permanent minority, so that nothing was +left for its chief but to fight with skill, courage, and resolution a +series of losing battles. This he did with admirable tenacity of +purpose. Once or twice in every session he used to rally his forces +for a general engagement, and though always defeated, he never +suffered himself to be dispirited by defeat. During the rest of the +time he was keenly watchful, exposing all the mistakes in domestic +affairs of the successive Liberal Governments, and when complications +arose in foreign politics, always professing, and generally +manifesting, a patriotic desire not to embarrass the Executive, lest +national interests should suffer. Through all these years he had to +struggle, not only with a hostile majority in office, but also with +disaffection among his own followers. Many of the landed aristocracy +could not bring themselves to acquiesce in the leadership of a new +man, of foreign origin, whose career had been erratic, and whose ideas +they found it hard to assimilate. Ascribing their long exclusion from +power to his presence, they more than once conspired to dethrone him. +In 1861 these plots were thickest, and Disraeli was for a time left +almost alone. But as it happened, there never arose in the House of +Commons any one on the Conservative side possessing gifts of speech +and of strategy comparable to those which in him had been matured and +polished by long experience, while he had the address to acquire an +ascendency over the mind of Lord Derby, still the titular head of the +party, who, being a man of straightforward character, high social +position, and brilliant oratorical talent, was therewithal somewhat +lazy and superficial, and therefore disposed to lean on his lieutenant +in the Lower House, and to borrow from him those astute schemes of +policy which Disraeli was fertile in devising. Thus, through Lord +Derby's support, and by his own imperturbable confidence, he +frustrated all the plots of the malcontent Tories. New men came up +who had not witnessed his earlier escapades, but knew him only as the +bold and skilful leader of their party in the House of Commons. He +made himself personally agreeable to them, encouraged them in their +first efforts, diffused his ideas among them, stimulated the local +organisation of the party, and held out hopes of great things to be +done when fortune should at last revisit the Tory banner. + +While Lord Palmerston lived, these exertions seemed to bear little +fruit. That minister had, in his later years, settled down into a sort +of practical Toryism, and both parties acquiesced in his rule. But, on +his death, the scene changed. Lord Russell and Mr. Gladstone brought +forward a Reform Bill strong enough to evoke the latent Conservative +feeling of a House of Commons which, though showing a nominally +Liberal majority, had been chosen under Palmerstonian auspices. The +defeat of the Bill, due to the defection of the more timorous Whigs, +was followed by the resignation of Lord Russell's Ministry. Lord Derby +and Mr. Disraeli came into power, and, next year, carried a Reform +Bill which, as it was finally shaped in its passage through the House, +really went further than Lord Russell's had done, enfranchising a much +larger number of the working classes in boroughs. To have carried this +Bill remains the greatest of Disraeli's triumphs. He had to push it +gently through a hostile House of Commons by wheedling a section of +the Liberal majority, against the appeals of their legitimate leader. +He had also to persuade his own followers to support a measure which +they had all their lives been condemning, and which was, or in their +view ought to have been, more dangerous to the Constitution than the +one which they and the recalcitrant Whigs had thrown out in the +preceding year. He had, as he happily and audaciously expressed it, to +educate his party into doing the very thing which they (though +certainly not he himself) had cordially and consistently denounced. + +The process was scarcely complete when the retirement of Lord Derby, +whose health had given way, opened Disraeli's path to the post of +first Minister of the Crown. He dissolved Parliament, expecting to +receive a majority from the gratitude of the working class whom his +Act had admitted to the suffrage. To his own surprise, and to the +boundless disgust of the Tories, a Liberal House of Commons was again +returned, which drove him and his friends once more into the cold +shade of Opposition. He was now sixty-four years of age, had suffered +an unexpected and mortifying discomfiture, and had no longer the great +name of Lord Derby to cover him. Disaffected voices were again heard +among his own party, while the Liberals, reinstalled in power, were +led by the rival whose unequalled popularity in the country made him +for the time omnipotent. Still Mr. Disraeli was not disheartened. He +fought the battle of apparently hopeless resistance with his old tact, +wariness, and tenacity, losing no occasion for any criticism that +could damage the measures--strong and large measures--which Mr. +Gladstone's Government brought forward. + +Before long the tide turned. The Dissenters resented the Education Act +of 1870. A reaction in favour of Conservatism set in, which grew so +fast that, in 1874, the general election gave, for the first time +since 1846, a decided Conservative majority. Mr. Disraeli became again +Prime Minister, and now a Prime Minister no longer on sufferance, but +with the absolute command of a dominant party, rising so much above +the rest of the Cabinet as to appear the sole author of its policy. In +1876, feeling the weight of age, he transferred himself to the House +of Lords as Earl of Beaconsfield. The policy he followed (from 1876 +till 1880) in the troubles which arose in the Turkish East out of the +insurrection in Herzegovina and the massacres in Bulgaria, as well as +that subsequently pursued in Afghanistan and in South Africa, while it +received the enthusiastic approval of the soldiers, the stockbrokers, +and the richer classes generally, raised no less vehement opposition +in other sections of the nation, and especially in those two which, +when heartily united and excited, have usually been masters of +England--the Protestant Nonconformists and the upper part of the +working class. An election fought with unusual heat left him in so +decided a minority that he resigned office in April 1880, without +waiting for an adverse vote in Parliament. When the result had become +clear he observed, "They," meaning his friends, "will come in again, +but I shall not." A year later he died. + +Here is a wonderful career, not less wonderful to those who live in +the midst of English politics and society than it appears to observers +in other countries. A man with few external advantages, not even that +of education at a university, where useful friendships are formed, +with grave positive disadvantages in his Jewish extraction and the +vagaries of his first years of public life, presses forward, step by +step, through slights and disappointments which retard but never +dishearten him, assumes as of right the leadership of a party--the +aristocratic party, the party in those days peculiarly suspicious of +new men and poor men,--wins a reputation for sagacity which makes his +early errors forgotten, becomes in old age the favourite of a court, +the master of a great country, one of the three or four arbiters of +Europe. There is here more than one problem to solve, or, at least, a +problem with more than one aspect. What was the true character of the +man who had sustained such a part? Did he hold any principles, or was +he merely playing with them as counters? By what gifts or arts did he +win such a success? Was there really a mystery beneath the wizard's +robe which he delighted to wrap around him? And how, being so unlike +the Englishmen among whom his lot was cast, did he so fascinate and +rule them? + +Imagine a man of strong will and brilliant intellectual powers, +belonging to an ancient and persecuted race, who finds himself born +in a foreign country, amid a people for whose ideas and habits he +has no sympathy and scant respect. Suppose him proud, ambitious, +self-confident--too ambitious to rest content in a private station, +so self-confident as to believe that he can win whatever he aspires +to. To achieve success, he must bend his pride, must use the language +and humour the prejudices of those he has to deal with; while his +pride avenges itself by silent scorn or thinly disguised irony. +Accustomed to observe things from without, he discerns the weak +points of all political parties, the hollowness of institutions and +watchwords, the instability of popular passion. If his imagination be +more susceptible than his emotions, his intellect more active than +his conscience, the isolation in which he stands and the superior +insight it affords him may render him cold, calculating, self-centred. +The sentiment of personal honour may remain, because his pride will +support it; and he will be tenacious of the ideas which he has +struck out, because they are his own. But for ordinary principles of +conduct he may have small regard, because he has not grown up +under the conventional morality of the time and nation, but has +looked on it merely as a phenomenon to be recognised and reckoned +with, because he has noted how much there is in it of unreality or +pharisaism--how far it sometimes is from representing or expressing +either the higher judgments of philosophy or the higher precepts of +religion. Realising and perhaps exaggerating the power of his own +intelligence, he will secretly revolve schemes of ambition wherein +genius, uncontrolled by fears or by conscience, makes all things bend +to its purposes, till the scruples and hesitations of common humanity +seem to him only parts of men's cowardice or stupidity. What +success he will win when he comes to carry out such schemes in +practice will largely depend on the circumstances in which he finds +himself, as well as on his gift for judging of them. He may become a +Napoleon. He may fall in a premature collision with forces which +want of sympathy has prevented him from estimating. + +In some of his novels, and most fully in the first of them, Mr. +Disraeli sketched a character and foreshadowed a career not altogether +unlike that which has just been indicated. It would be unfair to treat +as autobiographical, though some of his critics have done so, the +picture of Vivian Grey. What that singular book shows is that, at an +age when his contemporaries were lads at college, absorbed in cricket +matches or Latin verse-making, Disraeli had already meditated +profoundly on the conditions and methods of worldly success, had +rejected the allurements of pleasure and the attractions of +literature, as well as the ideal life of philosophy, had conceived of +a character isolated, ambitious, intense, resolute, untrammelled by +scruples, who moulds men to his purposes by the sheer force of his +intellect, humouring their foibles, using their weaknesses, and luring +them into his chosen path by the bait of self-interest. + +To lay stress on the fact that Mr. Disraeli was of Hebrew birth is +not, though some of his political antagonists stooped so to use it, to +cast any reproach upon him: it is only to note a fact of the utmost +importance for a proper comprehension of his position. The Jews were +at the beginning of the nineteenth century still foreigners in +England, not only on account of their religion, with its mass of +ancient rites and usages, but also because they were filled with the +memory of centuries of persecution, and perceived that in some parts +of Europe the old spirit of hatred had not died out. The antiquity of +their race, their sense of its long-suffering and isolation, their +pride in the intellectual achievements of those ancestors whose blood, +not largely mixed with that of any other race, flows in their veins, +lead the stronger or more reflective spirits to revenge themselves by +a kind of scorn upon the upstart Western peoples among whom their lot +is cast. The mockery one finds in Heinrich Heine could not have come +from a Teuton. Even while imitating, as the wealthier of them have +latterly begun to imitate, the manners and luxury of those nominal +Christians among whom they live, they retain their feeling of +detachment, and are apt to regard with a coldly observant curiosity +the beliefs, prejudices, enthusiasms of the nations of Europe. The +same passionate intensity which makes the grandeur of the ancient +Hebrew literature still lives among them, though often narrowed by +ages of oppression, and gives them the peculiar effectiveness that +comes from turning all the powers of the mind, imaginative as well as +reasoning, into a single channel, be that channel what it may. They +produce, in proportion to their numbers, an unusually large number of +able and successful men, as any one may prove by recounting the +eminent Jews of the last seventy years. This success has most often +been won in practical life, in commerce, or at the bar, or in the +press (which over the European continent they so largely control); yet +often also in the higher walks of literature or science, less +frequently in art, most frequently in music. + +Mr. Disraeli had three of these characteristics of his race in +full measure--detachment, intensity, the passion for material success. +Nature gave him a resolute will, a keen and precociously active +intellect, a vehement individuality; that is to say, a consciousness +of his own powers, and a determination to make them recognised by +his fellows. In some men, the passion to succeed is clogged by the +fear of failure; in others, the sense of their greatness is +self-sufficing and indisposes them to effort. But with him ambition +spurred self-confidence, and self-confidence justified ambition. He +grew up in a cultivated home, familiar not only with books but with +the brightest and most polished men and women of the day, whose +conversation sharpened his wits almost from childhood. No religious +influences worked upon him, for his father had ceased to be a Jew in +faith without becoming even nominally a Christian, and there is little +in his writings to show that he had ever felt anything more than +an imaginative, or what may be called an historical, interest in +religion.[4] Thus his development was purely intellectual. The society +he moved in was a society of men and women of the world--witty, +superficial in its interests, without seriousness or reverence. He +felt himself no Englishman, and watched English life and politics as a +student of natural history might watch the habits of bees or ants. +English society was then, and perhaps is still, more complex, more +full of inconsistencies, of contrasts between theory and practice, +between appearances and realities, than that of any other country. +Nowhere so much limitation of view among the fashionable, so much +pharisaism among the respectable, so much vulgarity among the rich, +mixed with so much real earnestness, benevolence, and good sense; +nowhere, therefore, so much to seem merely ridiculous to one who +looked at it from without, wanting the sympathy which comes from the +love of mankind, or even from the love of one's country. It was +natural for a young man with Disraeli's gifts to mock at what he +saw. But he would not sit still in mere contempt. The thirst for +power and fame gave him no rest. He must gain what he saw every one +around him struggling for. He must triumph over these people whose +follies amused him; and the sense that he perceived and could use +their follies would add zest to his triumph. He might have been a +great satirist; he resolved to become a great statesman. For such a +career, his Hebrew detachment gave him some eminent advantages. It +enabled him to take a cooler and more scientific view of the social +and political phenomena he had to deal with. He was not led astray +by party cries. He did not share vulgar prejudices. He calculated +the forces at work as an engineer calculates the strength of his +materials, the strain they have to bear from the wind, and the weights +they must support. And what he had to plan was not the success of a +cause, which might depend on a thousand things out of his ken, but his +own success, a simpler matter. + +A still greater source of strength lay in his Hebrew intensity. It +would have pleased him, so full of pride in the pure blood of his +race,[5] to attribute to that purity the singular power of concentration +which the Jews undoubtedly possess. They have the faculty of throwing +the whole stress of their natures into the pursuit of one object, +fixing their eyes on it alone, sacrificing to it other desires, +clinging to it even when it seems unattainable. Disraeli was only +twenty-eight when he made his first attempt to enter the House of +Commons. Four repulses did not discourage him, though his means were +but scanty to support such contests; and the fifth time he +succeeded. When his first speech in Parliament had been received with +laughter, and politicians were congratulating themselves that this +adventurer had found his level, he calmly told them that he had +always ended by succeeding in whatever he attempted, and that he +would succeed in this too. He received no help from his own side, who +regarded him with suspicion, but forced himself into prominence, and at +last to leadership, by his complete superiority to rebuffs. Through +the long years in which he had to make head against a majority in the +House of Commons, he never seemed disheartened by his repeated +defeats, never relaxed the vigilance with which he watched his +adversaries, never indulged himself (though he was physically +indolent and often in poor health) by staying away from Parliament, +even when business was slack; never missed an opportunity for exposing +a blunder of his adversaries, or commending the good service of one of +his own followers. The same curious tenacity was apparent in his +ideas. Before he was twenty-two years of age he had, under the +inspiration of Bolingbroke, excogitated a theory of the Constitution of +England, of the way England should be governed at home and her +policy directed abroad, from which he hardly swerved through all his +later life. Often as he was accused of inconsistency, he probably +believed himself to be, and in a sense he was, substantially faithful, +I will not say to the same doctrines, but to the same notions or +tendencies; and one could discover from the phrases he employed how +he fancied himself to be really following out these old notions, even +when his conduct seemed opposed to the traditions of his party.[6] The +weakness of intense minds is their tendency to narrowness, and this +weakness was in so far his that, while always ready for new +expedients, he was not accessible to new ideas. Indeed, the old ideas +were too much a part of himself, stamped with his own individuality, to +be forsaken or even varied. He did not love knowledge, nor enjoy +speculation for its own sake; he valued views as they pleased his +imagination or as they carried practical results with them; and having +framed his theory once for all and worked steadily upon its lines, he +was not the man to admit that it had been defective, and to set +himself in later life to repair it. His pride was involved in proving +it correct by applying it. + +With this resolute concentration of purpose there went an undaunted +courage--a quality less rare among English statesmen, but eminently +laudable in him, because for great part of his career he had no family +or party connections to back him up, but was obliged to face the world +with nothing but his own self-confidence. So far from seeking to +conceal his Jewish origin, he displayed his pride in it, and refused +all support to the efforts which the Tory party made to maintain the +exclusion of Jews from Parliament. Nobody showed more self-possession +and (except on two or three occasions) more perfect self-command in +the hot strife of Parliament than this suspected stranger. His +opponents learnt to fear one who never feared for himself; his +followers knew that their chief would not fail them in the hour of +danger. His very face and bearing had in them an impassive calmness +which magnetised those who watched him. He liked to surround himself +with mystery, to pose as remote, majestic, self-centred, to appear +above the need of a confidant. He would sit for hours on his bench in +the House of Commons, listening with eyes half-shut to furious +assaults on himself and his policy, not showing by the movement of a +muscle that he had felt a wound; and when he rose to reply would +discharge his sarcasms with an air of easy coolness. That this +indifference was sometimes simulated appeared by the resentment he +showed afterwards. + +Ambition such as his could not afford to be scrupulous, nor have his +admirers ever claimed conscientiousness as one of his merits. One who +sets power and fame before him as the main ends to be pursued may no +doubt be restrained by pride from the use of such means as are +obviously low and dishonourable. Other questionable means he may +reject because he knows that the opinion of those whose good-will and +good word he must secure would condemn them. But he will not be likely +to allow kindliness or compassion to stand in his way; nor will he be +very regardful of truth. To a statesman, who must necessarily have +many facts in his knowledge, or many plans in his mind, which the +interests of his colleagues, or of his party, or of the nation, forbid +him to reveal, the temptation to put questioners on a false scent, and +to seem to agree where he really dissents, is at all times a strong +one. An honest man may sometimes be betrayed into yielding to it; and +those who know how difficult are the cases of conscience that arise +will not deal harshly with a possibly misleading silence, or even with +the evasion of an embarrassing inquiry, where a real public interest +can be pleaded, for the existence of such a public interest, if it +does not justify, may palliate omissions to make a full disclosure of +the facts. All things considered, the standard of truthfulness among +English public men has (of course with some conspicuous exceptions) +been a high one. Of that standard Disraeli fell short. People did not +take his word for a thing as they would have taken the word of the +Duke of Wellington, or Lord Althorp, or Lord Derby, or Lord Russell, +or even of that not very rigid moralist, Lord Palmerston. Instances of +his lapses were not wanting as late as 1877. His behaviour toward Sir +Robert Peel, whom he plied with every dart of sarcasm, after having +shortly before lavished praises on him, and sought office under him, +has often been commented on.[7] Disraeli was himself (as those who +knew him have often stated) accustomed to justify it by observing that +he was then an insignificant personage, to whom it was supremely +important to attract public notice and make a political position; that +the opportunity of attacking the powerful Prime Minister, at a moment +when their altered attitude towards the Corn Laws had exposed the +Ministry to the suspicions of their own party, was too good to be +lost; and that he was therefore obliged to assail Peel, though he had +himself no particular attachment to the Corn Laws, and believed Peel +to have been a _bona-fide_ convert. It was therefore no personal +resentment against one who had slighted him, but merely the exigencies +of his own career, that drove him to this course, whose fortunate +result proved the soundness of his calculations. + +This defence will not surprise any one who is familiar with Disraeli's +earlier novels. These stories are as far as possible from being +immoral; that is to say, there is nothing in them unbecoming or +corrupting. Friendship, patriotism, love, are all recognised as +powerful and worthy motives of conduct. That which is wanting is the +sense of right and wrong. His personages have for certain purposes the +conventional sense of honour, though seldom a fine sense, but they do +not ask whether such and such a course is conformable to principle. +They move in a world which is polished, agreeable, dignified, averse +to baseness and vulgarity, but in which conscience and religion +scarcely seem to exist. The men live for pleasure or fame, the women +for pleasure or love. + +Some allowance must, of course, be made for the circumstances of +Disraeli's position and early training. He was brought up neither a +Jew nor a Christian. The elder people who took him by the hand when he +entered life, people like Samuel Rogers and Lady Blessington, were not +the people to give lessons in morality. Lord Lyndhurst, the first of +his powerful political friends, and the man whose example most +affected him, was, with all his splendid gifts, conspicuously wanting +in political principle. Add to this the isolation in which the young +man found himself, standing outside the common stream of English life, +not sharing its sentiments, perceiving the hollowness of much that +passed for virtue and patriotism, and it is easy to understand how he +should have been as perfect a cynic at twenty-five as their experience +of the world makes many at sixty. If he had loved truth or mankind, he +might have quickly worked through his youthful cynicism. But pride and +ambition, the pride of race and the pride of genius, left no room for +these sentiments. Nor was his cynicism the fruit merely of a keen and +sceptical intelligence. It came from a cold heart. + +The pursuit of fame and power, to which he gave all his efforts, is +presented in his writings as the only alternative ideal to a life of +pleasure; and he probably regarded those who pursued some other as +either fools or weaklings. Early in his political life he said one +night to Mr. Bright (from whom I heard the anecdote), as they took +their umbrellas in the cloak-room of the House of Commons: "After all, +what is it that brings you and me here? Fame! This is the true arena. +I might have occupied a literary throne; but I have renounced it for +this career." The external pomps and trappings of life, titles, +stately houses and far-spreading parks, all those gauds and vanities +with which sumptuous wealth surrounds itself, had throughout his life +a singular fascination for him. He liked to mock at them in his +novels, but they fascinated him none the less. One can understand how +they might fire the imagination of an ambitious youth who saw them +from a distance--might even retain their charm for one who was just +struggling into the society which possessed them, and who desired to +feel himself the equal of the possessors. It is stranger that, when he +had harnessed the English aristocracy to his chariot, and was driving +them where he pleased, he should have continued to admire such things. +So, however, it was. There was even in him a vein of inordinate +deference to rank and wealth which would in a less eminent person have +been called snobbishness. In his will he directs that his estate of +Hughenden Manor, in Buckinghamshire, shall pass under an entail as +strict as he could devise, that the person who succeeds to it shall +always bear the name of Disraeli. His ambition is the common, not to +say vulgar, ambition of the English _parvenu_, to found a "county +family." In his story of _Endymion_, published a few months before his +death, the hero, starting from small beginnings, ends by becoming +prime minister: this is the crown of his career, the noblest triumph +an Englishman can achieve. It might have been thought that one who had +been through it all, who had realised the dreams of his boyhood, who +had every opportunity of learning what power and fame come to, would +have liked to set forth some other conception of the end of human +life, or would not have told the world so naively of his self-content +at having attained the aim he had worked for. With most men the flower +they have plucked withers. It might have been expected that one who +was in other things an ironical cynic would at least have sought to +seem disillusionised. + +To say that Disraeli's heart was somewhat cold is by no means to say +that he was heartless. He was one of those strong natures who +permit neither persons nor principles to stand in their way. His +doctrine was that politics had nothing to do with sentiment; so those +who appealed to him on grounds of humanity appealed in vain. No act +of his life ever so much offended English opinion as the airy +fashion in which he tossed aside the news of the Bulgarian massacre of +1876. It incensed sections who were strong enough, when thoroughly +roused, to bring about his fall. But he was far from being unkindly. +He knew how to attach men to him by friendly deeds as well as +friendly words. He seldom missed an opportunity of saying something +pleasant and cheering to a _débutant_ in Parliament, whether of his +own party or the opposite. He was not selfish in little things; was +always ready to consider the comfort and convenience of those who +surrounded him. Age and success, so far from making him morose or +supercilious, softened the asperities of his character and developed +the affectionate side of it. His last novel, published a few months +before his death, contains more human kindliness, a fuller +recognition of the worth of friendship and the beauty of sisterly +and conjugal love, than do the writings of his earlier manhood. +What it wants in intellectual power it makes up for in a mellower and +more tender tone. Of loyalty to his political friends he was a +model, and nothing did more to secure his command of the party than +its sense that his professional honour, so to speak, could be +implicitly relied upon. To his wife, a warm-hearted woman older than +himself, and inferior to him in education, he was uniformly +affectionate and indeed devoted. The first use he made of his +power as Prime Minister was to procure for her the title of +viscountess. Being once asked point blank by a lady what he thought +of his life-long opponent, Mr. Gladstone answered that two things +had always struck him as very admirable in Lord Beaconsfield's +character--his perfect loyalty to his wife, and his perfect +loyalty to his own race. A story used to be told how, in Disraeli's +earlier days, when his political position was still far from +assured, he and his wife happened to be the guests of the chief of +the party, and that chief so far forgot good manners as to quiz Mrs. +Disraeli at the dinner-table. Next morning Disraeli, whose visit +was to have lasted for some days longer, announced that he must +leave immediately. The host besought him to stay, and made all +possible apologies. But Disraeli was inexorable, and carried off his +wife forthwith. To literary men, whatever their opinions, he was +ready to give a helping hand, representing himself as one of their +profession. In paying compliments he was singularly expert, and few +used the art so well to win friends and disarm enemies. He knew +how to please Englishmen, and especially the young, by showing +interest in their tastes and pleasures, and, without being what +would be called genial, was never wanting in _bonhomie_. In +society he was a perfect man of the world--told his anecdote apropos, +wound up a discussion by some epigrammatic phrase, talked to the +guest next him, if he thought that guest's position made him worth +talking to, as he would to an old acquaintance. But he had few +intimates; nor did his apparent frankness unveil his real thoughts. + +He was not of those who complicate political opposition with private +hatreds. Looking on politics as a game, he liked, when he took off his +armour, to feel himself on friendly terms with his antagonists, and +often seemed surprised to find that they remembered as personal +affronts the blows which he had dealt in the tournament. Two or three +years before his death, a friend asked him whether there was in London +any one with whom he would not shake hands. Reflecting for a moment, +he answered, "Only one," and named Robert Lowe, who had said hard +things of him, and to whom, when Lowe was on one occasion in his +power, he had behaved with cruelty. Yet his resentments could smoulder +long. In _Lothair_ he attacked, under a thin disguise, a distinguished +man of letters who had criticised his conduct years before. In +_Endymion_ he gratified what was evidently an ancient grudge by a +spiteful presentation of Thackeray, as he had indulged his more bitter +dislike of John Wilson Croker by portraying that politician in +_Coningsby_ under the name of Nicholas Rigby. For the greatest of his +adversaries he felt, there is reason to believe, genuine admiration, +mingled with inability to comprehend a nature so unlike his own. No +passage in the striking speech which that adversary pronounced, one +might almost say, over Lord Beaconsfield's grave--a speech which may +possibly go down to posterity with its subject--was more impressive +than the sentence in which he declared that he had the best reason to +believe that, in their constant warfare, Lord Beaconsfield had not +been actuated by any personal hostility. Brave men, if they can +respect, seldom dislike, a formidable antagonist. + +His mental powers were singularly well suited to the rest of his +character--were, so to speak, all of a piece with it. One sometimes +sees intellects which are out of keeping with the active or emotional +parts of the man. One sees persons whose thought is vigorous, clear, +comprehensive, while their conduct is timid; or a comparatively +narrow intelligence joined to an enterprising spirit; or a sober, +reflective, sceptical turn of mind yoked to an ardent and impulsive +temperament. What we call the follies of the wise often spring from +some such source. Not so with him. His intelligence had the same +boldness, intensity, concentration, directness, which we discover in +the rest of the man. It was just the right instrument, not perhaps for +the normal career of a normal Englishman seeking political success, +but for the particular kind of work Disraeli had planned to do; and +this inner harmony was one of the chief causes of his success, as the +want of it has caused the failure of so many gifted natures. + +The range of his mind was not wide. All its products were like one +another. No one of them gives the impression that Disraeli could, had +he so wished, have succeeded in a wholly diverse line. It was a +peculiar mind: there is even more variety in minds than in faces. It +was not logical or discursive, liking to mass and arrange stores of +knowledge, and draw inferences from them, nor was it judicial, with a +turn for weighing reasons and reaching a decision which recognises all +the facts and is not confused by their seeming contradictions. Neither +was it analytically subtle. It reached its conclusions by a process of +intuition or divination in which there was an imaginative as well as a +reflective element. It might almost have been called an artist's mind, +capable of deep meditation, but meditating in an imaginative way, not +so much on facts as on its own views of facts, on the pictures which +its own creative faculty had called up. The meditation became dreamy, +but the dreaminess was corrected by an exceedingly keen and quick +power of observation, not the scientific observation of the +philosopher, but rather the enjoying observation of the artist who +sees how he can use the characteristic details which he notes, or the +observation of the forensic advocate (an artist, too, in his way) who +perceives how they can be fitted into the presentation of his case. +There are, of course, other qualities in Disraeli's work. As a +statesman he was obliged to learn how to state facts, to argue, to +dissect an opponent's arguments. But the characteristic note, both of +his speeches and of his writings, is the combination of a few large +ideas, clear, perhaps, to himself, but generally expressed with +grandiose vagueness, and often quite out of relation to the facts as +other people saw them, with a turn for acutely fastening upon small +incidents or personal traits. In his speeches he used his command of +sonorous phrases and lively illustrations, sometimes to support the +views he was advancing, but more frequently to conceal the weakness of +those views; that is, to make up for the absence of such solid +arguments as were likely to move his hearers. Everybody is now and +then conscious of holding with assured conviction theories which he +would find it hard to prove to a given audience, partly because it is +too much trouble to trace out the process by which they were reached, +partly because uninstructed listeners could not be made to feel the +full cogency of the considerations on which his own mind relies. +Disraeli was usually in this condition with regard to his political +and social doctrines. He believed them, but as he had not reached them +by logic, he was not prepared to use logic to establish them; so he +picked up some plausible illustration, or attacked the opposite +doctrine and its supporters with a fire of raillery or invective. This +non-ratiocinative quality of his thinking was a source both of +strength and of weakness--of weakness, because he could not prove his +propositions; of strength, because, stated as he stated them, it was +not less hard to disprove them. That mark of a superior mind, that it +must have a theory, was never wanting. Some one said of him that he +was "the ruins of a thinker." He could not rest content, like many +among his followers, with a prejudice, a dogma delivered by tradition, +a stolid suspicion unamenable to argument. He would not acquiesce in +negation. He must have a theory, a positive theory, to show not only +that his antagonist's view was erroneous, but that he had himself a +more excellent way. These theories generally had in them a measure of +truth and value for any one who could analyse them; but as this was +exactly what the rank and file of the party could not do, they got +into sad confusion when they tried to talk his language. + +He could hardly be called a well-read man, nor were his intellectual +interests numerous. His education had consisted mainly in promiscuous +reading during boyhood and early youth. There are worse kinds of +education for an active intelligence than to let it have the run of a +large library. The wild browsings of youth, when curiosity is strong +as hunger, stir the mind and give the memory some of the best food it +ever gets. The weak point of such a method is that it does not teach +accuracy nor the art of systematic study. In middle life natural +indolence and his political occupations had kept Disraeli from filling +up the gaps in his knowledge, while, in conversation, what he liked +best was persiflage. He was, however, tolerably familiar with the +ancient classics, and with modern English and French literature; +enjoyed Quintilian and Lucian, preferred Sophocles to Æschylus and +(apparently) Horace to Virgil, despised Browning, considered Tennyson +the best of contemporary poets, but "not a poet of a high order."[8] +Physical science seems never to have attracted him. Political economy +he hated and mocked at almost as heartily as did Carlyle. People have +measured his knowledge of history and geography by observing that he +placed the Crucifixion in the lifetime of Augustus, and thought, down +till 1878, when he had to make a speech about Afghanistan, that the +Andes were the highest mountains in the world. But geography is a +subject which a man of affairs does not think of reading up in later +life: he is content if he can get information when he needs it. There +are some bits of metaphysics and some historical allusions scattered +over his novels, but these are mostly slight or superficial. He amused +himself and the public by now and then propounding doctrines on +agricultural matters, but would not appear to have mastered either +husbandry or any other economical or commercial subject. Such things +were not in his way. He had been so little in office as not to have +been forced to apply himself to them, while the tide of pure +intellectual curiosity had long since ebbed. + +For so-called "sports" he had little taste. He liked to go mooning in +a meditative way round his fields and copses, and he certainly enjoyed +Nature; but there seems to be no solid evidence that the primrose was +his favourite flower. In his fondness for particular words and phrases +there was a touch of his artistic quality, and a touch also of the +cynical view that words are the counters with which the wise play +their game. There is a passage in _Contarini Fleming_ (a story into +which he has put a good deal of himself) where this is set out. +Contarini tells his father that he left college "because they taught +me only words, and I wished to learn ideas." His father answers, "Few +ideas are correct ones, and what are correct, no one can ascertain; +but with words we govern men." + +He went on acting on this belief in the power of words till he +became the victim of his own phrases, just as people who talk +cynically for effect grow sometimes into real cynics. When he had +invented a phrase which happily expressed the aspect he wished his +view, or some part of his policy, to bear, he came to believe in +the phrase, and to think that the facts were altered by the colour +the phrase put upon them. During the contest for the extension of +the parliamentary franchise, he declared himself "in favour of +popular privileges, but opposed to democratic rights." When he was +accused of having assented, at the Congress of Berlin, to the +dismemberment of the Turkish Empire, he said that what had been done +was "not dismemberment, but consolidation." No statesman of recent +times has given currency to so many quasi-epigrammatic expressions: +"organised hypocrisy," "England dislikes coalitions," "plundering and +blundering," "peace with honour," "_imperium et libertas_," "a +scientific frontier," "I am on the side of the angels," are a few, +not perhaps the best, though the best remembered, of the many which +issued from his fertile mint. This turn for epigram, not common in +England, sometimes led him into scrapes which would have damaged a man +of less imperturbable coolness. No one else could have ventured to +say, when he had induced the Tories to pass a Reform Bill stronger +than the one they had rejected from the Liberals in the preceding +year, that it had been his mission "to educate his party." Some of +his opponents professed to be shocked by such audacity, and many +old Tories privily gnashed their teeth. But the country received the +dictum in the spirit in which it was spoken. "It was Disraeli all +over." + +If his intellect was not of wide range, it was within its range a +weapon of the finest flexibility and temper. It was ingenious, ready, +incisive. It detected in a moment the weak point, if not of an +argument, yet of an attitude or of a character. Its imaginative +quality made it often picturesque, sometimes even impressive. Disraeli +had the artist's delight in a situation for its own sake, and what +people censured as insincerity or frivolity was frequently only the +zest which he felt in posing, not so much because there was anything +to be gained, as because he realised his aptitude for improvising a +new part in the drama which he always felt himself to be playing. The +humour of the situation was too good to be wasted. Perhaps this love +of merry mischief may have had something to do with his tendency to +confer honours on those whom the world thought least deserving. + +His books are not only a valuable revelation of his mind, but have +more literary merit than critics have commonly allowed to them, +perhaps because we are apt, when a man excels in one walk, to deem +him to have failed in any other wherein he does not reach the same +level. The novels foam over with cleverness; indeed, _Vivian Grey_, +with all its youthful faults, gives as great an impression of +intellectual brilliance as does anything Disraeli ever wrote or spoke. +Their easy fertility makes them seem to be only, so to speak, a few +sketches out of a large portfolio. There is some variety in the +subjects--_Contarini Fleming_ and _Tancred_ are more romantic than the +others, _Sybil_ and _Coningsby_ more political--as well as in the +merits of the stories. The two latest, _Lothair_ and _Endymion_, +works of his old age, are markedly inferior in spirit and invention; +but the general features are the same in all--a lively fancy, a knack +of hitting characters off in a few lines and of catching the +superficial aspects of society, a brisk narrative, a sprightly +dialogue, a keen insight into the selfishness of men and the vanities +of women, with flashes of wit lighting up the whole stage. It is +always a stage. The brilliance is never open-air sunshine. There is +scarcely one of the characters whom we feel we might have met and +known. Heroes and heroines are theatrical figures; their pathos +rings false, their love, though described as passionate, does not +spring from the inner recesses of the soul. The studies of men of +the world, and particularly of heartless ones, are the most +life-like; yet, even here, any one who wants to feel the difference +between the great painter and the clever sketcher need only +compare Thackeray's Marquis of Steyne with Disraeli's Marquis of +Monmouth, both of them suggested by the same original. There is +little intensity, little dramatic power in these stories, as also in +his play of _Alarcos_; and if we read them with pleasure it is not +for the sake either of plot or of character, but because they contain +so many sparkling witticisms and reflections, setting in a strong +light, yet not always an unkindly light, the seamy side of politics +and human nature. The slovenliness of their style, which is often +pompous, but seldom pure, makes them appear to have been written +hastily. But Disraeli seems to have taken the composition of them +(except, perhaps, the two latest) quite seriously. When he wrote the +earlier tales, he meant to achieve literary greatness; while the +middle ones, especially _Coningsby_ and _Sybil_, were designed as +political manifestoes. The less they have a purpose or profess to +be serious, the better they are; and the most vivacious of all are +two classical burlesques, written at a time when that kind of +composition had not yet become common--_Ixion in Heaven_ and _The +Infernal Marriage_--little pieces of funning worthy of Thackeray, I +had almost said of Voltaire. They recall, perhaps they were +suggested by, similar pieces of Lucian's. Is Semitic genius specially +rich in this mocking vein? Lucian was a Syrian from Samosata, +probably a Semite; Heinrich Heine was a Semite; James Russell +Lowell used to insist, though he produced little evidence for his +belief, that Voltaire was a Semite. + +Whether Disraeli could ever have taken high rank as a novelist if he +had thrown himself completely into the profession may be doubted, +for his defects were such as pains and practice would hardly have +lessened. That he had still less the imagination needed by a poet, his +_Revolutionary Epick_, conceived on the plains of Troy, and meant +to make a fourth to the _Iliad_, the _Æneid_, and the _Divina +Commedia_, is enough to show. The literary vocation he was best +fitted for was that of a journalist or pamphleteer; and in this he +might have won unrivalled success. His dash, his verve, his +brilliancy of illustration, his scorching satire, would have made +the fortune of any newspaper, and carried dismay into the enemy's +ranks. + +In inquiring how far the gifts I have sought to describe qualified +Disraeli for practical statesmanship, it is well to distinguish the +different kinds of capacity which an English politician needs to +attain the highest place. They may be said to be four. He must be a +debater. He must be a parliamentary tactician. He must understand the +country. He must understand Europe. This last is, indeed, not always +necessary; there have been moments when England, leaving Europe to +itself, may look to her own affairs only; but when the sky grows +stormy over Europe, the want of knowledge which English statesmen +sometimes evince may bode disaster. + +An orator, in the highest sense of the word, Disraeli never was. He +lacked ease and fluency. He had not Pitt's turn for the lucid +exposition of complicated facts, nor for the conduct of a close +argument. The sustained and fiery declamation of Fox was equally +beyond his range. And least of all had he that truest index of +eloquence, the power of touching the emotions. He could not make his +hearers weep. But he could make them laugh; he could put them in +good-humour with themselves; he could dazzle them with rhetoric; he +could pour upon an opponent streams of ridicule more effective than +the hottest indignation. When he sought to be profound or solemn, he +was usually heavy and laboured--the sublimity often false, the diction +often stilted. For wealth of thought or splendour of language his +speeches will not bear to be compared--I will not say with those of +Burke (on whom he sometimes tried to model himself), but with those of +three or four of his own contemporaries. Even within his own party, +Lord Derby, Lord Ellenborough, and Lord Cairns in their several ways +surpassed him. There is not one of his longer and more finished +harangues which can be read with interest from beginning to end. But +there is hardly any among them which does not contain some striking +passage, some image or epigram, or burst of sarcasm, which must have +been exceedingly effective when delivered. It is partly upon these +isolated passages, especially the sarcastic ones (though the +witticisms were sometimes borrowed), and still more upon the aptness +of the speech to the circumstances under which it was made, that his +parliamentary fame rests. If he was not a great orator he was a superb +debater, who watched with the utmost care the temper of the audience, +and said just what was needed at the moment to disconcert an opponent +or to put heart into his friends. His repartees were often happy, and +must sometimes have been unpremeditated. As he had not the ardent +temperament of the born orator, so neither had he the external +advantages which count for much before large assemblies. His voice was +not remarkable either for range or for quality. His manner was +somewhat stiff, his gestures few, his countenance inexpressive. Yet +his delivery was not wanting in skill, and often added point, by its +cool unconcern, to a stinging epigram. + +What he lacked in eloquence he made up for by tactical adroitness. No +more consummate parliamentary strategist has been seen in England. He +had studied the House of Commons till he knew it as a player knows his +instrument--studied it collectively, for it has a collective +character, and studied the men who compose it: their worse rather than +their better side, their prejudices, their foibles, their vanities, +their ambitions, their jealousies, above all, that curious corporate +pride which they have, and which makes them resent any approach to +dictation. He could play on every one of these strings, and yet so as +to conceal his skill; and he so economised himself as to make them +always wish to hear him. He knew how in a body of men obliged to +listen to talk, and most of it tedious talk, about matters in +themselves mostly uninteresting, the desire for a little amusement +becomes almost a passion; and he humoured this desire so far as +occasionally to err by excess of banter and flippancy. Almost always +respectful to the House, he had a happy knack of appearing to follow +rather than to lead, and when he made an official statement it was +with the air of one who was taking them into his confidence. Much of +this he may have learned from observing Lord Palmerston; but the art +came more naturally to that statesman, who was an Englishman all +through, than to a man of Mr. Disraeli's origin, who looked on +Englishmen from outside, and never felt himself, so to speak, +responsible for their habits or ideas. + +As leader of his party in Opposition, he was at once daring and +cautious. He never feared to give battle, even when he expected +defeat, if he deemed it necessary, with a view to the future, that the +judgment of his party should have been pronounced in a formal way. On +the other hand, he was wary of committing himself to a policy of blind +or obstinate resistance. When he perceived that the time had come to +yield, he knew how to yield with a good grace, so as both to support a +character for reasonableness and to obtain valuable concessions as the +price of peace. If difficulties arose with foreign countries he +claimed full liberty of criticising the conduct of the Ministry, but +ostentatiously abstained from obstructing or thwarting their acts, +declaring that England must always present a united front to the +foreigner, whatever penalties she might afterwards visit on those who +had mismanaged her concerns. As regards the inner discipline of his +party, he had enormous difficulties to surmount in the jealousy which +many Tories felt for him as a new man, a man whom they could not +understand and only partially trusted.[9] Conspiracies were repeatedly +formed against him; malcontents attacked him in the press, and +sometimes even in Parliament. These he seldom noticed, maintaining a +cool and self-confident demeanour which disheartened the plotters, and +discharging the duties of his post with steady assiduity. He was +always on the look-out for young men of promise, drew them towards +him, encouraged them to help him in parliamentary sharp-shooting, and +fostered in every way the spirit of party. The bad side of that spirit +was seen when he came into office, for then every post in the public +service was bestowed either by mere favouritism or on party grounds; +and men who had been loyal to him were rewarded by places or titles to +which they had no other claim. But the unity and martial fervour of +the Tory party was raised to the highest point. Nor was Disraeli +himself personally unpopular with his parliamentary opponents, even +when he was most hotly attacked on the platform and in the press. + +To know England and watch the shifting currents of its opinion is a +very different matter from knowing the House of Commons. Indeed, the +two kinds of knowledge are in a measure incompatible. Men who enter +Parliament soon begin to forget that it is not, in the last resort, +Parliament that governs, but the people. Absorbed in the daily +contests of their Chamber, they over-estimate the importance of those +contests. They come to think that Parliament is in fact what it is in +theory, a microcosm of the nation, and that opinion inside is sure to +reflect the opinion outside. When they are in a minority they are +depressed; when they are in a majority they fancy that all is well, +forgetting their masters out-of-doors. This tendency is aggravated by +the fact that the English Parliament meets in the capital, where the +rich and luxurious congregate and give their tone to society. The +House of Commons, though many of its members belong to the middle +class by origin, belongs practically to the upper class by sympathy, +and is prone to believe that what it hears every evening at dinners or +receptions is what the country is thinking. A member of the House of +Commons is, therefore, ill-placed for feeling the pulse of the nation, +and in order to do so must know what is being said over the country, +and must frequently visit or communicate with his constituents. If +this difficulty is experienced by an ordinary private member, it is +greater for a minister whose time is filled by official duties, or for +a leader of Opposition, who has to be constantly thinking of his +tactics in the House. In Disraeli's case there was a keenness of +observation and discernment far beyond the common. But he was under +the disadvantages of not being really an Englishman, and of having +never lived among the people.[10] The detachment I have already +referred to tended to weaken his power of judging popular sentiment, +and appraising at their true value the various tendencies that sway +and divide a nation so complex as the English. Early in life he had +formed theories about the relations of the different classes of +English society--nobility, gentry, capitalists, workmen, peasantry, +and the middle classes--theories which were far from containing the +whole truth; and he adhered to them even when the changes of half a +century had made them less true. He had a great aversion, not to say +contempt, for Puritanism, and for the Dissenters among whom it chiefly +holds its ground, and pleased himself with the notion that the +extension of the suffrage which he carried in 1867 had destroyed their +political power. The Conservative victory at the election of 1874 +confirmed him in this belief, and made him also think that the working +classes were ready to follow the lead of the rich. He perceived that +the Liberal ministry of 1868-74 had offended certain influential +sections by appearing too demiss or too unenterprising in foreign +affairs, and fancied that the bulk of the nation would be dazzled by a +warlike mien, and an active, even aggressive, foreign policy. Such a +policy was congenial to his own ideas, and to the society that +surrounded him. It was applauded by some largely circulated newspapers +which had previously been unfriendly to the Tory party. Thus he was +more surprised than any other man of similar experience to find the +nation sending up a larger majority against him in 1880 than it had +sent up for him in 1874. This was the most striking instance of his +miscalculation. But he had all through his career an imperfect +comprehension of the English people. Individuals, or even an assembly, +may be understood by dint of close and long-continued observation; but +to understand a whole nation, one must also have sympathy, and this +his circumstances, not less than his character, had denied him. + +It was partly the same defect that prevented him from mastering the +general politics of Europe. There is a sense in which no single man +can pretend to understand Europe. Bismarck himself did not. The +problem is too vast, the facts to be known too numerous, the +undercurrents too varying. One can speak only of more or less. If +Europe had been in his time what it was a century before, Disraeli +would have had a far better chance of being fit to become what it was +probably his dearest wish to become--its guide and arbiter. He would +have taken the measure of the princes and ministers with whom he had +to deal, would have seen and adroitly played on their weaknesses. His +novels show how often he had revolved diplomatic situations in his +mind, and reflected on the way of handling them. Foreign diplomatists +are agreed that at the Congress of Berlin he played his part to +admiration, spoke seldom, but spoke always to the point and with +dignity, had a perfect conception of what he meant to secure, and of +the means he must employ to secure it, never haggled over details or +betrayed any eagerness to win support, never wavered in his demands, +even when they seemed to lead straight to war. Dealing with +individuals, who represented material forces which he had gauged, he +was perfectly at home, and deserved the praise he obtained from +Bismarck, who, comparing him with other eminent figures at the +Congress, is reported to have said, bluntly but heartily, "Der alte +Jude, das ist der Mann."[11] But to know what the condition of +South-Eastern Europe really was, and understand how best to settle its +troubles, was a far more difficult task, and Disraeli possessed +neither the knowledge nor the insight required. In the Europe of +to-day, peoples count for more than the wills of individual rulers: +one must comprehend the passions and sympathies of peoples if one is +to forecast the future. This he seldom cared to do. He did not realise +the part and the power of moral forces. Down to the outbreak of the +American Civil War he maintained that the question between the North +and the South was mainly a fiscal question between the Protectionist +interests of the one and the Free Trade interests of the other. He +always treated with contempt the national movement in Italy. He made +no secret in the days before 1859 of his good-will to Austria and of +his liking for Louis Napoleon--a man inferior to him in ability and in +courage, but to whose character his own had some affinities. In that +elaborate study of Sir Robert Peel's character,[12] which is one of +Disraeli's best literary performances, he observes that Peel "was +destitute of imagination, and wanting imagination he wanted +prescience." True it is that imagination is necessary for prescience, +but imagination is not enough to give prescience. It may even be a +snare. + +Disraeli's imagination, his fondness for theories, and disposition +rather to cling to them than to study and interpret facts, made him +the victim of his own preconceived ideas, as his indolence deterred +him from following the march of change and noting how different things +were in the 'seventies from what they had been in the 'thirties. Mr. +Gladstone said to me in 1876, "Disraeli's two leading ideas in foreign +policy have always been the maintenance of the temporal power of the +Pope, and the maintenance of the power of the Sultan." Unable to save +the one, he clung to the hope of saving the other. He was possessed by +the notion, seductive to a dreamy mind, that all the disturbances of +Europe arose from the action of secret societies; and when the Eastern +Question was in 1875 re-opened by the insurrection in Herzegovina, +followed by the war of Servia against the Turks, he explained the +event in a famous speech by saying, "The secret societies of Europe +have declared war against Turkey"--the fact being that the societies +which in Russia were promoting the Servian war were public societies, +openly collecting subscriptions, while those secret "social +democratic" societies of which we have since heard so much were +strongly opposed to the interference of Russia, and those other secret +societies in the rest of Europe, wherein Poles and Italians have +played a leading part, were, if not hostile, at any rate quite +indifferent to the movement among the Eastern Christians. + +Against these errors there must be set several cases in which he +showed profound discernment. In 1843 and 1844 he delivered, in debates +on the condition of Ireland, speeches which then constituted and long +remained the most penetrating and concise diagnosis of the troubles of +that country ever addressed to Parliament. Ireland has, he said, a +starving peasantry, an alien church, and an absentee aristocracy, and +he went on to add that the function of statesmanship was to cure by +peaceful and constitutional methods ills which in other countries had +usually induced, and been removed by, revolution. During the American +Civil War of 1861-65, Disraeli was the only leading statesman on his +own side of politics who did not embrace and applaud the cause of the +South. Whether this arose from a caution that would not commit itself +where it recognised ignorance, or from a perception of the superior +strength of the Northern States (a perception which whoever visits the +South even to-day is astonished that so few people in Europe should +have had), it is not easy to decide; but whatever the cause, the fact +is an evidence of his prudence or sagacity all the more weighty +because Lord Palmerston, Lord Russell, and Mr. Gladstone, as well as +Lord Derby and Sir Hugh Cairns, had each of them expressed more or +less sympathy with, or belief in, the success of the Southern cause. + +The most striking instance, however, of Disraeli's insight was his +perception that an extension of the suffrage would not necessarily +injure, and might end by strengthening, the Tory party. The Act of +1867 was described at the time as "a leap in the dark." But +Disraeli's eyes had pierced the darkness. For half a century +politicians had assumed that the masses of the people were and would +remain under the Liberal banner. Even as late as 1872 it was thought +on Liberal platforms a good joke to say of some opinion that it might +do for Conservative working men, if there were any. Disraeli had, long +before 1867, seen deeper, and though his youthful fancies that the +monarchy might be revived as an effective force, and that "the +peasantry" would follow with mediæval reverence the lead of the landed +gentry, proved illusory, he was right in discerning that wealth and +social influence would in parliamentary elections count for more among +the masses than the traditions of constitutional Whiggism or the +dogmas of abstract Radicalism. + +In estimating his statesmanship as a whole, one must give due weight +to the fact that it impressed many publicists abroad. No English +minister had for a long time past so fascinated observers in Germany +and Austria. Supposing that under the long reign of Liberalism +Englishmen had ceased to care for foreign politics, they looked on him +as the man who had given back to Britain her old European position, +and attributed to him a breadth of design, a grasp and a foresight +such as men had revered in Lord Chatham, greatest in the short list of +ministers who have raised the fame of England abroad. I remember +seeing in a Conservative club, about 1880, a large photograph of Lord +Beaconsfield, wearing the well-known look of mysterious fixity, under +which is inscribed the line of Homer: "He alone is wise: the rest are +fleeting shadows."[13] It was a happy idea to go for a motto to the +favourite poet of his rival, as it was an unhappy chance to associate +the wisdom ascribed to Disraeli with his policy in the Turkish East +and in Afghanistan, a policy now universally admitted to have been +unwise and unfortunate.[14] But whatever may be thought of the +appropriateness of the motto, the fact remains that this was the +belief he succeeded in inspiring. He did it by virtue of those very +gifts which sometimes brought him into trouble--his taste for large +and imposing theories, his power of clothing them in vague and solemn +language, his persistent faith in them. He came, by long posing, to +impose upon himself and to believe in his own profundity. Few people +could judge whether his ideas of imperial policy were sound and +feasible; but every one saw that he had theories, and many fell under +the spell which a grandiose imagination can exercise. It is chiefly +this gift, coupled with his indomitable tenacity, which lifts him out +of the line of mere party leaders. If he failed to see how much the +English are sometimes moved by compassion, he did see that it may be +worth while to play to their imagination. + +We may now ask again the question asked at first: How did a man, +whatever his natural gifts, who was weighted in his course by such +disadvantages as Disraeli's, by his Jewish origin, by the escapades of +his early career, by the want of confidence which his habitual +cynicism inspired, by the visionary nature of so many of his +views,--how did he, in a conservative and aristocratic country like +England, triumph over so many prejudices and enmities, and raise +himself to be the head of the Conservative and aristocratic party, the +trusted counsellor of the Crown, the ruler, almost the dictator, of a +free people? + +However high be the estimate formed of Disraeli's gifts, secondary +causes must have been at work to enable him to overcome the obstacles +that blocked his path. The ancients were not wrong in ascribing to +Fortune a great share in human affairs. Now, among the secondary +causes of success, that "general minister and leader set over worldly +splendours," as Dante calls her,[15] played no insignificant part. One +of these causes lay in the nature of the party to which he belonged. +The Tory party of the years between 1848 and 1865 contained a +comparatively small number of able men. When J. S. Mill once called it +the stupid party, it did not repudiate the name, but pointed to its +cohesion and its resolution as showing how many things besides mere +talent go to make political greatness. A man of shining gifts had +within its ranks few competitors; and this was signally the case +immediately after Peel's defection. That statesman had carried off +with him the intellectual flower of the Conservatives. Those who were +left behind to form the Protectionist Opposition in the House of +Commons were broad-acred squires, of solid character but slender +capacity. Through this heavy atmosphere Mr. Disraeli rose like a +balloon. Being practically the only member of his party in the Commons +with either strategical or debating power, he became indispensable, +and soon established a supremacy which years of patient labour might +not have given him in a rivalry with the distinguished band who +surrounded Peel. During the twenty years that followed the great Tory +schism of 1846 no man arose in the Tory ranks capable of disputing his +throne. The conspiracies hatched against him might well have prospered +could a candidate for the leadership have been found capable of +crossing swords with the chieftain in possession. Fortune, true to her +nursling, suffered none such to appear. + +Another favouring influence not understood outside England was to be +found in the character of the party he led. In his day the Tories, +being the party of the property-holders, and having not to advance but +to stand still, not to propose changes but to resist them, having +bonds of interest as well as of sentiment to draw them close together, +possessed a cohesion, a loyalty to their chiefs, a tenacious corporate +spirit, far exceeding what was to be found among their adversaries, +who were usually divided into a moderate or Whig and an advanced or +Radical section. He who established himself as the Tory leader was +presently followed by the rank and file with a devotion, an +unquestioning submission and confidence, which placed his character +and doctrines under the ægis of the party, and enforced loyalty upon +parliamentary malcontents. This corporate spirit was of infinite value +to Disraeli. The historical past of the great Tory party, its +associations, the social consideration which it enjoys, all went to +ennoble his position and efface the remembrance of the less creditable +parts of his career. And in the later days of his reign, when no one +disputed his supremacy, every Tory was, as a matter of course, his +advocate and admirer, and resented assaults on him as insults to the +party. When a man excites hatred by his words or deeds, attacks on his +character are an inevitable relief to overcharged feelings. +Technically regarded, they are not good politics. Misrepresentation +sometimes succeeds; vituperation seldom. Let a man be personally +untrustworthy or dangerous, still, it is only his own words that +damage him, at least in England and America. Even his own words, +however discrediting, even his acts, however culpable, may, if they +belong to a past unfamiliar to the voter of to-day, tell little, +perhaps too little, on the voter's mind when they are brought up +against him. The average citizen has a short memory, and thinks that +the dead may be allowed to bury their dead. + +Let it be further noted that Disraeli's career coincided with a +significant change in English politics, a change partly in the temper +of the nation, partly in the balance of voting power. For thirty years +after the Reform Act of 1832, not only had the middle classes +constituted the majority of the electors, but the social influence of +the great Whig families and the intellectual influence of the economic +school of Cobden had been potent factors. These forces were, in the +later part of Disraeli's life, tending to decline. The working-class +vote was vastly increased in 1867. The old Whig light gradually paled, +and many of the Whig magnates, obeying class sympathies rather than +party traditions, drifted slowly into Toryism. A generation arose +which had not seen the Free Trade struggle, or had forgotten the Free +Trade arguments, and which was attracted by ideals other than those +which Cobden had preached. The grievances which had made men +reformers had been largely removed. The battle of liberty and +nationality in Continental Europe had been in the main won, and +Englishmen had lost the enthusiasm for freedom which had fired them in +the days when the memory of their own struggle against the Crown and +the oligarchy was still fresh. With none of these changes had +Disraeli's personal action much to do, but they all enured to the +benefit of his party, they all swelled the tide which bore him into +office in 1874. + +Finally, he had the great advantage of living long. Many a statesman +has died at fifty, and passed from the world's memory, who might have +become a figure in history with twenty years more of life. Had +Disraeli's career closed in 1854, he would have been remembered as a +parliamentary gladiator, who had produced a few incisive speeches, a +crude Budget, and some brilliant social and political sketches. The +stronger parts of his character might have remained unknown. True it +is that a man must have greatness in order to stand the test of long +life. Some are found out, like Louis Napoleon. Some lose their balance +and therewith their influence, like Lord Brougham. Some cease to grow +or learn, and if a statesman is not better at sixty than he was at +thirty, he is worse. Some jog heavily on, like Metternich, or stiffen +into arbitrary doctrinaires, like Guizot. Disraeli did not merely +stand the test, he gained immensely by it. He gained by rising into a +position where his strength could show itself. He gained also by so +impressing his individuality upon people as to make them accept it as +an ultimate fact, till at length they came, not so much to blame him +for what he did in accord with his established reputation, as rather +to relish and enter into the humour of his character. As they +unconsciously took to judging him by a standard different from that +which they applied to ordinary Englishmen, they hardly complained of +deflections from veracity which would have seemed grave in other +persons. He had given notice that he was not like other men, that his +words must not be taken in their natural sense, that he was to be +regarded as the skilful player of a great game, the consummate actor +in a great part. And, once more, he gained by the many years during +which he had opportunities of displaying his fortitude, patience, +constancy under defeat, unwavering self-confidence--gifts rarer than +mere intellectual power, gifts that deserve the influence they bestow. +Nothing so fascinates mankind as to see a man equal to every fortune, +unshaken by reverses, indifferent to personal abuse, maintaining a +long combat against apparently hopeless odds with the sharpest weapons +and a smiling face. His followers fancy he must have hidden resources +of wisdom as well as of courage. When some of his predictions come +true, and the turning tide of popular feeling begins to bear them +toward power, they believe that he has been all along right and the +rest of the world wrong. When victory at last settles on his crest, +even his enemies can hardly help applauding a reward which seems so +amply earned. It was by this quality, more perhaps than by anything +else, by this serene surface with fathomless depths below, that he +laid his spell upon the imagination of observers in Continental +Europe, and received at his death a sort of canonisation from a large +section of the English people. + +What will posterity think of him, and by what will he be remembered? +The glamour has already passed away, and to few of those who on the +19th of April deck his statue with flowers is he more than a name. + +Parliamentary fame is fleeting: the memory of parliamentary conflicts +soon grows dim and dull. Posterity fixes a man's place in history by +asking not how many tongues buzzed about him in his lifetime, but how +great a factor he was in the changes of the world, that is, how far +different things would have been twenty or fifty years after his death +if he had never lived. Tried by this standard, the results upon the +course of events of Disraeli's personal action are not numerous, +though some of them may be deemed momentous. He was an adroit +parliamentary tactician who held his followers together through a +difficult time. By helping to keep the Peelites from rejoining their +old party, he gave that party a colour different from the sober hues +which it had worn during the leadership of Peel. He became the founder +of what has in later days been called Tory democracy, winning over a +large section of the humbler classes to the banner under which the +majority of the wealthy and the holders of vested interests already +stood arrayed. He saved for the Turkish Empire a part of its +territories, yet in doing so merely prolonged for a little the death +agony of Turkish power. Though it cannot be said that he conferred any +benefit on India or the Colonies, he certainly stimulated the imperial +instincts of Englishmen. He had occasional flashes of insight, as when +in 1843 he perceived exactly what Ireland needed, and at least one +brilliant flash of foresight when he predicted that a wide extension +of the suffrage would bring no evil to the Tory party. Yet in the case +of Ireland he did nothing, when the chance came to him, to give effect +to the judgment which he had formed, while in the case of the suffrage +he did but follow up and carry into effect an impulse given by others. +The Franchise Act of 1867 is perhaps the only part of his policy which +has, by hastening a change that induced other changes, permanently +affected the course of events; and it remains the chief monument of +his parliamentary skill. There was nothing in his career to set the +example of a lofty soul or a noble purpose. He did not raise, he may +even have lowered, the tone of English public life. + +Yet history will not leave him without a meed of admiration. When all +possible explanations of his success have been given, what a wonderful +career! An adventurer foreign in race, in ideas, in temper, without +money or family connections, climbs, by patient and unaided efforts, +to lead a great party, master a powerful aristocracy, sway a vast +empire, and make himself one of the four or five greatest personal +forces in the world. His head is not turned by his elevation. He never +becomes a demagogue; he never stoops to beguile the multitude by +appealing to sordid instincts. He retains through life a certain +amplitude of view, a due sense of the dignity of his position, a due +regard for the traditions of the ancient assembly which he leads, and +when at last the destinies of England fall into his hands, he feels +the grandeur of the charge, and seeks to secure what he believes to be +her imperial place in the world. Whatever judgment history may +ultimately pass upon him, she will find in the long annals of the +English Parliament no more striking figure. + +----- + + [1] No "authorised" life of Lord Beaconsfield, nor indeed any life + commensurate with the part he played in English politics, has + yet appeared. + + [2] Disraeli's family claimed to be of Spanish origin, but had come + from Italy to England shortly before 1748. + + [3] There are few legal allusions in his novels, fewer in proportion + than in Shakespeare's plays, but an ingenious travesty of the + English use of legal fictions may be found in the _Voyage of + Captain Popanilla_, a satire on the English constitution and + government. Popanilla, who is to be tried for treason, is, to + his astonishment, indicted for killing a camelopard. + + [4] That historical interest he did feel deeply. One might almost say + of him that he was a Christian because he was a Jew, for + Christianity was to him the proper development of the ancient + religion of Israel. "The Jews," he observes in the _Life of + Lord George Bentinck_, "represent the Semitic principle, all + that is most spiritual in our nature.... It is deplorable that + several millions of Jews still persist in believing only a part + of their religion." + + [5] Though it has been maintained that in the Dark and Middle Ages a + considerable number of Gentiles found their way into Jewish + communities and became Judaised. + + The high average of intellectual power among the Jews need + not be attributed to purity of race; it is sufficiently + explained by their history. Nor is it clear that where two + of the more advanced races are mixed by intermarriage, the + product is inferior to either of the parent stocks. On the + contrary, such a mixture, _e.g._ of Teutonic and Slavonic + blood, or of Celtic and Teutonic, gives a result at least + equal in capacity to either of the pure-blooded races which + have been so commingled. + + [6] He had an intellectual arrogance, which made him dislike what may + be called the Radical conception of human equality. In the + _Life of Lord George Bentinck_ he remarks, "The Jews are a + living and the most striking evidence of the falsity of that + pernicious doctrine of modern times, the natural equality of + man.... All the tendencies of the Jewish race are conservative. + Their bias is to religion, property, and natural aristocracy." + + [7] On one occasion he went so far as to deny that he had asked Peel + for office, relying on the fact that the letter which contained + the request was marked "private," so that Peel could not use it + to disprove his statement (_Letters of Sir Robert Peel_, by C. + S. Parker, vol. ii. p. 486; vol. iii. pp. 347, 348). + + [8] See Sir S. Northcote's report of a conversation with Disraeli in + his last years (_Life of Sir Stafford Northcote_, vol. ii.). + + [9] In the _Life of Lord George Bentinck_ (written shortly after + Peel's death), Disraeli, after dilating upon the loyalty which + the Tory aristocracy had displayed towards Peel, observes, "An + aristocracy hesitates before it yields its confidence, but it + never does so grudgingly.... In political connections the + social feeling mingles with the principle of honour which + governs gentlemen.... Such a following is usually cordial and + faithful. An aristocracy is rather apt to exaggerate the + qualities and magnify the importance of a plebeian leader." + + [10] When he did set himself to examine the condition of the people, + the diagnosis, if not always correct, was always suggestive, + _e.g._ the account of the manufacturing districts given in + _Sybil, or the Two Nations_. + + [11] "The old Jew, that is the man." + + [12] In the _Life of Lord George Bentinck_. + + [13] +Oiô pepnusthai, toi de skiai aïssousin+ (_Od._ x. 495). Used of + Tiresias, in the world of disembodied spirits. + + [14] To defend Disraeli by arguing that his policy had not a fair + chance because his colleagues did not allow him to carry it + through is to admit another error not less grave, for the path + he took was one on which no minister ought to have entered + unless satisfied that the Cabinet and the country would let him + follow it to the end. + + [15] _Inf._ vii. 77. + + + + +DEAN STANLEY[16] + + +In the England of his time there was no personality more attractive, +nor any more characteristic of the country, than Arthur Penrhyn +Stanley, Dean of Westminster. England is the only European country in +which such a figure could have appeared, for it is the only country in +which a man may hold a high ecclesiastical post and yet be regarded by +the nation, not specially as an ecclesiastic, but rather as a +distinguished writer, an active and influential man of affairs, an +ornament of social life. But if in this respect he was typical of his +country, he was in other respects unique. He was a clergyman untouched +by clericalism, a courtier unspoiled by courts. No one could point to +any one else in England who occupied a similar position, nor has any +one since arisen who recalls him, or who fills the place which his +departure left empty. + +Stanley was born in 1815. His father, then Rector of Alderley, in +Cheshire, afterwards Bishop of Norwich, belonged to the family of the +Stanleys of Alderley, a branch of that ancient and famous line the +head of which is Earl of Derby. His mother, Catherine Leycester, was a +woman of much force of character and intellectual power. He was +educated at Rugby School under Dr. Arnold, the influence of whose +ideas remained great over him all through his life, and at Oxford, +where he became a fellow and tutor of University College. Passing +thence to be Canon of Canterbury, he returned to the University as +Professor of Ecclesiastical History, and remained there for seven +years. In 1863 he was appointed Dean of Westminster, and at the same +time married Lady Augusta Bruce (sister of the then Lord Elgin, +Governor-General first of Canada and afterwards of India). He died in +1881. + +He had an extraordinarily active and busy life, so intertwined with +the history of the University of Oxford and the history of the Church +of England from 1850 to 1880, that one can hardly think of any salient +point in either without thinking also of him. Yet it was perhaps +rather in the intensity of his nature and the nobility of his +sentiments than in either the compass or the strength of his +intellectual faculties that the charm and the force he exercised lay. +In some directions he was curiously deficient. He had no turn for +abstract reasoning, no liking for metaphysics or any other form of +speculation. He was equally unfitted for scientific inquiry, and could +scarcely work a sum in arithmetic. Indeed, in no field was he a +logical or systematic thinker. Neither, although he had a retentive +memory, and possessed a great deal of various knowledge on many +subjects, could he be called learned, for he had not really mastered +any branch of history, and was often inaccurate in details. He had +never been trained to observe facts in natural history. He had +absolutely no ear for music, and very little perception either of +colour or of scent. He learned foreign languages with difficulty and +never spoke them well. He was so short-sighted as to be unable to +recognise a face passing close in the street. Yet with these +shortcomings he was a born traveller, went everywhere, saw everything +and everybody worth seeing, always seized on the most characteristic +features of a landscape, or building, or a person, and described them +with a freshness which made one feel as if they had never been +described before. Of the hundreds who have published books on the +Desert of Sinai and the Holy Land, many of them skilful writers or men +of profound knowledge, he is the only one who is still read and likely +to continue to be read, so vivid in colour, so exquisite in feeling, +are the pictures he has given. Nature alone, however, nature taken by +herself, did not satisfy him, did not, indeed, in his later days (for +in his boyhood he had been a passionate lover of the mountains) +greatly interest him. A building or a landscape had power to rouse his +imagination and call forth his unrivalled powers of description only +when it was associated with the thoughts and deeds of men. + +The largest part of his literary work was done in the field of +ecclesiastical history, a subject naturally congenial to him, and +to which he was further drawn by the professorship which he held at +Oxford during a time when a great revival of historical studies was +in progress. It was work which critics could easily disparage, for +there were many small errors scattered through it; and the picturesque +method of treatment he employed was apt to pass into scrappiness. He +fixed on the points which had a special interest for his own mind as +illustrating some trait of personal or national character, or some +moral lesson, and passed hastily over other matters of equal or +greater importance. Nevertheless his work had some distinctive merits +which have not received from professional critics the whole credit +they deserved. In all that Stanley wrote one finds a certain +largeness and dignity of view. He had a sense of the unity of +history, of the constant relation of past and present, of the +similarity of human nature in one age and country to human nature in +another; and he never failed to dwell upon the permanently valuable +truths which history has to teach. Nothing was too small to +attract him, because he discovered a meaning in everything, and he +was therefore never dull, for even when he moralised he would light +up his reflections by some happy anecdote. With this he possessed a +keen eye, the eye of a poet, for human character, and a power of +sympathy that enabled him to appreciate even those whose principles +and policy he disliked. Herein he was not singular, for the +sympathetic style of writing history has become fashionable among +us. What was remarkable in him was that his sympathy did not +betray him into the error, now also fashionable, of extenuating moral +distinctions. His charity never blunted the edge of his justice, nor +prevented him from reprobating the faults of the personages who had +touched his heart. For one sin only he had little historical +tolerance--the sin of intolerance. So there was one sin only which +ever led him to speak severely of any of his contemporaries--the +sin of untruthfulness. Being himself so simple and straightforward as +to feel his inability to cope with deceitful men, deceit incensed +him. But he did not resent the violence of his adversaries, for +though he suffered much at their hands he knew many of them to be +earnest, unselfish, and conscientious men. + +His pictures of historical scenes are admirable, for with his interest +in the study of character there went a large measure of dramatic +power. Nothing can be better in its way than the description of the +murder of St. Thomas of Canterbury given in the _Memorials of +Canterbury_, which, after _Sinai and Palestine_ and the _Life of +Arnold_, may be deemed the best of Stanley's books. Whether he could, +with more leisure for careful thought and study, have become a +great historian, was a question which those of us who were dazzled +by his Public Lectures at Oxford used often to discuss. The leisure +never came, for he was throughout life warmly interested in every +current ecclesiastical question, and ready to bear a part in +discussing it, either in the press--for he wrote in the _Edinburgh +Review_, and often sent letters to the _Times_ under the signature of +"Anglicanus"--or in Convocation, where he had a seat during the +latter part of his career. These interruptions not only checked the +progress of his studies, but gave to his compositions an air of +haste, which made them seem to want system and finish. The habit +of rapid writing for magazines or other ephemeral purposes is alleged +to tell injuriously upon literary men: it told the more upon +Stanley because he was also compelled to produce sermons rapidly. +Now sermon-writing, while it breeds a tendency to the making of +rhetorical points, subordinates the habit of dispassionate inquiry to +the enforcement of a moral lesson. Stanley, who had a touch of +the rhetorical temperament, and was always eager to improve an +occasion, certainly suffered in this way. When he brings out a +general truth he is not content with it as a truth, but seeks to turn +it also to edification, or to make it illustrate and support some +view for which he is contending at the time. When he is simply +describing, he describes rather as a dramatic artist working for +effect than as a historian solely anxious to represent men and +events as they were. Yet if we consider how much a historian gains, +not only from an intimate knowledge of his own time, but also, and +even more largely, from playing an active part in the events of his +own time, from swaying opinion by his writings and his speeches, +from sitting in assemblies and organising schemes of attack and +defence, we may hesitate to wish that Stanley's time had been more +exclusively given to quiet investigation. The freshness of his +historical portraits is notably due to the sense he carried about +with him of moving in history and being a part of it. He never +mounted his pulpit in the Abbey or walked into the Jerusalem +Chamber when Convocation was sitting without feeling that he was about +to do something which might possibly be recorded in the annals of +his country. I remember his mentioning, to illustrate undergraduate +ignorance, that once when he was going to give a lecture to his +class, he suddenly recollected that Mr. Goldwin Smith, then Regius +Professor of Modern History, was announced to deliver a public +lecture at the same hour. Telling the class that they would be +better employed in hearing Mr. Goldwin Smith than himself, he led +them all there. The next time the class met, one of them, after +making some acute comments on the lecture, asked who the lecturer +was. "I was amazed," said Stanley, "that an intelligent man should +ask such a question, and then it occurred to me that probably he did +not know who I was either." There was nothing of personal vanity or +self-importance in this. All the men of mark among whom he moved +were to him historical personages, and he would describe to his +friends some doing or saying of a contemporary statesman or +ecclesiastic with the same eagerness, the same sense of its being a +fact to be noted and remembered, as the rest of us feel about a +personal anecdote relating to Oliver Cromwell or Cardinal Richelieu. + +His sermons, like nearly all good sermons, will be inadequately +appreciated by those who now peruse them, not only because they were +composed for a given audience with special reference to the +circumstances of the time, but also because the best of them gained so +much by his impassioned delivery. They were all read from manuscript, +and his handwriting was so illegible that it was a marvel how he +contrived to read them. I once asked him, not long after he had been +promoted to the Deanery of Westminster, whether he found it easy to +make himself heard in the enormous nave of the Abbey church. His +frame, it ought to be stated, was spare as well as small, and his +voice not powerful. He answered: "That depends on whether I am +interested in what I am saying. If the sermon is on something which +interests me deeply I can fill the nave; otherwise I cannot." When he +had got a worthy theme, or one which stimulated his own emotions, the +power of his voice and manner was wonderful. His tiny body seemed to +swell, his chest vibrated as he launched forth glowing words. The +farewell sermon he delivered when quitting Oxford for Westminster +lives in the memory of those who heard it as a performance of +extraordinary power, the power springing from the intensity of his own +feeling. No sermon has ever since so moved the University. + +He was by nature shy and almost timid, and he was not supposed to +possess any gift for extempore speaking. But when in his later days he +found himself an almost solitary champion in Convocation of the +principles of universal toleration and comprehension which he held, he +developed a debating power which surprised himself as well as his +friends. It was to him a matter of honour and conscience to defend his +principles, and to defend them all the more zealously because he +stood alone on their behalf in a hostile assembly. His courage was +equal to the occasion, and his faculties responded to the call his +courage made. + +In civil politics he was all his life a Liberal, belonging by birth to +the Whig aristocracy, and disposed on most matters to take rather the +Whiggish than the Radical view, yet drawn by the warmth of his +sympathy towards the working classes, and popular with them. One of +his chief pleasures was to lead parties of humble visitors round the +Abbey on public holidays. Like most members of the Whig families, he +had no great liking for Mr. Gladstone, not so much, perhaps, on +political grounds as because he distrusted the High Churchism and +anti-Erastianism of the Liberal leader. However, he never took any +active part in general politics, reserving his strength for those +ecclesiastical questions which seemed to lie within his peculiar +province.[17] Here he had two leading ideas: one, that the Church of +England must at all hazards continue to be an Established Church, in +alliance with, or subjection to, the State (for his Erastianism was +unqualified), and recognising the Crown as her head; the other, that +she must be a comprehensive Church, finding room in her bosom for +every sort or description of Christian, however much or little he +believed of the dogmas contained in the Thirty-nine Articles and the +Prayer-Book, to which she is bound by statute. The former view cut him +off from the Nonconformists and the Radicals; the latter exposed him +to the fire not only of those who, like the High Churchmen and the +Evangelicals, attach the utmost importance to these dogmas, but of +those also among the laity who hold that a man ought under no +circumstances to sign any test or use any form of prayer which does +not express his own convictions. Stanley would, of course, have +greatly preferred that the laws which regulate the Church of England +should be so relaxed as to require little or no assent to any +doctrinal propositions from her ministers. He strove for this; and he +continued to hope that this might be ultimately won. But he conceived +that in the meantime it was a less evil that men should be technically +bound by subscriptions they objected to than that the National Church +should be narrowed by the exclusion of those whose belief fell short +of her dogmatic standards. It was remarkable that not only did he +maintain this unpopular view of his with unshaken courage on every +occasion, pleading the cause of every supposed heretic against hostile +majorities with a complete forgetfulness of his own peace and ease, +but that no one ever thought of attributing the course he took to any +selfish or sinister motive. It was generally believed that his own +opinions were what nine-tenths of the Church of England would call +unorthodox. But the honesty and uprightness of his character were so +patent that nobody supposed that this fact made any difference, or +that it was for the sake of keeping his own place that he fought the +cause of others. + +What his theological opinions were it might have puzzled Stanley +himself to explain. His mind was not fitted to grasp abstract +propositions. His historical imagination and his early associations +attached him to the doctrines of the Nicene Creed; but when he came to +talk of Christianity, he laid so much more stress on its ethics than +on its dogmatic side that his clerical antagonists thought he held no +creed at all. Dr. Pusey once said that he and Stanley did not worship +the same God. The point of difference between him and them was not so +much that he consciously disbelieved the dogmas they held--probably he +did not--as that he did not, like them, think that true religion and +final salvation depended on believing them. And the weak point in his +imagination was that he seemed never to understand their position, nor +to realise how sacred and how momentous to them were statements which +he saw in a purely imaginative light. He never could be got to see +that a Church without any dogmas would not be a Church at all in the +sense either of mankind in the past or of mankind in the present. An +anecdote was current that once when he had in Disraeli's presence been +descanting on the harm done by the enforcement of dogmatic standards, +Disraeli had observed, "But pray remember, Mr. Dean, no dogma, no +Dean." + +Those who thought him a heathen would have assailed him less bitterly +if he had been content to admit his own differences from them. What +most incensed them was his habit of assuming that, except in mere +forms of expression, there were really no differences at all, and that +they also held Christianity to consist not in any body of doctrines, +but in reverence for God and purity of life. They would have preferred +heathenism itself to this kind of Universalism. + +As ecclesiastical preferment had not discoloured the native hue of his +simplicity, so neither did the influences of royal favour. It says +little for human nature that few people should be proof against what +the philosopher deems the trivial and fleeting fascinations of a +court. Stanley's elevation of mind was proof. Intensely interested in +the knowledge of events passing behind the scenes which his relations +with the reigning family opened to him, he scarcely ever referred to +those relations, and seemed neither to be affected thereby, nor to +care a whit more for the pomps and vanities of power or wealth, a whit +less for the friends and the causes he had learned to value in his +youth. + +In private, that which most struck one in his intellect was the quick +eagerness with which his imagination fastened upon any new fact, +caught its bearings, and clothed it with colour. His curiosity +remained inexhaustible. His delight in visiting a new country was like +that of an American scholar landing for the first time in Europe. A +friend met him a year before his death at a hotel in the North of +England, and found he was going to the Isle of Man. He had mastered +its geography and history, and talked about it and what he was to +explore there as one might talk of Rome or Athens when visiting them +for the first time. When anybody told him an anecdote his susceptible +imagination seized upon points which the narrator had scarcely +noticed, and discovered a whole group of curious analogies from other +times or countries. Whatever you planted in this fertile soil struck +root and sprouted at once. Morally, he impressed those who knew him +not only by his kindness of heart, but by a remarkable purity and +nobleness of aim. Nothing mean or small or selfish seemed to harbour +in his mind. You might think him right or wrong, but you never doubted +that he was striving after the truth. He was not merely a just man; he +loved justice with passion. It was partly, perhaps, because justice, +goodness, honour, charity, seemed to him of such paramount importance +in life that he made little of doctrinal differences, having perceived +that these virtues may exist, and may also be found wanting, in every +form of religious creed or philosophical profession. When the +Convocation of the Anglican Church met at Westminster, it was during +many years his habit to invite a great number of its leading members +to the deanery, the very men who had been attacking him most hotly in +debate, and who would go on denouncing his latitudinarianism till +Convocation met again. They yielded--sometimes reluctantly, but still +they yielded--to the kindliness of his nature and the charm of his +manner. He used to dart about among them, introducing opponents to one +another, as indeed on all occasions he delighted to bring the most +diverse people together, so that some one said the company you met at +the deanery were either statesmen and duchesses or starving curates +and briefless barristers. + +He had on the whole a happy life. It is true that the intensity of his +attachments exposed him to correspondingly intense grief when he lost +those who were dearest to him; true also that, being by temperament a +man of peace, he was during the latter half of his life almost +constantly at war. But his home, first in the lifetime of his mother +and then in that of his wife, had a serene and unclouded brightness; +and the care of the Abbey, rich with the associations of nearly a +thousand years of history, provided a function which exactly suited +him and which constituted a never-failing source of enjoyment. To +dwell in the centre of the life of the Church of England, and to dwell +close to the Houses of Parliament, in the midst of the making of +history, knowing and seeing those who were principally concerned in +making it, was in itself a pleasure to his quenchless historical +curiosity. His cheerfulness and animation, although to some extent +revived by his visit to America and the reception he met with there, +were never the same after his wife's death in 1876. But the sweetness +of his disposition and his affection for his friends knew no +diminution. He remembered everything that concerned them; was always +ready with sympathy in sorrow or joy; and gave to all alike, high or +low, famous or unknown, the same impression, that his friendship was +for themselves, and not for any gifts or rank or other worldly +advantage they might enjoy. The art of friendship is the greatest art +in life. To enjoy his was to be educated in that art. + +----- + + [16] A _Life of Dean Stanley_, in two volumes, begun by Theodore + Walrond, continued by Dean Bradley, and completed by Mr. R. E. + Prothero, appeared in 1893. + + [17] When J. S. Mill was a candidate for Westminster in 1868, Stanley + published a letter announcing his support, partly out of + personal respect for Mill, partly because it gave him an + opportunity of expressing an opinion on the Irish Church + question, and of reprobating the charge of atheism which had + been brought against Mill. + + + + +THOMAS HILL GREEN + + +The name of Thomas Green, Professor of Moral Philosophy in the +University of Oxford, was not, during his lifetime, widely known +outside the University itself. But he is still remembered by students +of metaphysics and ethics as one of the most vigorous thinkers of his +time; and his personality was a striking one, which made a deep and +lasting impression on those with whom he came in contact. + +He was born in Yorkshire in 1836, the son of a country clergyman; was +educated at Rugby School and at Balliol College, Oxford, of which he +became a fellow in 1860, and a tutor in 1869. In 1867 he was an +unsuccessful candidate for a chair of philosophy at St. Andrews, and +in 1878 was elected Professor of Moral Philosophy in his own +University, which he never thereafter quitted. He was married in 1869 +and died in 1882. It was a life externally uneventful, but full of +thought and work, and latterly crowned by great influence over the +younger and great respect from the senior members of the University. + +I can best describe Green as he was in his undergraduate days, for +it was then that I saw most of him. His appearance was striking, and +made him a familiar figure even to those who did not know him +personally. Thick black hair, a sallow complexion, dark eyebrows, +deep-set eyes of rich brown with a peculiarly steadfast look, were +the features which first struck one; and with these there was a +remarkable seriousness of expression, an air of solidity and quiet +strength. He knew comparatively few people, and of these only a +very few intimately, having no taste or turn for those sports in +which university acquaintances are most frequently made, and seldom +appearing at breakfast or wine parties. This caused him to pass for +harsh or unsocial; and I remember having felt a slight sense of +alarm the first time I found myself seated beside him. Though we +belonged to different colleges I had heard a great deal about him, +for Oxford undergraduates are warmly interested in one another, and +at the time I am recalling they had an inordinate fondness for +measuring the intellectual gifts and conjecturing the future of those +among their contemporaries who seemed likely to attain eminence. + +Those who came to know Green intimately, soon perceived that under +his reserve there lay not only a capacity for affection--no man was +more tenacious in his friendships--but qualities that made him an +attractive companion. His tendency to solitude sprang less from +pride or coldness, than from the occupation of his mind by subjects +which seldom weigh on men of his age. He had, even when a boy at +school (where he lived much by himself, but exercised considerable +moral influence), been grappling with the problems of metaphysics +and theology, and they had given a tinge of gravity to his manner. +The relief to that gravity lay in his humour, which was not only +abundant but genial and sympathetic. It used to remind us of +Carlyle--he had both the sense of humour and an underlying Puritanism +in common with Carlyle, one of the authors who (with Milton and +Wordsworth) had most influenced him--but in Green the Puritan tinge +was more kindly, and, above all, more lenient to ordinary people. +While averse, perhaps too severely averse, to whatever was luxurious +or frivolous in undergraduate life, he had the warmest interest in, +and the strongest sympathy for, the humbler classes. Loving social +equality, and filled with a sense of the dignity of simple human +nature, he liked to meet farmers and tradespeople on their own level, +and knew how to do so without seeming to condescend; indeed +nothing pleased him better, than when they addressed him as one of +themselves, the manner of his talk to them, as well as the extreme +plainness of his dress, conducing to such mistakes. The belief in +the duty of approaching the people directly and getting them to +think and to form and express their own views in their own way was +at the root of all his political doctrines. + +Though apt to be silent in general company, no one could be more +agreeable when you were alone with him. We used to say of him--and his +seniors said the same--that one never talked to him without carrying +away something to ponder over. On everything he said or wrote there +was stamped the impress of a strong individuality, a mind that thought +for itself, a character ruggedly original, wherein grimness was +mingled with humour, and practical shrewdness with a love for abstract +speculation. His independence appeared even in the way he pursued his +studies. With abilities of the highest order, he cared comparatively +little for the distinctions which the University offers; choosing +rather to follow out his own line of reading in the way he judged +permanently useful than to devote himself to the pursuit of honours +and prizes. + +He was constitutionally lethargic, found it hard to rouse himself to +exertion, and was apt to let himself be driven to the last moment in +finishing a piece of work. There was a rule in his College that an +essay should be given in every Friday evening. His was, to the great +annoyance of the dons, never ready till Saturday. But when it did go +in, it was the weightiest and most thoughtful, as well as the most +eloquent, that the College produced. This indolence had one good +result. It disposed him to brood over subjects, while others were +running quickly through many books and getting up subjects for +examination. It contributed to that depth and systematic quality which +struck us in his thinking, and made him seem mature beside even the +ablest of his contemporaries. When others were being, so to speak, +blown hither and thither, picking up and fascinated by new ideas, +which they did not know how to fit in with their old ones, he seemed +to have already formed for himself, at least in outline, a scheme of +philosophy and life coherent and complete. There was nothing random or +scattered in his ideas; his mind, like his style of writing, which ran +into long and complicated sentences, had a singular connectedness. You +felt that all its principles were in relation with one another. This +maturity in his mental attitude gave him an air of superiority, just +as the strength of his convictions gave a dogmatic quality to his +deliverances. Yet in spite of positiveness and tenacity he had the +saving grace of a humility which distrusted human nature in himself at +least as much as he distrusted it in others. Leading an introspective +life, he had many "wrestlings," and often seemed conscious of the +struggle between the natural man and the spiritual man, as described +in the Epistle to the Romans. + +In these early days, before, and to a less extent after, taking his +degree, he used to speak a good deal, mostly on political topics, at +the University Debating Society, where so many generations of young +men have sharpened their wits upon one another. His speaking was +vigorous, shrewd, and full of matter, yet it could not be called +popular. It was, in a certain sense, too good for a debating society, +too serious, and without the dash and sparkle which tell upon +audiences of that kind. Sometimes, however, and notably in a debate +on the American War of Secession in 1863, he produced, by the +concentrated energy of his language and the fierce conviction with +which he spoke, a powerful effect.[18] In a business assembly, +discussing practical questions, he would soon have become prominent, +and would have been capable on occasions of an oratorical success. + +Retired as was Green's life, he became by degrees more and more widely +known beyond the circle of his own intimates; and became also, I +think, more willing to make new friends. His truthfulness appeared in +this that, though powerful in argument, he did not argue for victory. +When he felt the force of what was urged against him, his admissions +were candid. Thus people came to respect his character, with its high +sense of duty, its simplicity, its uprightness, its earnest devotion +to an ideal, even more than they admired his intellectual powers. I +remember one friend of my own, himself eminent in undergraduate +Oxford, and belonging to another college, between which and Green's +there existed much rivalry, who, having been defeated by Green in +competition for a University prize, said, "If it had been any one +else, I should have been vexed, but I don't mind being beaten by a man +I respect so much." My friend knew Green very slightly, and had been +at one time strongly prejudiced against him by rumours of his +heterodox opinions. + +So much for those undergraduate days on which recollection loves to +dwell, but which were not days of unmixed happiness to Green, for his +means were narrow and the future rose cloudy before him. When anxiety +was removed by the income which a fellowship secured, he still +hesitated as to his course in life. At one time he thought of +journalism, or of seeking a post in the Education Office. More +frequently his thoughts turned to the clerical profession. His +theological opinions would not have permitted him to enter the +service of the Church of England, but he did seriously consider +whether he should become a Unitarian minister. It was not till he +found that his college needed him as a teacher that these difficulties +came to an end. Similarly he had doubted whether to devote himself to +history, to theology, or to metaphysics. For history he had +unquestionable gifts. With no exceptional capacity for mastering or +retaining facts, he had a remarkable power of penetrating at once to +the dominant facts, of grasping their connection, and working out +their consequences. He had also a keen sense of the dramatic aspect of +events, and a turn, not unlike Carlyle's, partly perhaps formed on +Carlyle, of fastening on the details in which character shows itself, +and illumining narrative by personal touches. On the problems of +theology he had meditated even at school, and after taking his degree +he set himself to a systematic study of the German critics, and I +remember that when we were living together at Heidelberg he had begun +to prepare a translation of C. F. Baur's principal treatise. As he +worked slowly, the translation was never finished. Though not +professing to be an adherent of the Tübingen school, he had been +fascinated by Baur's ingenuity and constructive power. + +Ultimately he settled down to metaphysical and ethical inquiries, and +devoted to these the last thirteen years of his life. During his +undergraduate years the two intellectual forces most powerful at +Oxford had been the writings of J. H. Newman in the religious sphere, +though their influence was already past its meridian, and the writings +of John Stuart Mill in the sphere of logic and philosophy. By neither +of these, save in the way of antagonism, had Green been influenced. He +heartily hated all the Utilitarian school, and had an especial scorn +for Buckle, who, now almost forgotten, enjoyed in those days, as being +supposed to be a philosophic historian, a brief term of popularity. +Green had been led by Carlyle to the Germans, and his philosophic +thinking was determined chiefly by Kant and Hegel, more perhaps by the +former than by the latter, for it was always upon ethical rather than +upon purely metaphysical problems that his mind was bent. His +religious vein and his hold upon practical life made him more +interested in morals than in abstract speculation. Thus he became the +leader in Oxford of a new philosophic school which looked to Kant as +its master, and which for a time, partly perhaps because it +effectively attacked the school of Mill, received the adhesion of some +among the most thoughtful of the younger High Churchmen. Like Kant, he +set himself to answer David Hume, and the essay prefixed to his +edition of Hume's _Treatise on Human Nature_. along with his +_Prolegomena to Ethics_, are the only books in which his doctrines +have been given to the world, for he did not live to write the more +systematic exposition he had planned. These two essays are hard +reading, for his philosophical style was usually technical, and +sometimes verged on obscurity. But when he wrote on less abstruse +matters he was intelligible as well as weighty, full of thought, and +with an occasional underglow of restrained eloquence. The force of +character and convictions makes itself felt through the language. + +His mind, though constructive, was not, having regard to its general +power, either fertile or versatile. Like most of those who prefer +solitary musings to the commerce of men, he had little facility, and +found it hard to express his thoughts in any other words than those +into which his musings had first flowed. Thus even his oral teaching +was not easy to follow. An anecdote was current how when one day he +had been explaining to a small class his theory of the origin of our +ideas, the class listened in rapt attention to his forcible rhetoric, +admiring each sentence as it fell, and thinking that all their +difficulties were being removed. When he ended they expressed their +gratitude for the pleasure he had given them, and were quitting the +room, when one, halting at the door, said timidly, "But, Mr. Green, +what did you say was really the origin of our ideas?" However, +whether they were or were not capable of assimilating his doctrines, +his pupils all joined in their respect for him. They felt the +loftiness of his character, they recognised the fervour of his belief. +He was the most powerful ethical influence, and perhaps also the most +stimulative intellectual influence, that in those years played upon +the minds of the ablest youth of the University. But it was a singular +fact, which those who have never lived in Oxford or Cambridge may find +it hard to understand, that when he rose from the post of a college +tutor to that of a University professor, his influence declined, not +that his powers or his earnestness waned, but because as a professor +he had fewer auditors and less personal relation with them than he had +commanded as a college teacher. Such is the working of the collegiate +system in Oxford, curiously unfortunate when it deprives the ablest +men, as they rise naturally to the highest positions, of the +opportunities for usefulness they had previously enjoyed. + +As his powers developed and came to be recognised, so did those slight +asperities which had been observed in undergraduate days soften down +and disappear. Though he lived a retired life, his work brought him +into contact with a good many people, and he became more genial in +general company. I remember his saying with a smile when I had lured +him into Wales for a short excursion, "I don't know whether it is a +sign of declining virtue, but I find as I grow older that I am less +and less fond of my own company." From the first he had won the +confidence and affection of his pupils. Many of them used long +afterwards to say that his conduct and his teaching had been the one +great example or one great influence they had found and felt in +Oxford. The unclouded happiness of his married life made it easier for +him to see the bright side of things, and he could not but enjoy the +sense that the seed he sowed was falling on ground fit to receive it. +Even when ill-health had fastened on him, and was checking both his +studies and his public work, it did not affect the evenness of his +temper nor sharpen the edge of his judgments of others. In earlier +days these had been sometimes austere, though expressed in temperate +and measured terms. + +I must not forget to add that although Green's opinions were by no +means orthodox, the influence he exerted while he remained a college +tutor was in large measure a religious influence. As the clergyman +used to be in the English Universities less of a clergyman than he was +anywhere else, so conversely it caused no surprise there that a lay +teacher should concern himself with the religious life of his pupils. +Green, however, did more, for he on two occasions at least delivered +to his pupils, before the celebration of the communion in the college +chapel, addresses which were afterwards privately printed, and which +present his view of the relations of ethics and religion in a way +impressive even to those who may find it hard to follow the +philosophical argument. + +Metaphysicians are generally as little interested in practical +politics as poets are, and not better suited for political life. Green +was a remarkable exception. Politics were in a certain sense the +strongest of his interests. To him metaphysics were not only the basis +of theology, but also the basis of politics. Everything was to +converge on the free life of the individual in a free State; rational +faith and reason inspired by emotion were to have their perfect work +in making the good citizen. + +His interest in politics was perhaps less active in later years than +it had been in his youth, but his principles stood unchanged. He was a +thoroughgoing Liberal, or what used to be called a Radical, full of +faith in the people, an advocate of pretty nearly every measure that +tended to democratise English institutions, a friend of peace and of +non-intervention. In our days he would have been called a Little +Englander, for though his ideal of national life was lofty, the +wellbeing of the masses was to him a more essential part of that ideal +than any extension of territory or power. He once said that he would +rather see the flag of England trailed in the dirt than add sixpence +to the taxes that weigh upon the poor. In foreign politics Louis +Napoleon, as the corrupter of France and the disturber of Europe, was +his favourite aversion; in home politics, Lord Palmerston, as the +chief obstacle to parliamentary reform. The statesman whom he most +admired and trusted was Mr. Bright. A strong sense of civic duty led +him to enter the City Council of Oxford, although he could ill spare +from his study and his lecture-room the time which the discharge of +municipal duties required. He was the first tutor who had ever offered +himself to a ward for election. The townsfolk, between whom and the +University there had generally been little love, the former thinking +themselves looked down upon by the latter, warmly appreciated his +action in coming out of his seclusion to help them, and his influence +in the Council contributed to secure some useful reforms, among +others, the establishment of a "grammar" or secondary school for the +city. + +One of the last things he wrote was a short pamphlet on freedom of +contract, intended to justify the interference with bargains between +landlord and tenant which was proposed by Mr. Gladstone's Irish Land +Bill of 1881. It is a vigorous piece of reasoning, which may still be +read with interest in respect of its application of philosophical +principles to a political controversy. Had he desired it he might have +gone to the House of Commons as member for the city of Oxford. But he +had found in the Council a field for local public work, and apart from +his constitutional indolence and his declining health, he had +concluded that his first duty lay in expounding his philosophical +system. + +Green will be long remembered in the English Universities as the +strongest force in the sphere of ethical philosophy that they have +seen in the second half of the nineteenth century, and remembered also +as a singular instance of a metaphysician with a bent towards politics +and practical life, no less than as a thinker far removed from +orthodoxy who exerted over orthodox Christians a potent and inspiring +religious influence. + +----- + + [18] As I have referred to the American Civil War, it is worth adding + that there were no places in England where the varying fortunes + of that tremendous struggle were followed with a more intense + interest than in Oxford and Cambridge, and none in which so + large a proportion of the educated class sympathised with the + cause of the North. Mr. Goldwin Smith led the section which + took that view, and which included three-fourths of the best + talent in Oxford. Among the younger men Green was the most + conspicuous for his ardour on behalf of the principles of human + equality and freedom. He followed and watched every move in the + military game. No Massachusetts Abolitionist welcomed the fall + of Vicksburg with a keener joy. He used to say that the whole + future of humanity was involved in the triumph of the Federal + arms. + + + + +ARCHBISHOP TAIT[19] + + +England is now the only Protestant country in which bishops retain +some relics of the dignity and influence which belonged to the +episcopal office during the Middle Ages. Even in Roman Catholic +countries they have been sadly shorn of their ancient importance, +though the prelates of Hungary still hold vast possessions, while +in France, or Spain, or the Catholic parts of Germany a man of eminent +talents and energy may occasionally use his official position to +become, through his influence over Catholic electors or Catholic +deputies, a considerable political factor. This happens even in +the United States and Canada, though in the United States the +general feeling that religion must be kept out of politics obliges +ecclesiastics to use their spiritual powers cautiously and sparingly. +England stands alone in the fact that although the Protestant +Episcopal Church is, in so far as she is established by law, the +creature and subject of the State, she is nevertheless so far +independent as a religious organisation that she retains a greater +power than in other Protestant nations. State establishment, though it +may have depressed, has not stifled her ecclesiastical life, and an +interest in ecclesiastical questions is shown by a larger proportion +of her laity than one finds in Germany or the Scandinavian kingdoms. A +man of shining parts has, as an English bishop, a wide field of +action and influence open to him outside the sphere of theology or +of purely official duty. And the opportunities of the position +attain their maximum when he reaches the primatial chair of +Canterbury, which is now the oldest and the most dignified of all the +metropolitan sees in countries that have accepted the Reformation of +the sixteenth century. + +Ever since there was a bishop at Canterbury at all, that is to say, +ever since the conversion of the English began in the seventh +century of our era, the holder of that see has been the greatest +ecclesiastical personage in these islands, with a recognised +authority over all England, as well as an influence and dignity to +which, in the Middle Ages, the Archbishops of Armagh and St. Andrews +(primates of the Irish and Scottish Churches) practically bowed, +even while refusing to admit his legal supremacy. To be the most +highly placed and officially the most powerful man in the churches of +Britain, in days when the Church was better organised, and in some +ways stronger, than the State, meant a vast deal. The successor of +Augustine was often called a Pope of his own world--that world of +Britain which lay apart from the larger world of the European +continent. Down to the Reformation, the English primates possessed a +power which made some of them almost a match for the English kings. +Dunstan, Lanfranc, Anselm, Thomas (Becket), Hubert, Stephen Langton, +Arundel, Warham, were among the foremost statesmen of their time. +After Henry VIII.'s breach with Rome, the Primate of England +received some access of dignity in becoming independent of the +Pope; but, in reality, the loss of church power and church wealth +which the Reformation caused lowered his political importance. In +the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, however, there were still +some conspicuous and influential prelates at Canterbury--Cranmer, +Pole, Whitgift, and Laud the best remembered among them. After the +Revolution of 1688, a time of smaller men begins. The office +retained its dignity as the highest place open to a subject, ranking +above the Lord Chancellor or the Lord President of the Council, but +the Church of England, having no fightings within, nor anything to +fear from without, was lapped in placid ease, so it mattered +comparatively little who her chief pastor was. + +Bishoprics were in those days regarded chiefly as pieces of rich +preferment with which prime ministers bought the support of powerful +adherents. But since the middle of the nineteenth century, as the +Anglican Church has become at once more threatened and more energetic, +as more of the life of the nation has flowed into her and round her, +the office of a bishop has risen in importance. People show more +interest in the appointments to be made, and ministers have become +proportionately careful in making them. Bishops work harder and are +more in the public eye now than they were eighty, or even fifty, years +ago. They have lost something of the antique dignity and social +consideration which they enjoyed. They no longer wear wigs or ride in +State coaches. They may be seen in third-class railway carriages, or +sitting on the tops of omnibuses. But they have gained by having +countless opportunities opened up to them for exerting influence in +philanthropic as well as in religious movements; and the more zealous +among them turn these opportunities to excellent account. + +Whatever is true of an ordinary bishop is true _a fortiori_ of the +Archbishop of Canterbury. He is still a great personage, but he is +great in a new way, with less of wealth and power but larger +opportunities of influence. He is also a kind of Pope in a new way, +because he is the central figure of the Anglican communion over the +whole world, with no legal jurisdiction outside England (except in +India), but far over-topping all the prelates of that communion in the +United States or the British Colonies. Less deference is paid to the +office, considered simply as an office, than it received in the Middle +Ages, because society and thought have been tinged by the spirit of +democratic equality, and people realise that offices are only +artificial creations, whose occupants are human beings like +themselves. But if he is himself a man of ability and force, he may +make his headship of an ancient and venerated church a vantage-ground +whence to address the nation as well as the members of his own +communion. He is sure of being listened to, which is of itself no +small matter in a country where many voices are striving to make +themselves heard at the same time. The world takes his words into +consideration; the newspapers repeat them. His position gives him easy +access to the ministers of the Crown, and implies a confidential +intercourse with the Crown itself. He is, or can be, "in touch" with +all the political figures who can in any way influence the march of +events, and is able to enforce his views upon them. All his conduct is +watched by the nation; so that if it is discreet, provident, animated +by high and consistent principle, he gets full credit for whatever he +does well, and acquires that influence to which masses of men are +eager to bow whenever they can persuade themselves that it is +deserved. During the first half of the nineteenth century the English +people was becoming more interested in ecclesiastical and in +theological matters than it had been during the century preceding. It +grew by slow degrees more inclined to observe ecclesiastical persons, +to read and think about theological subjects, to reflect upon the +relations which the Church ought to bear to civil life and moral +progress. Thus a leader of the Church of England became relatively a +more important factor than he had been a century ago, and an +archbishop, strong by his character, rectitude, and powers of +utterance, rose to occupy a more influential, if not more conspicuous, +position than his predecessors in the days of the Georges had done. + +These changes naturally made the selection of an archbishop a more +delicate and troublesome business than it was in those good old days. +Nobody then blamed a Prime Minister for preferring an aspirant who had +the support of powerful political connections. Blameless in life he +must be: even the eighteenth century demanded that from candidates for +English, if not, according to Dean Swift, for Irish sees. If he was +also a man of courtly grace and dignity, and a finished scholar, so +much the better. If he was a man of piety, that also was well. By the +time of Queen Victoria the possession of piety and of gifts of speech +had become more important qualifications, but the main thing was +tactful moderation. Even in apostolic days it was required that a +bishop should rule his own house well, and the Popes esteemed most +saintly have not always been the best, as the famous case of Celestine +the Fifth attests. An archbishop must first and foremost be a discreet +and guarded man, expressing few opinions, and those not extreme ones. +His chief virtue came to be, if not the purely negative one of +offending no section by expressing the distinctive views of any other, +yet that of swerving so little from the _via media_ between Rome and +Geneva that neither the Tractarian party, who began to be feared after +1837, nor the pronounced Low Churchmen could claim the Primate as +disposed to favour their opinions. In the case of ordinary bishops the +plan could be adopted, and has since the days of Lord Palmerston been +mostly followed, of giving every party its turn, while choosing from +every party men of the safer sort. This method, however, was less +applicable to the See of Canterbury, for a man on whose action much +might turn could not well be taken from any particular section. The +acts and words of a Primate, who is expected to "give a line" to the +clergy generally and to speak on behalf of the bench of bishops as a +whole, are so closely scrutinised that he must be prudent and wary, +yet not so wary as to seem timid. He ought to be both firm and suave, +conciliatory and decided. That he may do justice to all sections of +the Church of England, he ought not to be an avowed partisan of any. +Yet he must be able and eminent, and of course able and eminent men +are apt to throw themselves into some one line of action or set of +views, and so come to be considered partisans. The position which the +Archbishop of Canterbury holds as the representative in Parliament of +the whole Established Church, makes statesmanship the most important +of all qualifications. Learning, energy, eloquence, piety would none +of them, nor all of them together, make up for the want of calmness +and wisdom. Yet all those qualities are obviously desirable, because +they strengthen as well as adorn the primate's position. + +Archibald Campbell Tait (born in Scotland in 1811, died 1882) was +educated at Glasgow University and at Balliol College, Oxford; worked +at his college for some years as a tutor, succeeded Dr. Arnold as +headmaster of Rugby School in 1843, became Dean of Carlisle and then +Bishop of London, and was translated to Canterbury in 1868. It has +been generally understood that Mr. Disraeli, then Prime Minister, +suggested another prelate for the post, but the Queen, who did not +share her minister's estimate of that prelate, expressed a preference +for Tait. Her choice was amply justified, for Tait united, and indeed +possessed in a high degree, the qualifications which have just been +enumerated. He was, if it be not a paradox to say so, more remarkable +as an archbishop than as a man. He had no original power as a thinker. +He was not a striking preacher, and the more pains he took with his +sermons the less interesting did they become. He was so far from being +learned that you could say no more of him than that he was a sound +scholar and a well-informed man. He was deeply and earnestly pious, +but in a quiet, almost dry way, which lacked what is called unction, +though it impressed those who were in close contact with him. He +showed slight interest either in the historical or in the speculative +side of theology. Though a good headmaster, he was not a stimulating +teacher. Had he remained all his life in a subordinate position, as a +college tutor at Oxford, or as canon of some cathedral, he would have +discharged the duties of the position in a thoroughly satisfactory +way, and would have acquired influence among his colleagues, but no +one would have felt that Fate had dealt unfairly with him in depriving +him of some larger career and loftier post. No one, indeed, who knew +him when he was a college tutor seems to have predicted the dignities +he was destined to attain, although he had shown in the theological +strife that then raged at Oxford the courage and independence of his +character. + +In what, then, did the secret of his success lie--the secret, that is, +of his acquitting himself so excellently in those dignities as to have +become almost a model to his own and the next generation of what an +Archbishop of Canterbury ought to be? In the statesmanlike quality of +his mind. He had not merely moderation, but what, though often +confounded with moderation, is something rarer and better, a steady +balance of mind. He was carried about by no winds of doctrine. He +seldom yielded to impulses, and was never so seduced by any one theory +as to lose sight of other views and conditions which had to be +regarded. He was, I think, the first man of Scottish birth who ever +rose to be Primate of England, and he had the cautious self-restraint +which is deemed characteristic of his nation. He knew how to be +dignified without assumption, firm without vehemence, prudent without +timidity, judicious without coldness. He was, above all things, a +singularly just man, who recognised every one's rights, and did not +seek to overbear them by an exercise of authority. He was as ready to +listen to his opponents as to his friends. Indeed, he so held himself +as to appear to have no opponents, but to be rather a judge before +whom different advocates were stating their respective cases, than a +leader seeking to make his own views or his own party prevail. Genial +he could hardly be called, for there was little warmth, little display +of emotion, in his manner; and the clergy noted, at least in his +earlier episcopal days, a touch of the headmaster in his way of +receiving them. But he was simple and kindly, capable of seeing the +humorous side of things, desiring to believe the good rather than the +evil, and to lead people instead of driving them. With all his caution +he was direct and straightforward, saying no more than was necessary, +but saying nothing he had occasion to be ashamed of. He sometimes made +mistakes, but they were not mistakes of the heart, and, being free +from vanity or self-conceit, he was willing in his quiet way to admit +them and to alter his course accordingly. So his character by degrees +gained upon the nation, and so even ecclesiastical partisanship, +proverbially more bitter than political, because it springs from +deeper wells of feeling, grew to respect and spare him. The influence +he obtained went far to strengthen the position of the Established +Church, and to keep its several parties from breaking out into more +open hostility with one another. He himself inclined to what might be +called a moderate Broad Church attitude, leaning more to Evangelical +than to Tractarian or Romanising views in matters of doctrine. At one +time the extreme High Churchmen regarded him as an enemy. But this +unfriendliness had almost died away when the death of his wife and his +only son (a young man of singularly winning character), followed by +his own long illness, stilled the voices of criticism. + +He exerted great influence in the House of Lords by his tact, by his +firmness of character, and by the consistency of his public course, as +well as by powers of speech, which, matured by long practice, had +risen to a high level. Without eloquence, without either imagination +or passion, which are the chief elements in eloquence, he had a grave, +weighty, thoughtful style which impressed that fastidious audience. +His voice was strong and sonorous, his diction plain yet pure and +dignified, his matter well considered. His thought moved on a high +plane; he spoke as one who fully believed every word he said. The late +Bishop of Winchester, the famous Dr. Samuel Wilberforce, was +incomparably his superior not only as a talker but as an orator, but +no less inferior in his power over the House of Lords, for so little +does rhetorical brilliance count in a critical and practical assembly. +Next to courage, the quality which gains trust and regard in a +deliberative body is that which is familiarly described when it is +said of a man, "You always know where to find him." Tait belonged to +no party. But his principles, though not rigid, were fixed and +settled; his words and votes were the expression of his principles. + +The presence of bishops in the House of Lords is disapproved by some +sections of English opinion, and there are those among the temporal +peers who, quite apart from any political feeling, are said to regard +them with little favour. But every one must admit that they have +raised and adorned the debates in that chamber. Besides Tait and +Wilberforce, two other prelates of the same generation stood in the +front rank of speakers, Dr. Magee, whose wit and fire would have found +a more fitting theatre in the House of Commons, and Dr. Thirlwall, a +scholar and historian whose massive intellect and stately diction were +too rarely used to raise great political issues above the dust-storms +of party controversy. + +Perhaps no Archbishop since the Revolution of 1688 has exercised so +much influence as Dr. Tait, and certainly none within living memory is +so well entitled to be credited with a definite ecclesiastical policy. +His aim was to widen the bounds of the Church of England, so far as +the law could, without evasion, be stretched for that purpose. He bore +a leading part in obtaining an Act of Parliament which introduced a +new and less strict form of clerical subscription. He realised that +the Church of England can maintain her position as a State Church +only by adapting herself to the movements of opinion, and accordingly +he voted for the Divorce Bill of 1859, and for the Burials Bill, which +relieved Dissenters from a grievance that exposed the Established +Church to odium. The Irish Church Disestablishment Bill of 1869 threw +upon him, at the critical moment when it went from the House of +Commons, where it had passed by a large majority, to the House of +Lords, where a still larger majority was hostile, a duty delicate in +itself, and such as seldom falls to the lot of a prelate. The Queen +wrote to him suggesting that he should endeavour to effect a +compromise between Mr. Gladstone, then head of the Liberal Ministry, +and the leading Tory peers who were opposing the Bill. He conducted +the negotiation with tact and judgment, and succeeded in securing good +pecuniary terms for the Protestant Episcopal Establishment. Though he +had joined in the Letter of the Bishops which conveyed their strong +disapproval of the book called _Essays and Reviews_ (whose supposed +heretical tendencies roused such a storm in 1861), and had thereby +displeased his friends, Temple (afterwards archbishop), Jowett, and +Stanley,[20] he joined in the judgment of the Privy Council which in +1863 dismissed the charges against the impugned Essayists. Despite his +advocacy of the Bill which in 1874 provided a new procedure to be used +against clergymen transgressing the ritual prescribed by law, he +discouraged prosecutions, and did his utmost to keep Ritualists as +well as moderate Rationalists within the pale of the Church of +England. He did not succeed--no one could have succeeded, even though +he had spoken with the tongues of men and of angels--in stilling +ecclesiastical strife. The controversies of his days still rage, +though in a slightly different form. But in refusing to yield to the +pressure of any section, in regarding the opinion of the laity rather +than that of the clergy, in keeping close to the law yet giving it the +widest possible interpretation, he laid down the lines on which the +Anglican Established Church can best be defended and upheld. That she +will last, as an Establishment, for any very long time, will hardly be +expected by those who mark the direction in which thought tends to +move all over the civilised world. But Tait's policy and personality +have counted for something in prolonging the time-honoured connection +of the Anglican Church with the English State. + +Perhaps a doubtful service either to the Church or to the State. Yet +even those who regret the connection, and who, surveying the long +course of Christian history from the days of the Emperor Constantine +down to our own, believe that the Christian Church would have been +spiritually purer and morally more effective had she never become +either the mistress or the servant or the ally of the State, but +relied on her divine commission only, may wish that, when the day +arrives for the ancient bond to be unloosed, it should be unloosed not +through an embittered political struggle, but because the general +sentiment of the nation, and primarily of religious men throughout the +nation, has come to approve the change. + +----- + + [19] An admirable life of Archbishop Tait by his son-in-law, Dr. R. T. + Davidson (now Archbishop of Canterbury), and Canon Benham + appeared in 1891. + + [20] They thought his public action scarcely consistent with the + language he had used to Temple in private. + + + + +ANTHONY TROLLOPE[21] + + +When Mr. Anthony Trollope died (December 11, 1882) at the age of +sixty-seven, he was the best known of our English writers of fiction, +and stood foremost among them if the double test of real merit and +wide popularity be applied. Some writers, such as Wilkie Collins, may +have commanded a larger sale. One writer at least, Mr. George +Meredith, had produced work of far deeper insight and higher +imaginative power. But the gifts of Mr. Meredith had then scarcely +begun to win recognition, and not one reader knew his name for five +who knew Trollope's. So Mr. Thomas Hardy had published what many +continue to think his two best stories, but they had not yet caught +the eye of the general public. Mrs. Oliphant, high as was the general +level of her work, and inexhaustible as her fertility appeared, had +not cut her name so deep upon the time as Trollope did. Everything she +did was good, nothing superlatively good. No one placed Trollope in +the first rank of creative novelists beside Dickens or Thackeray, or +beside George Eliot, who had died two years before. But in the second +rank he stood high; and though other novelists may have had as many +readers as he, none was in so many ways representative of the general +character and spirit of English fiction. He had established his +reputation nearly thirty years before, when Thackeray and Dickens were +still in the fulness of their fame; and had maintained it during the +zenith of George Eliot's. For more than a generation his readers had +come from the best-educated classes as well as from those who lack +patience or taste for anything heavier than a story of adventure. In +this respect he stood above Miss Braddon, Mrs. Henry Wood, Ouida, and +other heroines of the circulating libraries, and also above such more +artistic or less sensational writers as William Black, Walter Besant, +James Payn, and Whyte Melville. (The school of so-called realistic +fiction had scarcely begun to appear.) None of these had, like +Trollope, succeeded in making their creations a part of the common +thought of cultivated Englishmen; none had, like him, given us +characters which we treat as typical men and women, and discuss at a +dinner-table as though they were real people. Mrs. Proudie, for +instance, the Bishop of Barchester's wife, to take the most obvious +instance (though not that most favourable to Trollope, for he produced +better portraits than hers), or Archdeacon Grantly, was when Trollope +died as familiar a name to English men and women between sixty and +thirty years of age as Wilkins Micawber, or Blanche Amory, or Rosamond +Lydgate. There was no other living novelist of whose personages the +same could be said, and perhaps none since has attained this +particular kind of success. + +Personally, Anthony Trollope was a bluff, genial, hearty, vigorous +man, typically English in his face, his talk, his ideas, his tastes. +His large eyes, which looked larger behind his large spectacles, were +full of good-humoured life and force; and though he was neither witty +nor brilliant in conversation, he was what is called very good +company, having travelled widely, known all sorts of people, and +formed views, usually positive views, on all the subjects of the day, +views which he was prompt to declare and maintain. There was not much +novelty in them--you were disappointed not to find so clever a writer +more original--but they were worth listening to for their solid +common-sense, tending rather to commonplace sense, and you enjoyed the +ardour with which he threw himself into a discussion. Though +boisterous and insistent in his talk, he was free from assumption or +conceit, and gave the impression of liking the world he lived in, and +being satisfied with his own place in it. Neither did one observe in +him that erratic turn which is commonly attributed to literary men. He +was a steady and regular worker, who rose every morning between five +and six to turn out a certain quantity of copy for the printer before +breakfast, enjoying his work, and fond of his own characters--indeed +he declared that he filled his mind with them and saw them moving +before him--yet composing a novel just as other people might compose +tables of statistics. These methodical habits were to some extent due +to his training as a clerk in the Post Office, where he spent the +earlier half of his working life, having retired in 1864. He did not +neglect his duties there, even when occupied in writing, and claimed +to have been the inventor of the pillar letter-box. It was probably in +his tours as an inspector of postal deliveries that he obtained that +knowledge of rural life which gives reality to his pictures of country +society. He turned his Civil Service experiences to account in some of +his stories, giving faithful and characteristic sketches, in _The +Three Clerks_ and _The Small House at Allington_, of different types +of Government officials, a class which is much more of a class in +England than it is in America, though less of a class than it is in +Germany or France. His favourite amusement was hunting, as readers of +his novels know, and until his latest years he might have been seen, +though a heavy weight, following the hounds in Essex once or twice a +week. + +When E. A. Freeman wrote a magazine article denouncing the cruelty of +field sports, Trollope replied, defending the amusement he loved. Some +one said it was a collision of two rough diamonds. But the end was +that Freeman invited Trollope to come and stay with him at Wells, and +they became great friends. + +Like most of his literary contemporaries, he was a politician, and +indeed a pretty keen one. He once contested in the Liberal interest--in +those days literary men were mostly Liberals--the borough of Beverley in +Yorkshire, a corrupt little place, where bribery proved too strong +for him. It was thereafter disfranchised as a punishment for its +misdeeds; and his costly experiences doubtless suggested the clever +electioneering sketches in the story of _Ralph the Heir_. Thackeray +also was once a Liberal candidate. He stood for the city of Oxford, and +the story was current there for years afterwards how the freemen of +the borough (not an exemplary class of voters) rose to an unwonted +height of virtue by declaring that though they did not understand his +speeches or know who he was, they would vote for him, expecting +nothing, because he was a friend of Mr. Neate's. Trollope showed his +continued interest in public affairs by appearing on the platform at +the great meeting in St. James's Hall in December 1876, which was the +beginning of a vehement party struggle over the Eastern Question that +only ended at the general election of 1880. He was a direct and +forcible speaker, who would have made his way had he entered +Parliament. But as he had no practical experience of politics either in +the House of Commons or as a working member of a party organisation in +a city where contests are keen, the pictures of political life which are +so frequent in his later tales have not much flavour of reality. They +are sketches obviously taken from the outside. Very rarely do even the +best writers of fiction succeed in reproducing any special and +peculiar kind of life and atmosphere. Of the various stories that +purport to describe what goes on in the English Parliament, none +gives to those who know the social conditions and habits of the place +an impression of truth to nature, and the same has often been +remarked with regard to tales of English University life. Trollope, +however, with his quick eye for the superficial aspects of any +society, might have described the House of Commons admirably had he +sat in it himself. He was fond of travel, and between 1862 and 1880 +visited the United States, the West Indies, Australia and New +Zealand, and South Africa, about all of which he wrote books which, if +hardly of permanent value, were fresh, vigorous, and eminently +readable, conveying a definite and generally correct impression of the +more obvious social and economic phenomena he found then existing. +His account of the United States, for instance, is excellent, and did +something to make the Americans forgive the asperity with which his +mother had described her experiences there many years before. +Trollope's travel sketches are as much superior in truthfulness to +Froude's descriptions of the same regions as they are inferior in the +allurements of style. + +The old classification of novels, based on the two most necessary +elements of a drama, divided them into novels of plot and novels of +character. To these we have of late years added novels of incident +or adventure, novels of conversation, novels of manners, not to +speak of "novels with a purpose," which are sermons or pamphlets +in disguise. No one doubted to which of these categories Trollope's +work should be referred. There was in his stories as little plot as a +story can well have. The conversations never beamed with humour like +that of Scott, nor glittered with aphorisms like those of George +Meredith. The incidents carried the reader pleasantly along, but +seldom surprised him by any ingenuity of contrivance. Character there +was, and, indeed, great fertility in the creation of character, for +there is hardly one of the tales in which three or four at least +of the personages do not stand out as people whom you would know +again if you met them years after. But the conspicuous merit of +Trollope's novels, in the eyes of his own countrymen, is their +value as pictures of contemporary manners. Here he may claim to +have been surpassed by no writer of his own generation. Dickens, with +all his great and splendid gifts, did not describe the society he +lived in. His personages were too unusual and peculiar to speak and +act and think like the ordinary men and women of the nineteenth +century; nor would a foreigner, however much he might enjoy the +exuberant humour and dramatic power with which they are presented, +learn from them much about the ways and habits of the average +Englishman. The everyday life to which the stories are most true +is the life of the lower middle class in London; and some one has +observed that although this class changes less quickly than the +classes above it, it is already unlike that which Dickens saw when +in the 'thirties he was a police-court reporter. Critics have, +indeed, said that Dickens was too great a painter to be a good +photographer, but the two arts are not incompatible, as appears +from the skill with which Walter Scott, for instance, portrayed the +peasantry of his own country in _The Antiquary_. Thackeray, again, +though he has described certain sections of the upper or upper +middle class with far more power and delicacy than Trollope ever +reached, does not go beyond those sections, and has little to tell us +about the middle class generally, still less about the classes +beneath them. Trollope was thoroughly at home in the English middle +class and also (though less perfectly) in the upper class; and his +pictures are all the more true to life because there is not that vein +of stern or cynical reflection which runs through Thackeray, and makes +us think less of the story than of the moral. Trollope usually has a +moral, but it is so obvious, so plainly and quietly put, that it does +not distract attention from the minor incidents and little touches +of every day which render the sketches lifelike. If even his +best-drawn characters are not far removed from the commonplace +this helps to make them fairly represent the current habits and +notions of their time. They are the same people we meet in the street +or at a dinner-party; and they are mostly seen under no more +exciting conditions than those of a hunting meet, or a lawn-tennis +match, or an afternoon tea. They are flirting or talking for effect, +or scheming for some petty temporary end; they are not under the +influence of strong passions, or forced into striking situations, +like the leading characters in Charlotte Brontë's or George Eliot's +novels; and for this reason again they represent faithfully the +ordinary surface of English upper and upper middle class society: +its prejudices, its little pharisaisms and hypocrisies, its +snobbishness, its worship of conventionalities, its aloofness from or +condescension to those whom it deems below its own level; and +therewith also its public spirit, its self-helpfulness, its +neighbourliness, its respect for honesty and straightforwardness, +its easy friendliness of manner towards all who stand within the +sacred pale of social recognition. Nor, again, has any one more +skilfully noted and set down those transient tastes and fashions +which are, so to speak, the trimmings of the dress, and which, +transient though they are, and quickly forgotten by contemporaries, +will have an interest for one who, a century or two hence, feels the +same curiosity about our manners as we feel about those of the +subjects of King George the Third. That Trollope will be read at +all fifty years after his death one may hesitate to predict, +considering how comparatively few in the present generation read +Richardson, or Fielding, or Miss Edgeworth, or Charlotte Brontë, and +how much reduced is the number of those who read even Walter Scott +and Thackeray. But whoever does read Trollope in 1930 will gather +from his pages better than from any others an impression of what +everyday life was like in England in the "middle Victorian" period. +The aspects of that life were already, when his latest books were +written, beginning to change, and the features he drew are fast +receding into history. Even the clergy of 1852-1862 are no longer, +except in quiet country districts, the same as the clergy we now see. + +People have often compared the personal impressions which eminent +writers make on those who talk to them with the impressions previously +derived from their works. Thomas Carlyle and Robert Browning used to +be taken as two instances representing opposite extremes. Carlyle +always talked in character: had there been phonographs in his days, +the phonographed "record" might have been printed as part of one of +his books. Browning, on the other hand, seemed unlike what his poems +had made a reader expect: it was only after a long _tête-à-tête_ with +him that the poet whose mind had been learned through his works stood +revealed. Trollope at first caused a similar though less marked +surprise. This bluff burly man did not seem the kind of person who +would trace with a delicate touch the sunlight sparkling on, or a gust +of temper ruffling, the surface of a youthful soul in love. Upon +further knowledge one perceived that the features of Trollope's +talent, facile invention, quick observation, and a strong common-sense +view of things, with little originality or intensity, were really the +dominant features of his character as expressed in talk. Still, though +the man was more of a piece with his books than he had seemed, one +could never quite recognise in him the delineator of Lily Dale. + +As a painter of manners he recalls two of his predecessors--one +greater, one less great than himself. In his limitations and in his +fidelity to the aspects of daily life as he saw them, he resembles +Miss Austen. He is inferior to her in delicacy of portraiture, in +finish, in atmosphere. No two of his books can be placed on a level +with _Emma_ and _Persuasion_. On the other hand, while he has done for +the years 1850-1870 what Miss Burney did for 1770-1790, most critics +will place him above her both in fertility and in naturalness. Her +characters are apt either to want colour, like the heroines of +_Evelina_ and _Cecilia_, or to be so exaggerated, like Mr. Briggs and +Miss Larolles, as to approach the grotesque. Trollope is a realist in +the sense of being, in all but a few of his books, on the lines of +normal humanity, though he is seldom strong enough to succeed, when he +pierces down to the bed-rock of human nature, in rendering the primal +passions either solemn or terrible. Like Miss Austen, he attains +actuality by observation rather than by imagination, hardly ever +entering the sphere of poetry. + +His range was not wide, for he could not present either grand +characters or tragical situations, any more than he could break out +into the splendid humour of Dickens. His wings never raised him far +above the level floor of earth. But within that limited range he had +surprising fertility. His clerical portrait-gallery is the most +complete that any English novelist has given us. No two faces are +exactly alike, and yet all are such people as one might see any day in +the pulpit. So, again, there is scarcely one of his stories in which a +young lady is not engaged, formally or practically, to two men at the +same time, or one man more or less committed to two women; yet no +story repeats exactly the situation, or raises the problem of honour +and duty in quite the same form as it appears in the stories that went +before. Few people who have written so much have so little appeared to +be exhausting their invention. + +It must, however, be admitted that Trollope's fame might have stood +higher if he had written less. The public which had been delighted +with his earlier groups of novels, and especially with that group in +which _The Warden_ comes first and _Barchester Towers_ second, began +latterly to tire of what they had come to deem the mannerisms of their +favourite, and felt that they now knew the compass of his gifts. +Partly, perhaps, because he feared to be always too like himself, he +once or twice attempted to represent more improbable situations and +exceptional personages. But the attempt was not successful. He lost +his touch of ordinary life without getting into any higher region of +poetical truth; and in his latest stories he had begun to return to +his earlier and better manner. + +New tendencies, moreover, embodying themselves in new schools, were +already beginning to appear. R. L. Stevenson as leader of the school +of adventure, Mr. Henry James as the apostle of the school of +psychological analysis, soon to be followed by Mr. Kipling with a type +of imaginative directness distinctively his own, were beginning to +lead minds and tastes into other directions. The influence of France +was more felt than it had been when Trollope began to write. And what +a contrast between Trollope's manner and that of his chief French +contemporaries, such as Octave Feuillet or Alphonse Daudet or Guy de +Maupassant! The French novelists, be their faculty of invention +greater or less, at any rate studied their characters with more care +than English writers had usually shown. The characters were fewer, +almost as few as in a classical drama; and the whole action of the +story is carefully subordinated to the development of these +characters, and the placing of them in a critical position which sets +their strength and weakness in the fullest light. There was more of a +judicious adaptation of the parts to the whole in French fiction than +in ours, and therefore more unity of impression was attained. +Trollope, no doubt, set a bad example in this respect. He crowded his +canvas with figures; he pursued the fortunes of three or four sets of +people at the same time, caring little how the fate of the one set +affected that of the others; he made his novel a sort of chronicle +which you might open anywhere and close anywhere, instead of a drama +animated by one idea and converging towards one centre. He neglected +the art which uses incidents small in themselves to lead up to the +_dénoûment_ and make it more striking. He took little pains with his +diction, seeming not to care how he said what he had to say. These +defects strike those who turn over his pages to-day. But to those who +read him in the 'fifties or 'sixties, the carelessness was redeemed +by, or forgotten in, the vivacity with which the story moved, the +freshness and faithfulness of its pictures of character and manners. + +----- + + [21] Trollope's autobiography, published in 1883, is a good specimen + of self-portraiture, candid, straightforward, and healthy, and + leaves an agreeable impression of the writer. Dr. Richard + Garnett has written well of him in the _Dictionary of National + Biography_. + + + + +JOHN RICHARD GREEN[22] + + +John Richard Green was born in Oxford on 12th December 1837, and +educated first at Magdalen College School, and afterwards, for a short +time, at a private tutor's. He was a singularly quick and bright boy, +and at sixteen obtained by competition a scholarship at Jesus College, +Oxford, where he began to reside in 1856. The members of that college +were in those days almost entirely Welshmen, and thereby somewhat cut +off from the rest of the University. They saw little of men in other +colleges, so that a man might have a reputation for ability in his own +society without gaining any in the larger world of Oxford. It so +happened with Green. Though his few intimate friends perceived his +powers, they had so little intercourse with the rest of the +University, either by way of breakfasts and wine-parties, or at the +University debating society, or in athletic sports, that he remained +unknown even to those among his contemporaries who were interested in +the same things, and would have most enjoyed his acquaintance. The +only eminent person who seems to have appreciated and influenced him +was Dean Stanley, then Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Canon +of Christ Church. Green had attended Stanley's lectures, and Stanley, +whose kindly interest in young men never failed, was struck by him, +and had some share in turning his studies towards history. He +graduated in 1860, having refused to compete for honours, because he +had not received from those who were then tutors of the college the +recognition to which he was entitled. + +In 1860 he was ordained, and became curate in London at St. Barnabas, +King's Square, whence, after two years' experience, and one or two +temporary engagements, including the sole charge of a parish in +Hoxton, he was appointed in 1865 to the incumbency of St. Philip's, +Stepney, a district church in one of the poorest parts of London, +where the vicar's income was ill-proportioned to the claims which +needy parishioners made upon him. Here he worked with zeal and +assiduity for about three years, gaining an insight into the condition +and needs of the poor which scholars and historians seldom obtain. He +learnt, in fact, to know men, and the real forces that sway them; and +he used to say in later life that he was conscious how much this had +helped him in historical writing. Gibbon, as every one knows, makes a +similar remark about his experience as a captain in the Hampshire +militia. + +Green threw the whole force of his nature into the parish schools, +spending some part of every day in them; he visited incessantly, and +took an active part in the movement for regulating and controlling +private charity which led to the formation of the Charity Organisation +Society. An outbreak of cholera and period of distress among the poor +which occurred during his incumbency drew warm-hearted men from other +parts of London to give their help to the clergy of the East End. +Edward Denison, who was long affectionately remembered by many who +knew him in Oxford and London, chose Green's parish to work in, and +the two friends confirmed one another in their crusade against +indiscriminate and demoralising charity. It was at this time that +Green, who spent upon the parish nearly all that he received as vicar, +found himself obliged to earn some money by other means, and began to +write for the _Saturday Review_. The addition of this labour to the +daily fatigues of his parish duties told on his health, which had +always been delicate, and made him willingly accept from Archbishop +Tait, who had early marked and learned to value his abilities, the +post of librarian at Lambeth. He quitted Stepney, and never took any +other clerical work. + +Although physical weakness was one of the causes which compelled this +step, there was also another. He had been brought up in Tractarian +views, and is said to have been at one time on the point of entering +the Church of Rome. This tendency passed off, and before he went to +St. Philip's he had become a Broad Churchman, and was much influenced +by the writings of Mr. F. D. Maurice, whom he knew and used frequently +to meet, and whose pure and noble character, even more perhaps than +his preaching, had profoundly impressed him. However, his restless +mind did not stop long at that point. The same tendency which had +carried him away from Tractarianism made him feel less and less at +home in the ministry of the Church of England, and would doubtless +have led him, even had his health been stronger, to withdraw from +clerical duties. After a few years his friends ceased to address +letters to him under the usual clerical epithet; but he continued to +interest himself in ecclesiastical affairs, and always retained a +marked dislike to Nonconformity. Aversions sometimes outlive +attachments. + +On leaving Stepney he went to live in lodgings in Beaumont Street, +Marylebone, and divided his time between Lambeth and literary work. +He now during several years wrote a good deal for the _Saturday +Review_, and his articles were among the best which then appeared in +that organ. The most valuable of them were reviews of historical +books, and descriptions from the historical point of view of cities or +other remarkable places, especially English and French towns. Some of +these are masterpieces. Other articles were on social, or what may be +called occasional, topics, and attracted much notice at the time from +their gaiety and lightness of touch, which sometimes seemed to pass +into flippancy. He never wrote upon politics, nor was he in the +ordinary sense of the word a journalist, for with the exception of +these social articles, his work was all done in his own historical +field, and done with as much care and pains as others would bestow on +the composition of a book. Upon this subject I may quote the words of +one of his oldest and most intimate friends (Mr. Stopford Brooke), who +knew all he did in those days. + + The real history of this writing for the _Saturday Review_ has + much personal, pathetic, and literary interest. + + It was when he was vicar of St. Philip's, Stepney, that he wrote + the most. The income of the place was, I think, £300 a year, and + the poverty of the parish was very great. Mr. Green spent every + penny of this income on the parish. And he wrote--in order to + live, and often when he was wearied out with the work of the day + and late into the night--two, and often three, articles a week for + the _Saturday Review_. It was less of a strain to him than it + would have been to many others, because he wrote with such speed, + and because his capacity for rapidly throwing his subject into + form and his memory were so remarkable. But it was a severe + strain, nevertheless, for one who, at the time, had in him the + beginnings of the disease of which he died. + + I was staying with him once for two days, and the first night he + said to me, "I have three articles to write for the _Saturday + Review_, and they must all be done in thirty-six hours." "What are + they?" I said; "and how have you found time to think of them?" + "Well," he answered, "one is on a volume of Freeman's _Norman + Conquest_, another is a 'light middle,' and the last on the + history of a small town in England; and I have worked them all + into form as I was walking to-day about the parish and in London." + One of these studies was finished before two o'clock in the + morning, and while I talked to him; the other two were done the + next day. It is not uncommon to reach such speed, but it is very + uncommon to combine this speed with literary excellence of + composition, and with permanent and careful knowledge. The + historical reviews were of use to, and gratefully acknowledged by, + his brother historians, and frequently extended, in two or three + numbers of the _Saturday Review_, to the length of an article in a + magazine. I used to think them masterpieces of reviewing, and + their one fault was the fault which was then frequent in that + _Review_--over-vehemence in slaughtering its foes. Such reviewing + cannot be fairly described as journalism. It was an historical + scholar speaking to scholars. + + Another class of articles written by Mr. Green were articles on + towns in England, France, or Italy. I do not know whether it was + he or Mr. Freeman who introduced this custom of bringing into a + short space the historical aspect of a single town or of a famous + building, and showing how the town or the building recorded its + own history, and how it was linked to general history, but Mr. + Green, at least, began it very early in his articles on Oxford. At + any rate, it was his habit, at this time, whenever he travelled in + England, France, or Italy, to make a study of any town he + visited. + + Articles of this kind--and he had them by fifties in his + head--formed the second line of what has been called his + journalism. I should prefer to call them contributions to history. + They are totally different in quality from ordinary journalism. + They are short historical essays. + +As his duties at Lambeth made no great demands on his time, he was now +able to devote himself more steadily to historical work. His first +impulse in that direction seems, as I have said, to have been received +from Dean Stanley at Oxford. His next came from E. A. Freeman, who had +been impressed by an ingenious paper of his at a meeting of the +Somerset Archæological Society, and who became from that time his +steadfast friend. Green was a born historian, who would have been +eminent without any help except that of books. But he was wise enough +to know the value of personal counsel and direction, and generous +enough to be heartily grateful for what he received. He did not belong +in any special sense to what has been called Freeman's school, +differing widely from that distinguished writer in many of his views, +and still more in style and manner. But he learnt much from Freeman, +and he delighted to acknowledge his debt. He learnt among other things +the value of accuracy, the way to handle original authorities, the +interpretation of architecture, and he received, during many years of +intimate intercourse, the constant sympathy and encouragement of a +friend whose affection was never blind to faults, while his +admiration was never clouded by jealousy. It was his good fortune to +win the regard and receive the advice of another illustrious +historian, Dr. Stubbs, who has expressed in language perhaps more +measured, but not less emphatic than Freeman's, his sense of Green's +services to English history. These two he used to call his masters; +but no one who has read him and them needs to be told that his was one +of those strong and rich intelligences which, in becoming more perfect +by the study of others, loses nothing of its originality. + +His first continuous studies had lain among the Angevin kings of +England, and the note-books still exist in which he had accumulated +materials for their history. However, the book he planned was never +written, for when the state of his lungs (which forced him to spend +the winter of 1870-71 at San Remo) had begun to alarm his friends, +they urged him to throw himself at once into some treatise likely to +touch the world more than a minute account of so remote a period could +do. Accordingly he began, and in two or three years, his winters +abroad sadly interrupting work, he completed the _Short History of the +English People_. When a good deal of it had gone through the press, he +felt, and his friends agreed with him, that the style of the earlier +chapters was too much in the eager, quick, sketchy, "point-making" +manner of his _Saturday Review_ articles, "and did not possess" (says +the friend whom I have already quoted) "enough historical dignity for +a work which was to take in the whole history of England. It was then, +being convinced of this, that he cancelled a great deal of what had +been stereotyped, and re-wrote it, re-creating, with his passionate +facility, his whole style." In order to finish it he gave up the +_Saturday Review_ altogether, though he could ill spare what his +writing there brought him in. It is seldom that one finds such +swiftness and ease in composition as his, united to so much +fastidiousness. He went on remoulding and revising till his friends +insisted that the book should be published anyhow, and published it +accordingly was, in 1874. Feeling that his time on earth might be +short, for he was often disabled even by a catarrh, he was the readier +to yield. + +The success of the _Short History_ was rapid and overwhelming. +Everybody bought it. It was philosophical enough for scholars, and +popular enough for schoolboys. No historical book since Macaulay's +_History_ has made its way so fast, or been read with so much avidity. +And Green was under disadvantages from which his great predecessor did +not suffer. Macaulay's name was famous before his _History of England_ +appeared, and Macaulay's scale was so large that he could enliven his +pages with a multitude of anecdotes and personal details. Green was +known only to a small circle of friends, having written nothing under +his own signature except one or two papers in magazines or in the +Transactions of archæological societies; and the plan of his book, +which dealt, in eight hundred and twenty pages, with the whole +fourteen centuries of English national life, obliged him to handle +facts in the mass, and touch lightly and briefly on personal traits. A +summary is of all kinds of writing that which it is hardest to make +interesting, because one must speak in general terms, one must pack +facts tightly together, one must be content to give those facts +without the delicacies of light and shade, or the subtler tints of +colour. Yet such was his skill, both literary and historical, that his +outlines gave more pleasure and instruction than other people's +finished pictures. + +In 1876 he took, for the only time in his life, except when he had +supported a working-man's candidate for the Tower Hamlets at the +general election of 1868, an active part in practical politics. +Towards the end of that year, when war seemed impending between Russia +and the Turks, fears were entertained that England might undertake the +defence of the Sultan, and a body called the Eastern Question +Association was formed to organise opposition to the pro-Turkish +policy of Lord Beaconsfield's Ministry. Green threw himself warmly +into the movement, was chosen to serve on the Executive Committee of +the Association, and was one of a sub-committee of five (which +included also Mr. Stopford Brooke and Mr. William Morris the poet[23]) +appointed to draw up the manifesto convoking the meeting of delegates +from all parts of the country, which was held in December 1876, under +the title of the Eastern Question Conference. The sub-committee met at +my house and spent the whole day on its work. It was a new and curious +experience to see these three great men of letters drafting a +political appeal. Morris and Green were both of them passionately +anti-Turkish, and Morris indeed acted for the next two years as +treasurer of the Association, doing his work with a business-like +efficiency such as poets seldom possess. Green continued to attend the +general committee until, after the Treaty of Berlin, it ceased to +meet, and took the keenest interest in its proceedings. But his weak +health and frequent winter absences made public appearances impossible +to him. He was all his life an ardent Liberal. His sympathy with +national movements did not confine itself to Continental Europe, but +embraced Ireland and made him a Home Ruler long before Mr. Gladstone +and the Liberal party adopted that policy. It ought to be added that +though he had ceased to belong to the Church of England, he remained +strongly opposed to disestablishment. + +When he had completed the re-casting of his _Short History_ in the +form of a larger book, which appeared under the title of _A History of +the English People_, he addressed himself with characteristic activity +to a new project. He had for a long time meditated upon the _origines_ +of English history, the settlement of the Teutonic invaders in +Britain, followed by the consolidation of their tribes into a nation +with definite institutions and a settled order; and his desire to +treat this topic was stimulated by the way in which some critics had +sought to disparage his _Short History_ as a mere popularising of +other people's ideas. The criticism was unjust, for, if there had been +no rummaging in MS. sources for the _Short History_, there was +abundant originality in the views the book contained. However, these +carpings disposed his friends to recommend an enterprise which would +lead him to deal chiefly with original authorities, and to put forth +those powers of criticism and construction which they knew him to +possess. Thus he set to work afresh at the very beginning, at Roman +Britain and the Saxon Conquest. He had not advanced far when, having +gone to spend the winter in Egypt, he caught an illness which so told +on his weak frame that he was only just able to return to London in +April, and would not have reached it at all but for the care with +which he was tended by his wife. (He had married Miss Alice Stopford +in 1877.) In a few weeks he so far recovered as to be able to resume +his studies, though now forbidden to give to them more than two or +three hours a day. However, what he could not do alone he did with and +through his wife, who consulted the original sources for him, +investigated obscure points, and wrote at his dictation. In this way, +during the summer and autumn months of 1881, when often some slight +change of weather would throw him back and make work impossible for +days or weeks, the book was prepared, which he published in February +1882, under the title of _The Making of England_. Even in those few +months it was incessantly rewritten; no less than ten copies were made +of the first chapter. It was warmly received by the few persons who +were capable of judging its merits. But he was himself far from +satisfied with it as a literary performance, thinking that a reader +would find it at once too speculative and too dry, deficient in the +details needed to make the life of primitive England real and +instructive. If this had been so it would have been due to no failing +in his skill, but to the scantiness of the materials available for the +first few centuries of our national history. But he felt it so +strongly that he was often disposed to recur to his idea of writing a +history of the last seventy or eighty years, and was only induced by +the encouragement of a few friends to pursue the narrative which, in +_The Making of England_, he had carried down to the reign of Egbert. +The winter of 1881 was spent at Mentone, and the following summer in +London. He continued very weak, and was sometimes unable for weeks +together to go out driving or to work at home. But the moment that an +access of strength returned, the note-books were brought out, and he +was again busy going through what his wife's industry had tabulated, +and dictating for an hour or two till fatigue forced him to desist. +Those who saw him during that summer were amazed, not only at the +brave spirit which refused to yield to physical feebleness, but at the +brightness and clearness of his intellect, which was not only as +active as it had ever been before, but as much interested in whatever +passed in the world. When one saw him sitting propped up with cushions +on the sofa, his tiny frame worn to skin and bone, his voice +interrupted by frequent fits of coughing, it seemed wrong to stay, +but, after a little, all was forgotten in the fascination of his talk, +and one found it hard to realise that where thought was strong speech +might be weak. + +In October, when he returned to Mentone, the tale of early English +history had been completed, and was in type down to the death of Earl +Godwine in A.D. 1052. He had hesitated as to the point at which the +book should end, but finally decided to carry it down to A.D. 1085, +the date of the dispersion of the last great Scandinavian armament +which threatened England. As the book dealt with both the Danish and +Norman invasions, he called it _The Conquest of England_. It appeared +after his death, wanting, indeed, those expansions in several places +which he had meant to give it, but still a book such as few but he +could have produced, full of new light, and equal in the parts which +have been fully handled to the best work of his earlier years. + +Soon after he returned to Mentone he became rapidly worse, and unfit +for any continuous exertion. He could barely sit in the garden during +an hour or two of morning sunshine. There I saw him in the end of +December, fresh and keen as ever, aware that the most he could hope +for was to live long enough to complete his _Conquest_, but eagerly +reading every new book that came to him from England, starting schemes +for various historical treatises sufficient to fill three life-times, +and ranging in talk over the whole field of politics, literature, and +history. It seemed as if the intellect and will, which strove to +remain till their work was done, were the only things which held the +weak and wasted body together. The ardour of his spirit prolonged life +amid the signs of death. In January there came a new attack, and in +February another unexpected rally. On the 2nd of March he remarked +that it was no use fighting longer, and expired five days afterwards +at the age of forty-six. + +Short as his life was, maimed and saddened by an ill-health which gave +his powers no fair chance, it was not an unhappy life, for he had that +immense power of enjoyment which so often belongs to a vivacious +intelligence. He delighted in books, in travel, in his friends' +company, in the constant changes and movements of the world. No +satiety dulled his taste for these things, nor was his spirit, except +for passing moments, darkened by the shadows which to others seemed to +lie so thick around his path. He enjoyed, though without boasting, the +fame his books had won, and the sense of creative power. And the last +six years of his life were brightened by the society and affection of +one who entered into all his tastes and pursuits with the fullest +sympathy, and enabled him, by her unwearied diligence, to prosecute +labours which physical weakness must otherwise have arrested. + +He might have won fame as a preacher or as a political journalist. It +was, however, towards historical study that the whole current of his +intellect set, and as it is by what he did in that sphere that he will +be remembered, his special gifts for it deserve to be examined. + +A historian needs four kinds of capacity. First of all, accuracy, +and a desire for the exact truth, which will grudge no time and +pains in tracing out even what might seem a trivial matter. +Secondly, keen observation, which can fasten upon small points, and +discover in isolated data the basis for some generalisation, or the +illustration of some principle. Thirdly, a sound and calm judgment, +which will subject all inferences and generalisations, both one's +own and other people's, to a searching review, and weigh in delicate +scales their validity. These two last-mentioned qualifications taken +together make up what we call the critical faculty, _i.e._ the power +of dealing with evidence as tending to establish or discredit +statements of fact, and those general conclusions which are built on +the grouping of facts. Neither acuteness alone nor the judicial +balance alone is enough to make the critic. There are men quick in +observation and fertile in suggestion whose conclusions are +worthless, because they cannot weigh one argument against another, +just as there are solid and well-balanced minds that never enlighten +a subject because, while detecting the errors of others, they +cannot combine the data and propound a luminous explanation. To the +making of a true critic, in history, in philosophy, in literature, +in psychology, even largely in the sciences of nature, there should +go not only judgment, but also a certain measure of creative +power. Fourthly, the historian must have imagination, not indeed +with that intensity which makes the poet, but in sufficient volume +to let him feel the men of other ages and countries to be living +and real like those among whom he moves, to present to him a large and +full picture of a world remote from himself in time--as a world +moving, struggling, hoping, fearing, enjoying, believing, like the +near world of to-day--a world in which there went on a private life +of thousands or millions of men and women, vaster, more complex, +more interesting than that public life which is sometimes all that +the records of the past have transmitted to us. Our imaginative +historian may or may not be able to reconstruct for us the private +and personal as well as the public or political life of the past. If +he can, he will. If the data are too scanty, he may cautiously +forbear. Yet he will still feel that those whose movements on the +public stage he chronicles were steeped in an environment of natural +and human influences which must have affected them at every turn; +and he will so describe them as to make us feel them human, and give +life to the pallid figures of far-off warriors and lawgivers. + +To these four aptitudes one need hardly add the faculty of literary +exposition, for whoever possesses in large measure the last three, or +even the last alone, cannot fail to interest his readers; and what +more does literary talent mean? + +Distinguishing these several aptitudes, historians will be found to +fall into two classes, according as there predominates in them the +critical or the imaginative faculty. Though no one can attain +greatness without both gifts, still they may be present in very +unequal degrees. Some will investigate tangible facts and their +relations with special care, occupying themselves chiefly with that +constitutional and diplomatic side of history in which positive +conclusions are (from the comparative abundance of records) most +easily reached. Others will be drawn towards the dramatic and personal +elements in history, primarily as they appear in the lives of famous +individual men, secondarily as they are seen, more dimly but not less +impressively, in groups and masses of men, and in a nation at large, +and will also observe and dwell upon incidents of private life or +features of social and religious custom, which the student of stately +politics passes by. + +As Coleridge, when he divided thinkers into two classes, took Plato +as the type of one, Aristotle of the other, so we may take as +representatives of these two tendencies among historians Thucydides +for the critical and philosophical, Herodotus for the imaginative +and picturesque. The former does not indeed want a sense of the +dramatic grandeur of a situation; his narrative of the later part of +the Athenian expedition against Syracuse is like a piece of Æschylus +in prose. So too Herodotus is by no means without a philosophical +view of things, nor without a critical instinct, although his +generalisations are sometimes vague or fanciful, and his critical +apparatus rudimentary. Each is so splendid because each is wide, +with the great gifts largely, although not equally, developed. + +Green was an historian of the Herodotean type. He possessed capacities +which belong to the other type also; he was critical, sceptical, +perhaps too sceptical, and philosophical. Yet the imaginative quality +was the leading and distinctive quality in his mind and writing. An +ordinary reader, if asked what was the main impression given by the +_Short History of the English People_, would answer that it was the +impression of picturesqueness and vividity--picturesqueness in +attention to the externals of the life described, vividity in the +presentation of that life itself. + +I remember to have once, in talking with Green about Greek history, +told him how I had heard Mr. Jowett, in discussing the ancient +historians, disparage Herodotus and declare him unworthy to be placed +near Thucydides. Green answered, almost with indignation, that to say +such a thing showed that eminent scholars might have little feeling +for history. "Great as Thucydides is," he said, "Herodotus is far +greater, or at any rate far more precious. His view was so much +wider." I forget the rest of the conversation, but what he meant was +that Herodotus, to whom everything in the world was interesting, and +who has told us something about every country he visited or heard of, +had a more fruitful conception of history than his Athenian successor, +who practically confined himself to politics in the narrower sense of +the term, and that even the wisdom of the latter is not so valuable to +us as the flood of miscellaneous information which Herodotus pours out +about everything in the early world--a world about which we should +know comparatively little if his book had not been preserved. + +This deliverance was thoroughly characteristic of Green's own view of +history. Everything was interesting to him because his imagination +laid hold of everything. When he travelled, nothing escaped his quick +eye, perpetually ranging over the aspects of places and society. When +he went out to dinner, he noted every person present whom he had not +known before, and could tell you afterwards something about them. He +had a theory, so to speak, about each of them, and indeed about every +one with whom he exchanged a dozen words. When he read the newspaper, +he seemed to squeeze all the juice out of it in a few minutes. Nor was +it merely the large events that fixed his mind; he drew from stray +notices of minor current matters evidence of principles or tendencies +which escaped other people's eyes. You never left him without having +new light thrown upon the questions of the hour. His memory was +retentive, but more remarkable was the sustained keenness of +apprehension with which he read, and which made him fasten upon +everything in a book or in talk which was significant, and could be +made the basis for an illustration of some view. He had the Herodotean +quality of reckoning nothing, however small or apparently remote from +the main studies of his life, to be trivial or unfruitful. His +imagination vitalised the small things, and found a place for them in +the pictures he was always sketching out. + +As this faculty of discerning hidden meanings and relations was one +index and consequence of his imaginative power, so another was found +in that artistic gift to which I have referred. To give literary form +to everything was a necessity of his intellect. He could not tell an +anecdote or repeat a conversation without unconsciously dramatising +it, putting into people's mouths better phrases than they would have +themselves employed, and giving a finer point to the moral which the +incident expressed. Verbal accuracy suffered, but what he thought the +inner truth came out the more fully. + +Though he wrote very fast, and in the most familiar way, the style of +his more serious letters was as good, I might say as finished, as that +of his books. Every one of them had a beginning, middle, and end. The +ideas were developed in an apt and graceful order, the sentences could +all be construed, the diction was choice. It was the same with the +short articles which he at one time used to write for the _Saturday +Review_. They are little essays, some of them worthy to live not only +for the excellent matter they contain, but for the delicate refinement +of their form. Yet they were all written swiftly, and sometimes in the +midst of physical exhaustion. The friend I have previously quoted +describes the genesis of one. Green had reached the town of Troyes +early one morning with two companions, and immediately started off to +explore it, darting hither and thither through the streets like a dog +trying to find a scent. In two or three hours the examination was +complete. The friends lunched together, took the train on to Basel, +got there late, and went off to bed. Green, however, wrote before he +slept, and laid on the breakfast-table next morning, an article on +Troyes, in which its characteristic features were brought out and +connected with its fortunes and those of the Counts of Champagne +during some centuries, an article which was really a history in +miniature. Then they went out together to look at Basel, and being +asked some question about that city he gave on the spur of the moment +a sketch of its growth and character equally vivid and equally +systematic, grouping all he had to say round two or three leading +theories. Yet he had never been in either place before, and had not +made a special study of either. He could apparently have done the same +for many another town in France or the Rhineland. + +Nothing struck one so much in daily intercourse with him as his +passionate interest in human life. The same quickness of sympathy +which had served him well in his work among the East End poor, enabled +him to pour feeling into the figures of a bygone age, and become the +most human, and in so far the most real and touching, of all who have +dealt with English history. Whether or not his portraits are true, +they always seem to breathe. + +Men and women--that is to say, such of them as have characteristics +pronounced enough to make them classifiable--may be divided into those +whose primary interests are in nature and what relates to nature, and +those whose primary interests are in and for man. Green was the most +striking type I have known of the latter class, not merely because his +human interests were strong, but also because they excluded, to a +degree singular in a mind so versatile, interests in purely natural +things. He did not seem to care for or seek to know any of the +sciences of nature[24] except in so far as they bore directly upon +man's life, and were capable of explaining it or of serving it. He had +a keen eye for country, for the direction and character of hills, the +position and influence of rivers, forests, and marshes, of changes in +the line of land and sea. Readers of _The Making of England_ will +recall the picture of the physical aspects of Britain when the +Teutonic invaders entered it as an unsurpassed piece of reconstructive +description. So on a battle-field or in an historical town, his vision +of the features of the ground or the site was unerring. But he +perceived and enjoyed natural beauty chiefly in reference to human +life. The study of the battle-field and the town site were aids to the +comprehension of historical events. The exquisite landscape was +exquisite because it was associated with the people dwelling there, +with the processes of their political growth, with their ideas or +their social usages. I remember to have had from him the most vivid +descriptions of the towns of the Riviera and of Capri, where he used +to pass the winter, but he never touched on anything which did not +illustrate or intertwine itself with the life of the people, leaving +one uninformed on matters purely physical. Facts about the character +of the mountains, the relation of their ranges to one another, or +their rocks, or the trees and flowers of their upper regions, the +prospects their summits command, the scenes of beauty in their glens, +or beside their wood-embosomed lakes, all, in fact, which the mountain +lover delights in, and which are to him a part of the mountain ardour, +of the passion for pure nature unsullied by the presence of man--all +this was cold to him. But as soon as a touch of human life fell like a +sunbeam across the landscape, all became warm and lovable. + +It was the same with art. With an historian's delight in the creative +ages and their work, he had a fondness for painting and sculpture, and +could so describe what he saw in the galleries and churches of Italy +as to bring out meanings one had not perceived before. But here, too, +it was the human element that fascinated him. Technical merits, though +he observed them, as he observed most things, were forgotten; he dwelt +only on what the picture expressed or revealed. Pure landscape +painting gave him little pleasure. + +It seems a truism to say that one who writes history ought to care +for all that bears upon man in the present in order that he may +comprehend what bore upon him in the past. This roaring loom of +Time, these complex physical and moral forces playing round us, and +driving us hither and thither by such a strange and intricate +interlacement of movements that we seem to perceive no more than what +is next us, and are unable to say whither we are tending, ought to +be always before the historian's mind. But there are few who have +tried, as Green tried, to follow every flash of the shuttle, and to +discover a direction and a relation amidst apparent confusion, for +there are few who have taken so wide a view of the historian's +functions, and have so distinctly set before them as their object the +comprehension and realisation and description of the whole field +of bygone human life. The Past was all present to him in this sense, +that he saw and felt in it not only those large events which +annalists or state papers have recorded, but the everyday life of +the people, their ideas, their habits, their external surroundings. +And the Present was always as if past to him in this sense, that in +spite of his strong political feelings, he looked at it with the eye +of a philosophical observer, trying to disengage principles from +details, permanent tendencies from passing outbursts. His imagination +visualised, so to speak, the phenomena as in a picture; his +speculative faculty tried to harmonise them, measure them, and +forecast their effects. Hence it was a necessity to him to know +what was passing in the world. The first thing he did every day, +whatever other pressure there might be on him, was to read the daily +newspaper. The last thing that he ceased to read, when what remained +of life began to be counted by hours, was the daily newspaper. This +warm interest in mankind is the keynote of his _History of the +English People_. It is the whole people that is ever present to him, +as it had been present before to few other historians. + +Such power of imagination and sympathy as I have endeavoured to +describe is enough to make a brilliant writer, yet not necessarily a +great historian. One must see how far the other qualifications, +accuracy, acuteness of observation, and judgment, are also brought +into action. + +His accuracy has been much impeached. When the first burst of applause +that welcomed the _Short History_ had subsided, several critics began +to attack it on the score of minor errors. They pointed out a number +of statements of fact which were doubtful, and others which were +incorrect, and spread in some quarters the impression that Green was a +careless and untrustworthy writer. I do not deny that there are in the +first editions of the _Short History_ some assertions made more +positively than the evidence warrants, some pictures drawn from +exceedingly slender materials. Mr. Skene remarks of the account given +of the battle between the Jutes and the Britons which took place in +the middle of the fifth century, somewhere near Aylesford in Kent, and +about which we really know scarcely anything, "Mr. Green describes it +as if he had been present." The temptation to such liberties is strong +where the treatment of a period is summary. A writer who compresses +the whole history of England into eight hundred pages of small +octavo, making his narrative not a bare narrative but a picture full +of colour and incident--incident which, for brevity's sake, must often +be given by allusion--cannot be always interrupting the current of the +story to indicate doubts or quote authorities for every statement in +which there may be an element of conjecture; and it is probable that +when the authorities are scrutinised their result will sometimes +appear different from that which the author has presented. On this +head the _Short History_ may be admitted to have occasionally +purchased vividity at the price of exactitude. Of mistakes, strictly +so called--_i.e._ statements demonstrably incorrect and therefore +ascribable to haste or carelessness--there are enough to make a show +under the hands of a hostile critic, yet not more than one is prepared +to expect from any but the most careful scholars. The book falls far +short of the accuracy of Thirlwall or Ranke or Stubbs, short even of +the accuracy of Gibbon or Carlyle; but it is not greatly below the +standard of Grote or Macaulay or Robertson, it is equal to the +standard of Milman, above that of David Hume. I take famous names, and +could put a better face on the matter by choosing for comparison +divers contemporary writers whose literary eminence is higher than +their historical. And Green's mistakes, although pretty numerous, were +(for they have been corrected in later editions) nearly all in small +matters. He puts an event, let us say, in 1340 which happened in the +November of 1339; he calls a man John whose name was William. These +are mistakes to the eye of a civil service examiner, but they seldom +make any difference to the general reader, for they do not affect the +doctrines and pictures which the book contains, and in which lies its +permanent value as well as its literary charm. As Bishop Stubbs says, +"Like other people, Green makes mistakes sometimes; but scarcely ever +does the correction of his mistakes affect either the essence of the +picture or the force of the argument.... All his work was real and +original work; few people besides those who knew him well would see +under the charming ease and vivacity of his style the deep research +and sustained industry of the laborious student." It may be added that +Green's later and more detailed works, _The Making of England_ and +_The Conquest of England_, though they contain plenty of debatable +matter, as in the paucity of authentic data any such book must do, +have been charged with few errors in matters of fact. + +In considering his critical gift, it is well to distinguish those two +elements of acute perception and sober judgment which I have already +specified, for he possessed the former in larger measure than the +latter. The same activity of mind which made him notice everything +while travelling or entering a company of strangers, played +incessantly upon the historical data of his work, and supplied him +with endless theories as to the meaning of a statement, the source it +came from, the way it had been transmitted, the conditions under which +it was made. No one could be more acute and penetrating in what the +Germans call _Quellenforschung_, the collection and investigation and +testing of the sources of history, nor could any one be more +painstaking. Errors of view, apart from those trivial inaccuracies +already referred to, did not arise from an indolence that left any +stone unturned, but rather from an occupation with the leading idea +which had drawn his attention away from the details of time and place. +The ingenuity with which he built up theories was as admirable as the +art with which he stated them. People whom that art fascinated +sometimes fancied that the charm lay entirely in the style. But the +style was only a part of the craftsmanship. The facility in +theorising, the power of grouping facts under new aspects, the skill +in gathering and sifting evidence, were as remarkable as those +artistic qualities which expressed themselves in the paragraphs and +sentences and phrases. What danger there was arose from this +fecundity. His mind was so fertile, could see so much in a theory and +apply it so dexterously, that his judgment was sometimes dazzled by +the brilliance of his ingenuity. I do not think he loved his theories +specially because they were his own, for he often modified them, and +was ready to consider any one else's suggestions; but he had a passion +for light, and when a new view seemed to him to explain things +previously dark, he wanted the patience to suspend his judgment and +abide in uncertainty. Some of his hypotheses he himself dropped. Some +others he probably would have dropped, as the authorities he respected +have not embraced them. Others have made their way into general +acceptance, and may become still more useful as future research works +them out. But, whether right or wrong, they were instructive. Every +one of them is based upon facts whose importance had not been so fully +seen before, and suggests a point of view worth considering. Green's +view may sometimes appear fanciful: it is never foolish, or +superficial, or perverse. And so far from being credulous, his natural +tendency was towards doubt. + +Inventive as his mind was, it was also solvent and sceptical. Seldom +is a strong imagination coupled with so unsparing a criticism as +that which he applied to the materials on which the constructive +faculty had to work. His later tendencies were rather towards +scepticism, and towards what one may call a severe and ascetic view +of history. While writing _The Making of England_ and _The Conquest +of England_, he used to lament the scantiness of the data and the +barren dryness which he feared the books would consequently show. +"How am I to make anything of these meagre entries of marches and +battles which are the only materials for the history of whole +centuries? Here are the Norsemen and Danes ravaging and occupying +the country; we learn hardly anything about them from English +sources, and nothing at all from Danish. How can one conceive and +describe them? how have any comprehension of what England was like in +the districts the Northmen took and ruled?" I tried to get him to +work at the Norse Sagas, and remember in particular to have +entreated him when he came to the battle of Brunanburh to eke out +the pitifully scanty records of that fight from the account given of +it in the story of the Icelandic hero, Egil, son of Skallagrim. But +he answered that the Saga was unhistorical, a bit of legend +written down more than a century after the events, and that he +could not, by using it in the text, appear to trust it, or to mix up +authentic history with what was possibly fable. It was urged that he +could guard himself in a note from being supposed to take it for more +than what it was, a most picturesque embellishment of his tale. But +he stood firm. Throughout these two last books, he steadily +refrained from introducing any matter, however lively or romantic, +which could not stand the test of his stringent criticism, and used +laughingly to tell how Dean Stanley had long ago said to him, after +reading one of his earliest pieces, "I see you are in danger of +growing picturesque. Beware of it. I have suffered for it." + +If in these later years he reined in his imagination more tightly, the +change was due to no failing in his ingenuity. Nothing in his work +shows higher constructive ability than _The Making of England_. He had +to deal with a time which has left us scarcely any authentic records, +and to piece together his narrative and his picture of the country out +of these records, and the indications, faint and scattered, and often +capable of several interpretations, which are supplied by the remains +of Roman roads and villas, the names of places, the boundaries of +local divisions, the casual statements of writers many centuries +later. What he has given us remains an enduring witness to his +historical power. For here it is not a question of mere brilliance of +style. The result is due to patience, penetration, and the careful +weighing of evidence, joined to that faculty of realising things in +the concrete by which a picture is conjured up out of a mass of +phenomena, everything falling into its place under laws which seem to +prove themselves as soon as they are stated. + +Of his style nothing need be said, for his readers have felt its +charm. But it deserves to be remarked that this accomplished master of +words had little verbal memory. He used to say that he could never +recollect a phrase in its exact form, and in his books he often +unconsciously varied, writing from memory, some expression whose +precise form is on record. Nor had he any turn for languages. German +he knew scarcely at all, a fact which makes the range of his +historical knowledge appear more striking; and though he had spent +several winters in Italy, he could not speak Italian except so far as +he needed it for the inn or the railway. The want of mere verbal +memory partly accounts for this deficiency, but it was not unconnected +with the vehemence of his interest in the substance of things. He was +so anxious to get at the kernel that he could not stop to examine the +nut. In this absence of linguistic gifts, as well as in the keenness +of his observation (and in his shortsightedness), he resembled Dean +Stanley, who, though he had travelled in and brought back all that was +best worth knowing from every country in Europe, had no facility in +any language but his own. + +Green was not one of those whose personality is unlike their books, +for there was in both the same fertility, the same vivacity, the +same quickness of sympathy. Nevertheless, his conversation seemed to +give an even higher impression of intellectual power than did his +writings, because it was so swift and so spontaneous. Such talk has +rarely been heard in our time, so gay was it, so vivid, so various, +so full of anecdote and illustration, so acute in criticism, so +candid in consideration, so graphic in description, so abundant in +sympathy, so flashing in insight, so full of colour and emotion as +well as of knowledge and thought. One had to forbid one's self to +visit him in the evening, because it was impossible to get away before +two o'clock in the morning. And, unlike many famous talkers, he was +just as willing to listen as to speak. One of the charms of his +company was that it made a man feel better than his ordinary self. +His appreciation of whatever had any worth in it, his comments and +replies, so stimulated the interlocutor's mind that it moved faster +and could hit upon apter expressions than at any other time. The +same gifts which shone in his conversation, lucid arrangement of +ideas, ready command of words, and a power in perceiving the +tendencies of those whom he addressed, would have made him an +admirable public speaker. I do not remember that he ever did +speak, in his later years, to any audience larger than a committee +of twenty. But he was an eloquent preacher. The first time I ever +saw him was in St. Philip's Church at Stepney about 1866, and I +shall never forget the impression made on me by the impassioned +sentences that rang through the church from the fiery little figure +in the pulpit with its thin face and bright black eyes. + +What Green accomplished seems to those who used to listen to him +little in comparison with what he might have done had longer life +and a more robust body been granted him. Some of his finest gifts +would not have found their full scope till he came to treat of a +period where the materials for history are ample, and where he +could have allowed himself space to deal with them--such a period, +for instance, as that of his early choice, the Angevin kings of +England. Yet, even basing themselves on what he has done, they may +claim for him a place among the foremost writers of his time. He +left behind him no one who combined so many of the best gifts. There +were among his contemporaries historians more learned and equally +industrious. There were two or three whose accuracy was more +scrupulous, their judgment more uniformly sober and cautious. But +there was no one in whom so much knowledge and so wide a range of +interests were united to such ingenuity, acuteness, and originality, +as well as to such a power of presenting results in rich, clear, +pictorial language. A master of style may be a worthless historian. +We have instances. A skilful investigator and sound reasoner may be +unreadable. The conjunction of fine gifts for investigation with +fine gifts for exposition is a rare conjunction, which cannot be +prized too highly, for while it advances historical science, it brings +historical methods, as well as historical facts, within the horizon of +the ordinary reader. + +Of the services Green rendered to English history, the first, and that +which was most promptly appreciated, was the intensity with which he +realised, and the skill with which he portrayed, the life of the +people of England as a whole, and taught his readers that the exploits +of kings and the intrigues of ministers, and the struggles of parties +in Parliament, are, after all, secondary matters, and important +chiefly as they affect the welfare or stimulate the thoughts and +feelings of the great mass of undistinguished humanity in whose hands +the future of a nation lies. He changed the old-fashioned distribution +of our annals according to reigns and dynasties into certain periods, +showing that such divisions often obscure the true connection of +events, and suggesting new and better conceptions of the periods into +which the record of English progress naturally falls. And, lastly, he +laid, in his latest books, a firm and enduring foundation for our +mediæval history by that account of the Teutonic occupation of +England, of the state of the country as they found it, and the way +they conquered and began to organise it, which I have already dwelt on +as a signal proof of his constructive faculty. + +Many readers will be disposed to place him near Macaulay, for though +he was less weighty he was more subtle, and not less fascinating. To +fewer perhaps will it occur to compare him with Gibbon, yet I am +emboldened by the opinion of one of our greatest contemporary +historians to venture on the comparison. There are indeed wide +differences between the two. Green is as completely a man of the +nineteenth century as Gibbon was a man of the eighteenth. Green's +style has not the majestic march of Gibbon: it is quick and eager +almost to restlessness. Nor is his judgment so uniformly grave and +sound. But one may find in his genius what was characteristic of +Gibbon's also, the combination of a mastery of multitudinous details, +with a large and luminous view of those far-reaching forces and +relations which govern the fortunes of peoples and guide the course of +empire. This width and comprehensiveness, this power of massing for +the purposes of argument the facts which his literary art has just +been clothing in its most brilliant hues, is the highest of a +historian's gifts, and is the one which seems most surely to establish +Green's position among the leading historical minds of his time. + +----- + + [22] This sketch was written in 1883. A volume of Green's Letters, + with a short connecting biography by Sir Leslie Stephen, was + published in 1901. The letters are extremely good reading, the + biography faithful and graceful. + + [23] Sir George Young and I were the other members. + + [24] At one time, however, he learnt a little geology from his friend + Professor Dawkins, perceiving its bearings on history. + + + + +SIR GEORGE JESSEL, MASTER OF THE ROLLS + + +There is hardly any walk of English life in which brilliant abilities +win so little fame for their possessor among the public at large as +that of practice at the Chancery bar. A leading ecclesiastic, or +physician, or surgeon, or financier, or manufacturer, or even a great +man of science, unless his work is done in some sphere which, like +pure mathematics, is far removed from the comprehension of ordinary +educated men, is sure, in a time like ours, to become well known to +the world and acquire influence in it. A great advocate practising in +the Common-law Courts is, of course, still more certain to become a +familiar figure. But the cases which are dealt with by the Courts of +Equity, though they often involve vast sums of money and raise +intricate and important points of law, mostly turn on questions of a +technical kind, and are seldom what the newspapers call sensational. +Thus it may happen that a practitioner or a judge in these Courts +enjoys an extraordinary reputation within his profession, and is by +them regarded as one of the ornaments of his time, while the rest of +his fellow-countrymen know nothing at all about his merits. + +This was the case with Sir George Jessel, though towards the end of +his career the admiration which the Bar felt for his powers began so +far to filter through to the general public that his premature death +was felt to be a national misfortune. + +Jessel (born in 1824, died in 1883) was only one among many instances +England has lately seen of men of Jewish origin climbing to the +highest distinction. But he was the first instance of a Jew who, +continuing to adhere to the creed of his forefathers, received a very +high office; for Mr. Disraeli, as every one knows, had been baptized +as a boy, and always professed to be a Christian. Jessel's career was +not marked by any remarkable incidents. He rose quickly to eminence at +the bar, being in this aided by his birth; for the Jews in London, as +elsewhere, hold together. There are among them many solicitors in +large practice, and these take a natural pleasure in pushing forward +any specially able member of their community. His powers were more +fully seen and appreciated when he became (in 1865) a Queen's Counsel, +and brought him with unusual speed to the front rank. He came into +Parliament at the general election of 1868 on the Liberal side, and +three years later was made Solicitor-General in Mr. Gladstone's first +Government, retaining, as was then usual, his private practice, which +had become so large that there was scarcely any case of first-rate +importance brought into the Chancery Courts in which he did not +appear. Although a decided Liberal, as the Jews mostly were until Lord +Beaconsfield's foreign policy had begun to lead them into other paths, +he had borne little part in politics till he took his seat in the +House of Commons; and when he spoke there, he obtained no great +success. Lawyers in the English Parliament are under the double +disadvantage of having had less leisure than most other members to +study and follow political questions, and of having contracted a +manner and style of speaking not suited to an assembly which, though +deliberative, is not deliberate, and which listens with impatience to +a technical or forensic method of treating the topics which come +before it. + +Jessel's ability would have soon overcome the former difficulty, but +less easily the latter. Though he was lucid and powerful in his +treatment of legal topics, and made a quite admirable law officer in +the way of advising ministers and the public departments, he was never +popular with the House of Commons, for he presented his views in a +hard, dry, dogmatic form, with no graces of style or delivery. +However, he did not long remain in that arena, but on the retirement +of Lord Romilly from the office of Master of the Rolls, was in 1873 +appointed to succeed him. In this post his extraordinary gifts found +their amplest sphere. The equity judges in England used always to sit, +and in nearly all cases do still sit, without a jury to hear causes, +with or without witnesses, and they despatch a great deal of the +heaviest business that is brought into the courts. Commercial causes +of the first importance come before them, no less than those which +relate to trusts or to real property; and the granting of injunctions, +a specially serious matter, rests chiefly in their hands. Each equity +judge sits alone, and the suitor may choose before which of them he +will bring his case. Among the four--a number subsequently increased +to five--equity judges of first instance, Jessel immediately rose to +the highest reputation, so that most of the heavy and difficult cases +were brought into his court. He possessed a wonderfully quick, as well +as powerful, mind, which got to the kernel of a matter while other +people were still hammering at the shell, and which applied legal +principles just as swiftly and surely as it mastered a group of +complicated facts. + +The Rolls Court used to present, while he presided over it, a curious +and interesting sight, which led young counsel, who had no business to +do there, to frequent it for the mere sake of watching the Judge. When +the leading counsel for the plaintiff was opening his case, Jessel +listened quietly for the first few minutes only, and then began to +address questions to the counsel, at first so as to guide his remarks +in a particular direction, then so as to stop his course altogether +and turn his speech into a series of answers to the Judge's +interrogatories. When, by a short dialogue of this kind, Jessel had +possessed himself of the vital facts, he would turn to the leading +counsel for the defendant and ask him whether he admitted such and +such facts alleged by the plaintiff to be true. If these facts were +admitted, the Judge proceeded to indicate the view he was disposed to +take of the law applicable to the facts, and, by a few more questions +to the counsel on the one side or the other, as the case might be, +elicited their respective legal grounds of contention. If the facts +were not admitted, it of course became necessary to call the witnesses +or read the affidavits, processes which the vigorous impatience of the +Judge considerably shortened, for it was a dangerous thing to read to +him any irrelevant or loosely-drawn paragraph. But more generally his +searching questions and the sort of pressure he applied so cut down +the issues of fact that there was little or nothing left in +controversy regarding which it was necessary to examine the evidence +in detail, since the counsel felt that there was no use in putting +before him a contention which they could not sustain under the fire +of his criticism. Then Jessel proceeded to deliver his opinion and +dispose of the case. The affair was from beginning to end far less an +argument and counter-argument by counsel than an investigation +directly conducted by the Judge himself, in which the principal +function of the counsel was to answer the Judge's questions concisely +and exactly, so that the latter might as soon as possible get to the +bottom of the matter. The Bar in a little while came to learn and +adapt themselves to his ways, and few complained of being stopped or +interrupted by him, because his interruptions, unlike those of some +judges, were neither inopportune nor superfluous. The counsel (with +scarcely an exception) felt themselves his inferiors, and recognised +not only that he was better able to handle the case than they were, +but that the manner and style in which they presented their facts or +arguments would make little difference to the result, because his +penetration was sure to discover the merits of each contention, and +neither eloquence nor pertinacity would have the slightest effect on +his resolute and self-confident mind. Thus business was despatched +before him with unexampled speed, and it became a maxim among +barristers that, however low down in the cause-list at the Rolls your +cause might stand, it was never safe to be away from the court, so +rapidly were cases "crumpled up" or "broken down" under the blows of +this vigorous intellect. It was more surprising that the suitors, as +well as the Bar and the public generally, acquiesced, after the first +few months, in this way of doing business. Nothing breeds more +discontent than haste and heedlessness in a judge. But Jessel's speed +was not haste. He did as much justice in a day as others could do in a +week; and those few who, dissatisfied with these rapid methods, tried +to reverse his decisions before the Court of Appeal, were very seldom +successful, although that court then contained in Lord Justice James +and Lord Justice Mellish two unusually strong men, who would not have +hesitated to differ even from the redoubtable Master of the Rolls. + +As I have mentioned Lord Justice Mellish, I may turn aside for a +moment to say a word regarding that extraordinary man, who stood along +with Cairns and Roundell Palmer in the foremost rank of Jessel's +professional contemporaries. Mellish held for some years before his +elevation to the Bench in 1869 a position unique at the English +Common-law Bar as a giver of opinions on points of law. As the +Israelites in King David's day said of Ahithophel that his counsel was +as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God,[25] so the legal +profession deemed Mellish practically infallible, and held an opinion +signed by him to be equal in weight to a judgment of the Court of +Exchequer Chamber (the then court of appeal in common-law cases). He +was not effective as an advocate addressing a jury, being indeed far +too good for any jury; but in arguing a point of law his unerring +logic, the lucidity with which he stated his position, the cogency and +precision with which he drew his inferences, made it a delight to +listen to him. The chain of ratiocination seemed irrefragable: + + +en d' ethet' akmothetô megan akmona, kopte de desmous + arrhêktous alutous, ophr' empedon authi menoien.+[26] + +He had, indeed, but one fault as an arguer. He could not argue a point +whose soundness he doubted as effectively as one in which he had +faith; and when it befell that several points arose in a case, and the +Court seemed disposed to lay more stress on the one for which he cared +little than on the one he deemed conclusive, he refused to fall in +with their view and continued to insist upon that which his own mind +approved. + +I remember to have once heard him and Cairns argue before the House of +Lords (sitting as the final Court of Appeal) a case relating to a +vessel called the _Alexandra_--it was a case arising out of an +attempt of the Confederates, during the American War of Secession, to +get out of a British port a cruiser they had ordered. Cairns spoke +first with all his usual power, and seemed to have left nothing to be +added. But when Mellish followed on the same side, he set his points +in so strong a light, and placed his contention on so solid a basis, +that even Cairns's speech was forgotten, and it seemed impossible that +any answer could be found to Mellish's arguments. One felt as if the +voice of pure reason were speaking through his lips. + +Such an intellect might seem admirably qualified for judicial work. +But as a judge, Mellish, admirable though he was in temper, in +fairness, in learning, and in logic, did not win so exceptional a +reputation as he had won at the Bar. People used to ascribe this +partly to his weak health, partly to the fact that he, who had been a +common-law practitioner, was sitting in a court which heard equity +appeals, and alongside of a quick and strong colleague reared in the +equity courts.[27] But something may have been due to the fact that he +needed the stimulus of conflict to bring out the full force of his +splendid intelligence. A circumstance attending the appointment of +Mellish illustrates the remark already made that a great counsel whose +work lies apart from so-called "sensation cases" may remain unknown to +his contemporaries. When Mr. Gladstone, being then Prime Minister, and +having to select a Lord Justice of Appeal, was told that Mellish was +the fittest man for the post, he asked, "Can that be the boy who was +my fag at Eton?" He had not heard of Mellish during the intervening +forty years! + +However, I return to the Master of the Rolls. In dealing with facts, +Jessel has never had a superior, and in our days, perhaps, no rival. +He knew all the ways of the financial and commercial world. In his +treatment of points of law, every one admitted and admired both an +extraordinary knowledge and mastery of reported cases, and an +extremely acute and exact appreciation of principles, a complete power +of extracting them from past cases and fitting them to the case in +hand. He had a memory which forgot nothing, and which, indeed, wearied +him by refusing to forget trivial things. When he delivered an +elaborate judgment it was his delight to run through a long series of +cases, classifying and distinguishing them. His strength made him +bold; he went further than most judges in readiness to carry a +principle somewhat beyond any decided case, and to overrule an +authority which he did not respect. The fault charged on him was his +tendency, perhaps characteristic of the Hebrew mind, to take a +somewhat hard and dry view of a legal principle, overlooking its more +delicate shades, and, in the interpretation of statutes or documents, +to adhere too strictly to the letter, overlooking the spirit. An +eminent lawyer said, "If all judges had been like Jessel, there might +have been no equity." In that respect many deemed him inferior to Lord +Cairns, the greatest judge among his contemporaries, who united to an +almost equally wide and accurate knowledge of the law a grasp of +principles even more broad and philosophical than Jessel's was. Be +this as it may, the judgments of the Master of the Rolls, which fill +so many pages of the recent English Law Reports, are among the best +that have ever gone to build up the fabric of the English law. Except +on two occasions, when he reserved judgment at the request of his +colleagues in the Court of Appeal, they were delivered on the spur of +the moment, after the conclusion of the arguments, or of so much of +the arguments as he allowed counsel to deliver; but they have all the +merits of carefully-considered utterances, so clear and direct is +their style, so concisely as well as cogently are the authorities +discussed and the grounds of decision stated. The bold and sweeping +character which often belongs to them makes them more instructive as +well as more agreeable reading than the judgments of most modern +judges, whose commonest fault is a timidity which tries to escape, by +dwelling on the details of the particular case, from the enunciation +of a definite general principle. Positive and definite Jessel always +was. As he put it himself: "I may be wrong, but I never have any +doubts." + +At the Bar, Jessel had been far from popular; for his manners were +unpolished, and his conduct towards other counsel overbearing. On +the Bench he improved, and became liked as well as respected. There +was a sort of rough _bonhomie_ about him, and though he could be +disagreeable on occasions to a leading counsel, especially if brought +from the common-law bar into his court, he showed a good-humoured +wish to deal gently with young or inexperienced barristers. There +was also an obvious anxiety to do justice, an impatience of mere +technicalities, and a readiness, remarkable in so strong-willed a +man, to hear what could be said against his own opinion, and to +reconsider it. Besides, a profession is naturally proud of any one +whose talents adorn it, and whose eminence seems to be communicated +to the whole body. + +Ever since, under the Plantagenet kings, the Chancery became a law +court, the office of Master of the Rolls had been that of a judge of +first instance. In 1881 its character was changed, and its occupant +placed at the head of the Court of Appeal. Thus it was as an appellate +judge that Jessel latterly sat, giving no less satisfaction in that +capacity than in his former one, and being indeed confessedly the +strongest judicial intellect (except Lord Cairns) on the Bench. +Outside his professional duties, his chief interest was in the +University of London, at which he had himself graduated. He was a +member of its senate, and busied himself with its examinations, being +up till the last excessively fond of work, and finding that of a judge +who sits for five or six hours daily insufficient to satisfy his +appetite. He was not what would be called a highly cultivated man, +although he knew a great deal beyond the field of law, mathematics, +for instance, and Hebrew literature and botany, for he had been +brought up in a not very refined circle, and had been absorbed in +legal work during the best years of his life. But his was an +intelligence of extraordinary power and flexibility, eminently +practical, as the Semitic intellect generally is, and yet thoroughly +scientific. And he was also one of those strong natures who make +themselves disliked while they are fighting their way to the top, but +grow more genial and more tolerant when they have won what they +sought, and perceive that others admit their pre-eminence. The +services which he rendered as a judge illustrate not only the +advantage of throwing open all places to all comers--the bigotry of an +elder day excluded the Jews from judicial office altogether--but also +the benefit of having a judge at least equal in ability to the best of +those who practise before him. It was because Jessel was so easily +master in his court that so large and important a part of the judicial +business of the country was, during many years, despatched with a +swiftness and a success seldom equalled in the annals of the English +Courts. + +----- + + [25] 2 Sam. xvi. 23. + + [26] _Odyss._ viii. 274: "And upon the anvil-stand he set the mighty + anvil; and he forged the links that could be neither broken nor + loosed, so that they should stay firm in their place." + + [27] Lord Justice James said of his colleague that he had only one + defect as a judge: "He was too anxious to convince counsel that + they were wrong, when he thought their contention unsound, + seeming to forget that counsel are paid not to be convinced." + + + + +LORD CHANCELLOR CAIRNS + + +Hugh M'Calmont Cairns, afterwards Earl Cairns (born 1819, died +1885), was one of three remarkable Scoto-Irishmen whom the north-east +corner of Ulster gave to the United Kingdom in one generation, and +each of whom was foremost in the career he entered. Lord Lawrence +was the strongest of Indian or Colonial administrators, and did more +than any other man to save India for England in the crisis of the +great Mutiny of 1857. Lord Kelvin has been, since the death of +Charles Darwin, the first among British men of science. Lord Cairns +was unquestionably the greatest judge of the Victorian epoch, perhaps +of the nineteenth century.[28] His name and family were of Scottish +origin, but he combined with the shrewd sense and grim persistency +of Scotland some measure of the keen partisanship which marks the +Irish Orangeman. Born an Episcopalian, he grew up a Tory in +politics, an earnest Low-Church Evangelical in religion; nor did his +opinions in either respect ever seem to alter during his long +life. His great abilities were perceived both at school (he was +educated at the Academy in Belfast) and at college (Trinity College, +Dublin), and so much impressed the counsel in whose chambers he +studied for a year in London, that he strongly dissuaded the young +man from returning to Dublin to practise at the Irish bar, promising +him a brilliant career on the wider theatre of England. The prediction +was verified by the rapidity with which Cairns, who had, no doubt, +the advantage of influential connections in the City of London, rose +into note. He obtained (as a Conservative) a seat in Parliament +for his native town of Belfast when only thirty-three years of age, +and was appointed Solicitor-General to Lord Derby's second Ministry +six years later--a post which few eminent lawyers have reached before +fifty. In the House of Commons, though at first somewhat diffident and +nervous, he soon proved himself a powerful as well as ready speaker, +and would doubtless have remained in an assembly where he was +rendering such valuable services to his party but for the weakness +of his lungs and throat, which had threatened his life since boyhood. +He therefore accepted, in 1867, the office of Lord Justice of +Appeal, with a seat in the House of Lords, and next year was made +Lord Chancellor by Mr. Disraeli, then Prime Minister, who dismissed +Lord Chelmsford, then Chancellor, in order to have the benefit of +Cairns's help as a colleague. Disraeli subsequently caused him to +be raised to an earldom. + +After Lord Derby's death, Cairns led the Tory party in the House of +Lords for a time (replacing the Duke of Richmond when the latter +quitted the leadership), but his very pronounced Low-Church +proclivities, coupled perhaps with a certain jealousy felt toward him +as a newcomer, prevented him from becoming popular there, so that +ultimately the leadership of that House settled itself in the hands of +Lord Salisbury, a statesman not superior to Cairns in political +judgment or argumentative power, but without the disadvantage of being +a lawyer, possessing a wider range of political experience, and in +closer sympathy with the feelings and habits of the titled order. +There were, however, some peers who, when Lord Beaconsfield died in +1881, desired to see Cairns chosen to succeed him in the leadership of +the Tory party, then in opposition, in the Upper Chamber. Whether in +opposition or in power, Cairns took a prominent part in all +"full-dress" political debates in the House of Lords and in the +discussion of legal measures, and was indeed so absolutely master of +the Chamber when such measures came under discussion, that the +Liberal Government, during the years from 1868 to 1874, and again from +1880 till 1885, could carry no legal reforms through the House of +Lords except by his permission, which, of course, was never given when +such reforms could seem to affect any political issue. Yet the +vehemence of his party feeling did not overcast his judgment. It was +mainly through his interposition (aided by that of Archbishop Tait) +that the House of Lords consented to pass the Irish Church Bill of +1869, a measure which Cairns, of course heartily disliking it, +accepted for the sake of saving to the disestablished Church a part of +her funds, since these might have been lost had the Bill been rejected +then and passed next year by an angrier House of Commons. Of all the +members of Disraeli's two Cabinets, he was the one whom Disraeli +himself had been wont most to trust and most to rely on. In January +1874, when Mr. Gladstone's suddenly announced dissolution of +Parliament startled all England one Saturday morning, Disraeli, who +heard of it while still in bed, was at first frightened, thinking that +the Liberal leader had played his cards boldly and well, and would +carry the elections. When his chief party manager came to see him he +was found restless and dejected, and cried out, "Send for Cairns at +once." Lord Cairns was sent for, came full of vigour, hope, and +counsel, and after an hour's talk so restored the confidence of his +ally that Disraeli sat down in the best spirits to compose his +electoral manifesto. As everybody knows, Cairns's forecast was right, +and the Tories won the general election by a large majority. + +For political success Cairns had several qualities of the utmost +value--a stately presence, a clear head, a resolute will, and splendid +oratorical gifts. He was not an imaginative speaker, nor fitted to +touch the emotions; but he had a matchless power of statement, and a +no less matchless closeness and cogency in argument. In the famous +controversies of 1866, he showed himself the clearest and most +vigorous thinker among the opponents of reform, more solid, if less +brilliant, than was Robert Lowe. His diction, without being +exceptionally choice, was pure and precise, and his manner had a +dignity and weight which seemed to compel your attention even when +the matter was uninteresting. A voice naturally neither strong nor +musical, and sometimes apt to sound hollow (for the chest was weak), +was managed with great skill; action and gesture were used sparingly +but effectively, and the tall well-built figure and strongly-marked, +somewhat Roman features, with their haughty and distant air, +deepened the impression of power, courage, and resolution which was +characteristic of the whole man. + +The qualities of oratory I have described may seem better fitted to a +comparatively sober and sedate assembly like the House of Lords than +to a changeful and excitable assembly like the House of Commons. Yet, +in point of fact, Cairns spoke better in the Commons than he did +afterwards in the Lords, and would have left an even higher oratorical +reputation had his career in the popular House been longer and his +displays more numerous. The reason seems to be that the heat of that +House warmed his somewhat chilly temperament, and roused him to a more +energetic and ardent style of speaking than was needed in the Upper +Chamber, where he and his friends, commanding a large majority, had +things all their own way. In the House of Commons he confronted a +crowd of zealous adversaries, and put forth all the forces of his +logic and rhetoric to overcome them. In the more languid House of +Lords he was apt to be didactic, sometimes even prolix. He overproved +his own case without feeling the need, which he would have felt in the +Commons, of overthrowing the case of the other side; his manner wanted +animation and his matter variety. Still, he was a great speaker, +greater as a speaker upon legal topics, where a power of exact +statement and lucid exposition is required, than any one he left +behind him. + +Why, it may be asked, with these gifts, and with so much firmness and +energy of character, did he not play an even more conspicuous part in +politics, and succeed, after Lord Beaconsfield's death, to the +chieftaincy of the Tory party? The answer is to be found partly in the +prejudice which still survives in England against legal politicians, +partly in certain defects of his own personality. Although sincerely +pious, and exemplary in all the relations of domestic life, he was +ungenial and unbending in social intercourse. Few equally eminent men +of our time have had so narrow a circle of personal friends. There was +a dryness, a coldness, and an appearance of reserve and hauteur about +his manner which repelled strangers, and kept acquaintanceship from +ripening into friendship. To succeed as a political leader, a man must +usually (I do not say invariably, because there are a few remarkable +instances--Mr. Parnell's would appear to be one of them--to the +contrary) at least seem sympathetic; must be able to enter into the +feelings of his followers, and show himself interested in them not +merely as party followers, but as human beings. There must be a +certain glow, a certain effluence of feeling about him, which makes +them care for him and rally to him as a personality. Whether Lord +Cairns wanted warmth of heart, or whether it was that an inner warmth +failed to pierce the cloak of reserve and pride which he habitually +wore, I do not attempt to determine. But the defect told heavily +against him. He never became a familiar figure to the mass of his +party, a person whose features they knew, at whose name they would +cheer; and nowadays all leaders, to whatever party they belong, find a +source of strength in winning this kind of popularity. The quality +which Americans call magnetism is perhaps less essential in England +than in the country which distinguished and named it; but it is +helpful even in England. Cairns, though an Irishman, was wholly +without it. + +In the field of law, where passion has no place, and even imagination +must be content to move with clipped wings along the ground, the +merits of Lord Cairns's intellect showed to the best advantage. At the +Chancery bar he was one of a trio who had not been surpassed, if ever +equalled, during the nineteenth century, and whom none of our now +practising advocates rivals. The other two were Mr., afterwards Lord +Justice, Rolt, and Mr. Roundell Palmer, afterwards Lord Chancellor +Selborne. All were admirable lawyers, but, of the three, Rolt excelled +in his spirited presentation of a case and in the lively vigour of his +arguments. Palmer was conspicuous for exhaustless ingenuity, and for a +subtlety which sometimes led him away into reasonings too fine for the +court to follow. Cairns was broad, massive, convincing, with a robust +urgency of logic which seemed to grasp and fix you, so that while he +spoke you could fancy no conclusion possible save that toward which he +moved. His habit was to seize upon what he deemed the central and +vital point of the case, throwing the whole force of his argument upon +that one point, and holding the judge's mind fast to it. + +All these famous men were raised to the judicial bench. Rolt remained +there for a few months only, so his time was too short to permit him +to enrich our jurisprudence and leave a memory of himself in the +Reports. Palmer sat in the House of Lords from his accession to the +Chancellorship in 1872 till his death in 1896, and, while fully +sustaining his reputation as a man of eminent legal capacity, was, on +the whole, less brilliant as a judge than he had been as an advocate, +because a tendency to over-refinement is more dangerous in the +judicial than in the forensic mind. He made an admirable Chancellor, +and showed himself more industrious and more zealous for law reform +than did Cairns. But Cairns was the greater judge, and became to the +generation which argued before him a model of judicial excellence. In +hearing a cause he was singularly patient, rarely interrupting +counsel, and then only to put some pertinent question. His figure was +so still, his countenance so impassive, that people sometimes doubted +whether he was really attending to all that was urged at the bar. But +when the time came for him to deliver judgment, which in the House of +Lords is done in the form of a speech addressed to the House in +moving or supporting a motion that is to become the judgment of the +tribunal, it was seen how fully he had apprehended the case in all its +bearings. His deliverances were never lengthy, but they were +exhaustive. They went straight to the vital principles on which the +question turned, stated these in the most luminous way, and applied +them with unerring exactitude to the particular facts. It is as a +storehouse of fundamental doctrines that his judgments are so +valuable. They disclose less knowledge of case-law than do those of +some other judges; but Cairns was not one of the men who love cases +for their own sake, and he never cared to draw upon, still less to +display, more learning than was needed for the matter in hand. It was +in the grasp of the principles involved, in the breadth of view which +enabled him to see these principles in their relation to one another, +in the precision of the logic which drew conclusions from the +principles, in the perfectly lucid language in which the principles +were expounded and applied, that his strength lay. Herein he surpassed +the most eminent of contemporary judges, the then Master of the Rolls, +for while Jessel had perhaps a quicker mind than Cairns, he had not so +wide a mind, nor one so thoroughly philosophical in the methods by +which it moved. + +Outside the spheres of law and politics, Cairns's only interest was in +religion. He did not seem, although a good classical scholar and a +competent mathematician, to care either for letters or for science. But +he was a Sunday-school teacher nearly all his life. Prayer-meetings +were held at his house, at which barristers, not otherwise known for +their piety, but believed to desire county court judgeships, were +sometimes seen. He used to take the chair at missionary and other +philanthropic meetings. He was surrounded by evangelisers and +clergymen. But nothing softened the austerity or melted the ice of +his manners. Neither did the great position he had won seem to give a +higher and broader quality to his statesmanship. It is true that in +law he was wholly free from the partisanship which tinged his politics. +No one was more perfectly fair upon the bench; no one more honestly +anxious to arrive at a right decision. And as a law reformer, although +he effected less than might have been hoped from his abilities or +expected from the absolute sway which he exercised while Chancellor in +Lord Beaconsfield's Government from 1874 to 1880, he was free from +prejudice, and willing to sweep away antiquated rules or usages if they +seemed to block the channel of speedy justice. But in politics this +impartiality and elevation vanished even after he had risen so high +that he did not need to humour the passions or confirm the loyalty of +his own associates. He seemed to be not merely a party man, which an +English politician is forced to be, because if he stands outside +party he cannot effect anything, but a partisan--that is, a man +wholly devoted to his party, who sees everything through its eyes, and +argues every question in its interests. He gave the impression of +being either unwilling or unable to rise to a higher and more truly +national view, and sometimes condescended to arguments whose unsoundness +his penetrating intellect could hardly have failed to detect. His +professional tone had been blameless, but at the bar the path of +rectitude is plain and smooth, and a scrupulous mind finds fewer cases +of conscience present themselves in a year than in Parliament within a +month. Yet if in this respect Cairns failed to reach a level worthy of +his splendid intellect, the defect was due not to any selfish view of +his own interest, but rather to the narrowness of the groove into +which his mind had fallen, and to the atmosphere of Orange sentiment +in which he had grown up. As a politician he is already beginning to +be forgotten; but as a judge he will be held in honourable remembrance +as one of the five or six most brilliant luminaries that have +adorned the English bench since those remote days[29] in which the +beginning of legal memory is placed. + +----- + + [28] No biography of Lord Cairns has (so far as I know) appeared--a + singular fact, considering the brilliancy of his career, and + considering the tendency which now prevails to bestow this kind + of honour on many persons of the second or even the third rank. + One reason may be that Cairns, great though he was, never won + personal popularity even with his own political party or among + his contemporaries at the bar, and was to the general public no + more than a famous name. + + [29] The reign of King Richard the First. + + + + +BISHOP FRASER + + +James Fraser, Bishop of Manchester from 1870 till 1885, was born in +Gloucestershire, of a Scottish family, in 1818, and died at Manchester +in 1885.[30] He took no prominent part in ecclesiastical politics, and +no part at all in general politics. Though a sound classical scholar +in the old-fashioned sense of the term--he won the Ireland University +Scholarship at Oxford, then and still the most conspicuous prize in +the field of classics--he was not an exceptionally cultivated man, and +he never wrote anything except official reports and episcopal charges. +Neither was he, although a ready and effective speaker, gifted with +the highest kind of eloquence. Neither was he a profound theologian. +Yet his character and career are of permanent interest, for he created +not merely a new episcopal type, but (one may almost say) a new +ecclesiastical type within the Church of England. + +Till some sixty or seventy years ago the normal English bishop was a +rich, dignified, and rather easy-going magnate, aristocratic in his +tastes and habits, moderate in his theology, sometimes to the verge of +indifferentism, quite as much a man of the world as a pastor of souls. +He had usually obtained his preferment by his family connections, or +by some service rendered to the court or a political chief--perhaps +even by solicitation or intrigue. Now and then eminence in learning or +literature raised a man to the bench: there were, for instance, the +"Greek play" bishops, such as Dr. Monk of Gloucester, whose fame +rested on their editions of the Attic dramatists; and the _Quarterly +Review_ bishops, such as Dr. Copleston, of Llandaff, whose powerful +pen, as well as his wise administration of the great Oxford College +over which he long presided, amply justified his promotion. So even in +the eighteenth century the illustrious Butler had been Bishop of +Durham, as in Ireland the illustrious Berkeley had been Bishop of +Cloyne. But, on the whole, the bishops of our grandfathers' days were +more remarkable for their prudence and tact, their adroitness or +suppleness, than for intellectual or moral superiority to the rest of +the clergy. Their own upper-class world, and the middle class which, +in the main, took its view of English institutions from the upper +class, respected them as a part of the solid fabric of English +society, but they were a mark for Radical invective and for literary +sneers. Their luxurious pomp and ease were incessantly contrasted +with the simplicity of the apostles and the poverty of curates, and +the abundance among them of the gifts that befit the senate or the +drawing-room was compared with the rarity of the graces that adorn a +saint. The comparison was hardly fair, for saints are scarce, and a +good bishop needs some qualities which a saint may lack. + +That revival within the Church of England which went on in various +forms from 1800 till 1870, at first Low Church or Evangelical in its +tendencies, latterly more conspicuously High Church and Ritualist, +began from below and worked upwards till at length it reached the +bishops. Lord Palmerston, influenced by Lord Shaftesbury, filled the +vacant sees that fell to him with earnest men, sometimes narrow, +sometimes deficient in learning, but often good preachers, and zealous +for the doctrines they held. When the High Churchmen found their way +to the Bench, as they did very largely under Lord Derby's and Mr. +Gladstone's rule, they showed as much theological zeal as the +Evangelicals, and perhaps more talent for administration. The popular +idea of what may be expected from a bishop rose, and the bishops rose +with the idea. As Bishop of Oxford, Dr. Samuel Wilberforce was among +the first to make himself powerfully felt through his diocese. His +example told upon other prelates, and prime ministers grew more +anxious to select energetic and popular men. So it came to pass that +the bishops began to be among the foremost men in the Church of +England. Some, like Dr. Magee of Peterborough, and afterwards of York, +were brilliant orators; some, like Dr. Lightfoot of Durham, profound +scholars; some, like Dr. Temple of Exeter, able and earnest +administrators. There remained but few who had not some good claim to +the dignity they enjoyed. So it may be said, when one compares the +later Victorian bishops with their Georgian predecessors, that no +class in the country has improved more. Few now sneer at them, for no +set of men take a more active and more creditable part in the public +business of the country. Their incomes, curtailed of late years in the +case of the richer sees, are no more than sufficient for the expenses +which fall upon them, and they work as hard as any other men for their +salaries. Though the larger sees have been divided, the reduction of +the toil of bishops thus effected has been less than the addition to +it due to the growth of population and the increased activity of the +clergy. The only defect which the censorious still impute to them is a +certain episcopal conventionality, a disposition to try to please +everybody by the use of vague professional language, a tendency to +think too much about the Church as a church establishment, and to +defer to clerical opinion when they ought to speak and act with an +independence born of their individual opinions. Some of them, as, for +instance, the three I have just mentioned, were not open to this +reproach. It was one of the merits and charms of Fraser that he was +absolutely free from any such tendency. Other men, such as Bishop +Lightfoot, have been not less eminent models of the virtues which +ought to characterise a great Christian pastor; but Fraser (appointed +some time before Lightfoot) was the first to be an absolutely +unconventional and, so to speak, unepiscopal bishop. His career marked +a new departure and set a new example. + +Fraser spent the earlier years of his manhood in Oxford, as a tutor in +Oriel College, teaching Thucydides and Aristotle. Like many of his +Oxford contemporaries, he continued through life to think on +Aristotelian lines, and one could trace them in his sermons. He then +took in succession two college livings, both in quiet nooks in the +South of England, and discharged for nearly twenty years the simple +duties of a parish priest, unknown to the great world, but making +himself beloved by the people, and doing his best to improve their +condition. The zeal he had shown in promoting elementary education +caused him to be appointed (in 1865) by the Schools Inquiry +Commissioners to be their Assistant Commissioner to examine the +common-school system of the United States, and the excellence of his +report thereon attracted the notice of the late Lord Lyttelton, one +of those Commissioners who were then sitting to investigate the state +of secondary education in England. His report long remained by far the +best general picture of American schools, conspicuous for its breadth +of view, its clearness of statement, its sympathetic insight into +conditions unlike those he had known in England. On the recommendation +(as has been generally believed) of Lord Lyttelton and of the then +Bishop of Salisbury, who was a friend of Dr. Fraser's, Mr. Gladstone, +at that time Prime Minister, appointed him Bishop of Manchester in +1870. The diocese of Manchester, which included all Lancashire except +Liverpool and a small district in the extreme north of the county, had +been under a bishop who, although an able and learned man, capable of +making himself agreeable when he pleased, was personally unpopular, +and had done little beyond his formal duties. He lived in a large and +handsome country-house some miles from the city, and was known by +sight to very few of its inhabitants. (I was familiar with Lancashire +in those days, for I had visited all its grammar-schools as Assistant +Commissioner to the Commission just referred to, and there was hardly +a trace to be found in it of the bishop's action.) Fraser had not been +six months in the county before everything was changed. The country +mansion was sold, and he procured a modest house in one of the less +fashionable suburbs of the city. He preached twice every Sunday, +usually in some parish church, and spent the week in travelling up and +down his diocese, so that the days were few in which he was not on the +railway. He stretched out the hand of friendship to the Dissenters +(numerous and powerful in the manufacturing districts), who had +hitherto regarded a bishop as a sort of natural enemy, gained their +confidence, and soon became as popular with them as with the laity of +his own Church. He associated himself with all the works of +benevolence or public utility which were in progress, subscribed to +all so far as his means allowed, and was always ready to speak at a +meeting on behalf of any good enterprise. He dealt in his sermons with +the topics of the day, avoiding party politics, but speaking his mind +on all social and moral questions with a freedom which sometimes +involved him in passing difficulties, but stimulated the minds of his +hearers, and gave the impression of his own perfect candour and +perfect courage. He used to say that as he felt it his duty to speak +wherever he was asked to do so, he must needs speak without +preparation, and must therefore expect sometimes to get into hot +water; that this was a pity, but it was not his fault that he was +reported, and that it was better to run the risk of making mistakes +and suffering for them than to refuse out of self-regarding caution to +give the best of himself to the diocese. He had that true modesty +which makes a man willing to do a thing imperfectly, at the risk of +lowering his intellectual reputation. He knew that he was neither a +deep thinker nor a finished preacher, and was content to be what he +was, so long as he could perform the work which it was in him to do. +He lost no opportunity of meeting the working men, would go and talk +to them in the yards of the mills or at the evening gatherings of +mechanics' institutes; and when any misfortune befell, such as a +colliery accident, he was often among the first who reached the spot +to help the survivors and comfort the widows. He made no difference +between rich and poor, showed no wish to be a guest in the houses of +the great, and treated the poorest curate with as much courtesy as the +most pompous county magnate. His work in Lancashire seldom allowed him +to appear in the House of Lords; and this he regretted, not that he +desired to speak there, but because, as he said, "Whether or not +bishops do Parliament good, Parliament does bishops good." + +Such a simple, earnest, active course of conduct told upon the +feelings of the people who read of his words and doings. But even +greater was the impression made by his personality upon those who saw +him. He was a tall, well-built man,[31] erect in figure, with a quick +eye, a firm step, a ruddy face, an expression of singular heartiness +and geniality. He seemed always cheerful, and, in spite of his endless +labours, always fresh and strong. His smile and the grasp of his hand +put you into good-humour with yourself and the world; if you were +dispirited, they led you out of shadow into sunlight. He was not a +great reader, and had no time for sustained and searching thought; yet +he seemed always abreast of what was passing in the world, and to know +what the books and articles and speeches of the day contained, +although he could not have found time to peruse them. With strong +opinions of his own, he was anxious to hear yours; a ready and eager +talker, yet a willing listener. His oratory was plain, with few +flights of rhetoric, but it was direct and vigorous, free from +conventional phrases, charged with clear good sense and genuine +feeling, and capable, when his feeling was exceptionally strong, of +rising to eloquence. He had a ready sense of humour, the best proof of +which was that he relished a joke against himself.[32] However, the +greatest charm, both of his public and private talk, was the +transparent sincerity and honesty that shone through it. His mind was +like a crystal pool of water in a mountain stream. You saw everything +that was in it, and saw nothing that was mean or unworthy. This +sincerity and freshness made his character not only manly, but lovable +and beautiful, beautiful in its tenderness, its loyalty to his +friends, its devotion to truth. + +His conscientious anxiety to say nothing more than he thought was apt +to make him an embarrassing ally. It happened more than once that when +he came to speak at a public meeting on behalf of some enterprise, he +was not content, like most men, to set forth its merits and claims, +but went on to dwell upon possible drawbacks or dangers, so that the +more ardent friends of the scheme thought he was pouring cold water on +them, and called him a Balaam reversed. In a political assembly he +would have been an _enfant terrible_ whom his party would have feared +to put up to speak; but as people in the diocese got to know that this +was his way, they only smiled at his too ingenuous honesty. As he +spoke with no preparation, and was naturally impulsive, he now and +then spoke unadvisedly, and received a good deal of newspaper censure. +But he was never involved in real trouble by these speeches. As Dean +Stanley wrote to him, "You have a singular gift of going to the very +verge of imprudence and yet never crossing it." + +No one will wonder that such a character, set in a conspicuous place, +and joined to extraordinary activity and zeal, should have produced an +immense effect on the people of his city and diocese. Since +Nonconformity arose in England in the seventeenth century, no bishop, +perhaps, indeed no man, whether cleric or layman, had done so much to +draw together people of different religious persuasions and help them +to realise their common Christianity. Densely populated South +Lancashire is practically one huge town, and he was its foremost +citizen; the most instant in all good works; the one whose words were +most sure to find attentive listeners. This was because he spoke, I +will not say as a layman, but simply as a Christian, never claiming +for himself any special authority in respect either of his sacerdotal +character or his official position. No English prelate before him had +been so welcome to all classes and sections; none was so much lamented +by the masses of the people. But it is a significant fact that he was +from first to last more popular with the laity than with the clergy. +Not that there was ever any slur on his orthodoxy. He began life as a +moderate High Churchman, and gradually verged, half unconsciously, +toward what would be called a Broad-Church position; maintaining the +claim of the Anglican Church to undertake, and her duty to hold +herself responsible for, the education of the people, and upholding +her status as an establishment, but dwelling little on minor points of +doctrinal difference, and seeming to care still less for external +observances or points of ritual. This displeased the Anglo-Catholic +party, and even among other sections of the clergy there was a kind of +feeling that the Bishop was not sufficiently clerical, did not set +full store by the sacerdotal side of his office, and did not think +enough about ecclesiastical questions. + +He was, I think, the first bishop who greeted men of science as +fellow-workers for truth, and declared that Christianity had not, and +could not have, anything to fear from scientific inquiry. This has +often been said since, but in 1870 it was so novel that it drew from +Huxley a singularly warm and impressive recognition. He was one of the +first bishops to condemn the system of theological tests in the +English universities. He even declared that "it was an evil hour when +the Church thought herself obliged to add to or develop the simple +articles of the Apostles' Creed." These deliverances, which any one +can praise now, alarmed a large section of the Church of England then; +nor was the bishop's friendliness to Dissenters favourably regarded by +those who deny to Dissenting pastors the title of Christian +ministers.[33] + +The gravest trouble of his life arose in connection with legal +proceedings which he felt bound to take in the case of a Ritualist +clergyman who had persisted in practices apparently illegal. Fraser, +though personally the most tolerant of men to those who differed from +his own theological views, felt bound to enforce the law, because it +was the law, and was at once assailed unjustly, as well as bitterly, +by those who sympathised with the offending clergyman, and who could +not, or would not, understand that a bishop, like other persons in an +official position, may hold it his absolute duty to carry out the +directions of the law whether or no he approves the law, and at +whatever cost to himself. These attacks were borne with patience and +dignity. He was never betrayed into recriminations, and could the more +easily preserve his calmness, because he felt no animosity. + +A bishop may be a power outside his own religious community even in a +country where the clergy are separated as a caste from the lay +people. Such men as Dupanloup in France show that. So too he may be a +mighty moral and religious force outside his own religious community +in a country where there is no church established or endowed by the +State. The example of Dr. Phillips Brooks in the United States shows +that. But Dupanloup would have been eminent and influential had he not +been a clergyman at all; and Dr. Brooks was the most inspiring +preacher and the most potent leader of religious thought in America +long before, in the last years of his life, he reluctantly consented +to accept the episcopal office. Fraser, not so gifted by nature as +either of those men, would have had little chance of doing the work he +did save in a country where the existence of an ancient establishment +secures for one of its dignitaries a position of far-reaching +influence. When the gains and losses to a nation of the retention of a +church establishment are reckoned up, this may be set down among the +gains. + +If the Church of England possessed more leaders like Tait, Fraser, and +Lightfoot--the statesman, the citizen, and the scholar--in the +characters and careers of all of whom one finds the common mark of a +catholic and pacific spirit, she would have no need to fear any +assaults of political foes, no temptation to ally herself with any +party, but might stand as an establishment until, after long years, +by the general wish of her own people, as well as of those who are +without, she passed peaceably into the position of being the first in +honour, numbers, and influence among a group of Christian communities, +all equally free from State control. + +Fraser's example showed how much an attitude of unpretending +simplicity and friendliness to all sects and classes may do to +mitigate the jealousy and suspicion which still embitter the relations +of the different religious bodies in England, and which work for evil +even in its politics. He created, as Dean Stanley said, a new type of +episcopal excellence: and why should not originality be shown in the +conception and discharge of an office as well as in the sphere of pure +thought or of literary creation? + +----- + + [30] Two Lives of Dr. Fraser have been published, one (in 1887) by the + late Judge Hughes, the other, which gives a fuller impression + of his personal character, by the Rev. J. W. Diggle (1891). + + [31] He was a good judge of horses, and had in his youth been fond of + hunting. + + [32] A clergyman of his diocese had once, under the greatest + provocation, knocked down a person who had insulted him, and + the bishop wrote him a letter of reproof pointing out (among + other things) that, exposed as the Church of England was to + much criticism on all hands, her ministers ought to be very + careful in their demeanour. The offender replied by saying, "I + must regretfully admit that being grossly insulted, and + forgetting in the heat of the moment the critical position of + the Church of England, I did knock the man down, etc." Fraser, + delighted with this turning of the tables on himself, told me + the anecdote with great glee, and invited the clergyman to stay + with him not long afterwards. + + [33] He was himself aware that this caused displeasure. In his latest + Charge, delivered some months before his death, he said: "I am + charged, amongst other grievous sins, with that of thinking not + unkindly, and speaking not unfavourably, of Dissenters. I don't + profess to love dissent, but I have received innumerable + kindnesses from Dissenters. Why should I abuse them? Why should + I call them hard names? Remembering how Nonconformity was + made--no doubt sometimes by self-will and pride and prejudice + and ignorance, but far more often by the Church's supineness, + neglect, and intolerance in days long since gone by, of which + we have not yet paid the full penalty--though, as I have said, + I love not the thing, I cannot speak harshly of it." + + That a defence was needed may seem strange to those who do not + know England. + + + + +SIR STAFFORD HENRY NORTHCOTE, EARL OF IDDESLEIGH[34] + + +Sir Stafford Northcote (born 1818, died 1887) belonged to a type of +politician less common among us than it used to be, and likely to +become still more rare as England grows more democratic--the county +gentleman of old family and good estate, who receives and profits by a +classical education at one of the ancient universities, who is at an +early age returned to Parliament in respect of his social position in +his county, who has leisure to cultivate himself for statesmanship, +who has tastes and resources outside the sphere of politics. +Devonshire, whence he came, has preserved more of the old features of +English country life than the central and northern parts of England, +where manufactures and the growth of population have swept away the +venerable remains of feudalism. In Devonshire the old families are +still deeply respected by the people. They are so intermarried that +most of them have ties of kinship with all their neighbours. Few rich +parvenus have intruded among them; society is therefore exceptionally +easy, simple, and unostentatious. There is still a strong local +patriotism, which makes every Devonshire man, whatever his political +prepossessions, proud of other Devonshire men who rise to eminence, +and which exerts a wholesome influence on the tone of manners and +social intercourse. Northcote was a thorough Devonshire man, who loved +his county and knew its dialect: his Devonshire stories, told with the +strong accent he could assume, were the delight of any company that +could tempt him to repeat them. He was immensely popular in the +county, and had well earned his popularity by his pleasant neighbourly +ways, as well as by his attention to county business and to the duties +of a landowner. + +He had the time-honoured training of the good old English type, was a +schoolboy at Eton, went thence to Oxford, won the highest distinctions +as a scholar, and laid the foundations of a remarkably wide knowledge +of modern as well as ancient literature. He served his apprenticeship +to statesmanship as private secretary to Mr. Gladstone, who was then +(1843) a member of Sir Robert Peel's Government. When the great schism +in the Tory party took place over the question of free trade in corn, +he was not yet in Parliament, and therefore was not driven to choose +between Peel and the Protectionists. In 1855, when he first entered +the House of Commons, that question was settled and gone, so there was +no inconsistency in his entering the Tory ranks although himself a +decided Free Trader. He was not a man who would have elbowed his way +upward. But elbows were not needed. His abilities, as well as his +industry and the confidence he inspired, speedily brought him to the +top. He was appointed Secretary to the Treasury in 1859, entered the +Cabinet in 1866, when a new Tory Ministry was formed under Lord Derby; +and when in 1876 Mr. Disraeli retired to the House of Lords, he +became, being then Chancellor of the Exchequer, leader of the majority +in the House of Commons, while Mr. Gathorne Hardy, the only other +person who had been thought of as suitable for that post, received a +peerage. Mr. Hardy was a more forcible and rousing speaker, but +Northcote had more varied accomplishments and a fuller mastery of +official work. Disraeli said that he had "the largest parliamentary +knowledge of any man he had met." + +As an administrator, Sir Stafford Northcote was diligent, judicious, +and free from any taint of jobbery. He sought nothing for himself; did +not abuse his patronage; kept the public interests steadily before his +mind. He was considerate to his subordinates, and gracious to all +men. He never grudged labour, although there might be no prospect of +winning credit by it. Scrupulous in discharging his duties to his +party, he overtaxed his strength by speaking constantly at public +meetings in the country, a kind of work he must have disliked, and for +which he was ill fitted by the moderation of his views and of his +language. Parliament is not a good place for the pursuit of pure +truth, but the platform is still less favourable to that quest. It was +remarked of him that even in party gatherings, where invective against +political opponents is apt to be expected and relished, he argued +fairly, and never condescended to abuse. + +As a Parliamentarian he had two eminent merits--immense knowledge +and admirable readiness. He had been all his life a keen observer +and a diligent student; and as his memory was retentive, all that he +had observed or read stood at his command. In questions of trade and +finance, questions which, owing, perhaps, to their increasing +intricacy, seem to be less and less frequently mastered by practical +politicians in England, he was especially strong. No other man on his +own side in politics spoke on such matters with equal authority, and +the brunt of the battle fell on him whenever they came up for +discussion. As he had now his old master for his chief antagonist, the +conflict was no easy one; but he never shrank from it. Not less +remarkable was his alertness in debate. His manner was indeed +somewhat ineffective, for it wanted both force and variety. Sentence +followed sentence in a smooth and easy stream, always clear, always +grammatically correct, but with a flow too equably unbroken. There +were few impressive phrases, few brilliant figures, few of those +appeals to passion with which it is necessary to warm and rouse a +large assembly. When the House grew excited at the close of a long +full-dress debate, and Sir Stafford rose in the small hours of the +morning to wind it up on behalf of his party, men felt that the +ripple of his sweet voice, the softness of his gentle manner, were not +what the occasion called for. But what he said was always to the +point and well worth hearing. No facts or arguments suddenly +thrown at him by opponents disconcerted him; for there was sure to +be an answer ready. However weak his own case might seem, his +ingenuity could be relied upon to strengthen it; however powerfully +the hostile case had been presented, he found weak places in it and +shook it down by a succession of well-planted criticisms, each +apparently small, but damaging when taken all together, because no +one of them could be dismissed as irrelevant. + +It was interesting to watch him as he sat on the front bench, with his +hat set so low on his brow that it hid all the upper part of his face, +while the lower part was covered by a thick yellowish-brown beard, +perfectly motionless, rarely taking a note of what was said, and, to +all appearance, the most indifferent figure in the House. The only +sign of feeling which he gave was to be found in his habit of +thrusting each of his hands up the opposite sleeve of his coat when +Mr. Gladstone, the only assailant whom he needed to fear, burst upon +him in a hailstorm of declamation. But when he rose, one perceived +that nothing had escaped him. Every point which an antagonist had made +was taken up and dealt with; no point that could aid his own +contention was neglected; and the fluent grace with which his +discourse swept along, seldom aided by a reference to notes, was not +more surprising than the unfailing skill with which he shunned +dangerous ground, and put his propositions in a form which made it +difficult to contradict them. I remember to have heard a member of the +opposite party remark, that nothing was more difficult than to defend +your argument from Northcote, because he had the art of nibbling it +away, admitting a little in order to evade or overthrow the rest. + +So much for his parliamentary aptitudes, which were fully recognised +before he rose to leadership. But as it was his leadership that has +given him a place in history, I may dwell for a little upon the way in +which he filled that most trying as well as most honourable post. He +led the House--that is to say, the Ministerial majority--for four +sessions (1877-1880), and the Tory Opposition for five and a half +sessions (1880 to middle of 1885). To lead the House of Commons a man +must have, over and above the qualities which make a good debater, an +unusual combination of talents. He must be both bold and cautious, +combative and cool. He must take, on his own responsibility, and on +the spur of the moment, decisions which commit the whole Ministry, and +yet, especially if he be not Prime Minister, he must consider how far +his colleagues will approve and implement his action. He must put +enough force and fire into his speeches to rouse his own ranks and +intimidate (if he can) his opponents, yet must have regard to the more +timorous spirits among his own supporters, going no further than he +feels they will follow, and must sometimes throw a crafty fly over +those in the Opposition whom he thinks wavering or disaffected. Under +the fire of debate, perhaps while composing the speech he has to make +in reply, he must consider not merely the audience before him but also +the effect his words will have when they are read next morning in cold +blood, and, it may be, the effect not only in England but abroad. +Being responsible for the whole conduct of parliamentary business, he +must keep a close watch upon every pending bill, and determine how +much of Government time shall be allotted to each, and in what order +they shall be taken, and how far the general feeling of the House will +let him go in seizing the hours usually reserved for private members, +and in granting or refusing opportunities for discussing topics he +would prefer to have not discussed at all. + +So far as prudence, tact, and knowledge of business could enable him +to discharge these duties, Northcote discharged them admirably. It was +his good fortune to have behind him in Lord Beaconsfield, who had +recently gone to the House of Lords, a chief of the whole party who +trusted him, and with whom he was on the best terms. The immense +authority of that chief secured his own authority. His party was--as +the Tory party usually is--compact and loyal; and his majority ample, +so he had no reason to fear defeat. In the conflicts that arose over +Eastern affairs in 1877-79, affairs at some moments highly critical, +he was cautious and adroit, more cautious than Lord Beaconsfield, +sometimes repairing by moderate language the harm which the latter's +theatrical utterances had done. When a group of Irish Nationalist +members, among whom Mr. Parnell soon came to the front, began to evade +the rules and paralyse the action of the House by obstructive tactics, +he was less successful. Their ingenuity baffled the Ministry, and +brought the House into sore straits. But it may be doubted whether +any leader could have overcome the difficulties of the position. It +was a new position. The old rules framed under quite different +conditions were not fit to check members who, far from regarding the +sentiments of the House, avowed their purpose to reduce it to +impotence, and thereby obtain that Parliament of their own, which +could alone, as they held, cure the ills of Ireland. + +After ten years of struggle and experiment, drastic remedies for +obstruction were at last devised; but in the then state of opinion +within the House, those remedies could not have been carried. Members +accustomed to the old state of things could not for a good while make +up their minds to sacrifice part of their own privileges in order to +deal with a difficulty the source of which they would not attempt to +cure. On the whole, therefore, though he was blamed at the time, +Northcote may be deemed to have passed creditably through his first +period of leadership. + +It was when he had to lead his party in Opposition, after April 1880, +that his severest trial came. To lead the minority is usually easier +than to lead the majority. A leader of the Opposition also must, no +doubt, take swift decisions in the midst of a debate, must consider +how far he is pledging his party to a policy which they may be +required to maintain when next they come into power, must endeavour +to judge, often on scanty data, how many of his usual or nominal +supporters will follow him into the lobby when a division is called, +and how best he can draw off some votes from among his opponents. +Still, delicate as this work is, it is not so hard as that of the +leader of the Government, for it is rather critical than constructive, +and a mistake can seldom do irreparable mischief. Northcote, however, +had special difficulties to face. Mr. Gladstone, still full of energy +and fire, was leading the majority. After a few months Lord +Beaconsfield's mantle no longer covered Northcote (that redoubtable +strategist died in April 1881), and a small but active group of Tory +members set up an irregular skirmishing Opposition on their own +account, paying little heed to his moderate counsels. The Tory party +was then furious at its unexpected defeat at the election of 1880. It +was full of fight, burning for revenge, eager to denounce every +trifling error of the Ministry, and to give battle on small as well as +great occasions. Hence it resented the calm and cautiously critical +attitude which Northcote took up. He had plenty of courage; but he +thought, as indeed most impartial observers thought, that little was +to be gained by incessantly worrying an enemy so superior in force and +flushed with victory; that premature assaults might consolidate a +majority within which there existed elements of discord; and that it +was wiser to wait till the Ministry should begin to make mistakes and +incur misfortunes in the natural course of events, before resuming the +offensive against them. There is a natural tendency to reaction in +English popular opinion, and a tendency to murmur against whichever +party may be in power. This tendency must soon have told in favour of +the Tories, with little effort on their own part; and when it was +already manifest, a Parliamentary attack could have been delivered +with effect. Northcote's view and plan were probably right, but, being +too prone to yield to pressure, and finding his hand forced, he +allowed himself to be drawn by the clamour of his followers into +aggressive operations, which, nevertheless, himself not quite +approving them, he conducted in a half-hearted way. He had not Mr. +Gladstone's power of doing excellently what he hated to have to do. +And it must be admitted that from 1882 onwards, when troubles in +Ireland and oscillations in Egyptian policy had begun to shake the +credit of the Liberal Ministry, he showed less fire and pugnacity than +the needs of the time required from a party leader. In one thing the +young men, who, like Zulu warriors, wished to wash their spears, were +right and he was wrong. He conceived that frequent attacks and a +resort to obstructive tactics would damage the Opposition in the eyes +of the country. Experience has shown that parties do not greatly +suffer from the way they fight their Parliamentary battles. Few people +follow the proceedings closely enough to know when an Opposition +deserves blame for prolonging debate, or a Ministry for abuse of the +closure. So, too, in the United States it would seem that neither the +tyrannical action of a majority nor filibustering by a minority shocks +the nation. + +Not only was Northcote's own temper pacific, but he was too sweetly +reasonable and too dispassionate to be a successful leader in +Opposition. He felt that he was never quite a party man. His mind was +almost too judicial, his courtesy too unfailing, his temper too +unruffled, his manner too unassuming. He did not inspire awe or fear. +Not only did he never seek to give pain, even where pain might have +been a wholesome discipline for pushing selfishness--he seemed +incapable of irritation, and bore with vexatious obstruction from some +members of the House, and mutinous attacks from others who belonged to +his own party, when a spirit less kindly and forgiving might have +better secured his own authority and the dignity of the assembly. He +proceeded on the assumption, an unsafe one, as he had too much reason +to know, that every one else was a gentleman like himself, penetrated +by the old traditions of the House of Commons. + +While superior to the prejudices of the old-fashioned wing of his +party, he was too cautious and conscientious to join those who sought +to lead it into demagogic courses. So far as political opinions went, +he might, had fortune sent him into the world as the son of a Whig +family, have made an excellent Whig, removed as far from high Toryism +on the one hand as from Radicalism on the other. There was, therefore, +a certain incompatibility between the man and the position. Average +partisans felt that a leader so very reasonable was not in full +sympathy with them. Even his invincible optimism displeased them. +"Hang that fellow Northcote!" said one of them; "he's always seeing +blue sky." The militant partisans, whatever their opinions, desired a +pugnacious chief. That a leader should draw the enemy's fire does him +good with his followers, and makes them rally to him. But the fire of +his opponents was hardly ever directed against Northcote, even when +controversy was hottest. Had he possessed a more imperious will, he +might have overcome these difficulties, because his abilities and +experience were of the highest value to his party, and his character +stood so high that the mass of sensible Tories all over the country +might perhaps have rallied to him, if he had appealed to them against +the intrigues by which it was sought to supplant him. He did not lack +courage. But he lacked what men call "backbone." For practical +success, it is less fatal to fail in wisdom than to fail in +resolution. He had not that unquenchable self-confidence which I have +sought to describe in Disraeli, and shall have to describe in Parnell +and in Gladstone. He yielded to pressure, and people came to know that +he would yield to pressure. + +The end of it was that the weakened prestige and final fall of the +Liberal Ministry were not credited to his generalship, but rather to +those who had skirmished in advance of the main army. That fall was in +reality due neither to him nor to them, but partly to the errors or +internal divisions of the Ministry itself, partly to causes such as +the condition of Ireland and the revolt of Arabi in Egypt, for which +Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet was no more, perhaps less, to blame than many +of its predecessors. No Ministry of recent years seemed, when it was +formed, to have such a source of strength in the abilities of the men +who composed it as did the Ministry of 1880. None proved so +persistently unlucky. + +The circumstances under which Northcote's leadership came to an end by +his elevation to the Upper House (June 1885) as Earl of Iddesleigh, as +well as those under which he was subsequently (1887) removed from the +post of Foreign Secretary in the then Tory Ministry, evoked much +comment at the time, but some of the incidents attending them have not +yet been disclosed, and they could not be discussed without bringing +in other persons with whom I am not here concerned. Conscious of his +own loyalty to his party, and remembering his long and laborious +services, he felt those circumstances deeply; and they may have +hastened his death, which came very suddenly in February 1887, and +called forth a burst of sympathy such as had not been seen since Peel +perished by an accident nearly forty years before. + +In private life Northcote had the charm of unpretending manners, +coupled with abundant humour, a store of anecdote, and a geniality +which came straight from the heart. No man was a more agreeable +companion. In 1884, when the University of Edinburgh celebrated its +tercentenary, he happened to be Lord Rector, and in that capacity had +to preside over the festivities. Although a stranger to Scotland, and +as far removed (for he was a decided High Churchman) from sympathy +with Scottish Presbyterianism as he was removed in politics from the +Liberalism then dominant in Edinburgh, he won golden opinions from the +Scotch, as well as from the crowd of foreign visitors, by the tact and +grace he showed in the discharge of his duties, and the skill with +which, putting off the politician, he entered into the spirit of the +occasion as a lover of letters and learning. Though political eminence +had secured his election to the office, every one felt that it would +have been hard to find in the ranks of literature and science any one +fitter to preside over such a gathering. + +He left behind few in whom the capacities of the administrator were so +happily blended with a philosophic judgment and a wide culture. It is +a combination which was inadequately appreciated in his own person. +Vehemence in controversy, domineering audacity of purpose, the power +of moving crowds by incisive harangues, were the qualities which the +younger generation seemed disposed to cultivate. They are qualities +apt to be valued in times of strife and change, times when men are +less concerned to study and apply principles than to rouse the +passions and consolidate the organisation of their party, while +dazzling the nation by large promises or bold strokes of policy. For +such courses Northcote was not the man. Were it to be observed of him +that he was too good for the work he had to do, it might be answered +that political leadership is work for which no man can be too good, +and that it was rather because his force of will and his combativeness +were not commensurate with his other gifts, that those other gifts did +not have their full effect and win their due success. Yet this at +least may be said, that if he had been less amiable, less fair-minded, +and less open-minded, he would have retained his leadership to the +end. + +----- + + [34] A _Life of Lord Iddesleigh_, written by Mr. Andrew Lang, + presents Northcote's character and career with fairness and + discrimination. + + + + +CHARLES STEWART PARNELL + + +Though I do not propose to write even the briefest narrative of +Parnell's life, but only to note certain salient features of his +intellect and character, it may be well to state a few facts and +dates; for in these days of rapid change and hasty reading, facts soon +pass out of most men's memories, leaving only vague impressions +behind.[35] + +He belonged to a family which, established at Congleton in Cheshire, +had at the time of the Restoration migrated to Ireland, had settled on +an estate in Wicklow, and had produced in every subsequent generation +a person of distinction. Thomas Parnell, the friend of Pope and Swift, +is still remembered by his poem of _The Hermit_. Another Parnell (Sir +John) was Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer in the days of Henry +Grattan, whose opinions he shared. Another (Sir Henry) was a leading +Irish Liberal member of the House of Commons, and died by his own hand +in 1842. Charles's father and grandfather figured less in the public +eye. But his mother was a remarkable woman, and the daughter of a +remarkable man, Commodore Charles Stewart, one of the most brilliant +naval commanders on the American side in the war of 1812. Stewart was +the son of a Scoto-Irishman from Ulster, who had emigrated to America +in the middle of the eighteenth century; so there was a strain of +Scottish as well as a fuller strain of English blood in the most +powerful Irish leader of recent times. + +Parnell was born at Avondale, the family estate in Wicklow, in 1846, +and was educated mostly at private schools in England. He spent some +months at Magdalene College, Cambridge, but, having been rusticated +for an affray in the street, refused to return to the College, and +finished his education for himself at home. It was a very imperfect +education. He cared nothing for study, and indeed showed interest only +in mathematics and cricket. In 1874 he stood as a candidate for +Parliament, but without success. When he had to make a speech he broke +down utterly. In 1875 he was returned as member for the county of +Meath, and within two years had made his mark in the House of Commons. +In 1880 he was elected leader of the Irish Parliamentary party, and +ruled it and his followers in Ireland with a rod of iron until he was +deposed, in 1890, at the instance of the leaders of the English +Liberal party, who thought that the verdict against him in a divorce +suit in which he was co-respondent had fatally discredited him in the +eyes of the bulk of the English Liberal party, and made co-operation +with him impossible. Refusing to resign his leadership, he conducted a +campaign in Ireland against the majority of his former followers with +extraordinary energy till November 1891, when he died of rheumatic +fever after a short illness. A constitution which had never been +strong was worn out by the ceaseless exertions and mental tension of +the last twelve months. + +The whole of his political activity was comprised within a period of +sixteen years, during ten of which he led the Irish Nationalist party, +exercising an authority more absolute than any Irish leader had +exercised before. + +It has often been observed that he was not Irish, and that he led the +Irish people with success just because he did not share their +characteristic weaknesses. But it is equally true that he was not +English. One always felt the difference between his temperament and +that of the normal Englishman. The same remark applies to some other +famous Irish leaders. Wolfe Tone, for instance, and Fitzgibbon +(afterwards Lord Clare) were unlike the usual type of Irishman--that +is, the Irishman in whom the Celtic element predominates; but they +were also unlike Englishmen. The Anglo-Irish Protestants, a strong +race who have produced a number of remarkable men in excess of the +proportion they bear to the whole population of the United Kingdom, +fall into two classes--the men of North-Eastern Ulster, in whom there +is so large an infusion of Scottish blood that they may almost be +called "Scotchmen with a difference," and the men of Leinster and +Munster, who are true Anglo-Celts. It was to this latter class that +Parnell belonged. They are a group by themselves, in whom some of the +fire and impulsiveness of the Celt has been blended with some of the +firmness, the tenacity, and the close hold upon facts which belong to +the Englishman. Mr. Parnell, however, though he might be reckoned to +the Anglo-Irish type, was not a normal specimen of it. He was a man +whom you could not refer to any category, peculiar both in his +intellect and in his character generally. + +His intellect was eminently practical. He did not love speculation or +the pursuit of abstract truth, nor had he a taste for literature, +still less a delight in learning for its own sake. Even of the annals +of Ireland his knowledge was most slender. He had no grasp of +constitutional questions, and was not able to give any help in the +construction of a Home Rule scheme in 1886. His general reading had +been scanty, and his speeches show no acquaintance either with +history, beyond the commonest facts, or with any other subject +connected with politics. Very rarely did they contain a maxim or +reflection of general applicability, apart from the particular topic +he was discussing. Nor did he ever attempt to give to them the charm +of literary ornament. All was dry, direct, and practical, without so +much as a graceful phrase or a choice epithet. Sometimes, when +addressing a great public meeting, he would seek to rouse the audience +by vehement language; but though there might be a glow of suppressed +passion, there were no flashes of imaginative light. Yet he never gave +the impression of an uneducated man. His language, though it lacked +distinction, was clear and grammatical. His taste was correct. It was +merely that he did not care for any of those things which men of +ability comparable to his usually do care for. His only interests, +outside politics, lay in mechanics and engineering and in the +development of the material resources of his country. He took pains to +manage his estate well, and was specially anxious to make something +out of his stone quarries, and to learn what could be done in the way +of finding and working minerals. + +Those who observed that he was almost always occupied in examining and +attacking the measures or the conduct of those who governed Ireland +were apt to think his talent a purely critical one. They were +mistaken. Critical, indeed, it was, in a remarkable degree; keen, +penetrating, stringently dissective of the arguments of an opponent, +ingenious in taking advantage of a false step in administration or of +an admission imprudently made in debate. But it had also a positive +and constructive quality. From time to time he would drop his negative +attitude and sketch out plans of legislation which were always +consistent and weighty, though not made attractive by any touch of +imagination. They were the schemes not so much of a statesman as of an +able man of business, who saw the facts, especially the financial +facts, in a sharp, cold light, and they seldom went beyond what the +facts could be made to prove. And his ideas struck one as being not +only forcible but independent, the fruit of his own musings. Although +he freely used the help of others in collecting facts or opinions, he +did not seem to be borrowing the ideas, but rather to have looked at +things for himself, and seen them as they actually were, in their true +perspective, not (like many Irishmen) through the mists of sentiment +or party feeling. The impression made by one of his more elaborate +speeches might be compared to that which one receives from a grey +sunless day with an east wind, a day in which everything shows clear, +but also hard and cold. + +To call his mind a narrow one, as people sometimes did, was to wrong +it. If the range of his interests was limited, his intelligence was +not. Equal to any task it undertook, it judged soundly, appreciating +the whole phenomena of the case, men and things that had no sort of +attraction for it. There was less pleasure in watching its activities +than the observation of a superior mind generally affords, for it was +always directed to immediate aims, and it wanted the originality which +is fertile in ideas and analogies. It was not discursive, not +versatile, not apt to generalise. It did not rejoice in the exercise +of thought for thought's sake, but felt itself to be merely a useful +instrument for performing the definite practical work which the will +required of it. + +If, however, the intellect of the man could not be called interesting, +his character had at least this interest, that it gave one many +problems to solve, and could not easily be covered by any formulæ. An +observer who followed the old method of explaining every man by +ascribing to him a single ruling passion, would have said that his +ruling passion was pride. The pride was so strong that it almost +extinguished vanity. Parnell did not appear to seek occasions for +display, frequently neglecting those which other men would have +chosen, seldom seeming to be elated by the applause of crowds, and +treating the House of Commons with equal coolness whether it cheered +him or howled at him. He cared nothing for any social compliments or +attentions, rarely accepted an invitation to dinner, dressed with +little care and often in clothes whose style and colour seemed +unworthy of his position. He was believed to be haughty and distant to +his followers; and although he could occasionally be kindly and even +genial, scarcely any were admitted to intimacy, and few of the +ordinary signs of familiarity could be observed between him and them. +Towards other persons he was sufficiently polite but warily reserved, +showing no desire for the cultivation of friendship, or, indeed, for +any relations but those of business. Of some ordinary social duties, +such as opening and answering letters, he was, especially in later +years, more neglectful than good breeding permits; and men doubted +whether to ascribe this fault to indolence or to a superb disregard of +everybody but himself. Such disregard he often showed in greater +matters, taking no notice of attacks made upon him which he might have +refuted, and intimating to the English his indifference to their +praise or blame. On one remarkable occasion, at the beginning of the +session of 1883, he was denounced by Mr. W. E. Forster in a long and +bitter speech, which told powerfully upon the House. Many instances +were given in which Irish members had palliated or failed to condemn +criminal acts, and Parnell was arraigned as the head and front of this +line of conduct, and thus virtually responsible for the outrages that +had occurred. The Irish leader, who had listened in impassive silence, +broken only by one interjected contradiction, to this fierce +invective, did not rise to reply, and was with difficulty induced by +his followers to deliver his defence on the following day. To the +astonishment of every one, that defence consisted in a declaration, +delivered in a cold, careless, almost scornful way, that for all he +said or did in Ireland he held himself responsible to his countrymen +only, and did not in the least regard what Englishmen thought of him. +It was an answer not of defence but of defiance. + +Even to his countrymen he could on occasion be disdainful, expecting +them to defer to his own judgment of his own course. He would +sometimes remain away from Parliament for weeks together, although +important business might be under consideration, perhaps would vanish +altogether from public ken. Yet this lordly attitude and the air of +mystery which surrounded him did not seem to be studied with a view to +effect. They were due to his habit of thinking first and chiefly of +himself. If he desired to indulge his inclinations, he indulged them. +Some extremely strong motive of passion or interest might interpose +to restrain this desire and stimulate him to an unwelcome exertion; +but no respect for the opinion of others, nor fear of censure from his +allies or friends, would be allowed to do so. + +This boundless self-confidence and independence greatly contributed to +his success as a leader. His faith in his star inspired a conviction +that obstacles whose reality his judgment recognised would ultimately +yield to his will, and gave him in moments of crisis an undismayed +fortitude which only once forsook him--in the panic which was suddenly +created by the Phoenix Park murders of May 1882. The confidence which +he felt, or appeared to feel, reacted upon his party, and became a +chief ground of their obedience to him and their belief in his +superior wisdom. His calmness, his tenacity, his patience, his habit +of listening quietly to every one, but deciding for himself, were all +evidences of that resolute will which imposed itself upon the Irish +masses no less than upon his Parliamentary following, and secured for +him a loyalty in which there was little or nothing of personal +affection. + +In these several respects his overweening pride was a source of +strength. In another direction, however, it proved a source of +weakness. There are men in whom the want of moral principle, of noble +emotions, or of a scrupulous conscience and nice sense of honour, is +partly replaced by deference to the opinion of their class or of the +world. Such men may hold through life a tolerably upright course, +neither from the love of virtue nor because they are ambitious and +anxious to stand well with those whom they aspire to influence or +rule, but because, having a sense of personal dignity, combined with a +perception of what pleases or offends mankind, they are resolved to do +nothing whereby their good name can be tarnished or an opening given +to malicious tongues. But when pride towers to such a height as to +become a law to itself, disregarding the judgment of others, it may +not only lead its possessor into an attitude of defiance which the +world resents, but may make him stoop to acts of turpitude which +discredit his character. Mr. Parnell was certainly not a scrupulous +man. Without dwelling upon the circumstances attending the divorce +case already referred to, or upon his betrayal of Mr. Gladstone's +confidences, and his reckless appeals during the last year of his life +to the most inflammable elements in Ireland, there are facts enough in +his earlier career to show that he had little regard for truth and +little horror for crime. A revolution may extenuate some sins, but +even in a revolution there are men (and sometimes the strongest men) +whose moral excellence shines through the smoke of conflict and the +mists of detraction. In Mr. Parnell's nature the moral element was +imperfectly developed. He seemed cynical and callous; and it was +probably his haughty self-reliance which prevented him from +sufficiently deferring to the ordinary moralities of mankind. His +pride, which ought to have kept him free from the suspicion of +dishonour, made him feel himself dispensed from the usual restraints. +Whatever he did was right in his own eyes, and no other eyes need be +regarded. Phenomena somewhat similar were observable in Napoleon. But +Napoleon, though he came of a good family, was obviously not a +gentleman in the common sense of the term. Mr. Parnell was a gentleman +in that sense. He had the bearing, the manners, the natural easy +dignity of a man of birth who has always moved in good society. He +rarely permitted any one to take liberties with him, even the innocent +liberties of familiar intercourse. This made his departures from what +may be called the inner and higher standard of gentlemanly conduct all +the more remarkable. + +He has been accused of a want of physical courage. He did no doubt +after the Phoenix Park murders ask the authorities in England for +police protection, being, not unnaturally, in fear for his life; and +he habitually carried firearms. He was at times in danger, and there +was every reason why he should be prepared to defend himself. An +anecdote was told of another member of the House of Commons whose +initials were the same as his own, and who, taking what he supposed to +be his own overcoat from the peg on which it hung in the cloakroom of +the House, was startled when he put his hand into the pocket to feel +in it the cold iron of a pistol. Moral courage he showed in a high +degree during his whole public career, facing his antagonists with an +unshaken front, even when they were most numerous and bitter. Though +he intensely disliked imprisonment, the terms on which he came out of +Kilmainham Gaol left no discredit upon him. He behaved with perfect +dignity under the attacks of the press in 1887, and in the face of the +use made of letters attributed to him which turned out to have been +forged by Richard Pigott--letters which the bulk of the English upper +classes had greedily swallowed. With this courage and dignity there +was, however, little trace of magnanimity. He seldom said a generous +word, or showed himself responsive to such a word spoken by another. +Accustomed to conceal his feelings, except in his most excited +moments, he rarely revealed, but he certainly cherished, vindictive +sentiments. He never forgave either Mr. W. E. Forster or Mr. Gladstone +for having imprisoned him in 1881;[36] and though he stood in some +awe of the latter, whom he considered the only really formidable +antagonist he had ever had to confront, he bore a grudge which +smouldered under the reconciliation of 1886 and leapt into flame in +the manifesto of November 1890. + +The union in Mr. Parnell of intense passion with strenuous self-control +struck all who watched him closely, though it was seldom that passion +so far escaped as to make the contrast visibly dramatic. Usually he was +cold, grave, deliberate, repelling advances with a sort of icy +courtesy. He hardly ever lost his temper in the House of Commons, +even in his last session under the sarcasms of his former friends, +though the low, almost hissing tones of his voice sometimes betrayed an +internal struggle. But during the electoral campaign in Kilkenny, in +December 1890, when he was fighting for his life, he was more than +once so swept away by anger that those beside him had to hold him +back from jumping off the platform into the crowd to strike down some +one who had interrupted him. Suspended for a moment, his mastery of +himself quickly returned. Men were astonished to observe how, after +some of the stormy passages at the meetings of Irish members held in +one of the House of Commons committee-rooms in December 1890, he +would address quietly, perhaps lay his hand upon the shoulder of, some +one of the colleagues who had just been denouncing him, and on whom +he had poured all the vitriol of his fierce tongue. As this could +not have been good-nature, it must have been either calculated +policy or a pride that would not accept an injury from those whom he +had been wont to deem his subjects. Spontaneous kindliness was never +ascribed to him; nor had he, so far as could be known, a single intimate +friend. + +Oratory is the usual avenue to leadership in a democratic movement, +and Mr. Parnell is one of the very few who have arrived at power +neither by that road nor by military success. So far from having by +nature any of the gifts or graces of a popular speaker, he was at +first conspicuously deficient in them, and became at last effective +only by constant practice, and by an intellectual force which asserted +itself through commonplaceness of language and a monotonous delivery. +Fluency was wanting, and even moderate ease was acquired only after +four or five years' practice. His voice was neither powerful nor +delicate in its modulations, but it was clear, and the enunciation +deliberate and distinct, quiet when the matter was ordinary, slow and +emphatic when an important point arrived. With very little action of +the body, there was often an interesting and obviously unstudied +display of facial expression. So far from glittering with the florid +rhetoric supposed to characterise Irish eloquence, his speeches were +singularly plain, bare, and dry. Neither had they any humour. If they +ever raised a smile, which seldom happened, it was by some touch of +sarcasm or adroit thrust at a point left unguarded by an adversary. +Their merit lay in their lucidity, in their aptness to the matter in +hand, in the strong practical sense which ran through them, coupled +with the feeling that they came from one who led a nation, and whose +forecasts had often fulfilled themselves. They were carefully +prepared, and usually made from pretty full notes; but the preparation +had been given rather to the matter and the arrangement than to the +diction, which had rarely any ornament or literary finish. Of late +years he spoke infrequently, whether from indolence or from weak +health, or because he thought little was to be done in the face of a +hostile majority, now that the tactics of obstruction had been +abandoned. When he interposed without preparation in a debate which +had arisen unexpectedly, he was short, pithy, and direct; indeed, +nothing was more characteristic of Parnell than his talent for hitting +the nail on the head, a talent which always commands attention in +deliberative assemblies. No one saw more clearly or conveyed in terser +language the course which the circumstances of the moment required; +and as his mastery of parliamentary procedure and practice came next +to that of Mr. Gladstone, any advice that he gave to the House on a +point of order carried weight. It would indeed be no exaggeration to +say that during the sessions of 1889 and 1890 he was distinctly the +second man in the House of Commons, surpassed in debating power by +five or six others, but inferior to Mr. Gladstone alone in the +interest which his speeches excited and in the impression they +produced. Along with this access of influence his attitude and the +spirit of his policy appeared to rise and widen. There was less of +that hard attorneyism which had marked his criticisms of the Tory +Government and their measures up to March 1880, and of the Liberal +Government and their measures during the five following years. He +seemed to grow more and more to the full stature of a statesman, with +constructive views and a willingness to make the best of the facts as +he found them. Yet even in this later and better time one note of +greatness was absent from his speeches. There was nothing genial or +generous or elevated about them. They never soared into an atmosphere +of lofty feeling, worthy of the man who was by this time deemed to be +leading his nation to victory, and who had begun to be admired and +honoured by one of the two great historic English parties. + +Parnell was not only versed in the rules of parliamentary procedure, +but also a consummate master of parliamentary tactics. Soon after he +entered the House of Commons he detected its weak point, and perfected +a system of obstruction which so destroyed the efficiency of its +time-honoured modes of doing business that new sets of rules, each +more stringent than the preceding, had to be devised between 1878 and +1888. The skill with which he handled his small but well-disciplined +battalion was admirable. He was strict with individuals, requiring +absolute obedience to the party rules, but ready to gratify any +prevailing current of feeling when he saw that this could be done +without harm to the cause. More than once, when English members who +happened to be acting with him on some particular question pressed him +to keep his men quiet and let a division be taken at once, he answered +that they were doubtless right in thinking that the moment for +securing a good division had arrived, but that he must not muzzle his +followers when they wanted to have their fling. The best proof of the +tact with which he ruled a section comprising many men of brilliant +talents lies in the fact that there was no serious revolt, or movement +towards revolt, against him until the breach of 1890 between himself +and the Liberal party had led to the belief that his continued +leadership would mean defeat at the polls in Great Britain, and the +postponement, perhaps for many years, of Home Rule for Ireland. + +Parnell's political views and tendencies were eagerly canvassed by +those who had studied him closely. Many, among both Englishmen and +Irishmen, held that he was at heart a Conservative, valuing strong +government and attached to the rights of property. They predicted that +if an Irish Parliament had been established, as proposed by Mr. +Gladstone in 1886, and an Irish cabinet formed to administer the +affairs of the island, Parnell would have been the inevitable and +somewhat despotic leader of the party of authority and order. His +co-operation with the agrarian agitators from 1879 onwards was in this +view merely a politic expedient to gain support for the Home Rule +campaign. For this theory there is much to be said. Though he came to +lead a revolution, and was willing, as appeared in the last few months +of his life, to appeal to the genuine revolutionary party, Parnell was +not by temper or conviction a revolutionist. Those who were left in +Ireland of the old Fenian group, and especially that section of the +extreme Fenians out of which the secret insurrectionary and dynamitard +societies were formed, never liked or trusted him. The passion which +originally carried him into public life was hatred of England, and a +wish to restore to Ireland, if possible her national independence +(though he rarely if ever avowed this), or at least her own +Parliament. But he was no democratic leveller, and still less +inclined to those socialistic doctrines which the section influenced +by Mr. Davitt had espoused. He did not desire the "extinction of +landlordism," and would probably have been a restraining and +moderating force in an Irish legislature. That he was genuinely +attached to his native country need not be doubted. But his patriotism +had little of a sentimental quality, and seemed to spring as much from +dislike of England as from love of Ireland. + +It may excite surprise that a man such as has been sketched, with so +cool a judgment and so complete a self-control, a man (as his previous +career had shown) able to endure temporary reverses in the confidence +of ultimate success, should have committed the fatal error, which +blasted his fame and shortened his life, of clinging to the headship +of his party when prudence prescribed retirement. When he sought the +advice of Mr. Cecil Rhodes, retirement for a time was the counsel he +received. His absence need not have been of long duration. Had he, +after the sentence of the Divorce Court in November 1890, gone abroad +for eight or ten months, allowing some one to be chosen in his place +chairman of the Irish party for the session, he might thereafter have +returned to the House of Commons, and would doubtless, after a short +lapse of time, have naturally recovered the leadership. No one else +could have resisted his claims. Unfortunately, the self-reliant pride +which had many a time stood him in good stead, made him refuse to bow +to the storm. Probably he could not understand the indignation which +the proceedings in the divorce case had awakened in England, being +morally somewhat callous, and knowing that his offence had been no +secret to many persons in the House of Commons. He had been accustomed +to despise English opinion, and had on former occasions suffered +little for doing so. He bitterly resented both Mr. Gladstone's letter +and the movement to depose him which it roused in his own party. +Having often before found defiant resolution lead to success, he +determined again to rely on the maxim which has beguiled so many to +ruin, just because it has so much truth in it--"_De l'audace, encore +de l'audace, toujours de l'audace._" The affront to his pride +disturbed the balance of his mind, and made him feel as if even a +temporary humiliation would destroy the prestige that had been won by +his haughty self-confidence. It was soon evident that he had +overestimated his power in Ireland, but when the schism began there +were many besides Lord Salisbury--many in Ireland as well as in +England--who predicted triumph for him. Nor must it be thought that it +was pure selfishness which made him resolve rather to break with the +English Liberals than allow the Nationalist bark to be steered by any +hands but his own. He was a fatalist, and had that confidence in his +star and his mission which is often characteristic of minds in which +superstition--for he was superstitious--and a certain morbid taint may +be discerned. There were others who believed that no one but himself +could hold the Irish party together and carry the Irish cause to +triumph. No wonder that this belief should have filled and perhaps +disordered his own brain. + +The swiftness of his rise is a striking instance of the power which +intellectual concentration and a strenuous will can exert, for he had +no adventitious help from wealth or family connection or from the +reputation of having suffered for his country. _Ergo vivida vis animi +pervicit._ When he entered Parliament he was only thirty, with no +experience of affairs and no gift of speech; but the quality that was +in him of leading and ruling men, of taking the initiative, of seeing +and striking at the weak point of the enemy, and fearlessly facing the +brunt of an enemy's attack, made itself felt in a few months, and he +rose without effort to the first place. With some intellectual +limitations and some great faults, he will stand high in the long and +melancholy series of Irish leaders: less lofty than Grattan, less +romantic than Wolfe Tone, less attractive than O'Connell, less +brilliant than any of these three, yet entitled to be remembered as +one of the most remarkable characters that his country has produced in +her struggle of many centuries against the larger isle. + +----- + + [35] The _Life of Parnell_, by Mr. R. Barry O'Brien, has taken rank + among the best biographies of the last half-century. + + [36] An anecdote was told at the time that when he found himself in + the prison yard at Kilmainham, he said, in a sort of soliloquy, + "I shall live yet to dance upon those two old men's graves." + + + + +CARDINAL MANNING + + +Henry Edward Manning, Archbishop of Westminster and Cardinal of the +Holy Roman Church, was born in 1808, eight years after Cardinal +Newman, and died in 1892. He was one of the most notable figures of +his generation; and, indeed, in a sense, an unique figure, for he +contributed a new type to the already rich and various ecclesiastical +life of England. If he could scarcely be described as intellectually a +man of the first order, he held a considerable place in the history of +his time, having effected what greater men might perhaps have failed +to effect, for the race is not always to the swift, and time and +chance favoured Manning. + +He was the son of wealthy parents, his father a City of London +merchant; was educated at Harrow and at Oxford, where he obtained high +classical honours and a Fellowship at Merton College; was ordained a +clergyman, and soon rose to be Archdeacon of Chichester; and, having +by degrees been led further and further from his original Low Church +position into the Tractarian movement, ultimately, at the age of +forty-three, went over to the Church of Rome. Having some time before +lost his wife, he was at once re-ordained a priest, was appointed +Archbishop of Westminster on Cardinal Wiseman's death in 1865, and +raised to the Cardinalate by Pope Pius IX. in 1875. + +He was not a great thinker nor a man of wide learning. His writings +show no trace of originality, nor indeed any conspicuous philosophical +acuteness or logical power. So far as purely intellectual gifts are +concerned, he was not to be named with Cardinal Newman or with several +other of the ablest members of the English Tractarian party, such as +were the two metaphysicians W. G. Ward and Dalgairns, both of whom +passed over to Rome, or such as was Dean Church, an accomplished +historian, and a man of singularly beautiful character, who remained +an Anglican till his death in 1890. Nor, though he had won a high +reputation at his University, was Manning a leading spirit in the +famous "Oxford Movement." It was by his winning manners, his graceful +rhetoric, and his zealous discharge of clerical duties, rather than by +any commanding talents that he rose to eminence in the Church of +England. Neither had his character the same power either to attract or +to awe as that of Newman. Nobody in those days called him great, as +men called Newman. Nobody felt compelled to follow where he led. There +was not, either in his sermons or in his writings, or in his bodily +presence and conversation, anything which could be pronounced +majestic, or lofty, or profound. In short, he was not in the grand +style, either as a man or as a preacher, and wanted that note of +ethereal purity or passionate fervour which marks the two highest +forms of religious character. + +Intelligent, however, skilful, versatile he was in the highest degree; +cultivated, too, with a knowledge of all that a highly educated man +ought to know; dexterous rather than forcible in theological +controversy; an admirable rhetorician, handling language with +something of that kind of art which Roman ecclesiastics most +cultivate, and in their possession of which the leading Tractarians +showed their affinity to Rome, an exact precision of phrase and a +subtle delicacy of suggestion. Newman had it in the fullest measure. +Dean Church had it, with less brilliance than Newman, but with no less +grace and dignity. Manning equalled neither of these, but we catch in +him the echo. He wrote abundantly and on many subjects, always with +cleverness and with the air of one who claimed to belong to the _âmes +d'élite_, yet his style never attained the higher kind of literary +merit. There was no imaginative richness about it, neither were there +the weight and penetration that come from sustained and vigorous +thinking. Similarly, with a certain parade of references to history +and to out-of-the-way writers, he gave scant evidence of solid +learning. He was an accomplished disputant in the sense of knowing +thoroughly the more obvious weaknesses of the Protestant (and +especially of the Anglican) position, and of being able to contrast +them effectively with the external completeness and formal symmetry of +the Roman system. But he never struck out a new or illuminative +thought; and he seldom ventured to face--one could indeed sometimes +mark him seeking to elude--a real difficulty. + +What, then, was the secret of his great and long-sustained reputation +and influence? It lay in his power of dealing with men. For the work +of an ecclesiastical ruler he had three inestimable gifts--a resolute +will, captivating manners, and a tact equally acute and vigilant, by +which he seemed not only to read men's characters, but to discern the +most effective means of playing on their motives. To call him an +intriguer would be unjust, because the word, if it does not imply the +pursuit of some mean or selfish object, does generally connote a +resort to unworthy arts; and the Cardinal was neither dishonourable +nor selfish. But he had the talents which an intriguer needs, though +he used them in a spirit of absolute devotion to the interests of his +Church, and though he was too much of a gentleman to think that the +interests of the Church, which might justify a good deal, could be +made to justify any and every means. In conversation he had the art of +seeming to lay his mind alongside of yours, wishful to know what you +had to say, and prepared to listen respectfully to it, even though you +might be much younger and of no personal consequence. Yet you +sometimes felt, if your own power of observation had not been lulled +to sleep by the winning manner, that he was watching you, and +watching, in conformity to a settled habit, the effect upon you of +whatever he said. It was hard not to be flattered by this air of +kindly deference, and natural to admire the great man who condescended +without condescension, even though one might be secretly disappointed +at the want of freshness and insight in his conversation. Like his +famous contemporary, Bishop Samuel Wilberforce, Manning was all things +to all men. He was possessed, no doubt, of far less wit and far less +natural eloquence than that brilliant but variable creature. But he +gave a more distinct impression of earnest and unquestioning loyalty +to the cause he had made his own. + +In the government of his diocese, Manning showed himself a finished +ruler and manager of men, flexible in his power of adapting himself to +any character or society, yet inflexible when firmness was needed, +usually tactful if not always gentle in his methods, but tenacious in +his purposes, demanding rightfully from others the simplicity of life +and the untiring industry of which he set an example himself. Over +women his influence was still greater than over men, because women are +more susceptible to the charm of presence and address; nor could any +other ecclesiastic count so many conversions among ladies of high +station, his dignified carriage and ascetic face according admirably +with his sacerdotal rank and his life of strict observance. For some +years it was his habit to go to Rome early in Lent and remain till +after Easter. Promising subjects, who had doubts as to their +probabilities of salvation in the Anglican communion, used to be +invited to dinner to meet him, and they fell in swift succession +before his skilful presentation of the peace and bliss to be found +within the Roman fold. + +In his public appearances, it was neither the solid substance of his +discourses nor the literary quality of their style that struck one, +but their judicious adaptation to the audience, and the grace with +which they were delivered. For this reason--originality being rarer +and therefore more precious in the pulpit, where well-worn themes have +to be handled, than on a platform, where the topic is one of the +moment--his addresses at public meetings were better than his sermons, +and won for him the reputation of a speaker whom it was well worth +while to secure at any social or philanthropic gathering. At the +Vatican OEcumenical Council of 1870 it was less by his speeches than +by his work in private among the assembled prelates that he served the +Infallibilist cause. Himself devoted, and, no doubt, honestly devoted, +to Ultramontane principles, he did not hesitate to do violence to +history and join in destroying what freedom the Church at large had +retained, in order to exalt the Chair of Peter to a position unheard +of even at Trent, not to say in the Middle Ages. His activity, his +assiduity, and his tireless powers of persuasion contributed largely +to the satisfaction at that Council of the wishes of Pius IX., who +presently rewarded him with the Cardinalate. But the opponents of the +new dogma, who were as superior in learning to the Infallibilists as +they proved inferior in numbers, carried back with them to Germany and +North America an undying distrust of the astute Englishman who had +shown more than a convert's proverbial eagerness for rushing to +extremes and forcing others to follow. I remember to have met some of +the anti-Infallibilist prelates returning to America in the autumn of +1870; and in our many talks on shipboard they spoke of the Archbishop +in terms no more measured than Nestorius may have used of St. Cyril +after the Council of Ephesus. + +But Manning's powers shone forth most fully in the course he gave to +his policy as Archbishop of Westminster and head of the Roman +hierarchy in Britain. He had two difficulties to confront. One was the +suspicion of the old English Roman Catholic families, who distrusted +him as a recent recruit from Protestantism, a man brought up in ideas +unfamiliar to their conservative minds. The other was the aversion of +the ruling classes in England, and indeed of Englishmen generally, to +the pretensions of Rome an aversion which, among the Tories, sprang +from deep-seated historical associations, and among the Whigs drew +further strength from dislike to the reactionary tendencies of the +Popedom on the European continent, and especially its resistance to +the freedom and unity of Italy. In 1850 the creation by the Pope of a +Roman Catholic hierarchy in England, followed by Cardinal Wiseman's +letter dated from the Flaminian Gate, had evoked a burst of anti-papal +feeling which never quite subsided during Wiseman's lifetime. Both +these enmities Manning overcame. The old Catholic families rallied to +a prelate who supported with dignity and vigour the pretensions of +their church; while the suspicions of Protestants were largely, if not +universally, allayed when they noted the attitude of a patriotic +Englishman, zealous for the greatness of his country, which the +Archbishop assumed, as well as the heartiness with which he threw +himself into moral and philanthropic causes. Loyalty to Rome never +betrayed him into any apparent disloyalty to England. Too prudent to +avow sympathy with either political party, he seemed less opposed to +Liberalism than his predecessor had been or than most of the English +Catholics were. While, of course, at issue with the Liberal party upon +educational questions, he was believed to lean to Home Rule, and +maintained good relations with the Irish leaders. He joined those who +worked for the better protection of children and the repression of +vice, advocated total abstinence by precept and example, and did much +to promote it among the poorer Roman Catholic population. Discerning +the growing magnitude of what are called labour questions, he did not +recoil from proposals to limit by legislation the hours of toil, and +gladly exerted himself to settle differences between employers and +workmen, showing his own sympathy with the needs and hardships of the +latter. Thus he won a popularity with the London masses greater than +any prelate of the Established Church had enjoyed, while the middle +and upper classes noted with pleasure that, however Ultramontane in +his theology, he always spoke and wrote as an Englishman upon +non-theological subjects. + +In this there was no playing of a part, for he sincerely cared about +temperance, the welfare of children, the advancement of the labouring +class, and the greatness of England. But there was also a sage +perception of the incidental service which his attitude in these +matters could render to his church; and he relished opportunities of +proving that a Catholic prelate could be not only a philanthropist but +also a patriot. He saw the value of the attitude, though he used it +honestly, and if he was not artful, he was full of art. Truth, for its +own sake, he neither loved nor sought, but, having once adopted +certain conclusions, doctrinal and practical, subordinated everything +else to them. Power he loved, yet not wholly for the pleasure which he +found in exerting it, but also because he knew that he was fit to use +it, and could use it, to promote the aims he cherished. To his church +he was devoted heart and soul; nor could any one have better served it +so far as England was concerned. No one in our time, hardly even +Cardinal Newman, has done so much to sap and remove the old Protestant +fears and jealousies of Rome, fears and jealousies which had descended +from days when they were less unreasonable than the liberality or +indifference of our times will allow. Truly the Roman Church is a +wonderful institution, fertile beyond any other, since in each +succeeding age she has given birth to new types of force suited to the +conditions she has to deal with. In Manning she developed a figure +full of a kind of charm and strength which could hardly have found due +scope within a Protestant body: a man who never obtruded a claim, yet +never yielded one; who was the loyal servant of a spiritual despotism, +yet apparently in sympathy with democratic ideas and movements; +equally welcome among the poorest Irish of his diocese and at the +gatherings of the great; ready to join in every good work with those +most opposed to his own doctrines, yet standing detached as the +austere and unbending representative of a world-embracing power. + + * * * * * + +Since these pages were written there has appeared a Life of Cardinal +Manning which, for the variety and interest of its contents, and for +the flood of light which it throws upon its subject, deserves to rank +among the best biographies in the English language. It reveals the +inner life of Manning, his high motives and his tortuous methods, his +piety and his aspirations, his occasional lapses from sincerity and +rectitude, with a fulness to which one can scarcely find a parallel. +As was remarked by Mr. Gladstone, who was so keenly interested in the +book that for months he could talk of little else, it leaves nothing +for the Day of Judgment. + +It would be idle to deny that Manning's reputation did in some measure +suffer. Yet it must in fairness be remembered that an ordeal such as +that to which he has been thus subjected is seldom applied, and might, +if similarly applied, have lowered many another reputation. Cicero +has suffered in like manner. We should have thought more highly of +him, though I do not know that we should have liked him better, if his +letters had not survived to reveal weaknesses which other men, or +their biographers, were discreet enough to conceal. + +I have not attempted to rewrite the preceding pages in the light of +Mr. Purcell's biography, for to do so would have extended them beyond +the limits of a sketch. I have, moreover, found that the disclosures +contained in the biography do not oblige me to darken the colours of +the sketch itself. Taken all in all, these intimate records of +Manning's life tend to confirm the view that, along with his love of +power and pre-eminence, along with his carelessness about historic +truth, along with the questionable methods he sometimes allowed +himself to use, there lay deep in his heart a genuine and unfailing +sympathy with many good causes, such as the cause of temperance, and a +real tenderness for the poor and for children. If he was far removed +from a saint, still less was he the mere worldly ecclesiastic, crafty +and ambitious, who has in all ages been a familiar and unlovely type +of character. + + + + +EDWARD AUGUSTUS FREEMAN[37] + + +Edward Freeman was born at Harborne in South Staffordshire on 2nd +August 1823, and died at Alicante on 16th March 1892, in the course of +an archæological and historical journey to the east and south of +Spain, whither he had gone to see the sites of the early Carthaginian +settlements. His life was comparatively uneventful, as that of learned +men in our time usually is. He was educated at home and at a private +school till he went to Oxford at the age of eighteen. There he was +elected a scholar of Trinity College in 1841, took his degree (second +class in _literae humaniores_) in 1845, and was elected a fellow of +Trinity shortly afterwards. Marrying in 1847, he lost his fellowship, +and settled in 1848 in Gloucestershire, and at a later time went to +live in Monmouthshire, whence he migrated in 1860 to Somerleaze, a +pretty spot about a mile and a half to the north-west of Wells in +Somerset. Here he lived till 1884, when he was appointed (on the +recommendation of Mr. Gladstone) to the Regius Professorship of Modern +History at Oxford. Thenceforth he spent the winter and spring in the +University, returning for the long vacation to Somerleaze, a place he +dearly loved, not only in respect of the charm of the surrounding +scenery, but from its proximity to the beautiful churches of Wells and +to many places of historical interest. For the greater part of his +manhood his surroundings were those of a country gentleman, nor did he +ever reconcile himself to town life, for he loved the open sky, the +fields and hills, and all wild creatures, though he detested what are +called field sports, knew nothing of natural history, and had neither +taste nor talent for farming. As he began life with an income +sufficient to make a gainful profession unnecessary, he did not +prepare himself for any, but gave free scope from the first to his +taste for study and research. Thus the record of his life is, with the +exception of one or two incursions into the field of practical +politics, a record of his historical work and of the journeys he +undertook in connection with it. + +History was the joy as well as the labour of his life. But the +conception he took of it was peculiar enough to deserve some remark. +The keynote of his character was the extraordinary warmth of his +interest in the persons, things, and places which he cared for, and the +scarcely less conspicuous indifference to matters which lay outside the +well-defined boundary line of his sympathies. If any branch of inquiry +seemed to him directly connected with history, he threw himself +heartily into it, and drew from it all it could be made to yield for his +purpose. About other subjects he would neither read nor talk, no +matter how completely they might for the time be filling the minds of +others. While an undergraduate, and influenced, like most of the abler +men among his Oxford contemporaries, by the Tractarian opinions and +sentiments then in their full force and freshness,[38] he became +interested in church architecture, discerned the value which +architecture has as a handmaid to historical research, set to work +to study mediæval buildings, and soon acquired a wonderfully full and +exact knowledge of the most remarkable churches and castles all over +England. He taught himself to sketch, not artistically, but +sufficiently well to record characteristic points, and by the end of +his life he had accumulated a collection of hundreds of drawings made +by himself of notable buildings in France, Germany, Italy, and +Dalmatia, as well as in the British Isles. Architecture was always +thenceforward to him the prime external record and interpreter of +history. But it was the only art in which he took the slightest +interest. He cared nothing for pictures or statuary; was believed to +have once only, when his friend J. R. Green dragged him thither, +visited a picture-gallery in the course of his numerous journeys; and +did not seem to perceive the significance which paintings have as +revealing the thoughts and social condition of the time which produced +them. Another branch of inquiry cognate to history which he prized +was comparative philology. With no great turn for the refinements of +classical scholarship, and indeed with some contempt for the practice +of Latin and Greek verse-making which used to absorb much of the time +and labour of undergraduates and their tutors at Oxford and Cambridge, +he was extremely fond of tracing words through different languages +so as to establish the relations of the peoples who spoke them, and, +indeed, used to argue that all teaching of languages ought to begin +with Grimm's law, and to base his advocacy of the retention of Greek +as a _sine qua non_ for an Arts degree in the University on the +importance of that law. But with this love for philology as an +instrument in the historian's hands, he took little pleasure in +languages simply as languages--that is to say, he did not care to +master, and was not apt at mastering, the grammar and idioms of a +tongue. French was the only foreign language he spoke with any +approach to ease, though he could read freely German, Italian, and +modern Greek, and on his tour in Greece made some vigorous speeches +to the people in their own tongue. He had learnt to pronounce Greek in +the modern fashion, which few Englishmen can do; but how much of his +classically phrased discourses did the crowds that acclaimed the +distinguished Philhellene understand? So too he was a keen and +well-trained archæologist, but only because archæology was to him a +priceless adjunct--one might almost say the most trustworthy source--of +the study of early history. As evidence of his accomplishments as an +antiquary I cannot do better than quote the words of a master of that +subject, who was also one of his oldest friends. Mr. George T. Clark +says:-- + + He was an accurate observer, not only of the broad features of a + country but of its ancient roads and earthworks, its prehistoric + monuments, and its earlier and especially its ecclesiastical + buildings. No man was better versed in the distinctive styles of + Christian architecture, or had a better general knowledge of the + earthworks from the study of which he might hope to correct or + corroborate any written records, and by the aid of which he often + infused life and reality into otherwise obscure narrations.... He + visited every spot upon which the Conqueror is recorded to have + set his foot, compared many of the strongholds of his followers + with those they left behind them in Normandy, and studied the + evidence of Domesday for their character and possessions. When + writing upon Rufus he spent some time in examining the afforested + district of the New Forest, and sought for traces of the villages + and churches said to have been depopulated or destroyed. And for + us archæologists he did more than this. When he attended a + provincial congress and had listened to the description of some + local antiquity, some mound, or divisional earthbank, or + semi-Saxon church, he at once strove to show the general evidence + to be deduced from them, and how it bore upon the boundaries or + formation of some Celtic or Saxon province or diocese, if not upon + the general history of the kingdom itself.... He thus did much to + elevate the pursuits of the archæologist, and to show the relation + they bore to the far superior labours of the historian. + + Freeman was always at his best when in the field. It was then that + the full force of his personality came into play: his sturdy + upright figure, sharp-cut features, flowing beard, well-modulated + voice, clear enunciation, and fluent and incisive speech. None who + have heard him hold forth from the steps of some churchyard cross, + or from the top stone of some half-demolished cromlech, can ever + cease to have a vivid recollection of both the orator and his + theme. + +Freeman took endless pains to master the topography of any place he +had to deal with. When at work in his later years on Sicilian history +he visited, and he has minutely described, the site of nearly every +spot in that island where a battle or a siege took place in ancient +times, so that his volumes have become an elaborate historical +guide-book for the student or tourist. + +But while he thus delighted in whatever bore upon history as he +conceived it, his conception was one which belonged to the eighteenth +century rather than to our own time. It was to him not only primarily +but almost exclusively a record of political events--that is to say, +of events in the sphere of war, diplomacy, and government. He +expressed this view with concise vigour in the well-known dictum, +"History is past politics, and politics is present history"; and +though his friends remonstrated with him against this view as far too +narrow, excluding from the sphere of history many of its deepest +sources of interest, he would never give way. That historians should +care as much (or more) for the religious or philosophical opinions of +an age, or for its ethical and social phenomena, or for the study of +its economic conditions, as for forms of government or battles and +sieges, seemed to him strange. He did not argue against the friends +who differed from him, for he was ready to believe that there must be +something true and valuable in the views of a man whom he respected; +but he could not be induced to devote his own labours to the +elucidation of these matters. He would say to Green, "You may bring in +all that social and religious kind of thing, Johnny, but I can't." So +when he went to deliver lectures in the United States, he delighted in +making new acquaintances there, and was interested in the Federal +system and in all institutions which he could trace to their English +originals, but did not care to see anything or hear anything about the +economic development or social life of the country. + +The same predominant liking for the political element in history made +him indifferent to many kinds of literature. It may indeed be said +that literature, simply as literature, did not attract him. In his +later years, at any rate, he seldom read a book except for the sake of +the political or historical information it contained. Among the +writers whom he most disliked were Plato, Carlyle, and Ruskin, in no +one of whom could he see any merit. Plato, he said, was the only +author he had ever thrown to the other end of the room. Neither, +although very fond of the Greek and Roman classics generally, did he +seem to enjoy any of the Greek poets except Homer and Pindar and, to +some extent, Aristophanes. His liking for Pindar used to surprise us, +because Pindar is peculiarly the favourite poet of poetical minds; and +I suspect it was not so much the splendour of Pindar's style and the +wealth of his imagination that Freeman enjoyed, as rather the +profusion of historical and mythological references. He was impatient +with the Greek tragedians, and still more impatient with Virgil, +because (as he said) "Virgil cannot or will not say a thing simply." +Among English poets his preference was for the old heroic ballads, +such as the songs of Brunanburh and Maldon, and, among recent +writers, for Macaulay's _Lays_. The first thing he ever published +(1850) was a volume of verse, consisting mainly of ballads, some of +them very spirited, on events in Greek and Moorish history. It may be +doubted if he remembered a line of Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth, or +Tennyson. He blamed Walter Scott for misrepresenting history in +_Ivanhoe_, but constantly read the rest of his stories, taking special +pleasure in _Peveril of the Peak_. He bestowed warm praise upon +_Romola_, on one occasion reading it through twice in a single +journey. Mrs. Gaskell's _Mary Barton_, Marryatt's _Peter Simple_, +Trollope's _The Warden_ and _Barchester Towers_, were amongst his +favourites. Among the moderns, Macaulay was his favourite prose +author, and he was wont to say that from Macaulay he had learned never +to be afraid of using the same word to describe the same thing, and +that no one was a better model to follow in the choice of pure +English. Limitations of taste are not uncommon among eminent men. What +was uncommon in Freeman was the perfect frankness with which he avowed +his aversions, and the absence of any pretence of caring for things +which he did not really care for. He was in this, as in all other +matters, a singularly simple and truthful man, never seeking to appear +different from what he was, and finding it hard to understand why +other people should not be equally simple and direct. This directness +made him express himself with an absence of reserve which often gave +offence. Positive and definite, with a strong broad logic which every +one could follow, he was a formidable controversialist even on +subjects outside history. A good specimen of his powers was given in +the argument against the cruelty of field sports which he carried on +with Anthony Trollope. His cause was not a popular one in England, but +he stated it so well as to carry off the honours of the fray.[39] + +The restriction of his interest to a few topics--wide ones, to be +sure--seemed to increase the intensity of his devotion to those few; +and thus even the two chief practical interests he had in life +connected themselves with his conception of history. One was the +discharge of his duties as a magistrate in the local government of his +county. While he lived at Somerleaze he rarely missed Quarter +Sessions, speaking seldom, but valuing the opportunity of taking part +in the rule of the shire. The other was the politics of the time, +foreign politics even more than domestic. He was from an early age a +strong Liberal, throwing himself into every question which bore on the +Constitution, either in state or in church, for (as has been said) +topics of the social or economic kind lay rather out of his sphere. +When Mr. Gladstone launched his Irish Home Rule scheme in 1886, +Freeman espoused it warmly, and praised it for the very point which +drew most censure even from Liberals, the removal of the Irish members +from Parliament. He was intensely English and Teutonic, and wished the +Gael to be left to settle, or fight over, their own affairs in their +own island, as they had done eight centuries ago. Even the idea of +separating Ireland altogether from the English Crown would not have +alarmed him, for he did not thank Strongbow and Henry II. for having +invaded it; while, on the other hand, the plan of turning the United +Kingdom into a federation, giving to England, Scotland, Ireland, and +Wales each a local parliament of its own, with an imperial parliament +for common concerns, shocked all his historical instincts. + +In 1859 he was on the point of coming forward as a parliamentary +candidate for the borough of Newport in Monmouthshire, and again at +the election of 1868 he actually did stand for one of the divisions of +Somerset, and showed in his platform speeches a remarkable gift of +eloquence, and occasionally, also, of humour, coupled with a want of +those minor arts which usually contribute more than eloquence does to +success in electioneering. I went round with him, along with his and +my friend Mr. Albert Dicey, and few are the candidates who get so much +pleasure out of a contest as Freeman did. He was a strenuous advocate +of disestablishment in Ireland, the question chiefly at issue in the +election of 1868, because he thought the Roman Catholic Church was of +right, and ought by law to be, the national Church there; but no less +decidedly opposed to disestablishment in England, where it would have +pained him to see the uprooting of a system entwined with the ideas +and events of the Middle Ages. In his later years he told me that if +the Liberal party took up the policy of disestablishment in Wales, he +did not know whether he could adhere to them, much as he desired to do +so. + +Similarly he disliked all schemes for drawing the colonies into closer +relations with the United Kingdom, and even seemed to wish that they +should sever themselves from it, as the United States had done. This +view sprang partly from his feeling that they were very recent +acquisitions, with which the old historic England had nothing to do, +partly also from the impression made on him by the analogy of the +Greek colonies. He held that the precedent of the Greek settlements +showed the true and proper relation between a "metropolis," or +mother-city, and her colonies to be one not of political dependence or +interdependence, but of cordial friendliness and a disposition to +render help, nothing more. These instances are worth citing because +they illustrate a remarkable difference between his way of looking +historically at institutions and Macaulay's way. A friend of his (the +late Mr. S. R. Gardiner), like Freeman a distinguished historian, and +like him a strong Home Ruler, wrote to me upon this point as +follows:-- + + Freeman and Macaulay are alike in the high value they set upon + parliamentary institutions. On the other hand, when Macaulay wants + to make you understand a thing, he compares it with that which + existed in his own day. The standard of the present is always with + him. Freeman traces it to its origin, and testifies to its growth. + The strength of this mode of proceeding in an historian is + obvious. Its weakness is that it does not help him to appreciate + statesmanship looking forward and trying to find a solution of + difficult problems. Freeman's attitude is that of the people who + cried out for the good laws of King Edward, trying to revive the + past. + +Freeman was apt to go beyond his own dictum about history and +politics, for he sometimes made history present politics as well as +past. + +By far the strongest political interest--indeed it rose to a +passion--of his later years was his hatred of the Turk. In it his +historical and religious sentiment, for there was a good deal of the +Crusader about him, was blended with his abhorrence of despotism and +cruelty. Ever since the beginning of the Crimean war he had been +opposed to the traditional English policy of supporting the Sultan. +Ever since he had thought about foreign politics at all he had +sympathised with the Christians of the East. So when Lord Beaconsfield +seemed on the point of carrying the country into a war with Russia in +defence of the Turks, no voice rose louder or bolder than his in +denouncing the policy then popular with the upper classes in England. +On this occasion he gave substantial proof of his earnestness by +breaking off his connection with the _Saturday Review_ because it had +espoused the Turkish cause. This cost him £600 a year, a sum he could +ill spare, and took from him what had been the joy of his heart, +opportunities of delivering himself upon all sorts of current +questions. But his sense of duty forbade him to write for a journal +which was supporting a misguided policy and a minister whom he thought +unscrupulous. + +His habit of speaking out his whole mind with little regard to the +effect his words might produce, or to the way in which they might be +twisted, sometimes landed him in difficulties. One utterance raised an +outcry at the time, because it was made at a conference held in London +in December 1876 to oppose Lord Beaconsfield's Eastern policy. The +Duke of Westminster and Lord Shaftesbury presided at the forenoon and +afternoon sessions, and the meeting, which told powerfully on the +country, was wound up by Mr. Gladstone. Freeman's speech, only ten +minutes long, but an oratorical success at the moment, contained the +words, "Perish the interests of England, perish our dominion in India, +rather than that we should strike one blow or speak one word on behalf +of the wrong against the right." This flight of rhetoric was perverted +by his opponents into "Perish India"; and though he indignantly +repudiated the misrepresentation, it continued to be repeated against +him for years thereafter, and to be cited as an instance of the +irresponsible violence of the friends of the Eastern Christians. + +The most conspicuous and characteristic merits of Freeman as an +historian may be summed up in six points: love of truth, love of +justice, industry, common sense, breadth of view, and power of vividly +realising the political life of the past. + +Every one knows the maxim, _pectus facit theologum_,[40] a maxim +accountable, by the way, for a good deal of weak theology. More truly +may it be said that the merits of a great historian are far from lying +wholly in his intellectual powers. Among the highest of such merits, +merits which the professional student has even more reason to +appreciate than the general reader, because he more frequently +discerns the disturbing causes, are two moral qualities. One is the +zeal for truth, with the willingness to undertake, in a search for it, +a toil by which no credit will ever be gained. The other is a clear +view of, and loyal adherence to, the permanent moral standards. In +both these points Freeman stood in the front rank. He was kindly and +fair in his judgments, and ready to make all the allowances for any +man's conduct which the conditions of his time suggested, but he hated +cruelty, falsehood, oppression, whether in Syracuse twenty-four +centuries ago or in the Ottoman empire to-day. That conscientious +industry which spares no pains to get as near as possible to the facts +never failed him. Though he talked less about facts and verities than +Carlyle did, Carlyle was not so assiduous and so minutely careful in +sifting every statement before he admitted it into his pages. That he +was never betrayed by sentiment into partisanship it would be too much +to say. Scottish critics have accused him, perhaps not without +justice, of being led by his English patriotism to over-state the +claims of the English Crown to suzerainty over Scotland. J. R. Green, +as well as the late Mr. C. H. Pearson, thought that the same cause +disposed him to overlook the weak points in the character of Harold +son of Godwin, one of his favourite heroes. But there have been few +writers who have so seldom erred in this way; few who have striven so +earnestly to do full justice to every cause and every person. Even the +race prejudices which he allowed himself to indulge, in letters and +talk, against Irishmen, Frenchmen, and Jews, scarcely ever appear in +his books. The characters he has drawn of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, +William the Conqueror and William the Red, St. Thomas of Canterbury +(none of whom he liked), and, in his _History of Sicily_, of Nicias, +are models of the fairness which historical portraiture requires. It +is especially interesting to compare his picture of the unfortunate +Athenian with the equally vigorous but harsher view of Grote. Freeman, +whom many people thought fierce, was one of the most soft-hearted of +men, and tolerant of everything but perfidy and cruelty. Though +disposed to be positive in his opinions, he was always willing to +reconsider a point when any new evidence was discovered or any new +argument brought to his notice, and not unfrequently modified his view +in the light of such evidence or arguments. It was this passion for +accuracy and for that lucidity of statement which is the necessary +adjunct of real accuracy, that made him deal so sternly with confused +thinkers and careless writers. Carelessness seemed to him a moral +fault, because a fault which true conscientiousness excludes. So also +clearness of conception and exact precision in the use of words were +so natural to him, and appeared so essential to good work, that he +would set down the want of them rather to indolence than to +incapacity, and apply to them a proportionately severe censure. Mere +ignorance he could pardon, but when it was, as often happens, even in +persons of considerable pretensions, joined to presumption, his wrath +was the hotter because he deemed it a wholly righteous wrath. Never +touching any subject which he had not mastered, he thought it his duty +as a critic to expose impostors, and rendered in this way, during the +years when he wrote for the _Saturday Review_, services to English +scholarship second only to those which were embodied in his own +treatises. It must be confessed that he enjoyed the work, and, like +Samuel Johnson, was not displeased to be told that he had "tossed and +gored several persons." + +His determination to get to the bottom of a question was the cause of +the censure he so freely bestowed both on lawyers, who were wont to +rest content with their technicalities, and not go back to the +historical basis on which those technicalities rested, and on +politicians who fell into the habit of using stock phrases which +muddled or misrepresented the principles involved. The expression +"national property," as applied to tithes, incensed him, and gave +occasion for some of his most vigorous writing. So the commonplace +grumblings against the presence of bishops in the House of Lords, +which may be heard from people who acquiesce in the presence of +hereditary peers, led him to give the most clear and forcible +statement of the origin and character of that House which our time has +produced. Here he was on ground he knew thoroughly. But his habits of +accuracy were not less fully illustrated by his attitude towards +branches of history he had not explored. With a profound and minute +knowledge of English history down to the fourteenth century, so far as +his aversion to the employment of manuscript authorities would allow, +and a scarcely inferior knowledge of foreign European history during +the same period, with a less full but very sound knowledge down to the +middle of the sixteenth century, and with a thorough mastery of pretty +nearly all ancient history, his familiarity with later European +history, and with the history of such outlying regions as India or +America, was not much beyond that of the average educated man. He used +to say when questioned on these matters that "he had not come down to +that yet." But when he had occasion to refer to those periods or +countries, he hardly ever made a mistake. If he did not know, he did +not refer; if he referred, he had seized, as if by instinct, something +which was really important and serviceable for his purpose. The same +remark applies (speaking generally) to Gibbon and to Macaulay, and I +have heard Freeman make it of the writings of Mr. Goldwin Smith, for +whom he had a warm admiration. + +Freeman's abstention from the use of manuscript sources was virtually +prescribed by his persistence in refusing to work out of his own +library, or, as he used to say, out of a room which he could +consider to be his library for the time being. As, however, the +original authorities for the times with which he chiefly dealt are, +with few or unimportant exceptions, all in print, this habit can +hardly be considered a defect in his historical qualifications. In +handling the sources he was a judicious critic and a sound scholar, +thoroughly at home in Greek and Latin, and sufficiently equipped in +Anglo-Saxon, or, as he called it, Old English. Of his breadth of +view, of the command he had of the whole sweep of his knowledge, of +his delight in bringing together things the most remote in place or +time, it is superfluous to speak. These merits are perhaps most +conspicuously seen in the plan of his treatise on Federal Government, +as well as in the execution of that one volume which unfortunately +was all he produced of what might have been, if completed, a book of +the utmost value. But one or two trifling illustrations of this habit +of living in an atmosphere in which the past was no less real to him +than the present may be forgiven. When careless friends directed +letters to him at "Somerleaze, Wookey, Somerset," Wookey being a +village a quarter of a mile from his house, but on the other side of +the river Axe, he would write back complaining that they were +"confusing the England and Wales of the seventh century." When his +attention had been called to a discussion in the weekly journals +about Shelley's first wife he wrote to me, "Why will they worry us +with this _Harrietfrage_? You and I have quite enough to do with +Helen, and Theodora, and Mary Stuart." So in addressing Somersetshire +rustics during his election campaign in 1868, he could not help on one +occasion referring to Ptolemy Euergetes, and on another launching +out into an eloquent description of the Landesgemeinde of Uri. + +Industry came naturally to Freeman, because he was fond of his own +studies and did not think of his work as task work. The joy in reading +and writing about bygone times sprang from the intensity with which he +realised them. He had no geographical imagination, finding no more +pleasure in books of travel than in dramatic poetry. But he loved to +dwell in the past, and seemed to see and feel and make himself a part +of the events he described. Next to their worth as statements of +carefully investigated facts, the chief merit of his books lies in the +sense of reality which fills them. The politics of Corinth or Sicyon, +the contest of William the Red with St. Anselm, interested him as +keenly as a general election in which he was himself a candidate. +Looking upon current events with an historian's eye, he was fond, on +the other hand, of illustrating features of Roman history from +incidents he had witnessed when taking part in local government as a +magistrate; and in describing the relations of Hermocrates and +Athenagoras at Syracuse he drew upon observations which he had made in +watching the discussions of the Hebdomadal Council at Oxford. This +power of realising the politics of ancient or mediæval times was +especially useful to him as a writer, because without it his +minuteness might have verged on prolixity, seeing that he cared +exclusively for the political part of history. It was one of the +points in which he rose superior to most of those German students with +whom it is natural to compare him. Many of them have equalled him in +industry and diligence; some have surpassed him in the ingenuity which +they bring to bear upon obscure problems; but few of them have shown +the same gift for understanding what the political life of remote +times really was. Like Gibbon, Freeman was not a mere student, but +also a man with opportunities of mixing in affairs, accustomed to bear +his share in the world's work, and so better able than the mere +student can be to comprehend how that work goes forward. Though he was +too peculiar in his views and his way of stating them to have been +adapted either to the House of Commons or to a local assembly, and +would indeed have been wasted upon nineteen-twentieths of the business +there transacted, he loved politics and watched them with a shrewdly +observant eye. Though he indulged his foibles in some directions, he +could turn upon history a stream of clear common sense which sometimes +made short work of German conjectures. And he was free from the +craving to have at all hazards something new to advance, be it a +trivial fact or an unsupported guess. He was accustomed of late years +to complain that German scholarship seemed to be suffering from the +passion for _etwas Neues_, and the consequent disposition to disparage +work which did not abound with novelties, however empty or transient +such novelties might be. + +To think of the Germans is to think of industry. Freeman was a true +Teuton in the mass of his production. Besides the seven thick +volumes devoted to the Norman Conquest and William Rufus, the four +thick volumes to Sicily, four large volumes of collected essays, +and nine or ten smaller volumes on architectural subjects, on the +English constitution, on the United States, on the Slavs and the +Turks, he wrote an even greater quantity of matter which appeared in +the _Saturday Review_ during the twenty years from 1856 to 1876, and +it was by these articles, not less than by his books, that he +succeeded in dispelling many current errors and confusions, and in +establishing some of his own doctrines so firmly that we now +scarcely remember what iteration and reiteration, in season and out +of season, and much to the impatience of those who remembered that +they had heard these doctrines often before, were needed to make +them accepted by the public. Freeman's swift facility was due to +his power of concentration. He always knew what he meant an article +to contain before he sat down to his desk; and in his historical +researches he made each step so certain that he seldom required to +reinvestigate a point or to change, in revising for the press, the +substance of what he had written. + +In his literary habits he was so methodical and precise that he could +carry on three undertakings at the same time, keeping on different +tables in his working rooms the books he needed for each, and passing +at stated hours from one to the other. It is often remarked that the +growth of journalism, forcing men to write hastily and profusely, +tends to injure literature both in matter and in manner. In point of +matter, Freeman, though for the best part of his life a very prolific +journalist, did not seem to suffer. He was as exact, clear, and +thorough at the end as he had been at the beginning. On his style, +however, the results were unfortunate. It retained its force and its +point, but it became diffuse, not that each particular sentence was +weak, or vague, or wordy, but that what was substantially the same +idea was apt to be reiterated, with slight differences of phrase, in +several successive sentences or paragraphs. He was fond of the +Psalter, great part of which he knew by heart, and we told him that he +had caught too much of the manner of Psalm cxix. This tendency to +repetition caused some of his books, and particularly the _Norman +Conquest_ and _William Rufus_, to swell to a portentous bulk. Those +treatises, which constitute a history of England from A.D. 1042 to +1100, would be more widely read if they had been, as they ought to +have been, reduced to three or four volumes; and as he came to +perceive this, he resolved in the last year of his life to republish +the _Norman Conquest_ in a condensed form. To be obliged to compress +was a wholesome, though unwelcome, discipline, and the result is seen +in some of his smaller books, such as the historical essays, and the +sketches of English towns, often wonderfully fresh and vigorous bits +of work. Anxiety to be scrupulously accurate runs into prolixity, and +Freeman so loved his subjects that it pained him to omit any +characteristic detail a chronicler had preserved; as he once observed +to a distinguished writer who was dealing with a much later period, +"You know so much about your people that you have to leave out a great +deal, I know so little that I must tell all I know." The tendency to +repeat the same word too frequently sprang from his preference for +words of Teutonic origin and his pride in what he deemed the purity of +his English. His pages would have been livelier had he felt free to +indulge in the humour with which his private letters sparkled; for he +was full of fun, though it often turned on points too recondite for +the public. But it was only in the notes to his histories, and seldom +even there, that he gave play to one of the merits that most commended +him to his friends. + +So far of his books. He was, however, also Regius Professor of History +at Oxford during the last eight years of his life, and thus the head +of the historical faculty in his own university which he dearly loved. +That he was less effective as a teacher than as a writer may be partly +ascribed to his having come too late to a new kind of work, and one +which demands the freshness of youth; partly also to the cramping +conditions under which professors have to teach at Oxford, where +everything is governed by a system of examinations which Freeman was +never tired of denouncing as ruinous to study. His friends, however, +doubted whether the natural bent of his mind was towards oral +teaching. It was a peculiar mind, which ran in a deep channel of its +own, and could not easily, if the metaphor be permissible, be drawn +off to irrigate the adjoining fields. He was always better at putting +his own views in a clear and telling way than at laying his intellect +alongside of yours, apprehending your point of view, and setting +himself to meet it. Or, to put the same thing differently, you learned +more by listening to him than by conversing with him. He had not the +quick intellectual sympathy and effusion which feels its way to the +heart of an audience, and indeed derives inspiration from the sight of +an audience. In his election meetings I noticed that the temper and +sentiment of the listeners did not in the least affect him; what he +said was what he himself cared to say, not what he felt they would +wish to hear. So also in his lecturing he pleased himself, and chose +the topics he liked best rather than those which the examination +scheme prescribed to the students. Perhaps he was right, for he was of +those whose excellence in performance depends upon the enjoyment they +find in the exercise of their powers. But even on the topics he +selected, he did not take hold of and guide the mind of the students, +realising their particular difficulties and needs, but simply +delivered his own message in his own way. Admitting this deficiency, +the fact remains that he was not only an ornament to the University by +the example he set of unflagging zeal, conscientious industry, loyalty +to truth, and love of freedom, but also a stimulating influence upon +those who were occupied with history. He delighted to surround himself +with the most studious of the younger workers, gave them abundant +encouragement and recognition, and never grudged the time to help them +by his knowledge or his counsel. + +Much the same might be said of his lifelong friend and illustrious +predecessor in the chair of history (Dr. Stubbs), whom Freeman had +been generously extolling for many years before the merits of that +admirable scholar became known to the public. Stubbs disliked +lecturing; and though once a year he delivered a "public lecture" full +of wisdom, and sometimes full of wit also, he was not effective as a +teacher, not so effective, for instance, as Bishop Creighton, who won +his reputation at Merton College long before he became Professor of +Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge. But Stubbs, by his mere presence +in the University, and by the inexhaustible kindness with which he +answered questions and gave advice, rendered great services to the +studies of the place. It may be doubted whether, when he was raised to +the episcopal bench, history did not lose more than the Church of +England gained. Other men of far less ability could have discharged +five-sixths of a bishop's duties equally well, but there was no one +else in England, if indeed in Europe, capable of carrying on his +historical researches. So Dr. Lightfoot was, as Professor at +Cambridge, doing work for Christian learning even more precious than +the work which is still affectionately remembered in his diocese of +Durham. + +Few men have had a genius for friendship equal to Freeman's. The +names of those he cared for were continually on his lips, and their +lives in his thoughts; their misfortunes touched him like his own; +he was always ready to defend them, always ready to give any aid they +needed. No differences of opinion affected his regard. Sensitive +as he was to criticism, he received their censure on any part of his +work without offence. The need he felt for knowing how they fared and +for sharing his thoughts with them expressed itself in the enormous +correspondence, not of business, but of pure affection, which he kept +up with his many friends, and which forms, for his letters were so +racy that many of them were preserved, the fullest record of his +life. + +This warmth of feeling deserves to be dwelt on, because it explains +the tendency to vehemence in controversy which brought some enmities +upon him. There was an odd contrast between his fondness for +describing wars and battles and that extreme aversion to militarism +which made him appear to dislike the very existence of a British army +and navy. So his combativeness, and the zest with which he bestowed +shrewd blows on those who encountered him, though due to his wholesome +scorn for pretenders, and his hatred of falsehood and injustice, +seemed inconsistent with the real kindliness of his nature. The +kindliness, however, no one who knew him could doubt; it showed itself +not only in his care for dumb creatures and for children, but in the +depth and tenderness of his affections. Of religion he spoke little, +and only to his most intimate friends. In opinion he had drifted a +long way from the Anglo-Catholic position of his early manhood; but he +remained a sincerely pious Christian. + +Though his health had been infirm for some years before his death, his +literary activity did not slacken, nor did his powers show signs of +decline. There is nothing in his writings, nor in any writings of our +time, more broad, clear, and forcible than many chapters of the +_History of Sicily_. Much of his work has effected its purpose, and +will, by degrees, lose its place in the public eye. But much will +live on into a yet distant future, because it has been done so +thoroughly, and contains so much sound and vigorous thinking, that +coming generations of historical students will need it and value it +almost as our own has done. + +----- + + [37] An excellent Life of Freeman has been written by his friend Mr. + W. R. W. Stephens, afterwards Dean of Winchester, whose death + while these pages were passing through the press has caused the + deepest regret to all who had the opportunity of knowing his + literary gifts and his lovable character. + + [38] The scholars of Trinity were then (1843) all High Churchmen, and + never dined in hall on Fridays. Fourteen years later there was + not a single High Churchman among them. Ten or fifteen years + afterwards Anglo-Catholic sentiment was again strong. Freeman + said that his revulsion against Tractarianism began from a + conversation with one of his fellow-scholars, who had remarked + that it was a pity there had been a flaw in the consecration of + some Swedish bishops in the sixteenth century, for this had + imperilled the salvation of all Swedes since that time. He was + startled, and began to reconsider his position. + + [39] Having had about the same time a brush with George Anthony + Denison (Archdeacon of Taunton), and a less friendly passage of + arms with James Anthony Froude, he wrote to me in 1870: "I am + greater than Cicero, who was smiter of one Antonius. I venture + to think that I have whopped the whole _Gens Antonia_--first + Anthony pure and simple, which is Trollope; secondly, James + Anthony, whom I believe myself to have smitten, as Cnut did + Eadric swiðe rihtlice, in the matter of St. Hugh; thirdly, + George Anthony, with whom I fought again last Tuesday, carrying + at our Education Board a resolution in favour of Forster's + bill." Trollope and he became warm friends. Froude he heartily + disliked, not, I think, on any personal grounds, but because he + thought Froude indifferent to truth, and was incensed by the + defence of Henry VIII.'s crimes. + + It may be added that Freeman, much as he detested Henry VIII., + used to observe that Henry had a sort of legal conscience, + because he always wished his murders to be done by Act of + Parliament, and that the earlier and better part of Henry's + reign ought not to be forgotten. He was fond of quoting the + euphemism with which an old Oxford professor of ecclesiastical + history concluded his account of the sovereign whom, in respect + of his relation to the Church of England, it seemed proper to + handle gently: "The later years of this great monarch were + clouded by domestic troubles." + + [40] "The heart makes the theologian." + + + + +ROBERT LOWE VISCOUNT SHERBROOKE[41] + + +Had Robert Lowe died in 1868, when he became a Cabinet Minister, his +death would have been a political event of the first magnitude; but +when he died in 1892 (in his eighty-second year) hardly anybody under +forty years of age knew who Lord Sherbrooke was, and the new +generation wondered why their seniors should feel any interest in the +disappearance of a superannuated peer whose name had long since ceased +to be heard in either the literary or the political world. It requires +an effort to believe that he was at one time held the equal in oratory +and the superior in intellect of Mr. Bright and Mr. Gladstone. There +are few instances in our annals of men who have been equally famous +and whose fame has been bounded by so short a span out of a long +life. + +No one who knew Lowe ever doubted his abilities. He made a brilliant +reputation, first at Winchester (where, as his autobiography tells +us, he was miserable) and then at Oxford, where he was the +contemporary and fully the peer of Roundell Palmer (afterwards Lord +Chancellor Selborne) and of Archibald Tait (afterwards Archbishop of +Canterbury). He was much sought after and wonderfully effective as a +private tutor or "coach" in classical subjects, being not only an +excellent scholar but extremely clear and stimulating as a teacher. He +retained his love of literature all through life, and made himself, +_inter alia permulta_, a good Icelandic scholar and a fair Sanskrit +scholar. For mathematics he had no turn at all. Active sports, he +tells us, he enjoyed, characteristically adding, "they open to dulness +also its road to fame." When he left the University, where anecdotes +of his caustic wit were long current, he tried his fortune at the Bar, +but with such scant success that he presently emigrated to New South +Wales, soon rose to prominence and unpopularity there, returned in ten +years with a tolerable fortune and a detestation of democracy, became +a leading-article writer on the _Times_, entered Parliament, but was +little heard of till Lord Palmerston gave him (in 1859) the place of +Vice-President of the Committee of Council on Education. His function +in that office was to administer the grants made from the national +treasury to elementary schools, and as he found the methods of +inspection rather lax, and noted a tendency to superficiality and a +neglect of backward children, he introduced new rules for the +distribution of the grant (the so-called "Revised Code") which +provoked violent opposition. The motive was good, but the rules were +too mechanical and rigid and often worked harshly; so he was presently +driven from office by an attack led by Lord Robert Cecil (now Lord +Salisbury). + +Though Lowe became known by this struggle, his conspicuous fame dates +from 1865, when he appeared as the trenchant critic of a measure +for extending the parliamentary franchise in boroughs, introduced +by a private member. Next year his powers shone forth in their full +lustre. The Liberal Ministry of Lord Russell, led in the House of +Commons by Mr. Gladstone, had brought in a Franchise Extension Bill +(applying to boroughs only) which excited the dislike of the more +conservative or more timid among their supporters. This dislike might +not have gone beyond many mutterings and a few desertions but for the +vehemence with which Lowe opposed the measure. He fought against it +in a series of speeches which produced a greater impression in the +House of Commons, and roused stronger feelings of admiration and +hostility in the country, than any political addresses had done since +1832. The new luminary rose so suddenly to the zenith, and cast so +unexpected a light that everybody was dazzled; and though many +dissented, and some attacked him bitterly, few ventured to meet him +in argument on the ground he had selected. The effect of these +speeches of 1866 can hardly be understood by any one who reads them +to-day unless he knows how commonplace and "practical," that is to +say, averse to general reasonings and historical illustrations, +the character of parliamentary debating was becoming even in Lowe's +time. It is still more practical and still less ornate in our own +day. + +The House of Commons then contained, and has indeed usually contained +(though some Houses are much better than others), many capable +lawyers, capable men of business, capable country gentlemen; many men +able to express themselves with clearness, fluency, and that sort of +temperate good sense which Englishmen especially value. Few, +however, were able to produce finished rhetoric; still fewer had a +range of thought and knowledge extending much beyond the ordinary +education of a gentleman and the ordinary ideas of a politician; +and the assembly was one so intolerant of rhetoric, and so much +inclined to treat, as unpractical, facts and arguments drawn from +recondite sources, that even those who possessed out-of-the-way +learning were disposed, and rightly so, to use it sparingly. In +Robert Lowe, however, a remarkable rhetorical and dialectical power +was combined with a command of branches of historical, literary, and +economic knowledge so unfamiliar to the average member as to have +for him all the charm of novelty. The rhetoric was sometimes too +elaborate. The political philosophy was not always sound. But the +rhetoric was so polished that none could fail to enjoy it; and the +political philosophy was put in so terse, bright, and pointed a form +that it made the ordinary country gentleman fancy himself a +philosopher while he listened to it in the House or repeated it to +his friends at the club. The speeches, which, though directed +against a particular measure, constituted an indictment of democratic +government in general, had the advantages of expressing what many +felt but few had ventured to say, and of being delivered from one side +of the House and cheered by the other side. No position gives a +debater in the House of Commons such a vantage ground for securing +attention. Its rarity makes it remarkable. If the speaker who +attacks his own party is supposed to do so from personal motives, +the personal element gives piquancy. If he may be credited with +conscientious conviction, his shafts strike with added weight, for +how strong must conviction be when it turns a man against his former +friends. Accordingly, nothing so much annoys a party and gratifies +its antagonists as when one of its own recalcitrant members attacks +it in flank. When one looks back now at the contents of these +speeches--there were only five or six of them--and finds one's self +surprised at their success, this favouring circumstance and the whole +temper of the so-called "upper classes" need to be remembered. The +bulk of the wealthier commercial class and a large section of the +landed class had theretofore belonged to the Liberal party. Most +of them, however, were then already beginning to pass through what +was called Whiggism into habits of thought that were practically +Tory. They did not know how far they had gone till Lowe's speeches +told them, and they welcomed his ideas as justifying their own +tendencies. + +In themselves, as pieces either of rhetoric or of "civil wisdom," the +speeches are not first-rate. No one would dream of comparing them to +Burke's, in originality, or in richness of diction, or in weight of +thought. But for the moment they were far more appreciated than +Burke's were by the House of his time, which thought of dining while +he thought of convincing. Robert Lowe was for some months the idol of +a large part of the educated class, and indeed of that part chiefly +which plumed itself upon its culture. I recollect to have been in +those days at a breakfast party given by an eminent politician and +nominal supporter of the Liberal Ministry, and to have heard Mr. G. S. +Venables, the leader of the _Saturday Review_ set, an able and copious +writer who was a sort of literary and political oracle among his +friends, deliver, amid general applause, including that of the host, +the opinion that Lowe was an intellectual giant compared to Mr. +Gladstone, and that the reputation of the latter had been extinguished +for ever. + +This period of glory, which was enhanced by the fall of Lord Russell +and Mr. Gladstone from power in June 1866--the defeat came on a minor +point, but was largely due to Lowe's speeches--lasted till Lowe, who +had now become a force to be counted with, obtained office as +Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Liberal Ministry which Mr. +Gladstone formed in the end of 1868. From that moment his position +declined. He lost popularity and influence both with the country and +in the House of Commons. His speeches were always able, but they did +not seem to tell when delivered from the ministerial bench. His +financial proposals, though ingenious, were thought too ingenious, and +showed a deficient perception of the tendencies of the English mind. +No section likes being taxed, but Lowe's budgets met with a more than +usually angry opposition. His economies and retrenchments, so far from +bringing him the credit he deserved, exposed him to the charge of +cheese-paring parsimony, and did much to render the Ministry +unpopular. Before that ministry fell in 1874, Lowe, who had in 1873 +exchanged the Exchequer for the Home Office, had almost ceased to be a +personage in politics. He did nothing to retrieve his fame during the +six years of Opposition that followed, seldom spoke, took little part +in the denunciation of Lord Beaconsfield's Eastern and Afghan policy, +which went on from 1876 till 1880, and once at least gave slight signs +of declining mental power. So in 1880 he was relegated to the House of +Lords, because the new Liberal Government of that year could not make +room for him. Very soon thereafter his memory began to fail, and for +the last ten years of his life he had been practically forgotten, +though sometimes seen, a pathetic figure, at evening parties. There is +hardly a parallel in our parliamentary annals to so complete an +eclipse of so brilliant a luminary. + +This rapid obscuration of a reputation which was genuine, for Lowe's +powers had been amply proved, was due to no accident, and was apparent +long before mental decay set in. The causes lay in himself. One cause +was purely physical. He was excessively short-sighted, so much so +that when he was writing a letter, his nose was apt to rub out the +words his pen had traced; and this defect shut him out from all that +knowledge of individual men and of audiences which is to be +obtained by watching their faces. Mr. Gladstone, who never seemed to +resent Lowe's attacks, and greatly admired his gifts--it was not so +clear that Lowe reciprocated the admiration--used to relate that on +one occasion when a foreign potentate met the Minister in St. +James's Park and put out his hand in friendly greeting, Lowe +repelled his advances, and when the King said, "But, Mr. Lowe, you +know me quite well," he answered, "Yes, indeed, I know you far too +well, and I don't want to have anything more to do with you." He +had mistaken the monarch for a prominent politician with whom he +had had a sharp encounter on a deputation a few days before! For +social purposes Lowe might almost as well have been blind; yet he did +not receive that kind of indulgence which is extended to the +blind. In the interesting fragment of autobiography which he left, +he attributes his unpopularity entirely to this cause, declaring that +he was really of a kindly nature, liking his fellow-men just as well +as most of them like one another.[42] But in truth his own character +had something to answer for. Without being ill-natured, he was deemed +a hard-natured man, who did not appear to consider the feelings of +others. He had indeed a love of mischief, and gleefully tells in +his autobiography how, when travelling in his youth through the +Scottish Highlands, he drove the too self-conscious Wordsworth wild +by his incessant praise of Walter Scott.[43] He had not in political +life more than his fair share of personal enmities. One of them was +Disraeli's. They were not unequally matched. Lowe was intellectually +in some respects stronger, but he wanted Disraeli's skill in +managing men and assemblies. Disraeli resented Lowe's sarcasms, and +on one occasion, when the latter had made an indiscreet speech, went +out of his way to inflict on him a personal humiliation. + +Nor was this Lowe's only defect. Powerful in attack, he was feeble in +defence. Terrible as a critic, he had, as his official career showed, +little constructive talent, little tact in shaping or recommending his +measures. Unsteady or inconstant in purpose, he was at one moment +headstrong, at another timid or vacillating. These faults, scarcely +noticed when he was in Opposition, sensibly reduced his value as a +minister and as a Cabinet colleague. + +In private Lowe was good company, bright, alert, and not unkindly. He +certainly did not, as was alleged of another famous contemporary, +Lord Westbury, positively enjoy the giving of pain. But he had a most +unchristian scorn for the slow and the dull and the unenlightened, and +never restrained his scorching wit merely for the sake of sparing +those who came in his way. If the distinction be permissible, he was +not cruel but he was merciless, that is to say, unrestrained by +compassion. Instances are not wanting of men who have maintained great +influence in spite of their rough tongues and the enmities which rough +tongues provoke. But such men have usually also possessed some of the +arts of popularity, and have been able to retain the adherence of +their party at large, even when they had alienated many who came into +personal contact with them. This was not Lowe's case. He did not +conceal his contempt for the multitude, and had not the tact needed +for humouring it, any more than for managing the House of Commons. The +very force and keenness of his intellect kept him aloof from other +people and prevented him from understanding their sentiments. He saw +things so clearly that he could not tolerate mental confusion, and was +apt to reach conclusions so fast that he missed perceiving some of the +things which are gradually borne in upon slower minds. There are also +instances of strong men who, though they do not revile their +opponents, incur hatred because their strength and activity make them +feared. Hostility concentrates itself on the opponents deemed most +formidable, and a political leader who is spared while his fellows are +attacked cannot safely assume that this immunity is a tribute to his +virtues. Incessant abuse fell to the lot of Mr. Bright, who was not +often, and of Mr. Gladstone, who was hardly ever, personally bitter in +invective. But in compensation Mr. Bright and Mr. Gladstone received +enthusiastic loyalty from their followers. For Lowe there was no such +compensation. Even his own side did not love him. There was also a +certain harshness, perhaps a certain narrowness, about his views. Even +in those days of rigid economics, he took an exceptionally rigid view +of all economic problems, refusing to make allowance for any motives +except those of bare self-interest. Though he did not belong by +education or by social ties to the Utilitarian group, and gave an +ungracious reception to J. S. Mill's first speeches in the House of +Commons, he was a far more stringent and consistent exponent of the +harder kind of Benthamism than was Mill himself. He professed, and +doubtless to some extent felt, a contempt for appeals to historical or +literary sentiment, and relished nothing more than deriding his own +classical training as belonging to an effete and absurd scheme of +education. He left his mark on our elementary school system by +establishing the system of payment by results, but nearly every change +made in that system since his day has tended to destroy the +alterations he made and to bring back the older condition of things, +though no doubt in an amended form. His ideas of University reform +were crude and barren, limited, indeed, to the substitution of what +the Germans call "bread studies" for mental cultivation, and to the +extension of the plan of competitive examinations for honours and +money prizes, a plan which more and more displeases the most +enlightened University teachers, and is felt to have done more harm +than good to Oxford and Cambridge, where it has had the fullest play. +He had also, and could give good reasons for his opinion, a hearty +dislike to endowments of all kinds; and once, when asked by a Royal +Commission to suggest a mode of improving their application, answered +in his trenchant way, "Get rid of them. Throw them into the sea." + +It would not be fair to blame Lowe for the results which followed his +vigorous action against the extension of the suffrage in 1866, for no +one could then have predicted that in the following year the Tories, +beguiled by Mr. Disraeli, would reverse their former attitude and +carry a suffrage bill far wider than that which they had rejected a +year before. But the sequel of the successful resistance of 1866 may +stand as a warning to those who think that the course of thoroughgoing +opposition to a measure they dislike is, because it seems courageous, +likely to be the right and wise course for patriotic men. Had the +moderate bill of 1866 been suffered to pass, the question of further +extending the suffrage might possibly have slept for another thirty +years, for there was no very general or urgent cry for it among the +working people, and England would have continued to be ruled in the +main by voters belonging to the middle class and the upper section of +the working class. The consequence of the heated contest of 1866 was +not only to bring about a larger immediate change in 1867, but to +create an interest in the question which soon prompted the demand for +the extension of household suffrage to the counties, and completed in +1884-85 the process by which England has become virtually a democracy, +though a plutocratic democracy, still affected by the habits and +notions of oligarchic days. Thus Robert Lowe, as much as Disraeli and +Gladstone, may in a sense be called an author of the tremendous change +which has passed upon the British Constitution since 1866, and the +extent of which was not for a long while realised. Lowe himself never +recanted his views, but never repeated his declaration of them, +feeling that he had incurred unpopularity enough, and probably feeling +also that the case was hopeless. + +People who disliked his lugubrious forecasts used to call him a +Cassandra, perhaps forgetting that, besides the distinctive feature +of Cassandra's prophecies that nobody believed them, there was another +distinctive feature, viz. that they came true. Did Lowe's? It is often +profitable and sometimes amusing to turn back to the predictions +through which eminent men relieved their perturbed souls, and see how +far these superior minds were able to discern the tendencies, already +at work in their time, which were beginning to gain strength, and were +destined to determine the future. Whoever reads Lowe's speeches of +1865-67 may do worse than glance at the same time at a book,[44] long +since forgotten, which contains the efforts of a group of young +University Liberals to refute the arguments used by him and by Lord +Cairns, the strongest of his allies, in their opposition to schemes of +parliamentary reform. + +To compare the optimism of these young writers and Lowe's pessimism +with what has actually come to pass is a not uninstructive task. True +it is that England has had only thirty-five years' experience of the +Reform Act of 1867, and only seventeen years' experience of that even +greater step towards pure democracy which was effected by the +Franchise and Redistribution Acts of 1884-85. We are still far from +knowing what sorts of Parliaments and policies the enlarged suffrage +will end by giving. But some at least of the mischiefs Lowe foretold +have not arrived. He expected first of all a rapid increase in +corruption and intimidation at parliamentary elections. The quality of +the House of Commons would decline, because money would rule, and +small boroughs would no longer open the path by which talent could +enter. Members would be either millionaires or demagogues, and they +would also become far more subservient to their constituents. +Universal suffrage would soon arrive, because no halting-place between +the £10 franchise[45] and universal suffrage could be found. Placed on +a democratic basis, the House of Commons would not be able to retain +its authority over the Executive. The House of Lords, the Established +Church, the judicial bench (in that dignity and that independence +which are essential to its usefulness), would be overthrown as England +passed into "the bare and level plain of democracy where every +ant-hill is a mountain and every thistle a forest tree." These and the +other features characteristic of popular government on which Lowe +savagely descanted were pieced together out of Plato and Tocqueville, +coupled with his own disagreeable experiences of Australian politics. +None of the predicted evils can be said to have as yet become features +of the polity and government of England,[46] though the power of the +House relatively to the Cabinet does seem to be declining. Yet some of +Lowe's incidental remarks are true, and not least true is his +prediction that democracies will be found just as prone to war, just +as apt to be swept away by passion, as other kinds of government have +been. Few signs herald the approach of that millennium of peace and +enlightenment which Cobden foretold and for which Gladstone did not +cease to hope. + +No one since Lowe has taken up the part of _advocatus diaboli_ against +democracy which he played in 1866.[47] Since Disraeli passed the +Household Suffrage in Boroughs Bill in 1867, a nullification of Lowe's +triumph which incensed him more than ever against Disraeli, no one has +ever come forward in England as the avowed enemy of changes designed +to popularise our government. Parties have quarrelled over the time +and the manner of extensions of the franchise, but the issue of +principle raised in 1866 has not been raised again. Even in 1884, when +Mr. Gladstone carried his bill for assimilating the county franchise +to that existing in boroughs, the Tory party did not oppose the +measure in principle, but confined themselves to insisting that it +should be accompanied by a scheme for the redistribution of seats. The +secret, first unveiled by Disraeli, that the masses will as readily +vote for the Tory party as for the Liberal, is now common property, +and universal suffrage, when it comes to be offered, is as likely to +be offered by the former party as by the latter. This gives a touch of +historical interest to Lowe's speeches of 1866. They are the swan-song +of the old constitutionalism. The changes which came in 1867 and 1884 +must have come sooner or later, for they were in the natural line of +development as we see it all over the world; but they might have come +much later had not Lowe's opposition wrecked the moderate scheme of +1866. Apart from that episode Lowe's career would now be scarcely +remembered, or would be remembered by those who knew his splendid +gifts as an illustration of the maxim that mere intellectual power +does not stand first among the elements of character that go to the +winning of a foremost place. + +----- + + [41] A carefully written life of Lord Sherbrooke (in two volumes) by + Mr. Patchett Martin was published in 1896. The most interesting + part of it is the short fragment of autobiography with which it + begins, and which carries the story down to Lowe's arrival in + Australia. + + [42] In his autobiography he writes, "With a quiet temper and a real + wish to please, I have been obliged all my life to submit to an + amount of unpopularity which I really did not deserve, and to + feel myself condemned for what were really physical rather than + moral deficiencies." + + [43] There was an anecdote current in the University of Oxford down to + my time that when Lowe was examining in the examination which + the statutes call "Responsions," the dons "Little-go," and the + undergraduates "Smalls," a friend coming in while the _viva + voce_ was in progress, asked him how he was getting on. + "Excellently," said Lowe; "five men plucked already, and the + sixth very shaky." Another tale, not likely to have been + invented, relates that when he and several members of the then + Liberal Ministry were staying in Dublin with the Lord + Lieutenant, and had taken an excursion into the Wicklow hills, + they found themselves one afternoon obliged to wait for half an + hour at a railway station. To pass the time, Lowe forthwith + engaged in a dispute about the charge with the car-drivers who + had brought them, a dispute which soon became hot and noisy, to + the delight of Lowe, but to the horror of the old Lord + Chancellor, who was one of the party. + + [44] _Essays on Reform_, published in 1867. + + [45] The then borough qualification, which Mr. Gladstone's Bill + proposed to reduce to £7. + + [46] Mr. Gladstone said to me in 1897 that the extension of the + suffrage had, in his judgment, improved the quality of + legislation, making it more regardful of the interests of the + body of the people, but had not improved the quality of the + House of Commons. + + [47] Sir H. S. Maine's _Quarterly Review_ articles, published in a + volume under the title of _Popular Government_, come nearest to + being a literary presentation of the case against democracy, + but they are, with all their ingenuity and grace of style, so + provokingly vague and loosely expressed that there can seldom + be found in them a proposition with which one can agree, or + from which one can differ. E. de Laveleye's well-known book is + not much more substantial, but instruction may (as respects + France) be found in the late Edmond Schérer's _De la + Démocratie_, and (as respects England and the United States) in + M. Ostrogorski's recent book, _Democracy and the Organisation + of Political Parties_. + + + + +WILLIAM ROBERTSON SMITH + + +Robertson Smith,[48] the most widely learned and one of the most +powerful teachers that either Cambridge or Oxford could show during +the years of his residence in England, died at the age of forty-seven +on the 31st of March 1894. To the English public generally his name +was little known, or was remembered only in connection with the +theological controversy and ecclesiastical trial of which he had been +the central figure in Scotland fifteen years before. But on the +Continent of Europe and by Orientalists generally he was regarded as +the foremost Semitic scholar of Britain, and by those who knew him as +one of the most remarkable men of his time. + +He was born in 1846 in the quiet pastoral valley of the Don, in +Aberdeenshire. His father, who was a minister of the Scottish Free +Church in the parish of Keig, possessed high mathematical talent, +and his mother, who survived him six years, was a woman of great +force of character, who retained till her death, at seventy-six years +of age, the full exercise of her keen intelligence. Smith went +straight from his father's teaching to the University of Aberdeen, and +after graduating there, continued his studies first at Bonn in +1865, and afterwards at Göttingen (1869). When only twenty-four he +became Professor of Oriental Languages in the College or Divinity +School of the Free Church at Aberdeen, and two years later was +chosen one of the revisers of the Old Testament, a striking honour +for so young a man. In 1881 he became first assistant-editor and +then editor-in-chief of the ninth edition of the _Encyclopædia +Britannica_. He was exceptionally qualified for the post by the +variety of his attainments and by the extreme quickness of his +mind, which rapidly acquired knowledge on almost any kind of subject. +Those who knew him are agreed that among all the eminent men who have +been connected with this great _Encyclopædia_ from its first +beginning nearly a century and a half ago until now, he was +surpassed by none, if equalled by any, in the range of his learning +and in the capacity to bring learning to bear upon editorial work. +He took infinite pains to find the most competent writers, and was +able to exercise effective personal supervision over a very large +proportion of the articles. The ninth edition was much fuller and +more thorough than any of its predecessors; and good as the first +twelve volumes were, a still higher level of excellence was attained +in the latter half, a result due to his industry and discernment. +Not a few of the articles on subjects connected with the Old +Testament were from his own pen; and they were among the best in the +work. + +The appearance of one of them, that entitled "Bible," which contained +a general view of the history of the canonical books of Scripture, +their dates, authorship, and reception by the Christian Church, became +a turning-point in his life. The propositions he stated regarding the +origin of parts of the Old Testament, particularly the Pentateuch, +excited alarm and displeasure in Scotland, where few persons had +become aware of the conclusions reached by recent Biblical scholars in +Continental Europe. The article was able, clear, and fearless, plainly +the work of a master hand. The views it advanced were not for the most +part due to Smith's own investigations, but were to be found in the +writings of other learned men. Neither would they now be thought +extreme; they are in fact accepted to-day by many writers of +unquestioned orthodoxy in Britain and a (perhaps smaller) number in +the United States. In 1876, however, these views were new and +startling to those who had not studied in Germany or followed the +researches of such men as Ewald, Kuenen, and Wellhausen. The Scottish +Free Church had theretofore prided itself upon the rigidity of its +orthodoxy; and while among the younger ministers there were a good +many able and learned scholars holding what used to be called +"advanced views," the mass of the elder and middle-aged clergy had +gone on in the old-fashioned traditions of verbal inspiration, and +took every word in the Five Books (except the last chapter of +Deuteronomy) to have been written down by Moses. It was only natural +that their anger should be kindled against the young professor, whose +theories seemed to cut away the ground from under their feet. +Proceedings were (1876) taken against him before the Presbytery of +Aberdeen, and the case found its way thence to the Synod of Aberdeen, +and ultimately to the General Assembly of the Free Church. In one form +or another (for the flame was lit anew by other articles published by +him in the _Encyclopædia_) it lingered on for five years. So far from +yielding to the storm, Robertson Smith defied it, maintaining not only +the truth of his views, but their compatibility with the Presbyterian +standards as contained in the Confession of Faith and the Longer and +Shorter Catechisms. In this latter contention he was successful, +proving that the divines of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries +had not committed themselves to any specific doctrine of inspiration, +still less to any dogmatic deliverance as to the authorship of +particular books of Scripture. The standards simply declared that the +Word of God was contained in the canonical books, and as there had +been little or no controversy between Protestants and Roman Catholics +regarding the date or the authorship or the divine authority of those +books (apart of course from disputes regarding the Apocrypha), had not +dealt specifically with those last mentioned matters. As it was by +reference to the Confession of Faith that the offence alleged had to +be established, Smith made good his defence; so in the end, finding it +impossible to convict him of deviation from the standards, and thereby +to deal with him as an ordained minister of the Church, his +adversaries fell back on the plan of depriving him, by an executive +rather than judicial vote, not indeed of his clerical status, but of +his professorship, on the ground of the alleged "unsettling character" +of his teaching. + +Meanwhile, however, there had been an immense rally to him of the +younger clergy and of the less conservative among the laity. The main +current of Scottish popular thought and life had ever since the +Reformation flowed in an ecclesiastical channel; and even nowadays, +when Scotland is rapidly becoming Anglicised, a theological or +ecclesiastical question excites a wider and keener interest there than +a similar question would do in England. So in Scotland for four years +"the Robertson Smith case" was the chief topic of discussion outside +as well as inside the Free Church. The sympathy felt for the accused +was heightened by the ingenuity, energy, and courage with which he +defended his position, showing a power of argument and repartee which +made it plain that he would have held a distinguished place in any +assembly whatever. If his debating had a fault, it was that of being +almost too dialectically cogent, so that his antagonists felt that +they were being foiled on the form of the argument before they could +get to the issues they sought to raise. But while he was an +accomplished lawyer in matters of form, he was no less an accomplished +theologian in matters of substance. Although the party of repression +triumphed so far as to deprive him of his chair, the victory virtually +remained with him, not only because he had shown that the Scottish +Presbyterian standards did not condemn the views he held, but also +because his defence and the discussions which it occasioned had, in +bringing those views to the knowledge of a great number of thoughtful +laymen, led such persons to reconsider their own position. Some of +them found themselves forced to agree with Smith. Others, who +distrusted their capacity for arriving at a conclusion, came at least +to think that the questions involved did not affect the essentials of +faith, and must be settled by the ordinary canons of historical and +philological criticism. Thus the trial proved to be a turning-point +for the Scottish Churches, much as the _Essays and Reviews_ case had +been for the Church of England eighteen years earlier. Opinions +formerly proscribed were thereafter freely expressed. Nearly all the +doctrinal prosecutions subsequently attempted in the Scottish +Presbyterian Churches have failed. Much feeling has been excited, but +the result has been to secure a greater latitude than was dreamt of +forty years ago. At first the rigidly orthodox section of the Free +Church, now almost confined to the Highlands, thought of seceding from +the main body on the ground that tolerance was passing into +indifference or unbelief. But the new ideas continued to grow, and the +sentiment in favour of letting clergymen as well as lay church members +put a lax construction on the doctrinal standards drawn up in the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, has spread as widely in Scotland +as in England. The Presbyterian Churches in America and the Roman +Catholic Church now stand almost alone among the larger Christian +bodies in retaining something of the ancient rigidity. Even the Roman +Church begins to feel the solvent power of these researches. It may be +conjectured that as the process of adjusting the letter of Scripture +to the conclusions of science which Galileo was not permitted to +apply in the field of astronomy has now been generally applied in the +fields of geology and biology, so all the churches will presently +reconcile themselves to the conclusions of historical and linguistic +criticism, now that such criticism has become truly scientific in its +methods. + +Having no longer any tie to Scotland, as he had never desired a +pastoral charge there, since he felt his vocation to lie in study and +teaching, Smith was hesitating which way to turn, when the offer of +the Lord Almoner's Readership in Arabic, which had become vacant in +1883, determined him to settle in Cambridge. He had travelled in +Arabia a few years earlier, thereby adding a colloquial familiarity to +his grammatical mastery of the language. He was an ardent student of +Arabic literature, and indeed devoted more time to it than to Hebrew. +Though he had felt deeply the attacks made upon him, and was indignant +at the mode of his dismissal, he was not in the least dispirited; and +his self-control was shown by the way in which he resisted the +temptation, to which controversialists are prone, of going further +than they originally meant and thereby damaging the position of their +supporters. Still, he was weary of controversy, and pleased to see +before him a prospect of learned quiet and labour, although the salary +of the Readership was less than £100 a year. Fortunately he had come +to a place where gifts like his were appreciated. The Master and +Fellows of Christ's College elected him to a fellowship with no duties +of tuition attached to it--a wise and graceful recognition of his +merits which did them the more credit because they had very little +personal knowledge of him, while he had possessed no prior tie with +the University. Christ's is one of the smaller colleges, but has +almost always had men of distinction among its fellows, and has +maintained a high standard of teaching. In the list of its alumni +stand the names of John Milton, Isaac Barrow, Ralph Cudworth, and +Charles Darwin. Robertson Smith dwelt in it for the rest of his days, +entering into the life of hall and common-room with great zest, for he +was of an extremely sociable turn, and the College became proud of +him. When a vacancy occurred in the office of University Librarian, he +was chosen to fill it. His knowledge of and fondness for books fitted +him excellently for the place, but the details of administration +worried him, and it was a change for the better when (in 1889), on the +death of his friend, William Wright, he became Professor of +Arabic.[49] His efforts to build up a school of Oriental studies on +the foundations laid by Wright, and with the help of an eminent Syriac +scholar, Bensley, were proving successful, and a considerable number +of able young men were gathering round him, when (in 1890) the hand of +disease fell upon him, obliging him first to curtail and afterwards to +intermit his lectures. The last year of his life was a year of +suffering, borne with uncomplaining fortitude. + +What with work on the _Encyclopædia Britannica_, with the distractions +of his prolonged trial, with the time spent in oral teaching, and with +the physical weakness of his latest years, Smith's leisure available +for literary production was not large, and the books he has left do +not adequately represent either his accumulated knowledge or his +faculty of investigation. The earlier books--_The Old Testament in the +Jewish Church_ and _The Prophets of Israel_ (the latter a series of +lectures delivered at Glasgow)--are comparatively popular in handling. +The two later--_Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia_ and _The +Religion of the Semites_--are more abstruse and technical, and also +more original, dealing with topics in which their author was a +pioneer, though he had been influenced by, and acknowledged in the +amplest way his obligations to, his friend John F. Maclennan, the +author of _Primitive Marriage_. _The Religion of the Semites_, though +masterly in plan and execution, and though it has excited the +admiration of the few Oriental scholars competent to appraise its +substantial merit, suffers from its incompleteness. Only the first +volume was published, for death overtook the author before he could +put into final shape the materials he had collected for the full +development of his theories. As the second volume would have traced +the connection between the primitive religion of the Arab branches of +the Semitic stock (including Israel) and the Hebrew religion as we +have it in the earlier books of the Old Testament, the absence of this +finished statement is a loss to science. Changes had passed upon his +views since he wrote the incriminated articles, and he said to me (I +think about 1888) that he would no longer undertake any clerical +duties. He had a sensitive conscience, and held that no clergyman +ought to use language in the pulpit which did not express his personal +convictions. + +What struck one most in Robertson Smith's writings was the easy +command wherewith he handled his materials. His generalisations were +based on an endlessly patient and careful study of details, a study in +which he never lost sight of guiding principles. With perfect lucidity +and an unstrained natural vigour, there was a sense of abounding and +overflowing knowledge which inspired confidence in the reader, making +him feel he was in the hands of a master. On all that pertained to the +languages and literature of the Arabic branch of the Semitic races, +ancient and modern (for he did not claim to be an Assyriologist), his +knowledge was accurate no less than comprehensive. Full of deference +to the great scholars--no one spoke with a warmer admiration of +Nöldeke, Wellhausen, and Lagarde than he did--he was a stringent +critic of unscientific work in the sphere of history and physics as +well as in that of philology, quick to expose the uncritical +assumptions or loose hypotheses of less careful though more +pretentious students. He used to say that when he had disposed of the +_Encyclopædia Britannica_, he might undertake a "Dictionary of +European Impostors." Oriental lore was only one of many subjects in +which he might have achieved distinction. His mathematical talents +were remarkable, and during two sessions he taught with conspicuous +success the class of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh +as assistant professor. He had a competent acquaintance with not a few +other practical arts, including navigation, and once, when the +compasses of the vessel on which he was sailing in the Red Sea got out +of order, he proved to be the person on board most competent to set +them right. In metaphysics and theology, in ancient history and many +departments of modern history, he was thoroughly at home. Few, indeed, +were the subjects that came up in the course of conversation on which +he was not able to throw light, for the range of his acquirements was +not more striking than the swiftness and precision with which he +brought knowledge to bear wherever it was wanted. + +There was hardly a line of practical life in which he might not have +attained a brilliant success. But the passion for knowledge made him +prefer the life of a scholar, and seemed to have quenched any desire +even for literary fame. + +Learning is commonly thought of as a weight to be carried, which makes +men dull, heavy, or pedantic. With Robertson Smith the effect seemed +to be exactly the opposite. Because he knew so much, he was interested +in everything, and threw himself with a joyous freshness and keenness +into talk alike upon the most serious and the lightest topics. He was +combative, apt to traverse a proposition when first advanced, even +though he might come round to it afterwards; and a discussion with him +taxed the defensive acumen of his companions. Having once spent five +weeks alone with him in a villa at Alassio on the Riviera, I observed +to him when we parted that we had had (as the Americans say) "a lovely +time" together, and that there was not an observation I had made +during those weeks which he had not contested. He laughed and did not +contest that observation. Yet this tendency, while it made his society +more stimulating, did not make it less agreeable, because he never +seemed to seek to overthrow an adversary, but only to get at the truth +of the case, and his manner, though positive, had about it nothing +either acrid or conceited. One could imagine no keener intellectual +pleasure than his company afforded, for there was, along with an +exuberant wealth of thought and knowledge, an intensity and ardour +which lit up every subject which it touched. I once invited him and +John Richard Green (the historian) to meet at dinner. They took to one +another at once, nor was it easy to say which lamp burned the +brighter. Smith had wider and more accurate learning, and stronger +logical power, but Green was just as swift, just as fertile, just as +ingenious. In stature Smith, like Green, was small, almost diminutive; +his dark brown eyes bright and keen; his speech rapid; his laugh ready +and merry, for he had a quick sense of humour and a power of enjoying +things as they came. The type of intellect suggested a Teutonic Scot +of the Lowlands, but in appearance and temperament he was rather a +Scottish Celt of the Highlands, with a fire and a gaiety, an abounding +vivacity and vitality, which made him a conspicuous figure wherever he +lived, in Aberdeen, in Edinburgh, in Cambridge. Even by his walk, with +its quick, irregular roll, one could single him out at a distance in +the street. + +When a man is attractive personally, he is all the more attractive for +being unlike other men, and he often becomes the centre of a group. +This was the case with Smith. His numerous friends were so much +interested by him that when they met their talk was largely of him, +and many friendships were based on a common knowledge of this one +person. Indeed, the geniality, elevation, and simplicity of his +character gave him a quite unusual hold on those who had come to know +him well. Few men, leading an equally quiet and studious life, have +inspired so much regard and affection in so large a number of persons; +few teachers have had an equal power of stimulating and attracting +their pupils. He loved teaching hardly less than he loved the +investigation of truth, and he was the most faithful and sympathetic +of friends, one who was felt to be unique while he lived and +irreplaceable when he had departed. + +I have spoken of the courage he had shown in confronting his +antagonists in the ecclesiastical courts. That courage did not fail +him in the severer trials of his last illness. The nature of the +disease of which he died was disclosed to him by his physician in +September 1892, while an international Congress of Orientalists, in +which he presided over the Semitic section, was holding its meetings. +A festival dinner was being given in honour of the Congress the same +afternoon. When the physician had spoken, Smith simply remarked, "This +means the death my brother died" (one of his brothers had been struck +by the same malady a few years before). He went straight to the +dinner, and was throughout the evening the gayest and brightest of the +guests. + +Fancy sometimes indulges herself in imagining what part the eminent +men one has known would have played had their lot been cast in some +other age. So I have fancied that Archbishop Tait (described in an +earlier chapter) ought to have been Primate of England under Edward +the Sixth or Elizabeth. He would have guided the course of reform more +prudently and more firmly than Cranmer did; he would have shown a +broader spirit than did Parker or Whitgift. So Cardinal Manning, had +he lived in the seventeenth century, might haply have become General +of the Jesuit Order, and enjoyed the secret control of the politics of +the Catholic world. So Robertson Smith, had he been born in the great +age of the mediæval universities, might, like the bold dialectician of +whom Dante speaks, have "syllogised invidious truths"[50] in the +University of Paris; or had Fortune placed him two centuries later +among the scholars of the Italian Renaissance in its glorious prime, +the fame of his learning might have filled half Europe. + +----- + + [48] No life of Robertson Smith has yet been written, but it is hoped + that one may be prepared by his intimate friend, Mr. J. + Sutherland Black. A portrait of him (by his friend Sir George + Reid, late President of the Royal Scottish Academy) hangs in + the library of Christ's College, Cambridge, to which Smith's + collection of Oriental books was presented by his friends, and + another has been placed in the Divinity College of the United + Free Presbyterian Church at Aberdeen. A memorial window has + been set up in the chapel of the University of Aberdeen, where + he won his first distinctions. I have to thank my friend Mr. + Black for some suggestions he has kindly made after perusing + this sketch. + + [49] There was an aged Jewish scholar who came now and then to + Cambridge in those days, and who, as sometimes happens, + disliked other scholars labouring in the same field. He was (so + it used to be said) one of the few who knew exactly how the + word which we write Jehovah or Iahve ought to be pronounced, + and it was believed that he had solemnly cursed Wright, Smith, + and a third Semitic scholar in the Sacred Name. All three died + soon afterwards. + + What would have been thought of this in the Middle Ages! + + [50] _Parad._ x. 136, of Sigier, "Sillogizzó invidiosi veri." + + + + +HENRY SIDGWICK + + +Henry Sidgwick was born at Skipton, in Yorkshire, where his father was +headmaster of the ancient grammar school of the town, on 31st May +1838.[51] The family belonged to Yorkshire. He was a precocious boy, +and used to delight his brothers and sister by the fertility of his +imagination in inventing games and stories. Educated at Rugby School +under Goulburn (afterwards Dean of Norwich), he was sent at an +unusually early age to Trinity College, Cambridge. His brilliant +University career was crowned by the first place in the classical +tripos and by a first class in the mathematical tripos, and he was +speedily elected a Fellow of Trinity. Intellectual curiosity and an +interest in the problems of theology presently drew him to Germany, +where he worked at Hebrew and Arabic under Ewald at Göttingen, as well +as with other eminent teachers. After hesitating for a time whether to +devote himself to Oriental studies or to classical scholarship, he was +drawn back to philosophy by his desire to investigate questions +bearing on natural theology, and finally settled down to the pursuit +of what are called in Cambridge the moral sciences--metaphysics, +ethics, and psychology; becoming first a College Lecturer and then (in +1875) a University Prælector in these subjects. In 1869 he resigned +his fellowship, feeling that he could no longer consider himself a +"_bona fide_ member of the Church of England," that being the +condition then attached by law to the holding of fellowships in the +Colleges at Cambridge. This step caused surprise, for the test was +deemed a very vague and light one, having been recently substituted +for a more stringent requirement, and there had been many holders of +fellowships who were at least as little entitled to call themselves +_bona fide_ members of the Established Church as he was. But, as was +afterwards said of him by Mrs. Cross (George Eliot), Sidgwick was +expected by his intimate friends to conform to standards higher than +average men prescribe for their own conduct. Taken in conjunction with +the fact that several English Dissenters and Scottish Presbyterians +had won the distinction of a Senior Wranglership and been debarred +from fellowships, though they were in theological opinion more +orthodox than some nominal members of the Established Church who were +holding fellowships, Sidgwick's conscientious act made a great +impression in Cambridge and did much to hasten that total abolition +of tests in the Universities which was effected by statute in 1871; +for in England concrete instances of hardship and injustice are more +powerful incitements to reform than the strongest abstract arguments, +and Sidgwick was already so eminent and so respected a figure that all +Cambridge felt the absurdity of excluding such a man from its honours +and emoluments. In 1883 he was appointed Professor of Moral +Philosophy, and continued to hold that post till three months before +his death in 1900, when failing health determined him to resign it. + +His life was the still and tranquil life of the thinker, teacher, and +writer, varied by no events more exciting than those controversies +over reforms in the studies and organisation of the University in +which his sense of public duty frequently led him to bear a part. + +These I pass over, but there is one branch of his active work to which +special reference ought to be made, viz. the part he took in promoting +the University education of women. In or about the year 1868 he joined +with the late Miss Anne Jane Clough (sister of the poet Arthur Clough) +and a few other friends in establishing a course of lectures and a +hall of residence for women at Cambridge, which grew into the +institution called Newnham College. It and Girton College, founded by +other friends of the same cause about the same time, were the first +two institutions in England which provided for women, together with +residential accommodation, a complete University training equivalent +and similar to that provided by the two ancient English universities +for men. The teaching was mainly given by the University professors +and lecturers, the curriculum was the same as the University +prescribed, and the women students, though not legally admitted to the +University, were examined by the University examiners at the same time +as the other students. Henry Sidgwick was, from the foundation of +Newnham onwards, the moving spirit and the guiding hand among its +University friends, the spirit which inspired the policy and the hand +which piloted the fortunes of the College. Its growth to its present +dimensions, and its usefulness, not only directly, but through the +example it has set, have been largely due to his assiduous care and +temperate wisdom. He had married (in 1876) Miss Eleanor Mildred +Balfour, and when she accepted the principalship of Newnham after Miss +Clough's death, in 1889, he and she transferred their residence to the +College, and lived thenceforward at it. The England of our time has +seen no movement of opinion more remarkable or more beneficial than +that which has recognised the claims of women to the highest kind of +education, and secured a substantial, if still incomplete, provision +therefor. The change has come so quietly and unobtrusively that few +people realise how great it is. Few, indeed, remember what things were +forty years ago, as few realise when waste lands have been stubbed and +drained and tilled what they were like in their former state. No one +did more than Sidgwick to bring about this change. Besides his work +for Newnham, he took a lead in all the movements that have been made +to obtain for women a fuller admission to University privileges, and +well deserved the gratitude of Englishwomen for his unceasing efforts +on their behalf. + +The obscure problems of psychology had a great attraction for him, and +he spent much time in investigating them, being one of the founders, +and remaining all through his later life a leading and guiding member, +of the Society for Psychical Research, which has for the last twenty +years cultivated this field with an industry and ability which have +deserved larger harvests than have yet been reaped. Two remarkable +men, both devoted friends of his, worked with him, Edmund Gurney and +Frederic Myers the poet, the latter of whom survived him a few months +only. It was characteristic of Sidgwick that he never committed +himself to any of the bold and possibly over-sanguine anticipations +formed by some of the other members of the Society, while yet he never +was deterred by failure, or by the discovery of deceptions, sometimes +elaborate and long sustained, from pursuing inquiries which seemed to +him to have an ultimate promise of valuable results. The phenomena, he +would say, may be true or false; anyhow they deserve investigation. +The mere fact that so many persons believe them to be genuine is a +problem fit to be investigated. If they are false, it will be a +service to have proved them so. If they contain some truth, it is +truth of a kind so absolutely new as to be worth much effort and long +effort to reach it. In any case, science ought to take the subject out +of the hands of charlatans. + +The main business of his life, however, was teaching and writing. Three +books stand out as those by which he will be best remembered--his +_Methods of Ethics_, his _Principles of Political Economy_, and his +_Elements of Politics_. All three have won the admiration of those +who are experts in the subjects to which they respectively relate, and +they continue to be widely read in universities both in Britain and in +America. All three bear alike the peculiar impress of his mind. + +It was a mind of singular subtlety, fertility, and ingenuity, which +applied to every topic an extremely minute and patient analysis. Never +satisfied with the obvious view of a question, it seemed unable to +acquiesce in any broad and sweeping statement. It discovered +objections to every accepted doctrine, exceptions to every rule. It +perceived minute distinctions and qualifications which had escaped the +notice of previous writers. These qualities made Sidgwick's books +somewhat difficult reading for a beginner, who was apt to ask what, +after all, was the conclusion to which he had been led by an author +who showed him the subject in various lights, and added not a few +minor propositions to that which had seemed to be the governing one. +But the student who had already some knowledge of the topic, who, +though he apprehended its main principles, had not followed them out +in detail or perceived the difficulties in applying them, gained +immensely by having so many fresh points presented to him, so many +fallacies lurking in currently accepted notions detected, so many +conditions indicated which might qualify the amplitude of a general +proposition. The method of discussion was stimulating. Sometimes it +reminded one of the Socratic method as it appears in Plato, but more +frequently it was the method of Aristotle, who discusses a subject +first from one side, then from another, throws out a number of +remarks, not always reconcilable, but always suggestive, regarding it, +and finally arrives at a view which he delivers as being probably the +best, but one which must be taken subject to the remarks previously +made. The reader often feels in Sidgwick's treatment of a subject as +he often feels in Aristotle's, that he would like to be left with +something more definite and positive, something that can be easily +delivered to learners as an established truth. He desires a bolder and +broader sweep of the brush. But he also feels how much he is benefited +by the process of sifting and analysing to which every conception or +dogma is subjected, and he perceives that he is more able to handle it +afterwards in his own way when his attention has been called to all +these distinctions and qualifications or antinomies which would have +escaped any vision less keen than his author's. For those who, in an +age prone to hasty reading and careless thinking, are disposed to +underrate the difficulties of economic and political questions, and to +walk in a vain conceit of knowledge because they have picked up some +large generalisations, no better discipline can be prescribed than to +follow patiently such a treatment as Sidgwick gives; nor can any +reader fail to profit from the candour and the love of truth which +illumine his discussion of a subject. + +The love of truth and the sense of duty guided his life as well as his +pen. Though always warmly interested in politics, he was of all the +persons I have known the least disposed to be warped by partisanship, +for he examined each political issue as it arose on its own merits, +apart from predilections for either party or for the views of his +nearest friends. We used to wonder how such splendid impartiality +would have stood a practical test such as that of the House of +Commons. His loyalty to civic duty was so strong as on one occasion to +bring him, in the middle of his vacation, all the way from Davos, in +the easternmost corner of Switzerland, to Cambridge, solely that he +might record his vote at a parliamentary election, although the result +of the election was already virtually certain. + +Sidgwick's attitude toward the Benthamite system of Utilitarianism +illustrates the cautiously discriminative habit of mind I have sought +to describe. If he had been required to call himself by any name, he +would not have refused that of Utilitarian, just as in mental +philosophy he leaned to the type of thought represented by the two +Mills rather than to the Kantian idealism of his friend and school +contemporary, the Oxford professor T. H. Green. But the system of +Utility takes in his hands a form so much more refined and delicate +than was given to it by Bentham and James Mill, and is expounded with +so many qualifications unknown to them, that it has become a very +different thing, and is scarcely, if at all, assailable by the +arguments which moralists of the idealistic type have brought against +the older doctrine. Something similar may be said of his treatment of +bimetallism in his book on political economy. While assenting to some +of the general propositions on which the bimetallic theory rests, he +points out so many difficulties in the application of that theory to +the actual conditions of currency that his assent cannot be cited as a +deliverance in favour of trying to turn theory into practice. He told +me in 1896 that he held the political and other practical objections +to an attempt to establish a bimetallic system to be virtually +insuperable. When he treats of free trade, he is no less guarded and +discriminating. He points out various circumstances or conditions +under which a protective tariff may become, at least for a time, +justifiable, but never abandons the free trade principle as being +generally true and sound, a principle not to be departed from save for +strong reasons of a local or temporary kind. His general economic +position is equally removed from the "high and dry" school of Ricardo +on the one hand, and from the "Katheder-Sozialisten" and the modern +"sentimental" school on the other. In all his books one notes a +tendency to discover what can be said for the view which is in popular +disfavour, even often for that which he does not himself adopt, and to +set forth all the objections to the view which is to receive his +ultimate adhesion. There is a danger with such a method of losing +breadth and force of effect. One is ready to cry, "Do lapse for a +moment into dogmatism." Yet it ought to be added that Sidgwick's +subtlety is always restrained by practical good sense, as well as by +the desire to reconcile opposite views. His arguments, though they +often turn on minute distinctions, are not bits of fine-drawn +ingenuity, but have weight and substance in them.[52] + +One book of his which has not yet (December 1902) been published, but +which I have had the privilege of reading in proof, displays his +constructive power in another light. It is a course of lectures on the +development of political institutions in Europe from early times down +to our own. Here, as he is dealing with concrete matter, the treatment +is more broad, and the line of exposition and argument more easy to +follow, than in the treatises already referred to. It is a masterly +piece of work, and reveals a wider range of historical knowledge and a +more complete mastery of historical method than had been shown in his +earlier books, or indeed than some of his friends had known him to +possess. + +The tendency to analysis rather than to construction, the abstention +from the deliverance of doctrines easy to comprehend and repeat, which +belong to his writings on ethics and economics, do not impair the +worth of his literary criticisms. In this field his fine perception +and discriminative taste had full scope. He was an incessant reader, +especially of poetry and novels, with a retentive memory for poetry, +as well as a finely modulated and expressive voice in reciting it. His +literary judgments had less of a creative quality, if the expression +be permissible, than Matthew Arnold's, but are not otherwise inferior +to those of that brilliant though sometimes slightly prejudiced +critic. No one of his contemporaries has surpassed Sidgwick in +catholicity and reasonableness, in the power of delicate appreciation, +or in an exquisite precision of expression. His essay on Arthur Hugh +Clough, prefixed to the latest edition of Clough's collected poems, is +a good specimen of this side of his talent. Clough was one of his +favourites, and has indeed been called the pet poet of University men. +Sidgwick's literary essays, which appeared occasionally in magazines, +were few, but they well deserve to be collected and republished, for +this age of ours, though largely occupied in talking about literature, +has produced comparatively little criticism of the first order. + +Sidgwick did not write swiftly or easily, because he weighed carefully +everything he wrote. But his mind was alert and nimble in the highest +degree. Thus he was an admirable talker, seeing in a moment the point +of an argument, seizing on distinctions which others had failed to +perceive, suggesting new aspects from which a question might be +regarded, and enlivening every topic by a keen yet sweet and kindly +wit. Wit, seldom allowed to have play in his books, was one of the +characteristics which made his company charming. Its effect was +heightened by a hesitation in his speech which often forced him to +pause before the critical word or phrase of the sentence had been +reached. When that word or phrase came, it was sure to be the right +one. Though fond of arguing, he was so candid and fair, admitting all +that there was in his opponent's case, and obviously trying to see the +point from his opponent's side, that nobody felt annoyed at having +come off second best, while everybody who cared for good talk went +away feeling not only that he knew more about the matter than he did +before, but that he had enjoyed an intellectual pleasure of a rare and +high kind. The keenness of his penetration was not formidable, because +it was joined to an indulgent judgment: the ceaseless activity of his +intellect was softened rather than reduced by the gaiety of his +manner. His talk was conversation, not discourse, for though he +naturally became the centre of nearly every company in which he found +himself, he took no more than his share. It was like the sparkling of +a brook whose ripples seem to give out sunshine. + +Though Sidgwick's writings are a mine of careful and suggestive +thinking, he was even more remarkable than his books. Though his +conversation was delightful, the impression of its fertility and its +wit was the least part of the impression which his personality +produced. An eminent man is known to the world at large by what he +gives them in the way of instruction or of pleasure. A man is prized +and remembered by his friends for what he was in the intercourse of +life. Few men of our time have influenced so wide or so devoted a +circle of friends as did Henry Sidgwick; few could respond to the +calls of friendship with a like sympathy or wisdom. His advice was +frequently asked in delicate questions of conduct, and he was +humorously reminded that, by his own capacity as well as by the title +of his chair, he was a professor of casuistry. His stores of knowledge +and helpful criticism were always at the service of his pupils or his +fellow-workers. + +From his earliest college days he had been just, well-balanced, +conscientious alike in the pursuit of truth and in the regulation of +his own life, appearing to have neither prejudices nor enmities, and +when he had to convey censure, choosing the least cutting words in +which to convey it. Yet in earlier years there had been in him a touch +of austerity, a certain remoteness or air of detachment, which +confined to a very few persons the knowledge of his highest qualities. +As he grew older his purity lost its coldness, his keenness of +discernment mellowed into a sweet and persuasive wisdom. A life +excellently conducted, a life which is the expression of fine +qualities, and in which the acts done are in harmony with the thoughts +and words of the man, is itself a beautiful product, whether of +untutored nature or of thought and experience turning every faculty to +the best account. In the modern world the two types of excellence +which we are chiefly bidden to admire are that of the active +philanthropist and that of the saint. The ancient world produced and +admired another type, to which some of its noblest characters +conformed, and which, in its softer and more benignant aspect, +Sidgwick presented. In his indifference to wealth and fame and the +other familiar objects of human desire, in the almost ascetic +simplicity of his daily life, in his pursuit of none but the purest +pleasures, in his habit of subjecting all impulses to the law of +reason, the will braced to patience, the soul brought into harmony +with the divinely appointed order, he seemed to reproduce one of those +philosophers of antiquity who formed a lofty conception of Nature and +sought to live in conformity with her precepts. But the gravity of a +Stoic was relieved by the humour and vivacity which belonged to his +nature, and the severity of a Stoic was softened by the tenderness and +sympathy which seemed to grow and expand with every year. In +Cambridge, where, though the society is a large one, all the teachers +become personally known to one another, and the students have +opportunities of familiar intercourse with the teachers, affection as +well as admiration gathered round him. His thoughts quickened and his +example inspired generation after generation of young men passing +through the University out into the life of England, as a light set +high upon the bank beams on the waves of a river gliding swiftly to +the sea. + +It was a life of single-minded devotion to truth and friendship, a +life serene and gentle, free alike from vanity and from ambition, +bearing without complaint the ill-health which sometimes checked his +labours, viewing with calm fortitude those problems of man's life on +which his mind was always fixed, untroubled in the presence of death. + + Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas + Quique metus omnes et inexorabile fatum + Subiecit pedibus strepitumque Acherontis avari. + +When his friends heard of his departure there rose to mind the words +in which the closing scene of the life of Socrates is described by the +greatest of his disciples, and we thought that among all those we had +known there was none of whom we could more truly say that in him the +spirit of philosophy had its perfect work in justice, in goodness, and +in wisdom. + +----- + + [51] It is hoped that a life of Sidgwick, together with a selection + from his letters, may before long be published. + + [52] It was his aim to avoid as much as possible technical terms or + phrases whose meaning was not plain to the average reader. An + anecdote was current that once when, in conducting a + university examination, he was perusing the papers of a + candidate who had darkened the subject by the use of extreme + Hegelian phraseology, he turned to his co-examiner and said, "I + can see that this is nonsense, but is it the right kind of + nonsense?" + + + + +EDWARD ERNEST BOWEN[53] + + +Ever since the publication of Stanley's Life of Dr. Arnold that +eminent headmaster has been taken as the model of a great teacher and +ruler of boys, the man who, while stimulating the intelligence of his +pupils, was even more concerned to discipline and mould their moral +natures. Arnold has become the type of what Carlyle might have called +"The Hero as Schoolmaster." Though there have been many able men at +the head of large schools since his time, including three who +afterwards rose to be Archbishops of Canterbury, as well as a good +many who have become bishops, his fame remains unrivalled, and the +type created by his career, or rather perhaps by his biographer's +account of it, still holds the field. Moreover, during the sixty years +that have passed since Arnold's death scarcely a word has been said +regarding any other masters than the head. During those years the +English universities have sent into the great schools a large +proportion of their most capable graduates as assistant teachers; and +some of the strongest men among these graduates have never, from +various causes, and often because they preferred to remain laymen, +been raised to the headships of the schools. Every one knows that a +school depends for its wellbeing and success more largely on the +assistants taken together than it does on the headmaster. Most people +also know that individual assistant masters are not unfrequently +better scholars, better teachers, and more influential with the boys +than is their official superior. Yet the assistant masters have +remained unhonoured and unsung in the general chorus of praise of the +great schools which has been resounding over England for nearly two +generations. + +Edward Bowen was all his life an assistant master, and never cared to +be anything else. As he had determined not to take orders in the +Church of England, he was virtually debarred from many of the chief +headmasterships, which are, some few of them by law, many more by +custom, confined to Anglican clergymen. But even when other headships +to which this condition was not attached were known to be practically +open to his acceptance, were, indeed, in one or two instances almost +tendered to him, he refused to become a candidate, preferring his own +simple and easy way of life to the pomp and circumstance which +convention requires a headmaster to maintain. This abstention, +however, did not prevent his eminence from becoming known to those who +had opportunities of judging. In his later years he would, I think, +have been generally recognised by the teaching profession as the most +brilliant, and in his own peculiar line the most successful, man among +the schoolmasters of Britain. + +He was born on 30th March 1836, of an Irish family (originally from +Wales) holding property in the county of Mayo. His father was a +clergyman of the Church of England; his mother, who survived him a +few months (dying at the age of ninety-four) and whom he tended with +watchful care during her years of widowhood, was partly of Irish, +partly of French extraction. Like his more famous but perhaps not +more remarkable elder brother, Charles Bowen, who became Lord Bowen, +and is remembered as one of the most acute and subtle judges as well +as one of the most winning personalities of our time, he had a gaiety, +wit, and versatility which suggested the presence of Celtic blood. He +was educated at Blackheath School, and afterwards at King's College +in London, whence he proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge. In +1860, after a career at the University, distinguished both in the +way of honours and in respect of the reputation he won among his +contemporaries, he became a master at Harrow, and thenceforth +remained there, leading an uneventful and externally a monotonous +life, but one full of unceasing and untiring activity in play and +work. He died on Easter Monday 1901. + +Nothing could be less like the traditional Arnoldine methods of +teaching and ruling boys than Bowen's method was. The note of those +methods was what used to be called moral earnestness. Arnold was grave +and serious, distant and awe-inspiring, except perhaps to a few +specially favoured pupils. Bowen was light, cheerful, vivacious, +humorous, familiar, and, above all things, ingenious and full of +variety. His leading principles were two--that the boy must at all +hazards be interested in the lessons and that he should be at ease +with the teacher. + +A Harrow boy once said to his master, "I don't know how it is, sir, +but if Mr. Bowen takes a lesson he makes you work twice as hard as +other masters, but you like it twice as much and you learn far more." +He was the most unexpected man in conversation that could be imagined, +always giving a new turn to talk by saying something that seemed +remote from the matter in hand until he presently showed the +connection. So his teaching kept the boys alert, because its variety +was inexhaustible. He seemed to think that it did not greatly matter +what the lesson was so long as the pupil could be got to enjoy it. The +rules of the school and the requirements of the examinations for +which boys had to be prepared would not have permitted him to try to +any great extent the experiment of varying subjects to suit individual +tastes; but he was fond of giving lessons in topics outside the +regular course, on astronomy for instance, of which he had acquired a +fair knowledge, and on recent military history, which he knew +wonderfully well, better probably than any man in England outside the +military profession. When the so-called "modern side" was established +at Harrow, in 1869, he became head of it, having taken this post, not +from any want of classical taste and learning, for he was an admirable +scholar, and to the end of his life wrote charming Latin verses, but +because he felt that this line of teaching needed to be developed in a +school which had been formerly almost wholly classical. For +grammatical minutiæ, for learning rules by heart, and indeed for the +old style of grammar-teaching generally, he had an unconcealed +contempt. He thought it unkind and wasteful to let a boy go on +puzzling over difficulties of language in an author, and permitted, +under restrictions, the use of English translations, or (as boys call +them) "cribs." Teaching was in his view a special gift of the +individual, which depended on the aptitude for getting hold of the +pupil's mind, and enlisting his interest in the subject. He had +accordingly no faith in the doctrine that teaching is a science which +can be systematically studied, or an art in which the apprentice ought +to be systematically trained. When he was summoned as a witness before +the Secondary Education Commission in 1894 he adhered, under +cross-examination, to this view (so far as it affected schools like +Harrow or Eton), refusing to be moved by the arguments of those among +the Commissioners who cited the practice of Germany, where Pädagogik, +as they call it, is elaborately taught in the universities. "I am +unable," he said, "to conceive any machinery by which the art of +teaching can be given practically to masters. That art is so much a +matter of personal power and experience, and of various social and +moral gifts, that I cannot conceive a good person made a good master +by merely seeing a class of boys taught, unless he was allowed to take +a real and serious part in it himself, unless he became a teacher +himself. I can understand that at a primary school you can learn by +going in and hearing a good teacher at work; but the teaching of a +class of older boys is so different, and has so much of the social +element in it, and it may vary so much, that I should despair of +teaching a young man how to take a class unless he was a long time +with me.... A master at a large public school is chiefly a moral and +social force; a master is this to a much less extent at a primary +school or in the ordinary day-schools, the grammar-schools of the +country. To deal with boys when you have them completely under your +control for the whole of every day is an altogether different thing, +and requires different virtues in the teacher from those that are +required in the case of day-schools." + +Bowen may possibly have been mistaken, even as regards the teachers in +the great public boarding schools. His view seems to overlook or +disregard that large class of persons who have no marked natural +aptitude for teaching, but are capable of being, by special +instruction and supervised practice, kneaded and moulded into better +teachers than they would otherwise have grown to be. He felt so +strongly that no one ought to teach without having a real gift and +fondness for teaching that he thought such difference as training +could make insignificant in comparison with the inborn talent. Perhaps +he generalised too boldly from himself, for he had an enjoyment of his +work, and a conscientiousness in always putting the very best of +himself into it--how much was conscientiousness and how much was +enjoyment, no one could tell--as well as a quickness and vivacity +which no study of methods could have improved. As one of his most +eminent colleagues,[54] who was also his life-long friend, observes: +"The humdrum and routine which must form so large a part of a +teacher's life were never humdrum or routine to him, for he put the +whole of his abounding energies into his work, and round its driest +details there played and flickered, as with a lambent flame, his +joyous spirit, finding expression now perhaps in a striking parallel, +now in a startling paradox, now in a touch of humour, and once again +in a note of pathos." + +The personal influence he exerted on the boys who lived in his House +was quite as remarkable as his "form-teaching." Stoicism and honour +were the qualities it was mainly directed to form. Every boy was +expected to show manliness and endurance, and to utter no complaint. +Where physical health was concerned he was indulgent; his House was +the first which gave the boys meat at breakfast in addition to tea +with bread and butter. But otherwise the discipline was Spartan, +though not more Spartan than that he prescribed to himself, and the +House was trained to scorn the slightest approach to luxury. +Arm-chairs were forbidden except to sixth-form boys. A pupil relates +that when Bowen found he was in the habit of taking two hot baths a +week the transgression was reproved with the words: "Oh boy, that's +like the later Romans, boy." His maxims were: "Take sweet and bitter +as sweet and bitter come" and "Always play the game." He never +preached to the boys or lectured them; and if he had to convey a +reproof, conveyed it in a single sentence. But he dwelt upon honour as +the foundation of character, and made every boy feel that he was +expected to reach the highest standard of truthfulness, courage, and +duty to the little community of the House, or the cricket eleven, or +the football team. + +Some have begun to think that in English schools and universities too +much time is given to athletic sports, and that they absorb too +largely the thoughts and interests of the English youth. Bowen, +however, attached the utmost value to games as a training in +character. He used to descant upon the qualities of discipline, +good-fellowship, good-humour, mutual help, and postponement of self +which they are calculated to foster. Though some of his friends +thought that his own intense and unabated fondness for these +games--for he played cricket and football up to the end of his +life--might have biassed his judgment, they could not deny that the +games ought to develop the qualities aforesaid. + +"Consider the habit of being in public, the forbearance, the +subordination of the one to the many, the exercise of judgment, the +sense of personal dignity. Think again of the organising faculty that +our games develop. Where can you get command and obedience, choice +with responsibility, criticism with discipline, in any degree remotely +approaching that in which our social games supply them? Think of the +partly moral, partly physical side of it, temper, of course, dignity, +courtesy.... When the match has really begun, there is education, +there is enlargement of horizon, self sinks, the common good is the +only good, the bodily faculties exhilarate in functional development, +and the make-believe ambition is glorified into a sort of ideality. +Here is boyhood at its best, or very nearly at its best. _Sursum +crura!..._ When you have a lot of human beings, in highest social +union and perfect organic action, developing the law of their race and +falling in unconsciously with its best inherited traditions of +brotherhood and common action, you are not far from getting a glimpse +of one side of the highest good. There lives more soul in honest play, +believe me, than in half the hymn-books." + +These words, taken from a half-serious essay on Games written for a +private society, give some part of Bowen's views. The whole essay is +well worth reading.[55] Its arguments do not, however, quite settle +the matter. The playing of games may have, and indeed ought to have, +the excellent results Bowen claimed for it, and yet it may be doubted +whether the experience of life shows that boys so brought up do in +fact turn out substantially more good-humoured, unselfish, and fit for +the commerce of the world than others who have lacked this training. +And the further question remains whether the games are worth their +costly candle. That they occupy a good deal of time at school and at +college is not necessarily an evil, seeing that the time left for +lessons or study is sufficient if well spent. The real drawback +incident to the excessive devotion games inspire in our days is that +they leave little room in the boy's or collegian's mind either for +interest in his studies or for the love of nature. They fill his +thoughts, they divert his ambition into channels of no permanent value +to his mind or life; they continue to absorb his interest and form a +large part of his reading long after he has left school or college. +Nevertheless, be these things as they may, the opinion of a man so +able and so experienced as Bowen was, deserves to be recorded; and his +success in endearing himself to and guiding his boys was doubtless +partly due to the use he made of their liking for games. + +He was never married, so the school became the sole devotion of his +life, and he bequeathed to it the bulk of his property, directing an +area of land which he had purchased on the top of the Hill to be +always kept as an open space for the benefit of boys and masters. + +It need hardly be said that he loved boys as he loved teaching. He +took them with him in the holidays on walking tours. He kept up +correspondence with many of his pupils after they left Harrow, and +advised them as occasion rose. To many of them he remained through +life the model whom they desired to imitate. But he was very chary of +the exercise of influence. "A boy's character," he once wrote, "grows +like the Temple of old, without sound of mallet and trowel. What we +can do is to arrange matters so as to give Virtue her best chance. We +can make the right choice sometimes a little easier, we can prevent +tendencies from blossoming into acts, and render pitfalls visible. How +much indirectly and unconsciously we can do, none but the recording +angel knows. 'You can and you should,' said Chiffers,[56] 'go straight +to the heart of every individual boy.' Well, a fellow-creature's mind +is a sacred thing. You may enter into that arcanum once a year, +shoeless. And in the effort to control the spirit of a pupil, to make +one's own approval his test and mould him by the stress of our own +presence, in the ambition to do this, the craving for moral power and +visible guiding, the subtle pride of effective agency, lie some of the +chief temptations of a schoolmaster's work." + +Such ways and methods as I have endeavoured to describe are less easy +to imitate than those which belong to the Arnoldine type of +schoolmaster. In Bowen's gaiety, in his vivacity, in the humour which +interpenetrated everything he said or did, there was something +individual. Teachers who do not possess a like vivacity, versatility, +and humour cannot hope to apply with like success the method of +familiarity and sympathy. Not indeed that Bowen stood altogether alone +in his use of that method. There were others among his contemporaries +who shared his view, and whose practice was not dissimilar. He was, +however, the earliest and most brilliant exponent of the view, so his +career may be said to open a new line, and to mark a new departure in +the teacher's art. + +I have mentioned his walking tours. He was a pedestrian of extraordinary +force, rather tall, but spare and light, swift of foot, and tireless +in his activity. As an undergraduate he had walked from Cambridge to +Oxford, nearly ninety miles, in twenty-four hours, scarcely halting. At +one time or another he had traversed on foot all the coast-line and +great part of the inland regions of England. He was an accomplished +Alpine climber. His passion for exercise of body as well as of mind +was so salient a feature in his character that his friends wondered +how he would be able to support old age. He was spared the trial, +for he was gay and joyous as ever on the last morning of his life, and +he died in a moment, while mounting his bicycle after a long ascent, +among the lonely forests of Burgundy, then bursting into leaf under +an April sun. + +His interest in politics provided him with a short and strenuous +interlude of public action, which varied the even tenor of his life at +Harrow. At the general election of 1880 he stood as a candidate for +the little borough of Hertford (which has since been merged in the +county) against Mr. Arthur Balfour, now (1902) First Lord of the +Treasury in England. The pro-Turkish policy of Lord Beaconsfield, +followed by the Afghan War of 1878, had roused many Liberals who +usually took little part in political action. Bowen felt the impulse +to denounce the conduct of the Ministry, and went into the contest +with his usual airy suddenness. He had little prospect of success at +such a place, for, like many of the so-called Academic Liberals of +those days, he made the mistake of standing for a small semi-rural +constituency, overshadowed by a neighbouring magnate, instead of for a +large town, where both his opinions and his oratory would have been +better appreciated. However, he enjoyed the contest thoroughly, +amusing himself as well as the electors by his lively and sometimes +impassioned speeches, and he looked back to it as a pleasant episode +in his usually smooth and placid life. He was all his life a strong +Liberal _vieille roche_, a lover of freedom and equality as well as of +economy in public finance, a Free Trader, an individualist, an enemy +of all wars and all aggressions, and in later years growingly +indignant at the rapid increase of military and naval expenditure. He +was also, like the Liberals of 1850-60 in general, a sympathiser with +oppressed nationalities, though this feeling did not carry him the +length of accepting the policy of Home Rule for Ireland, as to which +he had grave doubts, yet doubts not quite so serious as to involve +his separation from the Liberal party. Twice after 1880 he was on the +point of becoming a candidate for a seat in the House of Commons, but +whether his love for Harrow would have suffered him to remain in +Parliament had he entered it may be doubted. One could not even tell +whether he was really disappointed that his political aspirations +remained unfulfilled. Had he given himself to parliamentary life, his +readiness, ingenuity, and wit would have soon made him valued by his +own side, while his sincerity and engaging manners would have +commended him to both sides alike. His delivery was always too rapid, +and his voice not powerful, yet these defects would have been +forgotten in the interest which so peculiar a figure must have +aroused. + +His peace principles contrasted oddly with his passion for military +history, a passion which prompted many vacation journeys to +battlefields all over Europe, from Salamanca to Austerlitz. He had +followed the campaigns of Napoleon through Piedmont and Lombardy, +through Germany and Austria, as well as those of Wellington in Spain +and Southern France.[57] This taste is not uncommon in men of peace. +Freeman had it; J. R. Green and S. R. Gardiner had it; and the +historical works of Sir George Trevelyan and Dr. Thomas Hodgkin prove +that it lives in those genial breasts also. It was a pleasure to be +led over a battlefield by Bowen, for he had a good eye for ground, he +knew the movements of the armies down to the smallest detail, and he +could explain with perfect lucidity the positions of the combatants +and the tactical moves in the game. + +Twice only did he come across actual fighting, once at Düppel in 1864, +during the Schleswig-Holstein war, and again in Paris during the siege +of the Communards by the forces that obeyed Thiers and the Assembly +sitting at Versailles. He maintained that the Commune had been +unfairly judged by Englishmen, and wrote a singularly interesting +description of what he saw while risking his life in the beleaguered +city. There was in him a great spirit of adventure, though the +circumstances of his life gave it little scope. + +Travel was one of his chief pleasures, but it was, if possible, a +still greater pleasure to his fellow-travellers, for he was the most +agreeable of companions, fertile in suggestion, candid in discussion, +swift in decision. He cared nothing for luxury and very little for +comfort; he was absolutely unselfish and imperturbably good-humoured; +he could get enjoyment out of the smallest incidents of travel, and +his curiosity to see the surface of the earth as well as the cities of +men was inexhaustible. He loved the unexpected, and if one had written +proposing an expedition to explore Tibet, he would have telegraphed +back, "Start to-night: do we meet Charing Cross or Victoria?" + +I have dwelt on Bowen's gifts and methods as a teacher, because +teaching was the joy and the business of his life, and because he +showed a new way in which boys might be stimulated and guided. But he +was a great deal besides a teacher, just as his brother Charles was a +great deal besides a lawyer. Both had talents for literature of a very +high order. Charles published a verse translation of Virgil's +_Eclogues_ and the first six books of the _Æneid_, full of ingenuity +and refinement, as well as of fine poetic taste. Edward's vein +expressed itself in the writing of songs. His school songs, composed +for the Harrow boys, became immensely popular with them, and their use +at school celebrations of various kinds has passed from Harrow to the +other great schools of England, even to some of the larger girls' +schools. The songs are unique in their fanciful ingenuity and humorous +extravagance, full of a boyish joy in life, in the exertion of +physical strength, in the mimic strife of games, yet with an +occasional touch of sadness, like the shadow of a passing cloud as it +falls on the cricket field over which the shouts of the players are +ringing. The metres are various: all show rhythmical skill, and in all +the verse has a swing which makes it singularly effective when sung +by a mass of voices. Most of the songs are dedicated to cricket or +football, but a few are serious, and two or three of these have a +beauty of thought and perfection of form which make the reader ask why +a poetic gift so true and so delicate should have been rarely used. +These songs were the work of his middle or later years, and he never +wrote except when the impulse came upon him. The stream ran pure but +it ran seldom. In early days he had been for a while, like many other +brilliant young University men of his time, a contributor to the +_Saturday Review_. (There surely never was a journal which enlisted so +much and such varied literary talent as the _Saturday_ did between +1855 and 1863.) Bowen's articles were, like his elder brother's, +extremely witty. In later life he could seldom be induced to write, +having fallen out of the habit, and being, indeed, too busy to carry +on any large piece of work; but the occasional papers on educational +subjects he produced showed no decline in his vivacity or in the +abundance of his humour. Those who knew the range and the resources of +his mind sometimes regretted that he would do nothing to let the world +know them. But he was, to a degree most unusual among men of real +power, absolutely indifferent, not only to fame, but to opportunities +for exercising power or influence. + +The stoicism which he sought to form in his pupils was inculcated by +his own example. It was a genial and cheerful stoicism, which checked +neither his affection for them nor his brightness in society, and +which permitted him to draw as much enjoyment from small things as +most people can from great ones. But if he had the gaiety of an +Irishman, he had a double portion of English reserve. He never gave +expression in words to his emotions. He never seemed either elated or +depressed. He never lost his temper and never seemed to be curbing it. +His tastes and way of life were simple to the verge of austerity; nor +did he appear to desire anything more than what he had obtained. + +It is natural--possibly foolish, yet almost inevitable--that those +who perceive in a friend the presence of rare and brilliant gifts +should desire that his gifts should not only be turned to full +account for the world's benefit, but should become so known and +appreciated as to make others admire and value what they admire and +value. When such a man prefers to live his life in his own way, and do +the plain duties that lie near him, with no thought of anything +further, they feel, though they may try to repress, a kind of +disappointment, as though greatness or virtue had missed its mark +because known to few besides themselves. Yet there is a sense in +which that friend is most our own who has least belonged to the +world, who has least cared for what the world has to offer, who has +chosen the simplest and purest pleasures, who has rendered the +service that his way of life required with no longing for any wider +theatre or any applause to be there won. Is there indeed anything +more beautiful than a life of quiet self-sufficing yet beneficent +serenity, such as the ancient philosophers inculcated, a life which +is now more rarely than ever led by men of shining gifts, because the +inducements to bring such gifts into the dusty thoroughfares of the +world have grown more numerous? Bowen had the best equipment for a +philosopher. He knew the things that gave him pleasure, and sought no +others. He knew what he could do well. He followed his own bent. +His desires were few, and he could gratify them all. He had made life +exactly what he wished it to be. Intensely as he enjoyed travel, he +never uttered a note of regret when the beginning of a Harrow school +term stopped a journey at its most interesting point, so dearly did +he love his boys. What more can we desire for our friends than +this--that in remembering them there should be nothing to regret, +that all who came under their influence should feel themselves for +ever thereafter the better for that influence, that a happy and +peaceful life should be crowned by a sudden and painless death? + +----- + + [53] Since this sketch was written a very interesting _Life of Edward + Bowen_ by his nephew (the Hon. and Rev. W. E. Bowen) has + appeared. Some of his (too few) essays and a collection of his + school-songs are appended to it. + + [54] Mr. R. Bosworth Smith. + + [55] It is printed in the _Life_. + + [56] "Chiffers" is the typical would-be imitator of Arnold. + + [57] He remarked once that he had so nearly exhausted the battlefields + of the past that he must begin to devote himself to the + battlefields of the future. + + + + +EDWIN LAWRENCE GODKIN + + +As with the progress of science new arts emerge and new occupations +and trades are created, so with the progress of society professions +previously unknown arise, evolve new types of intellectual excellence, +and supply a new theatre for the display of peculiar and exceptional +gifts. Such a profession, such a type, and the type which is perhaps +most specially characteristic of our times, is that of the Editor. It +scarcely existed before the French Revolution, and is, as now fully +developed, a product of the last eighty years. Various are its forms. +There is the Business Editor, who runs his newspaper as a great +commercial undertaking, and may neither care for politics nor attach +himself to any political party. America still recollects the familiar +example set by James Gordon Bennett, the founder of the _New York +Herald_. There is the Selective Editor, who may never pen a line, but +shows his skill in gathering an able staff round him, and in allotting +to each of them the work he can do best. Such an one was John Douglas +Cook, a man of slender cultivation and few intellectual interests, +but still remembered in England by those who forty years ago knew the +staff of the _Saturday Review_, then in its brilliant prime, as +possessed of an extraordinary instinct for the topics which caught the +public taste, and for the persons capable of handling those topics. +John T. Delane, of the _Times_, had the same gift, with talents and +knowledge far surpassing Cook's. A third and usually more interesting +form is found in the Editor who is himself an able writer, and who +imparts his own individuality to the journal he directs. Such an one +was Horace Greeley, who, in the days before the War of Secession, made +the _New York Tribune_ a power in America. Such another, of finer +natural quality, was Michael Katkoff, who in his short career did much +to create and to develop the spirit of nationality and imperialism in +Russia thirty years ago. + +It was to this third form of the editorial profession that Mr. Godkin +belonged. He is the most remarkable example of it that has appeared in +our time--perhaps, indeed, in any time since the profession rose to +importance; and all the more remarkable because he was never, like +Greeley or Katkoff, the exponent of any widespread sentiment or potent +movement, but was frequently in opposition to the feeling for the +moment dominant. + +Edwin Lawrence Godkin, the son of a Protestant clergyman and author, +was born in the county of Wicklow, in Ireland, in 1831. He was +educated at Queen's College, Belfast, read for a short time for the +English bar, but drifted into journalism by accepting the post of +correspondent to the London _Daily News_ during the Crimean War in +1853-54. The horror of war which he retained through his life was due +to the glimpse of it he had in the Crimea. Soon afterwards he went to +America, was admitted to the bar in New York, but never practised, +spent some months in travelling through the Southern States on +horseback, learning thereby what slavery was, and what its economic +and social consequences, was for two or three years a writer on the +_New York Times_, and ultimately, in 1865, established in New York a +weekly journal called the _Nation_. This he continued to edit, writing +most of it himself, till 1881, when he accepted the editorship of the +_New York Evening Post_, an old and respectable paper, but with no +very large circulation. The _Nation_ continued to appear, but became +practically a weekly edition of the _Evening Post_, or rather, as some +one said, the _Evening Post_ became a daily edition of the _Nation_, +for the tone and spirit that had characterised the _Nation_ now +pervaded the _Post_. In 1900 failing health compelled him to retire +from active work, and in May 1902 he died in England. Journalism left +him little leisure for any other kind of literary production; but he +wrote in early life a short history of Hungary; and a number of +articles which he had in later years contributed to the _Nation_ or to +magazines were collected and published in three volumes between 1895 +and 1900. They are clear and wise articles, specially instructive +where they deal with the most recent aspects of democracy. But as they +convey a less than adequate impression of the peculiar qualities which +established his fame, I pass on to the work by which he will be +remembered, his work as a weekly and daily public writer. + +He was well equipped for this career by considerable experience of the +world, by large reading, for though not a learned man, he had +assimilated a great deal of knowledge on economical and historical +subjects, and by a stock of positive principles which he saw clearly +and held coherently. In philosophy and economics he was a Utilitarian +of the school of J. S. Mill, and in politics what used to be called a +philosophical Radical, a Radical of the less extreme type, free from +sentiment and from prejudices, but equally free from any desire to +destroy for the sake of destroying. Like the other Utilitarians of +those days, he was a moderate optimist, expecting the world to grow +better steadily, though not swiftly; and he went to America in the +belief that he should there find more progress secured, and more of +further progress in prospect, than any European country could show. It +was the land of promise, in which all the forces making for good on +which the school of Mill relied were to be found at work, hampered +only by the presence of slavery. I note this fact, because it shows +that the pessimism of Mr. Godkin's later years was not due to a +naturally querulous or despondent temperament. + +So too was his mind admirably fitted for the career he had chosen. +It was logical, penetrating, systematic, yet it was also quick and +nimble. His views were definite, not to say dogmatic, and as they were +confidently held, so too they were confidently expressed. He never +struck a doubtful note. He never slurred over a difficulty, nor +sought, when he knew himself ignorant, to cover up his ignorance. +Imagination was kept well in hand, for his constant aim was to get +at and deal with the vital facts of every case. If he was not +original in the way of thinking out doctrines distinctively his own, +nor in respect of any exuberance of ideas bubbling up in the +course of discussion, there was fertility as well as freshness in +his application of principles to current questions, and in the +illustrations by which he enforced his arguments. + +As his thinking was exact, so his style was clear-cut and trenchant. +Even when he was writing most swiftly, it never sank below a high +level of form and finish. Every word had its use and every sentence +told. There was no doubt about his meaning, and just as little about +the strength of his convictions. He had a gift for terse vivacious +paragraphs commenting on some event of the day or summing up the +effect of a speech or a debate. The touch was equally light and firm. +But if the manner was brisk, the matter was solid: you admired the +keenness of the insight and the weight of the judgment just as much as +the brightness of the style. Much of the brightness lay in the humour. +That is a plant which blossoms so much more profusely on Transatlantic +soil that English readers of the _Nation_ had usually a start of +surprise when told that this most humorous of American journalists was +not an American at all but a European, and indeed a European who never +became thoroughly Americanised. It was humour of a pungent and +sarcastic quality, usually directed to the detection of tricks or the +exposure of shams, but it was eminently mirth-provoking and never +malicious. Frequently it was ironical, and the irony sometimes so fine +as to be mistaken for seriousness. + +The _Nation_ was from its very first numbers so full of force, +keenness, and knowledge, and so unusually well written, that it made +its way rapidly among the educated classes of the Eastern States. It +soon became a power, but a power of a new kind. Mr. Godkin wanted +most of the talents or interests of the ordinary journalist. He +gave no thought to the organisation of the paper as a business +undertaking. He scarcely heeded circulation, either when his +livelihood depended upon the _Nation_ of which he was the chief +owner, or when he was associated with others in the ownership of +the _Evening Post_. He refused to allow any news he disapproved, +including all scandal and all society gossip, to appear. He was +prepared at any moment to incur unpopularity from his subscribers, or +even to offend one half of his advertisers. He took no pains to get +news before other journals, and cared nothing for those "beats" and +"scoops" in which the soul of the normal newspaper man finds a +legitimate source of pride. He was not there, he would have said, +to please either advertisers or subscribers, but to tell the American +people the truths they needed to hear, and if those truths were +distasteful, so much the more needful was it to proclaim them. He +was absolutely independent not only of all personal but of all party +ties. A public man was never either praised or suffered to escape +censure because he was a private acquaintance. He once told me that +the being obliged to censure those with whom he stood in personal +relations was the least agreeable feature of his profession. +Whether an act was done by the Republicans or by the Democrats +made no difference to his judgment, or to the severity with which his +judgment was expressed. His distrust of Mr. James G. Blaine had led +him to support Mr. Cleveland at the election of 1884, and he +continued to give a general approval to the latter statesman during +both his presidential terms. But when Mr. Cleveland's Venezuelan +message with its menaces to England appeared in December 1895, Mr. +Godkin vehemently denounced it, as indeed he had frequently before +blamed particular acts of the Cleveland administrations. He +sometimes voted for the Republicans, sometimes for the Democrats, +according to the merits of the transitory issue or the particular +candidate, but after 1884 no one could have called him either a +Republican or a Democrat. + +Independence of party is less rare among American than among European +newspapers; but courage such as Godkin's is rare everywhere. The +editor of a century ago had in most countries to fear press +censorship, or the law of political libel, or the frowns of the great. +The modern editor, delivered from these risks, is exposed to the more +insidious temptations of financial influence, of social pressure, of +the fear of injuring the business interests of the paper, which are +now sometimes enormous. Godkin's conscientiousness and pride made him +equally indifferent to influence and to threats. As some one said, +you might as well have tried to frighten the east wind. Clear, prompt, +and self-confident, judging everything by a high standard of honour +and public spirit, he distributed censure with no regard either to the +official position or to the party affiliations of politicians. The +"Weekly Day of Judgment" was the title bestowed upon the _Nation_ by +Charles Dudley Warner, who himself admired it. As Godkin expected--or +at least demanded--righteousness from every one, he was more a terror +to evildoers than a praise to them that do well, and the fact that, +having no private ends to serve, he thought only of truth and the +public interest, made him all the more stringent. Because he was, and +found it easy to be, fearless and independent, he scarcely allowed +enough for the timidity of others, and sometimes chastised the weak as +sternly as the wicked. An editor who smites all the self-seekers and +all the time-servers whom he thinks worth smiting, is sure to become a +target for many arrows. But as Godkin was an equally caustic critic of +the sentimental vagaries or economic heresies of well-meaning men or +sections of opinion, he incurred hostility from quarters where the +desire for honest administration and the purity of public life was +hardly less strong than in the pages of the _Nation_ itself. Though he +took no personal part in politics, never appeared on platforms nor in +any way put himself forward, his paper was so markedly himself that +people talked of it as him. It was not "the _Nation_ says" or "the +_Post_ says," but "Godkin says." Even his foreign birth was charged +against him--a rare charge in a country so tolerant and catholic as +the United States, where every office except that of President is open +to newcomers as freely as to the native born. + +He was called "un-American," and I have heard men who admired and read +the _Nation_ nevertheless complain that they did not want "to be +taught by a European how to run this Republic." True it is that he did +not see things or write about them quite as an American would have +done. But was this altogether a misfortune? The Italian cities of the +Middle Ages used to call in a man of character and mark from some +other place and make him Podestá just because he stood outside the +family ties and the factions of the city. Godkin's foreign education +gave him detachment and perspective. It never reduced his ardour to +see administration and public life in America made worthy of the +greatness of the American people. + +No journal could have maintained its circulation and extended its +influence in the face of so much hostility except by commanding +merits. The merits of the _Nation_ were incontestable. It was the best +weekly not only in America but in the world. The editorials were +models of style. The book reviews, many of them in earlier days also +written by Godkin himself, were finished in point of form, and, when +not his own, came from the ablest specialist hands in the country. The +"current notes" of progress in such subjects as geography, natural +history, and archæology were instructive and accurate. So it was that +people had to read the _Nation_ whether they liked it or not. It could +not be ignored. It was a necessity even where it was a terror. + +Yet neither the force of his reasoning nor the brilliance of his +style would have secured Godkin's influence but for two other +elements of strength he possessed. One was the universal belief in his +disinterestedness and sincerity. He was often charged with prejudice +or bitterness, but never with any sinister motive; enemies no less +than friends respected him. The other was his humour. An austere +moralist who is brimful of fun is rare in any country. Relishing +humour more than does any other people, the Americans could not be +seriously angry with a man who gave them so abundant a feast. + +To trace the course he took in the politics of the United States since +1860 would almost be to outline the history of forty years, for +there was no great issue in the discussion of which he did not bear a +part. He was a strong supporter of the Northern cause during the +War of Secession, and by his letters to the London _Daily News_ did +something to enlighten English readers. When the problems of +reconstruction emerged after the war, he suggested lines of action +more moderate than those followed by the Republican leaders, and +during many subsequent years denounced the "carpet-baggers," and +advocated the policy of restoring self-government to the Southern +States and withdrawing Federal troops. Incensed at the corruption of +some of the men who surrounded President Grant during his first +term, he opposed Grant's re-election, as did nearly all the +reformers of those days. By this time he had begun to attack the +"spoils system," and to demand a reform of the civil service, and he +had also become engaged in that campaign against the Tammany +organisation in New York City which he maintained with unabated energy +till the end of his editorial career.[58] In 1884 he led the +opposition to the candidacy of Mr. Blaine for President, and it +was mainly the persistency with which the _Evening Post_ set forth +the accusations brought against that statesman that secured his defeat +in New York State, and therewith his defeat in the election. It +was on this occasion that the nickname of Mugwump[59] was first +applied to Mr. Godkin by the ablest of his antagonists in the press, +Mr. Dana of the _New York Sun_, a title before long extended to the +Independents whom the _Post_ led, and who constituted, during the +next ten or twelve years, a section of opinion important, if not +by its numbers, yet by the intellectual and moral weight of the men +who composed it. When currency questions became prominent, Mr. +Godkin was a strong opponent of bimetallism and of "silverism" in +all its forms, and a not less strenuous opponent of all socialistic +theories and movements. It need hardly be added that he had always +been an upholder of the principles of Free Trade. Like a sound +Cobdenite, he was an advocate of peace, and disliked territorial +extension. He opposed President Grant's scheme for the acquisition +of San Domingo, as he afterwards opposed the annexation of Hawaii. +His close study of Irish history, and his old faith in the principle +of nationality, had made him a strenuous advocate of Home Rule for +Ireland. But no one was farther than he from sharing the feelings of +the American Irish towards England. He condemned the threats +addressed in 1895 to Great Britain over the Venezuela question; and +glad as he was to see that question settled by England's acceptance +of an arbitration which she had previously denied the right of the +United States to demand, he held that England must beware of yielding +too readily to pressure from the United States, because such +compliance would encourage that aggressive spirit in the latter whose +consequences for both countries he feared. Never, perhaps, did he +incur so much obloquy as in defending, almost single-handed, the +British position in the Venezuelan affair. The attacks made all over +the country on the _Evening Post_ were, he used to say, like storms of +hail lashing against his windows. At the very end of his career, +he resisted the war with Spain and the annexation of the Philippine +Islands, deeming the acquisition of trans-Oceanic territories, +inhabited by inferior races, a dangerous new departure, opposed to +the traditions of the Fathers of the Republic, and inconsistent with +the principles on which the Republic was founded. No public writer +has left a more consistent record. + +In private life Mr. Godkin was a faithful friend and a charming +companion, genial as well as witty, considerate of others, and liked +no less than admired by his staff on the _Evening Post_, free from +cynicism, and more indulgent in his views of human nature than might +have been gathered from his public utterances. He never despaired of +democratic government, yet his spirits had been damped by the faint +fulfilment of those hopes for the progress of free nations, and +especially of the United States, which had illumined his youth. The +slow advance of economic truths, the evils produced by the increase of +wealth, the growth of what he called "chromo-civilisation," the +indifference of the rich and educated to politics, the want of nerve +among politicians, the excitability of the masses, the tenacity with +which corruption and misgovernment held their ground, in spite of +repeated exposures, in cities like New York, Philadelphia, and +Chicago--all these things had so sunk into his soul that it became +hard to induce him to look at the other side, and to appreciate the +splendid recuperative forces which are at work in America. Thus his +friends were driven to that melancholy form of comfort which consists +in pointing out that other countries are no better. They argued that +England in particular, to which he had continued to look as the home +of political morality and enlightened State wisdom, was suffering from +evils, not indeed the same as those which in his judgment afflicted +America, but equally serious. They bade him remember that moral +progress is not continuous, but subject to ebbs of reaction, and that +America is a country of which one should never despair, because in it +evils have often before worked out their cure. He did regretfully own, +after his latest visits to Europe, that England had sadly declined +from the England of his earlier days, and he admitted that the clouds +under which his own path had latterly lain might after a time be +scattered by a burst of sunshine; but his hopes for the near future of +America were not brightened by these reflections. Sometimes he seemed +to feel--though of his own work he never spoke--as though he had +laboured in vain for forty years. + +If he so thought, he did his work far less than justice. It had told +powerfully upon the United States, and that in more than one way. +Though the circulation of the _Nation_ was never large, it was read by +the two classes which in America have most to do with forming +political and economic opinion--I mean editors and University +teachers. (The Universities and Colleges, be it remembered, are far +more numerous, relatively to the population, in America than in +England, and a more important factor in the thought of the country.) +From the editors and the professors Mr. Godkin's views filtered down +into the educated class generally, and affected its opinion. He +instructed and stimulated the men who instructed and stimulated the +rest of the people. To those young men in particular who thought about +public affairs and were preparing themselves to serve their country, +his articles were an inspiration. The great hope for American +democracy to-day lies in the growing zeal and the ripened intelligence +with which the generation now come to manhood has begun to throw +itself into public work. Many influences have contributed to this +result, and Mr. Godkin's has been among the most potent. + +Nor was his example less beneficial to the profession of journalism. +There has always been a profusion of talent in the American press, +talent more alert and versatile than is to be found in the press of +any European country. But in 1865 there were three things which the +United States lacked. Literary criticism did not maintain a high +standard, nor duly distinguish thorough from flashy or superficial +performances. Party spirit was so strong and so pervasive that +journalists were content to denounce or to extol, and seldom subjected +the character of men or measures to a searching and impartial +examination. There was too much sentimentalism in politics, with too +little reference of current questions to underlying principles, too +little effort to get down to what Americans call the "hard pan" of +facts. In all these respects the last forty years have witnessed +prodigious advances; and, so far as the press is concerned--for much +has been due to the Universities and to the growth of a literary +class--Mr. Godkin's writings largely contributed to the progress made. +His finished criticism, his exact method, his incisive handling of +economic problems, his complete detachment from party, helped to form +a new school of journalists, as the example he set of a serious and +lofty conception of an editor's duties helped to add dignity to the +position. He had not that disposition to enthrone the press which made +a great English newspaper once claim for itself that it discharged in +the modern world the functions of the mediæval Church. But he brought +to his work as an anonymous writer a sense of responsibility and a +zeal for the welfare of his country which no minister of State could +have surpassed. + +His friends may sometimes have wished that he had more fully +recognised the worth of sentiment as a motive power in politics, that +he had more frequently tried to persuade as well as to convince, that +he had given more credit for partial instalments of honest service and +for a virtue less than perfect, that he had dealt more leniently with +the faults of the good and the follies of the wise. Defects in these +respects were the almost inevitable defects of his admirable +qualities, of his passion for truth, his hatred of wrong and +injustice, his clear vision, his indomitable spirit. + +The lesson of his editorial career is a lesson not for America only. +Among the dangers that beset democratic communities, none are greater +than the efforts of wealth to control, not only electors and +legislators, but also the organs of public opinion, and the +disposition of statesmen and journalists to defer to and flatter the +majority, adopting the sentiment dominant at the moment, and telling +the people that its voice is the voice of God. Mr. Godkin was not +only inaccessible to the lures of wealth--the same may happily be +still said of many of his craft-brethren--he was just as little +accessible to the fear of popular displeasure. Nothing more incensed +him than to see a statesman or an editor with his "ear to the ground" +(to use an American phrase), seeking to catch the sound of the coming +crowd. To him, the less popular a view was, so much the more did it +need to be well weighed and, if approved, to be strenuously and +incessantly preached. Democracies will always have demagogues ready to +feed their vanity and stir their passions and exaggerate the feeling +of the moment. What they need is men who will swim against the stream, +will tell them their faults, will urge an argument all the more +forcibly because it is unwelcome. Such an one was Edwin Godkin. Since +the death of Abraham Lincoln, America has been generally more +influenced by her writers, preachers, and thinkers than by her +statesmen. In the list of those who have during the last forty years +influenced her for good and helped by their pens to make her history, +a list illustrated by such names as those of R. W. Emerson and +Phillips Brooks and James Russell Lowell, his name will find its place +and receive its well-earned meed of honour. + +----- + + [58] The Tammany leaders had him repeatedly arrested, usually on + Sunday mornings (that being the day on which it was least easy + to find bail) for alleged criminal libels upon them. These + prosecutions, threatened in the hope of intimidating him, never + went further. + + [59] A Mugwump is in the Algonquin tongue an aged chief or wise man, + and the name was meant to ridicule the _ex cathedra_ manner + ascribed to the _Evening Post_. + + + + +LORD ACTON + + +When Lord Acton died on 19th June 1902, at Tegern See in Bavaria, +England lost the most truly cosmopolitan of her children, and Europe +lost one who was, by universal consent, in the foremost rank of her +men of learning. He belonged to an old Roman Catholic family of +Shropshire, a branch of which had gone to Southern Italy, where his +grandfather, General Acton, had been chief minister of the King of +Naples in the great war, at the time when the Bourbon dynasty +maintained itself in Sicily by the help of the British fleet, while +all Italy lay under the heel of Napoleon. His father, Sir Ferdinand +Acton, married a German lady, heiress of the ancient and famous house +of Dalberg, one of the great families of the middle Rhineland; so John +Edward Emerich Dalberg-Acton was born half a German, and connected by +blood with the highest aristocracy of Germany. He was educated at +Oscott, one of the two chief Roman Catholic colleges of England, under +Dr. Wiseman, afterwards Archbishop of Westminster and Cardinal; but +the most powerful influence on the development of his mind and +principles came from that glory of Catholic learning, a beautiful soul +as well as a capacious intellect, Dr. von Döllinger, with whom Acton +studied during some years at Munich. He sat for a short time in the +House of Commons as member for Carlow (1859); and was afterwards +elected for Bridgnorth (1865), but lost his seat (which he had gained +by one vote only) on a scrutiny. In those days it was not easy for a +Roman Catholic to find an English constituency, so in 1869 Mr. +Gladstone procured his elevation to the peerage. He made a successful +speech in the House of Lords in 1893, but took no prominent part in +parliamentary life in either House, feeling himself too much of a +student, and looking at current questions from a point of view unlike +that of English politicians. Neither as a philosopher, nor as a +historian, nor as a product of German training, could he find either +Lords or Commons a congenial audience. When he was asked soon after he +entered Parliament why he did not speak, he answered that he agreed +with nobody and nobody agreed with him. But since he regarded politics +as history in the course of making under his eyes, he continued to be +all his life keenly interested in public affairs, watching and judging +every move in the game. Mr. Gladstone, whose trusted friend he had +been for many years, was believed to have on one occasion wished to +place him in an important office; but political exigencies made this +impossible, and the only public post he ever held was that of +Lord-in-Waiting in the Ministry of 1892. In this capacity he was +brought into frequent contact with Queen Victoria, who felt the +warmest respect and admiration for him. He was one of the very few +persons surrounding her who was familiar with most of the courts of +Continental Europe, and could discuss with her from direct knowledge +the men who figured in those courts. At Windsor he spent in the +library of the Castle all the time during which he was not required to +be in actual attendance on the Queen, a singular phenomenon among +Lords-in-Waiting. + +Unlike most English Roman Catholics, he was a strong Liberal, a +Liberal of that orthodox type, individualist, free-trade, and +peace-loving, which prevailed from 1846 till 1885. He was also a +convinced Home Ruler, and had, indeed, adopted the principle of Home +Rule for Ireland long before Mr. Gladstone himself was converted to +it. His faith in that principle rested on the value he attached to +self-government as a means of training and developing the political +aptitudes of a people, and to the recognition of national sentiment, +which he held to be, like other natural forces, useful when guided but +formidable when repressed. So too his Liberalism was based on the love +of freedom for its own sake, joined to the conviction that freedom is +the best foundation for the stability of a constitution and the +happiness of a people. Reliance on the power of freedom was, he used +to say, one of the broadest of all the lessons he had learned from +history. He applied it in ecclesiastical as well as in political +affairs. At the time of the Vatican Council of 1870 he was, though a +layman, prominent among those who constituted the opposition +maintained by the Liberal section of the Roman Catholic Church to the +affirmation of the dogma of papal infallibility. His full and accurate +knowledge of ecclesiastical history was placed at the disposal of the +prelates, such as Archbishop Dupanloup, Bishop Strossmayer, and +Archbishop Conolly (of Halifax, Nova Scotia), who combated the +Ultramontane party in the animated and protracted debates which +illumined that OEcumenical Council. One, at least, of the treatises, +and many of the letters in the press which the Council called forth +were written either by him or from materials which he supplied, and he +was recognised by the Ultramontanes, and in particular by Archbishop +Manning, as being, along with Döllinger, the most formidable of their +opponents behind the scenes. As every one knows, the Infallibilists +triumphed, and the schism which led to the formation of the Old +Catholic Church in Germany and Switzerland was the result. Döllinger +was excommunicated; but against Lord Acton no action was taken, and he +remained all his life a faithful member of the Roman communion, while +adhering to the views he had advocated in 1870. + +With this close hold upon practical life and this constant interest in +the politics of the world, especially of England and the United +States, no one could be less like that cloistered student who is +commonly taken as the typical man of learning. But Lord Acton was a +miracle of learning. Of the sciences of nature and their practical +applications in the arts he had indeed no more knowledge than any +cultivated man of the world is expected to possess. But of all the +so-called "human subjects" his mastery was unequalled. Learning was +the business of his life. He was gifted with a singularly tenacious +memory. His industry was untiring. Wherever he was--in London, at +Cannes in winter, at Tegern See in summer, at Windsor or Osborne with +the Queen, latterly (till his health failed) at Cambridge during the +University terms--he never worked less than eight hours a day. Yet, +even after making every allowance for his memory and his industry, his +friends stood amazed at the range and exactness of his knowledge. It +was as various as it was profound, and much of it bore on recondite +matters which few men study to-day. Though less minute where it +touched the ancient and the early mediæval world than as respected +more recent times, it might be said to cover the whole field of +history, both civil and ecclesiastical, and became wonderfully full +and exact when it reached the Renaissance and Reformation periods. It +included not only the older theology, but modern Biblical criticism. +It included metaphysics; and not only metaphysics in the more special +sense, but the abstract side of economics and that philosophy of law +on which the Germans set so much store. Most of the prominent figures +who have during the last half-century led the march of inquiry in +these subjects, men like Ranke and Fustel de Coulanges in history, +Wilhelm Roscher in economic science, Adolf Harnack in theology, were +his personal friends, and he could meet them as an equal on their own +ground. On one occasion I had invited to meet him at dinner the late +Dr. (afterwards Bishop) Creighton, who was then writing his _History +of the Popes_, and the late Professor Robertson Smith, the most +eminent Hebrew and Arabic scholar in Britain. The conversation turned +first upon the times of Pope Leo the Tenth, and then upon recent +controversies regarding the dates of the books of the Old Testament, +and it soon appeared that Lord Acton knew as much about the former as +Dr. Creighton, and as much about the latter as Robertson Smith. The +constitutional history of the United States is a topic far removed +from those philosophical and ecclesiastical or theological lines of +inquiry to which most of his time had been given; yet he knew it more +thoroughly than any other living European, at least in England and +France, for of the Germans I will not venture to speak, and he +continued to read most of the books of importance dealing with it +which from time to time were published. So, indeed, he kept abreast of +nearly all the literature of possible utility bearing on history +(especially ecclesiastical history) and political theory that appeared +in Europe or America, reading much which his less diligent or less +eager friends thought scarcely worthy of his perusal. And it need +hardly be said that his friends found him an invaluable guide to the +literature of any subject. In the sphere of history more especially, +one might safely assume that a book which he did not know was not +worth knowing, while he was often able to indicate, as being the right +book to consult, some work of which the person who consulted him, +albeit not unversed in the subject, had never heard. He had at one +time four libraries, the largest at his family seat, Aldenham in +Shropshire, others at Tegern See, at Cannes, and in London; and he +could usually tell in which of these the particular book he named was +to be found. Unlike most men who value their libraries, he was fond of +lending books, and would sometimes put a friend to shame by asking +some weeks afterwards what the latter thought of the volumes he had +almost forced on the borrower, and which the borrower had not found +time to read. After saying this, I need scarcely add that he was not a +book collector in the usual sense of the word. He did not care for +rare editions, and still less did he care about bindings. + +His Aldenham library was itself a monument of learning and industry.[60] +In forming it he sought to bring together the books needed for +tracing and elucidating the growth of formative ideas and of +institutions in the sphere of ecclesiastical and civil polity, and to +attain this he made it include not only all the best treatises +handling these large and complex subjects, but a mass of original +records bearing as well on the local histories of the cities and +provinces of such countries as Italy and France as on the general +history of the great European States and of the Church. This +magnificent design he accomplished by his own efforts before he was +forty. What was still more surprising, he had found time to use the +books. Nearly all of them show by notes pencilled or marks placed in +them that he had read some part of them, and knew (so far as was needed +for his purpose) their contents. + +Vast as his stores of knowledge were, they were opened only to his few +intimate friends. It was not merely that he, as Tennyson said of +Edmund Lushington, "bore all that weight of learning lightly, like a +flower." No one could have known in general society that he had any +weight of learning to bear. He seemed to be merely a cultivated and +agreeable man of the world, interested in letters and politics, but +disposed rather to listen than to talk. He was sometimes enigmatic +and "not incapable of casting a pearl of irony in the way of those +who would mistake it for pebbly fact."[61] A great capacity for +cynicism remained a capacity only, because joined to a greater +reverence for virtue. In a large company he seldom put forth the +fulness of his powers; it was in familiar converse with persons whose +tastes resembled his own that the extraordinary finesse and polish +of his mind revealed themselves. His critical taste was not only +delicate, but exacting; his judgments leaned to the side of severity. +No one applied a more stringent moral standard to the conduct of men +in public affairs, whether to-day or in past ages. He insisted upon +this, in his inaugural lecture at Cambridge, as the historian's first +duty. "It is," said he, "the office of historical science to maintain +morality as the sole impartial criterion of men and things." When he +came to estimate the value of literary work he seemed no less hard +to satisfy. His ideal, both as respected thoroughness in substance and +finish in form, was impossibly high, and he noted every failure to +reach it. No one appreciated merit more cordially. No one spoke +with warmer admiration of such distinguished historians and +theologians as the men whom I have just named. But the precision of +his thinking and the fastidiousness of his taste gave more than a +tinge of austerity to his judgment. His opinions were peculiarly +instructive and illuminative to Englishmen, because he was only +half an Englishman in blood, less than half an Englishman in his +training and mental habits. He was as much at home in Paris or Berlin +or Rome as he was in London, speaking the four great languages with +almost equal facility, and knowing the men who in each of these +capitals were best worth knowing. He viewed our insular literature +and politics with the detachment not only of a Roman Catholic +among Protestants, of a pupil of Döllinger and Roscher among Oxford +and Cambridge men, but also of a citizen of the world, whose mastery +of history and philosophy had given him an unusually wide outlook +over mankind at large. + +His interest in the great things, so far from turning him away from +the small things, seemed to quicken his sense of their significance. +It was a noteworthy feature of his view of history that he should have +held that the explanation of most of what has passed in the light is +to be found in what has passed in the dark. He was always hunting for +the key to secret chambers, preferring to believe that the grand +staircase is only for show, and meant to impose upon the multitude, +while the real action goes on in hidden passages behind. No one knew +so much of the gossip of the past; no one was more intensely curious +about the gossip of the present, though in his hands it ceased to be +gossip and became unwritten history. One was sometimes disposed to +wonder whether he did not think too much about the backstairs. But he +had seen a great deal of history in the making. + +The passion for acquiring knowledge which his German education had +fostered ended by becoming a snare to him, because it checked his +productive powers. Not that learning burdened him, or clogged the +soaring pinions of his mind. He was master of all he knew. But +acquisition absorbed so much of his time that little was left for +literary composition. (Döllinger saw the danger, for he observed that +if Acton did not write a great book before he reached the age of +forty, he would never do so.) It made him think that he could not +write on a subject till he had read everything, or nearly everything, +that others had written about it. It developed the habit of making +extracts from the books he read, a habit which took the form of +accumulating small slips of paper on which these extracts were written +in his exquisitely neat and regular hand, the slips being arranged in +cardboard boxes according to their subjects. He had hundreds of these +boxes; and though much of their contents must no doubt be valuable, +the time spent in distilling and bottling the essence of the books +whence they came, might have been better spent in giving to the world +the ideas which they had helped to evoke in his own mind. If one may +take the quotations appended to his inaugural lecture as a sample of +those he had collected, many of them were not exceptionally valuable, +and did little more than show how the same idea, perhaps no recondite +one, might be expressed in different words by different persons. When +one read some article he had written, garnished and even overloaded +with citations, one often felt that his own part was better, both in +substance and in form, than the passages which he had culled from his +predecessors. It becomes daily more than ever true that the secret of +historical composition is to know what to neglect, since in our time +it has become impossible to exhaust the literature of most subjects, +and, as respects the last two centuries, to exhaust even the original +authorities. Yet how shall one know what to neglect without at least a +glance of inspection? Acton was unwilling to neglect anything; and his +ardour for completeness drew him into a policy fit only for one who +could expect to live three lives of mortal men. + +The love of knowledge grew upon him till it became a passion of the +intellect, a thirst like the thirst for water in a parching desert. +What he sought to know was not facts only, but facts in their +relations to principles, facts so disposed and fitly joined together +as to become the causeway over which the road to truth shall pass. For +this purpose events were in his view not more important than the +thoughts of men, because discursive and creative thought was to him +the ruling factor in history. Hence books must be known--books of +philosophic creation, books of philosophic reflection, no less than +those which record what has happened. The danger of this conception is +that everything men have said or written, as well as everything they +have done, becomes a possibly significant fact; and thus the search +for truth becomes endless because the materials are inexhaustible. + +He expressed in striking words, prefixed to a list of books suggested +for a young man's perusal, his view of the aim of a course of +historical reading. It is "to give force and fulness and clearness and +sincerity and independence and elevation and generosity and serenity +to his mind, that he may know the method and law of the process by +which error is conquered and truth is won, discerning knowledge from +probability and prejudice from belief, that he may learn to master +what he rejects as fully as what he adopts, that he may understand the +origin as well as the strength and vitality of systems and the better +motive of men who are wrong ... and to steel him against the charm of +literary beauty and talent."[62] + +Neither his passion for facts nor his appreciation of style and form +made him decline to the right hand or to the left from the true +position of a historian. He set little store upon what is called +literary excellence, and would often reply, when questioned as to the +merits of some book bearing an eminent name, "You need not read it: it +adds nothing to what we knew." He valued facts only so far as they +went to establish a principle or explained the course of events. It +was really not so much in the range of his knowledge as in the +profundity and precision of his thought that his greatness lay. + +His somewhat overstrained conscientiousness, coupled with the +practically unattainable ideal of finish and form which he set before +himself, made him less and less disposed to literary production. No +man of first-rate powers has in our time left so little by which +posterity may judge those powers. In his early life, when for a time +he edited the _Home and Foreign Review_, and when he was connected +with the _Rambler_ and the _North British Review_, he wrote +frequently; and even between 1868 and 1890 he contributed to the press +some few historical essays and a number of anonymous letters. But the +aversion to creative work seemed to grow on him. About 1890 he so far +yielded to the urgency of a few friends as to promise to reissue a +number of his essays in a volume, but, after rewriting and polishing +these essays during several years, he abandoned the scheme altogether. +In 1882 he had already drawn out a plan for a comprehensive history of +Liberty. But this plan also he dropped, because the more he read with +a view to undertaking it the more he wished to read, and the vaster +did the enterprise seem to loom up before him. With him, as with many +men who cherish high literary ideals, the Better proved to be the +enemy of the Good. + +Twenty years ago, late at night, in his library at Cannes, he +expounded to me his view of how such a history of Liberty might be +written, and in what wise it might be made the central thread of all +history. He spoke for six or seven minutes only; but he spoke like a +man inspired, seeming as if, from some mountain summit high in air, he +saw beneath him the far-winding path of human progress from dim +Cimmerian shores of prehistoric shadow into the fuller yet broken and +fitful light of the modern time. The eloquence was splendid, but +greater than the eloquence was the penetrating vision which discerned +through all events and in all ages the play of those moral forces, now +creating, now destroying, always transmuting, which had moulded and +remoulded institutions, and had given to the human spirit its +ceaselessly-changing forms of energy. It was as if the whole landscape +of history had been suddenly lit up by a burst of sunlight. I have +never heard from any other lips any discourse like this, nor from his +did I ever hear the like again. + +His style suffered in his later days from the abundance of the +interspersed citations, and from the overfulness and subtlety of the +thought, which occasionally led to obscurity. But when he handled a +topic in which learning was not required, his style was clear, pointed +and incisive, sometimes epigrammatic. Several years ago he wrote in a +monthly magazine a short article upon a biography of one of his +contemporaries which showed how admirable a master he was of polished +diction and penetrating analysis, and made one wish that he had more +frequently consented to dash off light work in a quick unstudied way. + +To the work of a University professor he came too late to acquire the +art of fluent and forcible oral discourse, nor was the character of +his mind, with its striving after a flawless exactitude of statement, +altogether fitted for the function of presenting broad summaries of +facts to a youthful audience. His predecessor in the Cambridge chair +of history, Sir John Seeley, with less knowledge, less subtlety, and +less originality, had in larger measure the gift of oral exposition +and the power of putting points, whether by speech or by writing, in +a clear and telling way. No one, indeed, since Macaulay has been a +better point-putter than Seeley was. But Acton's lectures (read from +MS.) were models of lucid and stately narrative informed by fulness of +thought; and they were so delivered as to express the feeling which +each event had evoked in his own mind. That sternness of character +which revealed itself in his judgments of men and books never affected +his relations to his pupils. Precious as his time was, he gave it +generously, encouraging them to come to him for help and counsel. They +were awed by the majesty of his learning. Said one of them to me, +"When Lord Acton answers a question put to him, I feel as if I were +looking at a pyramid. I see the point of it clear and sharp, but I see +also the vast subjacent mass of solid knowledge." They perceived, +moreover, that to him History and Philosophy were not two things but +one, and perceived that of History as well as of divine Philosophy it +may be said that she too is "charming, and musical as is Apollo's +lute." Thus the impression produced in the University by the amplitude +of Lord Acton's views, by the range of his learning, by the liberality +of his spirit and his unfailing devotion to truth and to truth alone, +was deep and fruitful. + +When they wished that he had given to the world more of his wisdom, +his friends did not undervalue a life which was in itself a rare and +exquisite product of favouring nature and unwearied diligence. They +only regretted that the influence of his ideas, of his methods, and of +his spirit, had not been more widely diffused in an enduring form. It +was as when a plant unknown elsewhere grows on some remote isle where +ships seldom touch. Few see the beauty of the flower, and here death +came before the seed could be gathered to be scattered in receptive +soil. + +To most men Lord Acton seemed reserved as well as remote, presenting a +smooth and shining surface beneath which it was hard to penetrate. He +avoided publicity and popularity with the tranquil dignity of one for +whom the world of knowledge and speculation was more than sufficient. +But he was a loyal friend, affectionate to his intimates, gracious in +his manners, blameless in all the relations of life. Comparatively few +of his countrymen knew his name, and those who did thought of him +chiefly as the confidant of Mr. Gladstone, and as the most remarkable +instance of a sincere and steadfast Roman Catholic who was a Liberal +alike in politics and in theology. But those who had been admitted to +his friendship recognised him as one of the finest intelligences of +his generation, an unsurpassed, and indeed a scarcely rivalled, master +of every subject which he touched. + +----- + + [60] This library, bought by Mr. Andrew Carnegie, was presented by him + to Mr. John Morley, and by the latter to the University of + Cambridge. + + [61] The phrase is Professor Maitland's. + + [62] I owe this quotation to a letter of Sir M. E. Grant Duff's + published soon after Lord Acton's death. + + + + +WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE + + +Of no man who has lived in our times is it so hard to speak in a +concise and summary fashion as of Mr. Gladstone. For fifty years he +was so closely associated with the public affairs of his country that +the record of his parliamentary life is virtually an outline of +English political history during those years. His activity spread +itself out over many fields. He was the author of several learned and +thoughtful books, and of a multitude of articles upon all sorts of +subjects. He showed himself as eagerly interested in matters of +classical scholarship and Christian doctrine and ecclesiastical +history as in questions of national finance and foreign policy. No +account of him could be complete without reviewing his actions and +estimating the results of his work in all these directions. + +But the difficulty of describing and judging him goes deeper. His was +a singularly complex nature, whose threads it was hard to unravel. +His individuality was extremely strong. All that he said or did +bore its impress. Yet it was an individuality so far from being +self-consistent as sometimes to seem a bundle of opposite qualities +capriciously united in a single person. He might with equal truth +have been called, and he was in fact called, a conservative and a +revolutionary. He was dangerously impulsive, and had frequently to +suffer for his impulsiveness; yet he was also not merely prudent and +cautious, but so astute as to have been accused of craft and +dissimulation. So great was his respect for tradition that he clung +to views regarding the authorship of the Homeric poems and the date +of the books of the Old Testament which nearly all competent +specialists have now rejected. So bold was he in practical matters +that he carried through sweeping changes in the British constitution, +changed the course of English policy in the nearer East, overthrew an +established church in one part of the United Kingdom, and committed +himself in principle to the overthrow of two other established +churches in other parts. He came near to being a Roman Catholic in +his religious opinions, yet was for the last twenty years of his life +the trusted leader of the English Protestant Nonconformists and the +Scottish Presbyterians. No one who knew him intimately doubted his +conscientious sincerity and earnestness, yet four-fifths of the +English upper classes were in his later years wont to regard him as +a self-interested schemer who would sacrifice his country to his +ambition. Though he loved general principles, and often soared out +of the sight of his audience when discussing them, he generally +ended by deciding upon points of detail the question at issue. He +was at different times of his life the defender and the assailant of +the same institutions, yet scarcely seemed inconsistent in doing +opposite things, because his methods and his arguments preserved the +same type and colour throughout. Those who had at the beginning of +his career discerned in him the capacity for such diversities and +contradictions would probably have predicted that they must wreck +it by making his purposes fluctuating and his course erratic. Such +a prediction might have proved true of any one with less firmness of +will and less intensity of temper. It was the persistent heat and +vehemence of his character, the sustained passion which he threw +into the pursuit of the object on which he was for the moment bent, +that fused these dissimilar qualities and made them appear to +contribute to and increase the total force which he exerted. + +The circumstances of Mr. Gladstone's political career help to explain, +or, at any rate, will furnish occasion for the attempt to explain, +this complexity and variety of character. But before I come to his +manhood it is convenient to advert to three conditions whose influence +on him was profound--the first his Scottish blood, the second his +Oxford education, the third his apprenticeship to public life under +Sir Robert Peel. + +Theories of character based on race differences are dangerous, because +they are as hard to test as they are easy to form. Still, we all know +that there are specific qualities and tendencies usually found in the +minds of men of certain stocks, just as there are peculiarities in +their faces or in their speech. Mr. Gladstone was born and brought up +in Liverpool, and always retained a touch of Lancashire accent. But, +as he was fond of saying, every drop of blood in his veins was Scotch. +His father's family belonged to the Scottish Lowlands, and came from +the neighbourhood of Biggar, in the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire, where +the ruined walls of Gledstanes[63]--"the kite's rock"--may still be +seen. His mother was of Highland extraction, by name Robertson, from +Dingwall, in Ross-shire. Thus he was not only a Scot, but a Scot with +a strong infusion of the Celtic element, the element whence the Scotch +derive most of what distinguishes them from the northern English. The +Scot is more excitable, more easily brought to a glow of passion, more +apt to be eagerly absorbed in one thing at a time. He is also more +fond of exerting his intellect on abstractions. It is not merely that +the taste for metaphysical theology is commoner in Scotland than in +England, but that the Scotch have a stronger relish for general +principles. They like to set out by ascertaining and defining such +principles, and then to pursue a series of logical deductions from +them. They are, therefore, bolder reasoners than the English, less +content to remain in the region of concrete facts, more prone to throw +themselves into the construction of a body of speculative doctrine. +The Englishman is apt to plume himself on being right in spite of +logic; the Scotchman likes to think that it is through logic he has +reached his results, and that he can by logic defend them. These are +qualities which Mr. Gladstone drew from his Scottish blood. He had a +keen enjoyment of the processes of dialectic. He loved to get hold of +an abstract principle and to derive all sorts of conclusions from it. +He was wont to begin the discussion of a question by laying down two +or three sweeping propositions covering the subject as a whole, and +would then proceed to draw from these others which he could apply to +the particular matter in hand. His well-stored memory and boundless +ingenuity made the discovery of such general propositions so easy a +task that a method in itself agreeable sometimes appeared to be +carried to excess. He frequently arrived at conclusions which the +judgment of the common-sense auditor did not approve, because, +although they seemed to have been legitimately deduced from the +general principles just enunciated, they were somehow at variance with +the plain teaching of the facts. At such moments one felt that the man +who was fascinating but perplexing Englishmen by his subtlety was not +himself an Englishman in mental quality, but had the love for +abstractions and refinements and dialectical analysis which +characterises the Scotch intellect. He had also a large measure of +that warmth and vehemence, called in the sixteenth century the +_perfervidum ingenium Scotorum_, which belong to the Scottish +temperament, and particularly to the Celtic Scot. He kindled quickly, +and when kindled, he shot forth a strong and brilliant flame. To any +one with less power of self-control such intensity of emotion as he +frequently showed would have been dangerous; nor did this excitability +fail, even with him, to prompt words and acts which a cooler judgment +would have disapproved. But it gave that spontaneity which was one of +the charms of his nature; it produced that impression of profound +earnestness and of resistless force which raised him out of the rank +of ordinary statesmen. The rush of emotion swelling fast and full +seemed to turn the whole stream of intellectual effort into whatever +channel lay at the moment nearest. + +With these Scottish qualities, Mr. Gladstone was brought up at school +and college (Eton and Christ Church) among Englishmen, and received at +Oxford, then lately awakened from a long torpor, a bias and tendency +which never thereafter ceased to affect him. The so-called "Oxford +Movement," which afterwards obtained the name of Tractarianism and +carried Newman and Manning, together with other less famous leaders, +on to Rome, had not yet, in 1831, when Mr. Gladstone obtained his +degree with double first-class honours, taken visible shape, or +become, so to speak, conscious of its own purposes. But its doctrinal +views, its peculiar vein of religious sentiment, its respect for +antiquity and tradition, its proneness to casuistry, its taste for +symbolism, were already in the air as influences working on the more +susceptible of the younger minds. On Mr. Gladstone they told with full +force. He became, and never ceased to be, not merely a High-churchman, +but what may be called an Anglo-Catholic, in his theology, deferential +not only to ecclesiastical tradition, but to the living voice of the +Visible Church, revering the priesthood as the recipients (if duly +ordained) of a special grace and peculiar powers, attaching great +importance to the sacraments, feeling himself nearer to the Church of +Rome, despite what he deemed her corruptions, than to any of the +non-Episcopal Protestant churches. Henceforth his interests in life +were as much ecclesiastical as political. For a time he desired to be +ordained a clergyman. Had this wish, abandoned in deference to his +father's advice, been carried out, he must eventually have become a +leading figure in the Church of England and have sensibly affected her +recent history. The later stages in his career drew him away from the +main current of political opinion within that church. He who had been +the strongest advocate of the principle of the State establishment of +religion came to be the chief actor in the disestablishment of the +Protestant Episcopal Church in Ireland, and a supporter of the policy +of disestablishment in Scotland and in Wales. But the colour which +these Oxford years gave to his mind and thoughts was never effaced. +While they widened the range of his interests and deepened his moral +earnestness, they at the same time confirmed his natural bent toward +over-subtle distinctions and fine-drawn reasonings, and put him out of +sympathy not only with the attitude of the average Englishman, who is +essentially a Protestant--that is to say, averse to sacerdotalism, and +suspicious of any other religious authority than that of the Bible and +the individual conscience--but also with two of the strongest +influences of our time, the influence of the sciences of nature, and +the influence of historical criticism. Mr. Gladstone, though too wise +to rail at science, as many religious men did till within the last +few years, could never quite reconcile himself either to the +conclusions of geology and zoology regarding the history of the +physical world and the creatures which inhabit it, or to modern +methods of critical inquiry as applied to Scripture and to ancient +literature generally. The training which Oxford then gave, stimulating +as it was, and free from the modern error of over-specialisation, was +defective in omitting the experimental sciences, and in laying undue +stress upon the study of language. A proneness to dwell on verbal +distinctions and to trust overmuch to the analysis of terms as a means +of reaching the truth of things is noticeable in many eminent Oxford +writers of that and the next succeeding generation--some of them, like +the illustrious F. D. Maurice, far removed from Cardinal Newman and +Mr. Gladstone in theological opinion. + +When, bringing with him a brilliant University reputation, he +entered the House of Commons at the age of twenty-three, Sir Robert +Peel was leading the Tory party with an authority and ability rarely +surpassed in the annals of parliament. Within two years the young man +was admitted into the short-lived Tory ministry of 1834, and soon +proved himself a promising lieutenant of the experienced chief. +Peel was an eminently wary man, alive to the necessity of watching +the signs of the times, of studying and interpreting the changeful +phases of public opinion. Yet he always kept his own counsel. Even +when he perceived that the policy he had hitherto followed would +need to be modified, Peel continued to use guarded language and did +not publicly commit himself to change till it was plain that the +fitting moment had arrived. He was, moreover, a master of detail, +slow to propound a plan until he had seen how its outlines were to +be filled up by appropriate devices for carrying it out in practice. +These qualities and habits of the minister profoundly affected his +disciple. They became part of the texture of Mr. Gladstone's +political character, and in his case, as in that of Peel, they +sometimes brought censure upon him, as having locked up too long +within his breast views or purposes which he thought it unwise to +disclose till effect could be forthwith given to them. Such +reserve, such a guarded attitude and tenderness for existing +institutions, may have been not altogether natural to Mr. Gladstone's +mind, but due partly to the influence of Peel, partly to the +tendency to hold by tradition and the established order which +reverence for Christian antiquity and faith in the dogmatic teachings +of the Church had planted deep in his soul. The contrast between Mr. +Gladstone's caution and respect for facts on the one hand, and his +reforming fervour on the other, like the contrast which ultimately +appeared between his sacerdotal tendencies and his political +liberalism, contributed to make his character perplexing and to +expose his conduct to the charge of inconsistency. Inconsistent, +in the proper sense of the word, he was not, much less changeable. +He was really, in his fundamental convictions and the main habits of +his mind, one of the most tenacious and persistent of men. But there +were always at work in him two tendencies. One was the speculative +desire to probe everything to the bottom, to try it by the light of +general principles and logic, and when it failed to stand this +test, to reject it. The other was the sense of the complexity of +existing social and political arrangements, and of the risk of +disturbing any one part of them until the time had arrived for +resettling other parts also. Every statesman feels both these sides +to every concrete question of reform. No one has set them forth more +cogently, and in particular no one has more earnestly dwelt on the +necessity for the latter side, than the most profound thinker among +British statesmen, Edmund Burke. When Mr. Gladstone stated either side +with his incomparable force, people forgot that there was another +side which would be no less vividly present to him at some other +moment. He was not only, like all successful parliamentarians, +necessarily something of an opportunist, though perhaps less so than +his master, but was moved by emotion more than most statesmen, and +certainly more than Peel. The relative strength with which the need +for drastic reform or the need for watchful conservatism, as the +case might be, presented itself to his mind depended largely upon the +weight which his emotions cast into one or other scale, and this +emotional element made it difficult to forecast his course. Thus +his action in public life was the result of influences differing +widely in their origin, influences, moreover, which could be duly +appreciated only by those who knew him intimately. + +Whoever has followed his political career has been struck by the sharp +divergence of the views entertained by his fellow-countrymen about one +who had been for so long a period under their observation. That he was +possessed of boundless energy and brilliant eloquence all agreed. But +agreement went no further. One section of the nation accused him of +sophistry, of unwisdom, of a want of patriotism, of a lust for power. +The other section not only repelled these charges, but admired in him +a conscientiousness and a moral enthusiasm such as no political leader +had shown for centuries. When the qualities of his mind and the +aptitudes for politics which he showed have been briefly examined, it +will be fitting to return to these divergent views of his character, +and endeavour to discover which of them contains the larger measure of +truth. Meantime let it suffice to say that among the reasons that led +men to misjudge him, this union in one person of opposite qualities +was the chief. He was rather two men than one. Passionate and +impulsive on the emotional side of his nature, he was cautious and +conservative on the intellectual. Few understood the conjunction; +still fewer saw how much of what was perplexing in his conduct it +explained. + +Mr. Gladstone sat for sixty-three years (1833-1895) in Parliament, was +for twenty-eight years (1866-1894) the leader of his party, and was +four times Prime Minister. He began as a high Tory, remained about +fifteen years in that camp, was then led by the split between Peel and +the Protectionists to take up an intermediate position, and finally +was forced to cast in his lot with the Liberals, for in England, as in +America, third parties seldom endure. No parliamentary career in +English annals is comparable to his for its length and variety; and of +those who saw its close in the House of Commons, there was only one +man, Mr. Villiers (who died in January 1898), who could remember its +beginning. Mr. Gladstone had been opposed in 1833 to men who might +have been his grandfathers; he was opposed in 1894 to men who might +have been his grandchildren. It is no part of my design to describe or +comment on the events of such a life. All that can be done here is to +indicate the more salient characteristics which a study of his career +as a statesman and a parliamentarian sets before us. + +The most remarkable of these characteristics was the openness, +freshness, and eagerness of mind which he preserved down to the end of +his life. Most men form few new opinions after thirty-five, just as +they form few new intimacies. Intellectual curiosity may remain even +after fifty, but its range narrows as a man abandons the hope of +attaining any thorough knowledge of subjects other than those which +make the main business of his life. It is impossible to follow the +progress of all the new ideas that are set afloat in the world, +impossible to be always examining the foundations of one's political +or religious beliefs. Repeated disappointments and disillusionments +make a man expect less from changes the older he grows; while +indolence deters him from entering upon new enterprises. None of these +causes seemed to affect Mr. Gladstone. He was as much excited over a +new book (such as Cardinal Manning's Life) at eighty-four as when at +fourteen he insisted on compelling little Arthur Stanley (afterwards +Dean of Westminster, and then aged nine) forthwith to procure and +study Gray's poems, which he had just perused himself. His reading +covered almost the whole field of literature, except physical and +mathematical science. While frequently declaring that he must confine +his political thinking and leadership to a few subjects, he was so +observant of current events that the course of talk brought up +scarcely any topic in which he did not seem to know what was the +latest thing that had been said or done. Neither the lassitude nor the +prejudices that usually accompany old age prevented him from giving a +fair consideration to any new doctrines. But though his intellect was +restlessly at work, and though his curiosity disposed him to relish +novelties, except in theology, that bottom rock in his mind of caution +and reserve, which has already been referred to, made him refuse to +part with old views even when he was beginning to accept new ones. He +allowed both to "lie on the table" together, and while declaring +himself open to conviction, felt it safer to speak and act on the old +lines till the process of conviction had been completed. It took +fourteen years, from 1846 to 1860, to carry him from the Conservative +into the Liberal camp. It took five stormy years to bring him round to +Irish Home Rule, though his mind was constantly occupied with the +subject from 1880 to 1885, and those who watched him closely saw that +the process had advanced a long way even in 1882. And as regards +ecclesiastical establishments, having written a book in 1838 as a warm +advocate of State churches, it was not till 1867 that he adopted the +policy of disestablishment for Ireland, not till 1890 that he +declared himself ready to apply that policy in Wales and Scotland +also. + +Both these qualities--his disposition to revise his opinions in the +light of new arguments and changing conditions, and the silence he +maintained till the process of revision had been completed--exposed +him to misconstruction. Commonplace men, unwont to give serious +scrutiny to their opinions, ascribed his changes to self-interest, or +at best regarded them as the index of an unstable purpose. Dull men +could not understand why he should have forborne to set forth all that +was passing in his mind, and saw little difference between reticence +and dishonesty. In so far as they shook public confidence, these +characteristics injured him in his statesman's work. Yet the loss was +outweighed by the gain. In a country where opinion is active and +changeful, where the economic conditions that legislation has to deal +with are in a state of perpetual flux, where the balance of power +between the upper, the middle, and the poorer classes has been swiftly +altering during the last seventy years, no statesman can continue to +serve the public if he adheres obstinately to the doctrines with which +he started in life. He must--unless, of course, he stands aloof in +permanent isolation--either subordinate his own views to the general +sentiment of his party, and be driven to advocate courses he secretly +mislikes, or else, holding himself ready to quit his party, if need +be, must be willing to learn from events, and to reconsider his +opinions in the light of emergent tendencies and insistent facts. Mr. +Gladstone's pride as well as his conscience forbade the former +alternative; it was fortunate that the tireless activity of his +intellect made the latter natural to him. He was accustomed to say +that the capital fault of his earlier days had been his failure +adequately to recognise the worth and power of liberty, and the +tendency which things have to work out for good when left to +themselves. The application of this principle gave room for many +developments, and many developments there were. He may have shown less +than was needed of that prescience which is, after integrity and +courage, the highest gift of a statesman, but which can seldom be +expected from an English minister, too engrossed to find time for the +patient reflection from which alone sound forecasts can issue. But he +had the next best quality, that of remaining accessible to new ideas +and learning from the events which passed under his eyes. + +With this openness and flexibility of mind there went a not less +remarkable ingenuity and resourcefulness. Fertile in expedients, he +was still more fertile in reasonings by which to recommend the +expedients. The gift had its dangers, for he was apt to be carried +away by the dexterity of his own dialectic, and to think that a +scheme must be sound in whose support he could muster a formidable +array of arguments. He never seemed at a loss, in public or in +private, for a criticism, or for an answer to the criticisms of +others. If his power of adapting his own mind to the minds of those +whom he had to convince had been equal to the skill and swiftness with +which he accumulated a mass of matter persuasive to those who looked +at things in his own way, no one would have exercised so complete a +control over the political opinion of his time. But his intellect +lacked this power of adaptation. It moved on lines of its own, which +were often misconceived, even by those who sought to follow him +loyally. Thus, as already observed, he was blamed for two opposite +faults. Some, pointing to the fact that he had frequently altered his +views, denounced him as a demagogue profuse of promises, ready to +propose whatever he thought likely to catch the people's ear. Others +complained that there was no knowing where to have him; that he had an +erratic mind, whose currents ran underground and came to the surface +in unexpected places; that he did not consult his party, but followed +his own impulses; that his guidance was unsafe because his decisions +were unpredictable. Much of the suspicion with which he was regarded, +especially after 1885, arose from this view of his character. + +It was an unfair view, yet nearer to the truth than that which charged +him with seeking to flatter and follow the people. No great popular +leader had in him less of the demagogue. He saw, of course, that a +statesman cannot oppose the general will beyond a certain point, and +may have to humour it in small things that he may direct it in great +ones. He was obliged, as others have been, to take up and settle +questions he deemed unimportant because they were troubling the body +politic. Now and then, in his later days, he so far yielded to his +party advisers as to express his approval of proposals in which his +own interest was slight. But he was ever a leader, not a follower, and +erred rather in not keeping his finger closely and constantly upon the +pulse of public opinion. In this point, at least, one may discover in +him a likeness to Disraeli. Slow as he was in maturing his opinions, +Mr. Gladstone was liable to forget that the minds of his followers +might not be moving along with his own, and hence his decisions +sometimes took his party as well as the nation by surprise. But he was +too self-absorbed, too eagerly interested in the ideas that suited his +own cast of thought, to be able to watch and gauge the tendencies of +the multitude. The three most remarkable instances in which his new +departures startled the world were his declarations against the Irish +Church establishment in 1867, against the Turks and the traditional +English policy of supporting them in 1876, and in favour of Irish Home +Rule in 1886, and in none of these did any popular demand suggest his +pronouncement. It was the masses who took their view from him, not he +who took a mandate from the masses. In each of these cases he may, +perhaps, be blamed for not having sooner perceived, or at any rate for +not having sooner announced, the need for a change of policy. But it +was very characteristic of him not to give the full strength of his +mind to a question till he felt that it pressed for a solution. Those +who listened to his private talk were scarcely more struck by the +range of his vision than by his unwillingness to commit himself on +matters whose decision he could postpone. Reticence and caution were +sometimes carried too far, not merely because they exposed him to +misconstruction, but because they withheld from his party the guidance +it needed. This was true in the three instances just mentioned; and in +the last of them it is possible that earlier and fuller communications +might have averted the separation of some of his former colleagues. +Nor did he always rightly divine the popular mind. His proposal (in +1874) to extinguish the income-tax fell completely flat, because the +nation was becoming indifferent to that economy in public expenditure +which both parties had in the days of Peel and Lord John Russell vied +in demanding. Cherishing his old financial ideals, Mr. Gladstone had +not marked the change. So he failed to perceive how much the credit of +his party was suffering (after 1871) from the belief of large sections +of the people, that he was indifferent to the interests of England +outside England. Perhaps, knowing the charge of indifference to be +groundless, he underrated the effect which the iteration of it +produced: perhaps his pride would not let him stoop to dissipate it. + +Though the power of reading the signs of the times and swaying the +mind of the nation may be now more essential to an English statesman +than the skill which manages a legislature or holds together a +cabinet, that skill counts for much, and must continue to do so while +the House of Commons remains the governing authority of the country. A +man can hardly reach high place, and certainly cannot retain high +place, without possessing this kind of art. Mr. Gladstone was at one +time thought to want it. In 1864, when Lord Palmerston's end was +approaching, and Mr. Gladstone had shown himself the strongest man +among the Liberal ministers in the House of Commons, people speculated +about the succession to the headship of the party; and the wiseacres +of the day were never tired of repeating that Mr. Gladstone could not +possibly lead the House of Commons. He wanted tact, they said, he was +too excitable, too impulsive, too much absorbed in his own ideas, too +unversed in the arts by which individuals are conciliated. But when, +after twenty-five years of his unquestioned reign, the time for his +own departure drew nigh, men asked how the Liberal party in the House +of Commons would ever hold together after it had lost a leader of such +consummate capacity. The Whig critics of 1864 had grown so accustomed +to Palmerston's way of handling the House as to forget that a man +might succeed by quite different methods, and that defects, serious in +themselves, may be outweighed by transcendent merits. + +Mr. Gladstone had the defects ascribed to him. His impulsiveness +sometimes betrayed him into declarations which a cooler reflection +would have dissuaded. The second reading of the Irish Home Rule Bill +of 1886 might possibly have been carried had he not been goaded by his +opponents into words which were construed as recalling or modifying +the concessions he had announced at a meeting of the Liberal party +held just before. More than once precious time was wasted because +antagonists, knowing his excitable temper, brought on discussions with +the sole object of annoying him and drawing from him some hasty +deliverance. Nor was he an adept, like Disraeli and Disraeli's famous +Canadian imitator, Sir John A. Macdonald, in the management of +individuals. His aversion for the meaner side of human nature made him +refuse to play upon it. Many of the pursuits, and most of the +pleasures, which attract ordinary men had no interest for him, so that +much of the common ground on which men meet was closed to him. He was, +moreover, too constantly engrossed by the subjects he loved, and by +enterprises which specially appealed to him, to have leisure for the +lighter but often vitally important devices of political strategy. I +remember hearing, soon after 1870, how Mr. Delane, then editor of the +_Times_, had been invited to meet the Prime Minister at a moment when +the support of that newspaper would have been specially valuable to +the Liberal Government. Instead of using the opportunity in the way +that had been intended, Mr. Gladstone dilated during the whole time of +dinner upon the approaching exhaustion of the English coal-beds, to +the surprise of the company and the unconcealed annoyance of the +powerful guest. It was the subject then uppermost in his mind, and he +either forgot, or disdained, to conciliate Mr. Delane. Good nature as +well as good sense made him avoid giving offence by personal +reflections in debate, and he usually suffered fools if not, like St. +Paul's converts, gladly, yet patiently.[64] In the House of Commons he +was entirely free from airs, and, indeed, from any assumption of +superiority. The youngest member might accost him in the lobby and be +listened to with perfect courtesy. But he had a bad memory for faces, +seldom addressed any one outside the circle of his personal friends, +and more than once made enemies by omitting to notice and show +attention to recruits who, having been eminent in their own towns, +expected to be made much of when they entered Parliament. Having +himself plenty of pride and comparatively little vanity, he never +realised the extent to which, and the cheapness with which, men can be +captured and used through their vanity. Adherents were sometimes +turned into dangerous foes because his preoccupation with graver +matters dimmed his sense of what may be done to win support by the +minor arts, such as an invitation to dinner or even a seasonable +compliment. And his mind, flexible as it was in seizing new points of +view and devising expedients to meet new circumstances, did not easily +enter into the characters of other men. Ideas and causes interested +him more than did personal traits; his sympathy was keener and +stronger for the sufferings of nations or masses of men than with the +fortunes of an individual man. With all his accessibility and +kindliness, he was at bottom chary of real friendship, while the +circle of his intimates became constantly smaller with advancing +years. So it befell that though his popularity among the general body +of his adherents went on increasing, and the admiration of his +parliamentary followers remained undiminished, he had in the House of +Commons few personal friends who linked him to the party at large, and +rendered to him those confidential services which count for much in +keeping all sections in hearty accord and enabling the commander to +gauge the sentiment of his troops. + +Of parliamentary strategy in that larger sense, which covers +familiarity with parliamentary forms and usages, care and judgment in +arranging the business of the House, the power of seizing a +parliamentary situation and knowing how to deal with it, the art of +guiding a debate and choosing the right moment for reserve and for +openness, for a dignified retreat, for a watchful defence, for a +sudden rattling charge upon the enemy--of all this no one had a fuller +mastery. His recollection of precedents was unrivalled, for it began +in 1833 with the first reformed Parliament, and it seemed as fresh for +those remote days as for last month. He enjoyed combat for its own +sake, not so much from inborn pugnacity, for he was not disputatious +in ordinary conversation, as because it called out his fighting force +and stimulated his whole nature. "I am never nervous in reply," he +once said, "though I am sometimes nervous in opening a debate." No one +could be more tactful or adroit when a crisis arrived whose gravity he +had foreseen. In the summer of 1881 the House of Lords made some +amendments to the Irish Land Bill which were deemed ruinous to the +working of the measure, and therewith to the prospects of the +pacification of Ireland. A conflict was expected which might have +strained the fabric of the constitution. The excitement which quickly +arose in Parliament spread to the nation. Mr. Gladstone alone remained +calm and confident. He devised a series of compromises, which he +advocated in conciliatory speeches. He so played his game that by a +few minor concessions he secured nearly all the points he cared for, +and, while sparing the dignity of the Lords, steered his bill +triumphantly out of the breakers which had threatened to engulf it. +Very different was his ordinary demeanour in debate when he was off +his guard. His face and gestures while he sat in the House of Commons +listening to an opponent would express all the emotions that crossed +his mind. He would follow every sentence as a hawk follows the +movements of a small bird, would sometimes contradict half aloud, +sometimes turn to his next neighbour to vent his displeasure at the +groundless allegations or fallacious arguments he was listening to, +till at last, like a hunting leopard loosed from the leash, he would +spring to his feet and deliver a passionate reply. His warmth would +often be in excess of what the occasion required, and quite +disproportioned to the importance of his antagonist. It was in fact +the unimportance of the occasion that made him thus yield to his +feeling. As soon as he saw that bad weather was coming, and careful +seamanship wanted, his coolness returned, his language became +measured, while passion, though it might increase the force of his +oratory, never made him deviate a hand's breadth from the course he +had chosen. The Celtic heat subsided, and the shrewd self-control of +the Lowland Scot regained command. + +It was by oratory that Mr. Gladstone rose to fame and power, as, +indeed, by it most English statesmen have risen, save those to whom +wealth and rank and family connections used to give a sort of +presumptive claim to high office, like the Cavendishes and the +Russells, the Bentincks and the Cecils. And for many years, during +which Mr. Gladstone was suspected as a statesman because, while he had +ceased to be a Tory, he had not fully become a Liberal, his eloquence +was the main, one might almost say the sole, source of his influence. +Oratory was a power in English politics even a century and a half ago, +as the career of the elder Pitt shows. During the last seventy years, +years which have seen the power of rank and family connections +decline, it has, although less cultivated as a fine art, continued to +be almost essential to the highest success, and it still brings a man +quickly to the front, though it will not keep him there should he +prove to want the other branches of statesmanlike capacity. + +The permanent reputation of an orator depends upon two things, the +witness of contemporaries to the impression produced upon them, and +the written or printed record of his speeches. Few are the famous +speakers who would be famous if they were tried by this latter test +alone, and Mr. Gladstone was not one of them. It is only by a rare +combination of gifts that one who speaks with so much force and +brilliance as to charm his listeners is also able to deliver thoughts +so valuable in words so choice that posterity will read them as +literature. Some of the ancient orators did this; but we seldom know +how far those of their speeches which have been preserved are the +speeches which they actually delivered. Among moderns, a few French +preachers, Edmund Burke, Macaulay, and Daniel Webster are perhaps the +only speakers whose discourses have passed into classics and find new +generations of readers.[65] Twenty years hence Mr. Gladstone's will +not be read, except, of course, by historians. Indeed, they ceased to +be read even in his lifetime. They are too long, too diffuse, too +minute in their handling of details, too elaborately qualified in +their enunciation of general principles. They contain few epigrams and +few of those weighty thoughts put into telling phrases which the +Greeks called +gnômai+. The style, in short, is not sufficiently rich +or polished to give an enduring interest to matter whose practical +importance has vanished. The same oblivion has overtaken all but a few +of the best speeches (or parts of speeches) of Grattan, Sheridan, +Pitt, Fox, Erskine, Canning, Plunket, Brougham, Peel, Bright. It may, +indeed, be said--and the examples of Burke and Macaulay show that this +is no paradox--that the speakers whom posterity most enjoys are rarely +those who most affected the audiences that listened to them.[66] + +If, on the other hand, Mr. Gladstone be judged by the impression he +made on his own time, his place will be high in the front rank. His +speeches were neither so concisely telling as Mr. Bright's nor so +finished in diction; but no other man among his contemporaries--neither +Lord Derby nor Mr. Lowe, nor Lord Beaconsfield nor Lord Cairns, nor +Bishop Wilberforce nor Bishop Magee--taken all round, could be ranked +beside him. And he rose superior to Mr. Bright himself in readiness, +in variety of knowledge, in persuasive ingenuity. Mr. Bright spoke +seldom and required time for preparation. Admirable in the breadth and +force with which he set forth his own position, or denounced that of +his adversaries, he was not equally qualified for instructing nor +equally apt at persuading. Mr. Gladstone could both instruct and +persuade, could stimulate his friends and demolish his opponents, and +could do all these things at an hour's notice, so vast and well +ordered was the arsenal of his mind. Pitt was superb in an expository +or argumentative speech, but his stately periods lacked variety. Fox, +incomparable in reply, was hesitating and confused when he had to state +his case in cold blood. Mr. Gladstone showed as much fire in winding +up a debate as skill in opening it. + +His oratory had, indeed, two faults. It wanted concentration, and it +wanted definition. There were too many words, and the conclusion was +sometimes left vague because the arguments had been too nicely +balanced. I once heard Mr. Cobden say: "I always listen to Mr. +Gladstone with pleasure and admiration, but I sometimes have to ask +myself, when he has sat down, 'What after all was it that he meant, +and what practical course does he recommend?'" These faults were +balanced by conspicuous merits. There was a lively imagination, which +enabled him to relieve even dull matter by pleasing figures, together +with a large command of quotations and illustrations. There were +powers of sarcasm, powers, however, which he rarely used, preferring +the summer lightning of banter to the thunderbolts of invective. There +was admirable lucidity and accuracy in exposition. There was art in +the disposition and marshalling of his arguments, and finally--a gift +now almost lost in England--there was a delightful variety and grace +of appropriate gesture. But above and beyond everything else which +enthralled the listener, there stood out four qualities. Two of them +were merits of substance--inventiveness and elevation; two were merits +of delivery--force in the manner, expressive modulation in the voice. + +No one showed such swift resourcefulness in debate. His readiness, not +only at catching a point, but at making the most of it on a moment's +notice, was amazing. Some one would lean over the back of the bench he +sat on and show a paper or whisper a sentence to him. Apprehending the +bearings at a glance, he would take the bare fact and so shape and +develop it, like a potter moulding a bowl on the wheel out of a lump +of clay, that it grew into a cogent argument or a happy illustration +under the eye of the audience, and seemed all the more telling because +it had not been originally a part of his case. Even in the last three +years of his parliamentary life, when his sight had so failed that he +read nothing, printed or written, except what it was absolutely +necessary to read, and when his deafness had so increased that he did +not hear half of what was said in debate, it was sufficient for a +colleague to say into the better ear a few words explaining how the +matter at issue stood, and he would rise to his feet and extemporise a +long and ingenious argument, or retreat with dexterous grace from a +position which the course of the discussion or the private warning of +the Whips had shown to be untenable. Never was he seen at a loss +either to meet a new point raised by an adversary or to make the best +of an unexpected incident. Sometimes he would amuse himself by drawing +a cheer or a contradiction from his opponents, and would then suddenly +turn round and use this hasty expression of their opinion as the basis +for a fresh argument of his own. Loving conflict, he loved debate, +and, so far from being confused or worried by the strain conflict put +upon him, his physical health was strengthened and his faculties were +roused to higher efficiency by having to prepare and deliver a great +speech. He had the rare faculty of thinking ahead while he was +speaking, and could, while pouring forth a stream of glittering +sentences, be at the same time (as one saw by watching his eye) +composing an argument to be delivered five or ten minutes later. Once, +at a very critical moment, when he was defending a great measure +against the amendment--moved by a nominal supporter of his own--which +proved fatal to it, a friend suddenly reminded him of an incident in +the career of the mover which might be effectively used against him. +When Mr. Gladstone sat down after delivering an impassioned speech, in +the course of which he had several times approached and then sheered +off from the incident, he turned round to the friend and said, "I was +thinking all the time I was speaking whether I could properly use +against ---- what you told me, but concluded, on the whole, that it +would be too hard on him." + +The weakness of his eloquence sprang from its supersubtlety and +superabundance. He was prone to fine distinctions. He multiplied +arguments when it would have been better to rely upon two or three of +the strongest. And he was sometimes so intent on refuting the +particular adversaries opposed to him, and persuading the particular +audience before him, that he forgot to address his reasonings to the +public beyond the House, and make them equally applicable and equally +convincing to the readers of next morning. + +As dignity is one of the rarest qualities in literature, so elevation +is one of the rarest in oratory. It is a quality easier to feel than +to analyse. One may call it a power of ennobling ordinary things by +showing their relation to great things, by pouring high emotions round +them, by bringing the worthier motives of human conduct to bear upon +them, by touching them with the light of poetry. Ambitious writers and +speakers strain after effects of this kind; but they are effects which +study and straining cannot ensure. Vainly do most men flap their wings +in the effort to soar; if they succeed in rising from the ground it is +because some unusually strong burst of feeling makes them for the +moment better than themselves. In Mr. Gladstone the capacity for +feeling was at all times so strong, and the susceptibility of the +imagination so keen, that he soared without effort. His vision seemed +to take in the whole landscape. The points actually in question might +be small, but the principles involved were to him far-reaching. The +contests of to-day were ennobled by the effect they might have in a +still distant future. There are rhetoricians skilful in playing by +words and manner on every chord of human nature, rhetoricians who move +you, and may even carry you away for the moment, but whose sincerity +is doubted, because the sense of spontaneity is lacking. Mr. Gladstone +was not of these. He never seemed to be forcing an effect or assuming +a sentiment. To listen to him was to feel convinced of his own +conviction and to be warmed by the warmth with which he expressed it. +Nor was this due to the perfection of his rhetorical art. He really +did feel what he expressed. Sometimes, of course, like all statesmen, +he had to maintain a cause whose weakness he perceived, as, for +instance, when it became necessary to defend the blunder of a +colleague, or a decision reached by some Cabinet compromise which his +own judgment disapproved. But even in such cases he did not simulate +feeling, but reserved his earnestness for those parts of the case on +which it could be honestly expended. As this was generally true of the +imaginative and emotional side of his eloquence, so was it especially +true of his unequalled power of lifting a subject from the level on +which other speakers had treated it into the purer air of permanent +principle, perhaps even of moral sublimity. + +The dignity and spontaneity which marked the substance of his speeches +was no less conspicuous in their delivery. Nothing could be more easy +and graceful than his manner on ordinary occasions, nothing more grave +and stately than it became when he was making a ceremonial reference +to some public event or bestowing a meed of praise on the departed. +His expository discourses, such as those with which he introduced a +complicated bill or unfolded a financial statement, were models of +their kind, not only for lucidity, but for the pleasant smoothness, +never lapsing into monotony, with which the stream of speech flowed +from his lips. The task was performed so well that people thought it +an easy task till they saw how inferior were the performances of two +subsequent chancellors of the exchequer so able in their respective +ways as Sir Stafford Northcote and Mr. Lowe. But when an occasion +arrived which quickened men's pulses in the House of Commons, a place +where feeling rises as suddenly as do the waves of a Highland loch +when a squall comes rushing down the glen, the vehemence of his +feeling found expression in the fire of his eye and the resistless +strength of his words. His utterance did not grow swifter, nor did the +key of his voice rise, as passion raises and sharpens the voice in +most men. But the measured force with which every sentence was +launched, like a shell hurtling through the air, the concentrated +intensity of his look, as he defied antagonists in front and swept his +glance over the ranks of his supporters around and behind him, had a +startling and thrilling power which no other Englishman could exert, +and which no Englishman had exerted since the days of Pitt and Fox. +The whole proud, bold, ardent nature of the man seemed to flash out, +and one almost forgot what the lips said in admiration of the +towering personality. + +People who read next day the report in the newspapers of a speech +delivered on such an occasion could not comprehend the impression +it had made on the listeners. "What was there in it so to stir you?" +they asked. They had not seen the glance and the gestures; they +had not heard the vibrating voice rise to an organ peal of triumph or +sink to a whisper of entreaty. Mr. Gladstone's voice was naturally +rich and resonant. It was a fine singing voice, and a pleasant voice +to listen to in conversation, not the less pleasant for having a +slight trace of Liverpool accent clinging to it. But what struck one +in listening to his speeches was not so much the quality of the +vocal chords as the skill with which they were managed. He had a +gift of sympathetic expression, of throwing his feeling into his +voice, and using its modulations to accompany and convey every shade +of meaning, like that which a great composer exerts when he puts music +to a poem, or a great executant when he renders at once the +composer's and the poet's thought. And just as accomplished singers +or violinists enjoy the practice of their art, so he rejoiced, +perhaps unconsciously, yet intensely, in putting forth this faculty +of expression; as appeared, indeed, from the fact that whenever his +voice failed him (which sometimes befell in later years) his +words came less easily, and even the chariot of his argument seemed +to drive heavily. That the voice should so seldom have failed was +wonderful. When he had passed his seventy-fifth year, it became +sensibly inferior in volume and depth of tone. But its variety and +delicacy remained. In April 1886, he being then seventy-seven, it +held out during a speech of nearly four hours in length. In +February 1890 it enabled him to deliver with extraordinary effect an +eminently solemn and pathetic appeal. In March 1894 those who +listened to it the last time it was heard in Parliament--they were +comparatively few, for the secret of his impending resignation had +been well kept--recognised in it all the old charm. The most +striking instance I recall of the power it could exert is to be +found in a speech made in 1883, during one of the tiresome debates +occasioned by the refusal of the Opposition and of some timorous +Liberals to allow Mr. Bradlaugh to be sworn as a member of the House +of Commons. This speech produced on those who heard it an impression +which its perusal to-day fails to explain. That impression was chiefly +due to the grave and reverent tone in which he delivered some +sentences stating the view that it is not our belief in the bare +existence of a Deity, but the realising of him as being a Providence +ruling the world, that has moral value and significance for us. And +it was due in particular to the solemn dignity with which he +declaimed six lines of Lucretius, setting forth the Epicurean view +that the gods do not concern themselves with human affairs. There +were perhaps not twenty men in the House of Commons who could follow +the sense of the lines so as to appreciate their bearing on his +argument. But these sonorous hexameters--hexameters that seemed to +have lived on through nineteen centuries to find their application +from the lips of an orator to-day--the sense of remoteness in the +strange language and the far-off heathen origin, the deep and moving +note in the speaker's voice, thrilled the imagination of the +audience and held it spellbound, lifting for a moment the whole +subject of debate into a region far above party conflicts. Spoken by +any one else, the passage culminating in these Lucretian lines might +have produced little effect. It was the voice and manner, above +all the voice, with its marvellous modulations, that made the +speech majestic. + +Yet one must not forget to add that with him, as with some other +famous statesmen, the impression made by a speech was in a measure due +to the admiring curiosity and wonder which his personality inspired. +He was so much the most interesting human being in the House of +Commons that, when he withdrew, many members said that the place had +lost half its attraction for them, and that the chamber looked empty +because he was not in it. Plenty of able men remained. But even the +ablest seemed ordinary when compared with the figure that had +vanished, a figure in whom were combined, as in no other man of his +time, an unrivalled experience, an extraordinary activity and +versatility of intellect, a fervid imagination, and an indomitable +will. + +Though Mr. Gladstone's oratory was a main source of his power, both in +Parliament and over the people, the effort of detractors to represent +him as a mere rhetorician will seem absurd to the historian who +reviews his whole career. The rhetorician adorns and popularises the +ideas which have originated with others; he advocates policies which +others have devised; he follows and expresses the sentiments which +already prevail in his party. Mr. Gladstone was himself a source of +new ideas and new policies; he evoked new sentiments or turned old +sentiments into new channels. Neither was he, as some alleged, +primarily a destroyer. His conservative instincts were strong; he +cherished ancient custom. When it became necessary to clear away an +institution he sought to put something else in its place. He was a +constructive statesman not less conspicuously than were Pitt, Canning, +and Peel. Whether he was a philosophic statesman, basing his action on +large views obtained by thought and study, philosophic in the sense +in which we apply the epithet to Pericles, Machiavelli, Turgot, +Burke, Jefferson, Hamilton, Stein--if one class can be made to include +persons otherwise so dissimilar--may perhaps be doubted. There are few +instances in history of men who have been great thinkers and also +great legislators or administrators, because the two kinds of capacity +almost exclude one another. As experts declare that a man who should +try to operate on the Stock Exchange in reliance upon a profound +knowledge of the inner springs of European politics and the financial +resources of the great States, would ruin himself before his perfectly +correct calculations had time to come true, so a practical statesman, +though he cannot know too much, or look too far ahead, must beware of +trusting his own forecasts, must remember that he has to deal with the +next few months or years, and to persuade persons who cannot be +expected to share or even to understand his views of the future. The +habit of meditating on underlying truths, the tendency to play the +long game, are almost certain to spoil a man for dealing effectively +with the present. He will not be a sufficiently vigilant observer; he +will be out of sympathy with the notions of the average man; his +arguments will go over the head of his audience. No English prime +minister has looked at politics with the eye of a philosopher. But Mr. +Gladstone, if hardly to be called a thinker, showed higher +constructive power than any one else has done since Peel. Were the +memory of his oratorical triumphs to pass completely away, he would +deserve to be remembered in respect of the mark he left upon the +British statute-book and of the changes he wrought both in the +constitution of his country and in her European policy. + +Three groups of measures stand out as monuments of his skill and +energy. The first of these three includes the financial reforms +embodied in a series of fourteen budgets between the years 1853 and +1882, the most famous of which were the budgets of 1853 and 1860. In +the former he continued the work begun by Peel by reducing and +simplifying the customs duties. Deficiencies in revenue were supplied +by the enactment of less oppressive imposts, and particularly by +resettling the income-tax, and by the introduction of a succession +duty on real estate. The preparation and passing of this very +technical and intricate Succession Duty Act was a most laborious +enterprise, of which Mr. Gladstone used to speak as the severest +mental strain he had ever undergone: + + +Kartistên dê tên ge machên phato dymenai andrôn.+[67] + +The budget of 1860, among other changes, abolished the paper duty, a +boon to the press which was resisted by the House of Lords. They +threw out the measure, but in the following year Mr. Gladstone forced +them to submit. His achievements in the field of finance equal, if +they do not surpass, those of Peel, and are not tarnished, as in the +case of Pitt, by the recollection of a burden of debts incurred. To no +minister can be ascribed so large a share in promoting the commercial +and industrial prosperity of modern England, and in the reduction of +her national debt to the figure at which it stood when it began to +rise again in 1900. + +The second group includes the parliamentary reform bills of 1866 and +1884 and the Redistribution Bill of 1885. The first of these was +defeated in the House of Commons, but it led to the passing next year, +by Mr. Disraeli, of a more sweeping measure. Taken together, these +statutes have turned Britain into a democratic country, changing the +character of her government almost as profoundly as did the Reform Act +of 1832. + +The third group consists of a series of Irish measures, beginning with +the Church Disestablishment Act of 1869, and including the Land Act of +1870, the University Education Bill of 1873 (defeated in the House of +Commons), the Land Act of 1881, and the Home Rule bills of 1886 and +1893. All these were in a special manner Mr. Gladstone's handiwork, +prepared as well as brought in and advocated by him. All were highly +complicated, and of one, the Land Act of 1881, which it took three +months to carry through the House of Commons, it was said that so +great was its intricacy that only three men understood it--Mr. +Gladstone himself, his Attorney-General for Ireland, and Mr. T. M. +Healy. In preparing a bill no man could be more painstaking. He +settled and laid down the principles himself; and when he came to work +them out with the draughtsman and the officials who had special +knowledge of the subject, he insisted on knowing what their effect +would be in every particular. Indeed, he loved work for its own sake, +in this respect unlike Mr. Bright, who once said to me with a smile, +when asked as to his methods of working, that he had never done any +work all his life. The value of this mastery of details was seen when +a bill came to be debated in Committee. It was impossible to catch Mr. +Gladstone tripping on a point of fact, or unprepared with a reply to +the arguments of an opponent. He seemed to revel in the toil of +mastering a tangle of technical details. + +It is long since England, in this respect not favoured by her +parliamentary system, has produced a great foreign minister, nor has +that title been claimed for Mr. Gladstone. But he showed on several +occasions both his independence of tradition and his faith in broad +principles as fit to be applied in international relations; and his +action in that field, though felt only at intervals, has left abiding +results in European history. In 1851, he being then still a Tory, his +pamphlet denouncing the cruelties of the Bourbon government of Naples, +and the sympathy he subsequently avowed with the national movement in +Italy, gave that movement a new standing in Europe by powerfully +recommending it to English opinion. In 1870 the prompt action of his +ministry in arranging a treaty for the neutrality of Belgium on the +outbreak of the war between France and Germany, averted the risk that +Belgium might be drawn into the strife. In 1871, by concluding the +treaty of Washington, which provided for the settlement by arbitration +of the _Alabama_ claims, he not only set a precedent full of promise +for the future, but delivered England from what would have been, in +case of her being at war with any European power, a danger fatal to +her ocean commerce. And, in 1876, his onslaught upon the Turks, after +the Bulgarian massacres, roused an intense feeling in England, turning +the current of opinion so decisively that Disraeli's ministry were +forced to leave the Sultan to his fate, and thus became a cause of the +ultimate deliverance of Bulgaria, Eastern Rumelia, Bosnia, and +Thessaly from Mussulman tyranny. Few English statesmen have equally +earned the gratitude of the oppressed. + +Nothing lay nearer to his heart than the protection of the Christians +of the East. His sense of personal duty to them was partly due to the +feeling that the Crimean War had prolonged the rule of the Turk, and +had thus imposed a special responsibility on Britain, and on the +members of Lord Aberdeen's cabinet which drifted into that war. Twenty +years after the agitation of 1876, and when he had finally retired +from Parliament and political life, the massacres perpetrated by the +Sultan on his Armenian subjects brought him once more into the field, +and his last speech in public (delivered at Liverpool in the autumn of +1896) was a powerful argument in favour of British intervention to +rescue the Eastern Christians. In the following spring he followed +this up by a pamphlet on behalf of the freedom of Crete. In neither of +these two cases did success crown his efforts, for the Government, +commanding a large majority in Parliament, pursued the course upon +which it had already entered. Poignant regrets were expressed that Mr. +Gladstone was no longer able to take effective action in the cause of +humanity; yet it was a consolation to be assured that age and +infirmity had not dulled his sympathies with that cause. + +That he was right in 1876-78 in the view he took of the line of +conduct England should adopt towards the Turks has been now virtually +admitted even by his opponents. That he was also right in 1896, when +urging action to protect the Eastern Christians, will probably be +admitted ten years hence, when the facts of the case and the nature of +the opportunity that existed for taking prompt action without the risk +of a European war have become better known. In both cases it was not +merely religious sympathy, but also a far-sighted view of policy that +governed his judgment. He held that the faults of Turkish rule are +incurable, and that the Powers of Western and Central Europe ought to +aim at protecting the subject nationalities and by degrees extending +self-government to them, so that they may grow into states, and in +time be able to restore prosperity to regions ruined by long +misgovernment, while constituting an effective barrier to the advance +of Russia. The jealousies of the Powers throw obstacles in the way of +this policy, but it is a safe policy for England, and offers the best +hope for the peoples of the East. + +The facts just noted prove that he possessed and exerted a capacity +for initiative in foreign as well as in domestic affairs. In the +Neapolitan case, in the _Alabama_ case, in the Bulgarian case, he +acted from his own convictions, with no previous suggestion of +encouragement from his party; and in the last-mentioned instance he +took a course which did not at the moment promise any political gain, +and which seemed to the English political world so novel and even +startling that no ordinary statesman would have ventured on it. + +His courage was indeed one of the most striking parts of the man.[68] +It was not the rashness of an impetuous nature, for, impetuous as he +was when stirred by some sudden excitement, he showed an Ulyssean +caution whenever he took a deliberate survey of the conditions that +surrounded him. It was the proud self-confidence of a strong +character, which was willing to risk fame and fortune in pursuing a +course it had once resolved upon; a character which had faith in its +own conclusions, and in the success of a cause consecrated by +principle; a character which obstacles did not affright, but rather +roused to a higher combative energy. Few English statesmen have done +anything so bold as was Mr. Gladstone's declaration for Irish Home +Rule in 1886. He took not only his political power but the fame and +credit of his whole past life in his hand when he set out on this new +journey at seventy-seven years of age; for it was quite possible that +the great bulk of his party might refuse to follow him, and he be left +exposed to derision as the chief of an insignificant group. As it +happened, the bulk of the party did follow him, though many of the +most influential refused to do so. But neither he nor any one else +could have foretold this when his intentions were first announced. + +We may now, before passing away from the public side of Mr. +Gladstone's career, return for a moment to the opposite views of his +character which were indicated some pages back. He was accused of +sophistry, of unwisdom, of want of patriotism, of lust for power. +Though it is difficult to sift these charges without discussing the +conduct which gave rise to them, a task impossible here, each of them +must be briefly examined. + +The first charge is the most plausible. His ingenuity in discovering +arguments and stating fine verbal distinctions, his subtlety in +discriminating between views or courses apparently similar, were +excessive, and invited misconstruction. He had a tendency to persuade +himself, quite unconsciously, that the course he desired to take was a +course which the public interest required. His acuteness soon found +reasons for that course; the warmth of his emotions enforced the +reasons. It was a dangerous tendency, but it does not impeach his +honesty of purpose, for the influence which his predilections +unconsciously exerted upon his judgment appeared also in his +theological and literary inquiries. I can recall no instance in which +he wilfully misstated a fact, or simulated a feeling, or used an +argument which he knew to be unsound. He did not, as does the sophist, +attempt "to make the worse appear the better reason." + +His wisdom will be differently judged by those who condemn or approve +the chief acts of his policy. But it deserves to be noted that all the +legislation he passed, even the measures which, like the Irish Church +Disestablishment Bill, exposed him to angry attacks at the time, have +now been approved by the all but unanimous judgment of Englishmen.[69] +The same may be said of two acts which brought much invective upon +him--his settlement of the _Alabama_ claims, one of the wisest strokes +of foreign policy ever accomplished by a British minister, and his +protest against a support of the Turks in and after 1876. I pass by +Irish Home Rule, because the wisdom of the course he took must be +tested by results that are yet unborn, as I pass by his Egyptian +policy in 1882-85, because it cannot be fairly judged till the facts +have been fully made public. He may be open to blame for his +participation in the Crimean War, for his mistaken view of the +American Civil War, for his neglect of the Transvaal question when he +took office in 1880, and for his omission during his earlier career to +recognise the gravity of Irish disaffection and to study its causes. I +have heard him lament that he had not twenty years earlier given the +same attention to that abiding source of the difficulties of England +which he gave from 1866 onwards. If in these instances he erred, it +must be remembered that he erred in company with nine-tenths of +British statesmen in both political parties. + +Their admiration did not prevent his friends from noting tendencies +which sometimes led him to miscalculate the forces he had to deal +with. Being, like the younger Pitt, extremely sanguine, he was prone +to underrate difficulties. Hopefulness is a splendid quality. It is +both the child and the parent of faith. Without it neither Mr. Pitt +nor Mr. Gladstone could have done what they did. But it disposes its +possessor not sufficiently to allow for the dulness or the prejudice +of others. So too the intensity of Mr. Gladstone's own feeling made +him fail to realise how many of his fellow-countrymen did not know of, +or were not shocked by, acts of cruelty and injustice which had roused +his indignation. If his hatred of ostentation suffered him to perceive +that a nation, however well assured of the reality of its power and +influence in the world, may also desire that this power and influence +should be asserted and proclaimed to other nations, he refused to +humour that desire. He had a contempt for what is called "playing to +the gallery," with a deep sense of the danger of stimulating the +passions which lead to aggression and war. To national honour, as he +conceived it, national righteousness was vital. His spirit was that of +Lowell's lines-- + + I love my country so as only they + Who love a mother fit to die for may. + I love her old renown, her ancient fame: + What better proof than that I loathe her shame? + +It was this attitude that brought on him the charge of wanting +patriotism, a charge first, I think, insinuated at the time of the +_Alabama_ arbitration, renewed when in 1876 he was accused of +befriending Russia and neglecting "British interests," and sedulously +repeated thereafter, although in those two instances the result had +proved him right. There was this much to give a kind of colour to the +charge, that he had scrupulously, perhaps too scrupulously, refrained +from extolling the material power of England, preferring to insist +upon her responsibilities; that he was known to regret the constant +increase of naval and military expenditure, and that he had several +times taken a course which honour and prudence seemed to him to +recommend, but which had offended the patriots of the music-halls. But +it was an unjust charge, for no man had a warmer pride in England, a +higher sense of her greatness and her mission. + +Was he too fond of power? Like other strong men, he enjoyed it.[70] +That to secure it he ever either adopted or renounced an opinion, +those who understood and watched the workings of his mind could not +believe. He was not only too conscientious, but too proud to forego +any of his convictions, and there were not a few occasions when he +took a course which considerations of personal interest would have +forbidden. He did not love office, feeling himself happier without its +cares, and when he accepted it did so, I think, in the belief that +there was work to be done which it was laid upon him individually to +do. His changes sprang naturally from the development of his own ideas +or (as in the case of his Irish policy) from the teaching of facts. He +sometimes so far yielded to his colleagues as to sanction steps which +he thought not the best, and may in this have sometimes erred; yet +compromises are unavoidable, for no Cabinet could be kept together if +its members did not now and then, in matters not essential, yield to +one another. When all the facts of his life come to be known, +instances may be disclosed in which he was the victim of his own +casuistry or of his deference to Peel's maxim that a minister should +not avow a change of view until the time has come to give effect to +it. But it will also be made clear that he strove to obey his +conscience, that he acted with an ever-present sense of his +responsibility to the Almighty, and that he was animated by an +unselfish enthusiasm for humanity, enlightenment, and freedom. + +Whether he was a good judge of men was a question much discussed +among his friends. With all his astuteness, he was in some ways +curiously simple; with all his caution, he was by nature unsuspicious, +disposed to treat all men as honest till they gave him strong reasons +for thinking otherwise. Those who professed sympathy with his views +and aims sometimes succeeded in inspiring more confidence than they +deserved. But where this perturbing influence was absent he showed +plenty of insight, and would pass shrewd judgments on the politicians +around him, permitting neither their behaviour towards himself nor his +opinion of their moral character to affect his estimate of their +talents. In making appointments in the Civil Service, or in the +Established Church, he rose to a far higher standard of public duty +than Palmerston or Disraeli had reached or cared to reach, taking +great pains to find the fittest men, and giving little weight to +political considerations.[71] + +His public demeanour, and especially his excitability and vehemence of +speech, made people attribute to him an overbearing disposition and an +irritable temper. In private one did not find these faults. Masterful +he certainly was, both in speech and in action. His ardent manner, the +intensity of his look, the dialectical vigour with which he pressed an +argument, were apt to awe people who knew him but slightly, and make +them abandon resistance. A gifted though somewhat erratic politician +of long bygone days told me how he once fared when he had risen in the +House of Commons to censure some act of his leader. "I had not gone on +three minutes when Gladstone turned round and gazed at me so that I +had to sit down in the middle of a sentence. I could not help it. +There was no standing his eye." But he neither meant nor wished to +beat down his opponents by mere authority. One who knew him as few +people did observed to me, "When you are arguing with Mr. Gladstone, +you must never let him think he has convinced you unless you are +really convinced. Persist in repeating your view, and if you are +unable to cope with him in skill of fence, say bluntly that for all +his ingenuity and authority you think he is wrong, and you retain your +own opinion. If he respects you as a man who knows something of the +subject, he will be impressed by your opinion, and it will afterwards +have due weight with him." In his own Cabinet he was willing to listen +patiently to everybody's views, and, indeed, in the judgment of some +of his colleagues, was not, at least in his later years, sufficiently +strenuous in asserting and holding to his own. It is no secret that +some of the most important decisions of the ministry of 1880-85 were +taken against his judgment, though, when they had been adopted, he +was, of course, bound to defend them in Parliament as if they had +received his individual approval. Nor, though tenacious, did he bear +malice against those who had baffled him. He would exert his full +force to get his own way, but if he could not get it, accepted the +position with good temper.[72] He was too proud to be vindictive, too +completely master of himself to be betrayed into angry words. +Impatient he might sometimes be under a nervous strain, but never rude +or rough. It was less easy to determine whether he was overmindful of +injuries, but those who had watched him most closely held that mere +opposition or even insult did not leave a permanent sting, and that +the only thing he could not forget or forgive was faithlessness. +Himself a model of loyalty to his colleagues, he followed his +favourite poet in consigning the _traditori_ to the lowest pit, +although, like all statesmen, he often found himself obliged to work +with those whom he distrusted. + +He was less sensitive than Peel, as appeared from his attitude toward +his two chief opponents. Disraeli's attacks did not seem to gall him, +perhaps because, although he recognised the ability and admired the +courage of his adversary, he did not respect Disraeli's character, +remembering his behaviour to Peel, and thinking him habitually +untruthful. Yet he never attacked Disraeli personally. There was +another of his opponents of whom he entertained a specially +unfavourable opinion, but no one could have told from his speeches +what that opinion was. Against Lord Salisbury, his chief antagonist +from 1881 onwards, he showed no resentment, though Lord Salisbury had +more than once spoken discourteously of him. In 1890 he remarked to me +_apropos_ of some attack, "I have never felt angry at what Salisbury +has said about me. His mother was very kind to me when I was quite a +young man, and I remember Salisbury as a little fellow in a red frock +rolling about on the ottoman." + +That his temper was naturally hot, no one who looked at him could +doubt. But he had it in such tight control, and it was so free from +anything acrid or malignant, that it had become a good temper, worthy +of a fine nature. However vehement his expressions, they did not wound +or humiliate, and those younger men who had to deal with him were not +afraid of a sharp answer or an impatient repulse. He was cast in too +large a mould to have the pettiness of ruffled vanity or to abuse his +predominance by treating any one as an inferior. His manners were the +manners of the old time, easy but stately. Like his oratory, they +were in what Matthew Arnold used to call the grand style; and the +contrast in this respect between him and some of those who crossed +swords with him in literary or theological controversy was apparent. +His intellectual generosity was a part of the same largeness of +nature. He cordially acknowledged his indebtedness to those who helped +him in any piece of work, received their suggestions candidly, even +when opposed to his own preconceived notions, did not hesitate to +confess a mistake. Those who know the abundance of their resources, +and have conquered fame, can doubtless afford to be generous. Julius +Cæsar was, and George Washington, and so, in a different sphere, were +Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. But the instances to the contrary are +so numerous that one may say of magnanimity that it is among the +rarest as well as the finest ornaments of character. + +The essential dignity of Mr. Gladstone's nature was never better seen +than during the last few years of his life, after he had finally +retired (in 1894) from public life. He indulged in no vain regrets, +nor was there any foundation for the rumours, so often circulated, +that he thought of re-entering the arena of strife. He spoke with no +bitterness of those who had opposed, and sometimes foiled, him in the +past. He gave vent to no criticisms of those who from time to time +filled the place that had been his in the government of the country or +the leadership of his party. Although his opinion on current questions +was frequently solicited, he scarcely ever allowed it to be known, +lest it should embarrass his successors in the leadership of the +party, and never himself addressed the nation, except (as already +mentioned) on behalf of what he deemed a sacred cause, altogether +above party--the discharge by Britain of her duty to the victims of +the Turk. As soon as an operation for cataract had enabled him to +resume his habit of working for seven hours a day, he devoted himself +with his old ardour to the preparation of an edition of Bishop +Butler's works, resumed his multifarious reading, planned (as he told +me in 1896) a treatise on the Olympian religion, and filled up the +interstices of his working-time with studies on Homer which he had +been previously unable to complete. No trace of the moroseness of old +age appeared in his manners or his conversation, nor did he, though +profoundly grieved at some of the events which he witnessed, and +owning himself disappointed at the slow advance made by a cause dear +to him, appear less hopeful than in earlier days of the general +progress of the world, or less confident in the beneficent power of +freedom to promote the happiness of his country. The stately +simplicity which had always charmed those who saw him in private, +seemed more beautiful than ever in this quiet evening of a long and +sultry day. His intellectual powers were unimpaired, his thirst for +knowledge undiminished. But a placid stillness had fallen upon him and +his household; and in seeing the tide of his life begin slowly to ebb, +one thought of the lines of his illustrious contemporary and +friend:-- + + Such a tide as moving seems asleep, + Too full for sound and foam, + When that which drew from out the boundless deep + Turns again home. + +Adding to his grace of manner a memory of extraordinary strength and +quickness and an amazing vivacity and variety of mental force, any one +can understand how fascinating Mr. Gladstone was in society. He +enjoyed it to the last, talking as earnestly and joyously at +eighty-seven as he had done at twenty on every topic that came up, and +exerting himself with equal zest whether his interlocutor was an +archbishop or a youthful curate. Though his party used to think that +he overvalued the political influence of the great families, allotting +them rather more than their share of honours and appointments, no one +was personally more free from that taint of snobbishness which is +frequently charged upon Englishmen. He gave the best he had to +everybody alike, paying to men of learning and letters a respect +which in England they seldom receive from the magnates who lead +society. And although he was scrupulously observant of the rules of +precedence and conventions of social life, it was easy to see that +neither rank nor wealth had that importance in his eyes which the +latter nowadays commands. Dispensing titles and decorations with a +liberal hand, his pride always refused such so-called honours for +himself. + +It was often said of him that he lacked humour; but this was only so +far true that he was apt to throw into small matters more force and +moral earnestness than were needed, and to honour with a refutation +opponents whom a little light sarcasm would have better reduced to +their insignificance.[73] In private he was wont both to tell and to +enjoy good stories; while in Parliament, though his tone was generally +earnest, he could display such effective powers of banter and ridicule +as to make people wonder why they were so rarely put forth. Much of +what passes in London for humour is mere cynicism, and he hated +cynicism so heartily as to dislike even humour when it had a cynical +flavour. Wit he enjoyed, but did not produce. The turn of his mind was +not to brevity, point, and condensation. He sometimes struck off a +telling phrase, but seldom polished an epigram. His conversation was +luminous rather than sparkling; you were interested and instructed +while you listened, but it was not so much the phrases as the general +effect that dwelt in your memory. An acute observer once said to me +that Mr. Gladstone showed in argument a knack of hitting the nail not +quite on the head. The criticism was so far just that he was less +certain to go straight to the vital issue in a controversy than one +expected from his force and keenness. + +After the death of Thomas Carlyle he was probably the best talker in +London, and a talker in one respect more agreeable than either Carlyle +or Macaulay, inasmuch as he was no less ready to listen than to speak, +and never wearied the dinner-table by a monologue. His simplicity, his +spontaneity, his geniality and courtesy, as well as the fund of +knowledge and of personal recollections at his command, made him so +popular in society that his opponents used to say it was dangerous to +meet him, because one might be forced to leave off hating him. He was, +perhaps, too prone to go on talking upon the subject which filled his +mind at the moment; nor was it easy to divert his attention to +something else which others might deem more important.[74] Those who +stayed with him in the same country house sometimes complained that +the perpetual display of force and eagerness tired them, as one tires +of watching the rush of Niagara. His guests, however, did not feel +this, for his own home life was quiet and smooth. He read and wrote a +good many hours daily, but never sat up late, almost always slept +soundly, never seemed oppressed or driven to strain his strength. With +all his impetuosity, he was regular, systematic, and deliberate in his +habits and ways of doing business. A swift reader and a surprisingly +swift writer, he was always occupied, and was skilful in using even +the scraps and fragments of his time. No pressure of work made him +fussy, nor could any one remember to have seen him in a hurry. + +The best proof of his swiftness, industry, and skill in economising +time is supplied by the quantity of his literary work, which, +considering the abstruse nature of the subjects to which much of it is +related, would have been creditable to the diligence of a German +professor sitting alone in his study. The merits of the work have been +disputed. Mankind are slow to credit the same person with eminence in +various fields. When they read the prose of a great poet, they try it +by severer tests than would be applied to other writers. When a +painter has won credit by his landscapes or his cattle pieces, he is +seldom encouraged to venture into other lines. So Mr. Gladstone's +reputation as an orator stood in his own light when he appeared as an +author. He was read by thousands who would not have looked at the +article or book had it borne some other name; but he was judged by the +standard, not of his finest printed speeches, for his speeches were +seldom models of composition, but rather by the impression which his +finest speeches made on those who heard them. Since his warmest +admirers could not claim for him as a writer of prose any such +pre-eminence as belonged to him as a speaker, it followed that his +written work was not duly appreciated. Had he been a writer and +nothing else, he would have been eminent and powerful by his pen. + +He might, however, have failed to secure a place in the front rank. +His style was forcible, copious, rich with various knowledge, warm +with the ardour of his temperament. But it suffered from an inborn +tendency to exuberance which the long practice of oratory had +confirmed. It was diffuse, apt to pursue a topic into details, when +these might have been left to the reader's own reflection. It was +redundant, employing more words than were needed to convey the +substance. It was unchastened, indulging too freely in tropes and +metaphors, in quotations and adapted phrases even when the quotation +added nothing to the sense, but was suggested merely by some +association in his own mind. Thus it seldom reached a high level of +purity and grace, and though one might excuse the faults as natural to +the work of a swift and busy man, they were sufficient to reduce the +pleasure to be derived from the form and dress of his thoughts. +Nevertheless there are not a few passages of rare merit, both in the +books and in the articles, among which may be cited (not as +exceptionally good, but as typical of his strong points) the striking +picture of his own youthful feeling toward the Church of England +contained in the _Chapter of Autobiography_, and the refined criticism +of _Robert Elsmere_, published in 1888. Almost the last thing he +wrote, a pamphlet on the Greek and Cretan question, published in the +spring of 1897, has the force and cogency of his best days. Two things +were never wanting to him: vigour of expression and an admirable +command of appropriate words. + +His writings fall into three classes: political, theological, and +literary--the last chiefly consisting of his books and articles upon +Homer and the Homeric question. All the political writings, except +the books on _The State in its Relations to the Church_ and _Church +Principles considered in their Results_, belong to the class of +occasional literature, being pamphlets or articles produced with a +view to some current crisis or controversy. They are valuable chiefly +as proceeding from one who bore a leading part in the affairs they +relate to, and as embodying vividly the opinions and aspirations of +the moment, less frequently in respect of permanent lessons of +political wisdom, such as one finds in Machiavelli or Tocqueville or +Edmund Burke. Like Pitt and Peel, Mr. Gladstone had a mind which, +whatever its original tendencies, had come to be rather practical +than meditative. He was fond of generalisations and principles, +but they were always directly related to the questions that came +before him in actual politics; and the number of weighty maxims or +illuminative suggestions to be found in his writings and speeches +is small in proportion to the sustained vigour they display. Even +Disraeli, though his views were often fanciful and his epigrams often +forced, gives us more frequently a brilliant (if only half true) +historical _aperçu_, or throws a flash of light into some corner of +human character. Of the theological essays, which are mainly +apologetic and concerned with the authenticity and authority of +Scripture, it is enough to say that they were the work of an +accomplished amateur, who had been too busy to follow the progress of +critical inquiry. His Homeric treatises, the most elaborate piece +of work that proceeded from Mr. Gladstone's pen, are in one sense +worthless, in another sense admirable. Those parts of them which +deal with early Greek mythology, genealogy, and religion, and, in a +less degree, the theories about Homeric geography and the use of +Homeric epithets, have been condemned by the unanimous voice of +scholars as fantastic. The premises are assumed without sufficient +investigation, while the reasonings are fine-drawn and flimsy. +Extraordinary ingenuity is shown in piling up a lofty fabric, but +the foundation is of sand, and the edifice has hardly a solid wall +or beam in it. A conjecture is treated as a fact; then an inference, +possible but not certain, is drawn from this conjecture; a second +possible inference is based upon the first; and we are made to +forget that the probability of this second is at most only half the +probability of the first. So the process goes on; and when the +superstructure is complete, the reader is provoked to perceive how +much dialectical skill has been wasted upon a series of hypotheses +which a breath of common-sense criticism dissipates. If one is +asked to explain the weakness in this particular department of a mind +otherwise so strong, the answer would seem to be that the element +of fancifulness in Mr. Gladstone's intellect, and his tendency to +mistake mere argumentation for verification, were checked in +practical politics by constant intercourse with friends and +colleagues as well as by the need of convincing visible audiences, +while in theological or historical inquiries his ingenuity roamed +with fatal freedom over wide plains where no obstacles checked its +course. Something may also be due to the fact that his philosophical +and historical education was received at a time when the modern +critical spirit and the canons it recognises had scarcely begun to +assert themselves at Oxford. Similar defects may be discerned in other +eminent writers of his own and the preceding generation of Oxford +men, defects from which persons of inferior power in later days might +be free. In some of these writers, and particularly in Cardinal +Newman, the contrast between dialectical acumen, coupled with +surpassing rhetorical skill, and the vitiation of the argument by a +want of the critical faculty, is scarcely less striking; and the +example of that illustrious man suggests that the dominance of the +theological view of literary and historical problems, a dominance +evident in Mr. Gladstone, counts for something in producing the +phenomenon. + +With these defects, Mr. Gladstone's Homeric work had the merit of +being based on a full and thorough knowledge of the Homeric text. He +had seen, at a time when few people in England had seen it, that the +Homeric poems are an historical source of the highest value, a +treasure-house of data for the study of early Greek life and thought, +an authority all the more trustworthy because an unconscious +authority, addressing not posterity but contemporaries. This mastery +of the matter contained in the poems enabled him to present valuable +pictures of the political and social life of Homeric Greece, while the +interspersed literary criticisms are often subtle and suggestive, +erring, when they do err, chiefly through the over-earnestness of his +mind. He often takes the poet too seriously; reading an ethical +purpose into descriptive or dramatic touches which are merely +descriptive or dramatic. Passages whose moral tendency offends him are +reprobated as later insertions with a naïveté which forgets the +character of a primitive age. But he has for his author not only that +sympathy which is the best basis for criticism, but a justness of +poetic taste which the learned and painstaking German commentator +frequently wants. That Mr. Gladstone was a sound scholar in that +narrower sense of the word which denotes a grammatical and literary +command of Greek and Latin, goes without saying. Men of his generation +kept a closer hold upon the ancient classics than we do to-day; and +his habit of reading Greek for the sake of his Homeric studies, and +Latin for the sake of his theological, made this familiarity more than +usually thorough. Like most Etonians, he loved and knew the poets by +preference. Dante was his favourite poet, perhaps because Dante is the +most theological and ethical of the great poets, and because the +tongue and the memories of Italy had a peculiar attraction for him. He +used to say that he found Dante's thought incomparably inspiring, but +hard to follow, it was so high and so abstract. Theology claimed a +place beside poetry; history came next, though he did not study it +systematically. It seemed odd that he was sometimes at fault in the +constitutional antiquities of England; but this subject was, until the +day of Dr. Stubbs, pre-eminently a Whig subject, and Mr. Gladstone +never was a Whig, never learned to think upon the lines of the great +Whigs of former days. His historical knowledge was not exceptionally +wide, but it was generally accurate in matters of fact, however +fanciful he might be in reasoning from the facts, however wild his +conjectures in the prehistoric region. In metaphysics strictly so +called his reading did not go far beyond those companions of his +youth, Aristotle and Bishop Butler; and philosophical speculation +interested him only so far as it bore on Christian doctrine. Keen as +was his interest in theology and in history, it is not certain that +he would have produced work of permanent value in either sphere even +had his life been wholly devoted to study. His mind seemed to need to +be steadied, his ingenuity restrained, by having to deal with concrete +matter for a practical end. Neither, in spite of his eminence as a +financier and an advocate of free trade, did he show much taste for +economic studies. On practical topics, such as the working of +protective tariffs, the abuse of charitable endowments, the +development of fruit-culture in England, the duty of liberal giving by +the rich, the utility of thrift among the poor, his remarks were full +of point, clearness, and good sense, but he seldom launched out into +the wider sea of economic theory. He took a first-class in mathematics +at Oxford, at the same time as his first in classics, but did not +pursue the subject in later life. Regarding the sciences of experiment +and observation, he seemed to feel as little curiosity as any educated +man who notes the enormous part they play in the modern world can +feel. Sayings of his have been quoted which show that he imperfectly +comprehended the character of the evidence they rely upon and of the +methods they employ. On one occasion he horrified a dinner-table of +younger friends by refusing to accept some of the most certain +conclusions of modern geology. No doubt he belonged, as Lord Derby +(the Prime Minister) once said of himself, to a pre-scientific age. +Perhaps he was unconsciously biassed by the notion that such sciences +as geology and biology, for instance, were being used by some students +to sap the foundations of revealed religion. But I can recall no sign +of disposition to dissuade free inquiry either into those among the +sciences of nature which have been supposed to touch theology, or into +the date, authorship, and authority of the books of the Bible. He had +faith not only in his creed, but in God as a God of truth, and in the +power of research to elicit truth. + +General propositions are dangerous, yet it seems safe to observe that +great men have seldom been obscurantists or persecutors. Either the +sympathy with intellectual effort which is natural to a powerful +intellect, or the sense that free inquiry, though it may be checked by +repression for a certain time or within a certain area, will +ultimately have its course, dissuades them from that attempt to dam up +the stream of thought which smaller minds regard as the obvious +expedient for saving souls or institutions. + +It ought to be added, for this was a remarkable feature of his +character, that he had the deepest reverence for the great poets and +philosophers, placing the career of the statesman on a far lower plane +than that of those who rule the world by their thoughts enshrined in +literature. He expressed in a striking letter to Tennyson's eldest +son his sense of the immense superiority of the poet's life and work. +Once, in the lobby of the House of Commons, seeing his countenance +saddened by the troubles of Ireland, I told him, in order to divert +his thoughts, how some one had recently discovered that Dante had in +his last years been appointed at Ravenna to a lectureship which raised +him above the pinch of want. Mr. Gladstone's face lit up at once, and +he said, "How strange it is to think that these great souls whose +words are a beacon-light to all the generations that have come after +them, should have had cares and anxieties to vex them in their daily +life, just like the rest of us common mortals." The phrase reminded me +that a few days before I had heard Mr. Darwin, in dwelling upon the +pleasure a visit paid by Mr. Gladstone had given him, say, "And he +talked just as if he had been an ordinary person like one of +ourselves." The two great men were alike unconscious of their +greatness. + +It was an unspeakable benefit to Mr. Gladstone that his love of +letters and learning enabled him to find in the pursuit of knowledge a +relief from anxieties and a solace under disappointments. Without some +such relief his fiery and restless spirit would have worn itself out. +He lived two lives--the life of the statesman and the life of the +student, and passed swiftly from the one to the other, dismissing when +he sat down to his books all the cares of politics. But he led a +third life also, the secret life of the soul. Religion was of all +things that which had the strongest hold upon his thoughts and +feelings. Nothing but his father's opposition prevented him from +becoming a clergyman when he quitted the University. Never thereafter +did he cease to take the warmest interest in everything that affected +the Christian Church. He lost his seat for Oxford University by the +votes of the country clergy, who formed the bulk of the constituency. +He incurred the displeasure of four-fifths of the Anglican communion +by disestablishing the Protestant Episcopal Church in Ireland, and +from 1868 to the end of his life found nearly all the clerical force +of the English establishment arrayed against him, while his warmest +support came from the Nonconformists of England and the Presbyterians +of Scotland. Yet nothing affected his devotion to the Church in which +he had been brought up, nor to the body of Anglo-Catholic doctrine he +had imbibed as an undergraduate. After an attack of influenza which +had left him very weak in the spring of 1891, he endangered his life +by attending a meeting on behalf of the Colonial Bishoprics Fund, for +which he had spoken fifty years before. His theological opinions +tinged his views upon political subjects. They filled him with dislike +of the legalisation of marriage with a deceased wife's sister; they +made him a vehement opponent of the bill which established the +English Divorce Court in 1857, and a watchfully hostile critic of all +divorce legislation in America afterwards. Some of his friends traced +to the same cause his less than adequate appreciation of German +literature (though he admired Goethe and Schiller) and even his +political coldness towards Prussia and afterwards towards the German +Empire. He could not forget that Germany had been the fountain of +rationalism, while German Evangelical Protestantism was more +schismatic and farther removed from the mediæval Catholic Church than +it pleased him to deem the Church of England to be. He had an +exceedingly high sense of the duty of purity of life and of the +sanctity of domestic relations, and his rigid ideas of decorum +inspired so much awe that it used to be said to a person who had told +an anecdote with ever so slight a tinge of impropriety, "How many +thousands of pounds would you take to tell that to Gladstone?" When +living in the country, it was his practice to attend daily morning +service in the parish church, and on Sunday to read in church the +lessons for the day; and he rarely, if ever, transgressed his rule +against Sunday labour. Religious feeling, coupled with a system of +firm dogmatic beliefs, was the mainspring of his life, a guiding light +in perplexities, a source of strength in adverse fortune, a +consolation in sorrow, a beacon of hope beyond the failures and +disappointments of this present world. He did not make what is +commonly called a profession of religion, and talked little about it +in general society, although always ready to plunge into a magazine +controversy when Christianity was assailed. But those who knew him +best knew that he was always referring current questions to, and +trying his own conduct by, a religious standard. He believed in the +efficacy of prayer, and sought through prayer for strength and for +direction in the affairs of state. He was a remarkable example of the +coexistence together with a Christian virtue of a quality which +Catholic theologians treat as a mortal sin. He was an exceedingly +proud man, yet an exceedingly humble Christian. With a high regard for +his own dignity and a sensitiveness to any imputation on his honour, +he was deeply conscious of his imperfections in the eye of God, +realising the weakness and sinfulness of human nature with a mediæval +intensity. The language of self-depreciation he was wont to use, +sometimes deemed unreal, expressed his genuine sense of the contrast +between the religious ideal he set up and his own attainment. And the +tolerance which he extended to those who attacked him or who had (as +he thought) behaved ill in public life was largely due to this +pervading sense of the frailty of human character, and of the +inextricable mixture in conduct of good and bad motives. "It is +always best to take the charitable view," he once observed when I had +quoted to him the saying of Dean Church that Mark Pattison had painted +himself too black in his autobiography--"always best," adding, with +grim emphasis, "especially in politics." + +In this indulgent view, more evident in his later years, and the more +remarkable because his expressions were often too vehement, there was +nothing of the cynical "man of the world" acceptance of a low standard +as the only possible standard, for his moral earnestness was as +fervent at eighty-eight as it had been at thirty, and he retained a +simplicity and an unwillingness to suspect sinister motives, singular +in one who had seen so much. Although accessible and frank in the +ordinary converse of society, he was in reality a reserved man; not +shy, stiff, and externally cold, like Peel, nor always standing on a +pedestal of dignity, like the younger Pitt, but revealing his deepest +thoughts only to a few intimate friends, and treating others with a +courteous kindliness which, though it put them at their ease, did not +encourage them to approach nearer. Thus, while he was admired by the +mass of his followers, and beloved by the small inner group of family +friends, the majority of his colleagues, official subordinates, and +political or ecclesiastical associates, would have hesitated to give +him any of friendship's confidences. Though quick to mark and +acknowledge good service, or to offer to a junior an opportunity of +distinction, many deemed him too much occupied with his own thoughts +to show interest in his disciples, or to bestow those counsels which a +young man prizes from his chief. But for the warmth of his devotion to +a few early friends and the reverence he paid to their memory, a +reverence touchingly shown in the article on Arthur Hallam which he +published near the end of his own life, sixty-five years after +Hallam's death, there might have seemed to be a measure of truth in +the judgment that he cared less for men than for ideas and causes. +Those, however, who marked the pang which the departure to the Roman +Church of his friend Hope Scott caused him, those who in later days +noted the enthusiasm with which he would speak of Lord Althorp, his +opponent, and of Lord Aberdeen, his chief, dwelling upon the +truthfulness and uprightness of the former and the amiability of the +latter, knew that the impression of detachment he gave wronged the +sensibility of his own heart. Of how few who have lived for more than +sixty years in the full sight of their countrymen, and have been as +party leaders exposed to angry and sometimes spiteful criticism, can +it be said that there stands on record against them no malignant word +and no vindictive act! This was due not perhaps entirely to natural +sweetness of disposition, but rather to self-control and to a certain +largeness of soul which would not condescend to anything mean or +petty. Pride, though it may be a sin, is to most of us a useful, to +some an indispensable, buttress of virtue. Nor should it be forgotten +that the perfectly happy life which he led at home, cared for in +everything by a devoted wife, kept far from him those domestic +troubles which have soured the temper and embittered the judgments of +not a few famous men. Reviewing his whole career, and summing up the +concurrent impressions and recollections of those who knew him best, +this dignity is the feature which dwells most in the mind, as the +outline of some majestic Alp thrills one from afar when all the lesser +beauties of glen and wood, of crag and glacier, have faded in the +distance. As elevation was the note of his oratory, so was magnanimity +the note of his character. + +The Greek maxim that no one can be called happy till his life is +closed must, in the case of statesmen, be extended to warn us from the +attempt to fix a man's place in history till a generation has arisen +to whom he is a mere name, not a familiar figure to be loved or hated. +Few reputations made in politics so far retain their lustre that +curiosity continues to play round the person when those who can +remember him living have departed. Dante has in immortal stanzas +contrasted the fame of Provenzano Salvani that sounded through all +Tuscany while he lived with the faint whispers of his name heard in +his own Siena forty years after his death.[75] So out of all the men +who have held a foremost place in English public life in the +nineteenth century there are but six or seven--Pitt, Fox, Wellington, +Peel, Disraeli, possibly Canning, or O'Connell, or Melbourne--whose +names are to-day upon our lips. The great poet or the great artist +lives as long as his books or his pictures; the statesman, like the +singer or the actor, begins to be forgotten so soon as his voice is +still, unless he has so dominated the men of his own time, and made +himself a part of his country's history, that his personal character +is indissolubly linked to the events the course of which he helped to +determine. Tried by this test, Mr. Gladstone's fame seems destined to +endure. His eloquence will soon become merely a tradition, for his +printed speeches do not preserve its charm. If some of his books +continue to be read, it will be rather because they are his than in +respect of any permanent contribution they have made to knowledge. The +wisdom of his policy, foreign and domestic, will have to be judged, +not only by the consequences we see, but also by other consequences +still hidden in the future. Yet among his acts there are some with +which history cannot fail to concern herself, and which will keep +fresh the memory of their author's energy and courage. Whoever +follows the annals of England during the memorable years from 1843 to +1894 will meet his name on almost every page, will feel how great must +have been the force of an intellect that could so interpenetrate the +story of its time, and will seek to know something of the dauntless +figure that rose always conspicuous above the struggling throng. + +There is a passage in the _Odyssey_ where the seer Theoclymenus says, +in describing a vision of death: "The sun has perished out of heaven." +To Englishmen, Mr. Gladstone had been like a sun which, sinking +slowly, had grown larger as he sank, and filled the sky with radiance +even while he trembled on the verge of the horizon. There were men of +ability and men of renown, but there was no one comparable to him in +fame and power and honour. When he departed the light seemed to have +died out of the sky. + +----- + + [63] "Gled" is a kite or hawk. The name was Gladstones till Mr. + Gladstone's father dropped the final s. + + [64] One of his most intimate friends has, I think, said that "he + never knew what it was to be bored." Fortunate, indeed, would + he have been had this been so; but that one who had watched him + long and closely should make the statement shows how gently + bores fared at his hands. + + I recollect his once remarking on the capacity for boring + possessed by a gentleman who had been introduced and had talked + for some fifteen minutes to him; but his own manner through the + conversation had betrayed no impatience. + + [65] Sermons belong to a somewhat different category, else I should + have to add the discourses of a few great preachers, such as + Robert Hall, J. H. Newman, Phillips Brooks. + + [66] Though one of Macaulay's speeches (that against the exclusion of + the Master of the Rolls from the House of Commons) had the rare + honour of turning votes. + + [67] "He said that this was the hardest battle of men he had entered," + _Iliad_ vi. 185. + + [68] His physical courage was no less evident than his moral. For two + or three years his life was threatened, and policemen were told + off to guard him wherever he went. He disliked this protection + so much (though the Home Office thought it necessary) that he + used to escape from the House of Commons by a little-frequented + exit, give the policemen the slip, and stroll home to his + residence along the Thames Embankment in the small hours of the + morning. Fear was not in his nature. + + [69] The late Protestant Episcopal Primate of Ireland said that + Disestablishment had proved a blessing to his Church; and this + would seem to be now the general view of Irish Protestants. + + [70] His abdication of leadership in 1875 was meant to be final, + though when the urgency of Eastern affairs had drawn him back + into strife, the old ardour revived, and he resumed the place + of Prime Minister in 1880. It has been often said that he would + have done better to retire from public life in 1880, or in + 1885, yet the most striking proofs both of his courage and of + his physical energy were given in the latest part of his + career. + + [71] For instance, he recommended Dr. Stubbs for a bishopric and Sir + John Holker for a lord justiceship, knowing both of them to be + Tories. + + [72] His respect and regard for Mr. Bright were entirely unaffected by + the fact that Mr. Bright's opposition to the Home Rule Bill of + 1886 had been the chief cause of its defeat. + + [73] Usually over-anxious to vindicate his own consistency, he showed + on one occasion a capacity for recognising the humorous side of + a position into which he had been brought. In a debate which + arose in 1891 frequent references had been made to a former + speech in which he had pronounced a highly-coloured panegyric + upon the Church of England in Wales, the disestablishment of + which he had subsequently become willing to support. He + replied, "Many references have been made to a former speech of + mine on this subject, and I am not prepared to deny that in + that speech, when closely scrutinised, there may appear to be + present some element of exaggeration." The House dissolved in + laughter, and no further reference was made to the old speech. + + [74] His Oxford contemporary and friend, the late Mr. Milnes Gaskell, + told me that when Mr. Gladstone was undergoing his _viva voce_ + examination for his degree, the examiner, satisfied with the + candidate's answers on a particular matter, said, "And now, Mr. + Gladstone, we will leave that part of the subject." "No," + replied the examinee, "we will, if you please, not leave it + yet." Whereupon he proceeded to pour forth a further flood of + knowledge and disquisition. + + [75] _Purgat._ xi. 100-126. + + + + +INDEX + + + Acton, John Edward Emerich Dalberg, Lord-- + career of, 382-84 + characteristics of, 399 + critical taste of, 390 + family of, 382 + history, view of, 391-92; + view of study of, 394-95 + learning of, 386-89, 392 + liberty, history of, projected by, 395-96 + libraries of, 388-89 and note + political opinions of, 384 + style of, 396-97 + thoroughness of, 390, 393-95 + University work of, 397-98 + writings of, 395 + + American Civil War, 55, 57, 90 and note. _See also_ United States + + Arnold, Dr., 343, 346 + + Austen, Jane, 127 + + + Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli, Lord-- + Cairns valued by, 186-87 + career of, 3-16 + characteristics of-- + ambition, 21-22, 26, 30-31 + _bonhomie_, 32, 34 + courage, 11, 25-26, 65 + cynicism, 30, 40-41 + debating power, 47 + intellectual congruity, 35-38, 42 + loyalty, 33 + self-confidence, 21, 26, 50, 65, 224 + tactical adroitness, 48-50 + tenacity, 11, 15, 23-24, 60, 65 + Eastern policy of, 140, 275-76, 300, 356 + education of, 39 + epigrammatic phrases of, 41-42 + estimates regarding, 1-2; + foreign, 54, 58 + family of, 3 + Gladstone compared with, 418, 429, 465; + contrasted with, 422; + Gladstone's attitude towards, 455-56 + influence of, 66-68 + literary works of, 4-5, 18-19, 29, 31-33, 35, 41, 43-45, 52 note; + quoted, 21 note, 25 note, 41, 50 note, 55 + Lowe and, 34, 302 + Northcote appreciated by, 21, 218 + political views of, 6-8; + foreign policy of (_see also above_, Eastern policy), 15, 56, 59, 67 + Stanley and, 81 + suffrage extension, policy of, 305-306, 309-10, 442 + otherwise mentioned, 107, 171, 220 + + Bentinck, Lord George, 9 + + Bishops-- + change in type of, 196-98 + House of Lords, presence in, 112 + industry of, 199 + influence of, 100-101, 103 + + Bismarck, Prince, 54 + + Black, J. Sutherland, 311 note + + Bowen, Edward Ernest-- + biography of, 343 note + career of, 345-46 + characteristics of, 360-62 + death of, 355 + games, attitude towards, 351-52 + influence of, 350; + views regarding, 353-54 + military history, fondness for, 357-58 + political interests of, 355-57 + school songs of, 343 note, 359-360 + teaching methods of, 346-47, 349-350, 354-55 + training of teachers, views on, 348 + travel, fondness for, 358 + walking tours of, 355 + + Bowen, Lord, 345, 359 + + Bright, John, 30, 98, 304, 428-29, 443, 455 note + + Bradlaugh, Mr., 437 + + Brooke, Rev. Stopford, quoted, 135-137 + + Brooks, Dr. Phillips, 209, 381 + + Brougham, Lord, 64, 428 + + Browning, Robert, 39, 126 + + Burke, Edmund, 410, 427-28, 440 + + Burney, Miss, 127 + + + Cairns, Hugh M'Calmont, Earl-- + American Civil War, attitude towards, 57 + career of, 184-86 + characteristics of, 184, 188-91 + Disraeli compared with, 47 + Gladstone compared with, 429 + Jessel compared with, 180, 193 + judicial gifts of, 192-93 + legal manner of, 191-92 + Mellish and, 176-78 + parliamentary reform opposed by, 307 + political partisanship of, 187, 194-195 + religious views and interests of, 185-86, 193-94 + + Cambridge-- + Jewish scholar at, 319 note + Sidgwick at, 327 _seq._ + Smith, W. R., at, 319 + + Canterbury, + importance of See of, 101-105; + qualifications of archbishops of, 105-107 + + Carlyle, Thomas, 40, 87, 92, 126, 277, 461 + + Celtic temperament, 403, 405 + + Chancery Bar, 170; + famous trio at, 191 + + Chancery Courts, 181-82 + + Charity Organisation Society, 133 + + Church, Dean, 251-52 + + Church-- + Anglican-- + disestablishment of, 114-15, 141 + possibilities before, 209-10 + Stanley's view of, 78-79 + Tractarian movement in, 252, 264 note, 406 + Roman Catholic-- + adaptability of, 259 + Infallibilist claims of, 256, 385 + modern research, attitude towards, 317 + + Clark, George T., quoted, 266-67 + + Clough, Miss A. J., 329 + + Clough, Arthur Hugh, 338 + + Cobden, Mr., quoted, 429-30 + + Collins, Wilkie, 116 + + Copleston, Dr. (Bishop of Llandaff), 197 + + Creighton, Bishop, 289, 387 + + + Dalgairns, 251 + + Dante, 468-69, 471 + + Darwin, Charles, 457, 471-72 + + _De la Démocratie_, Schérer's, cited, 309 note + + Delane, Mr., 422 + + _Democracy and the Organisation of Political Parties_, + Ostrogorski's, cited, 309 note + + Denison, Archdeacon, 133, 271 note + + Derby, Lord, 10, 12, 28, 47, 57, 198, 429, 470 + + Dickens, Charles, 123, 127 + + Disraeli. _See_ Beaconsfield + + Dissenters. _See_ Nonconformists + + Döllinger, Dr. von, 383, 385, 392 + + Dupanloup, Archbishop, 209, 385 + + + Eastern Question (1876), 140, 275-276, 300, 356, 419 + + Editors, + types of, 363-64; + temptations of, 370, 380-81 + + Eliot, George, 124, 328 + + Equity Courts, 170, 173 + + _Essays and Reviews_, 113, 317 + + _Essays on Reform_, cited, 307 and note + + _Evening Post, The_, 365, 374-76 + + + Forster, W. E., 234, 239 and note + + Fox, Charles James, 428-29, 435 + + France, novelists of, 129 + + Franchise extension. _See_ Suffrage + + Fraser, James, Bishop of Manchester-- + biographies of, 196 note + career of, 196, 200-201 + characteristics of, 204-205 + energy of, 202 + Fraser, James, Bishop of Manchester-- + influence of, 206 + new Episcopal type created by, 196, 210 + personality of, 203-204 + popularity of, 202, 206 + ritualist illegalities, attitude towards, 208 + science, attitude towards, 207 + views of, 206-207 + + Freeman, Edward Augustus-- + biography of, 262 note + career of, 262-63 + friendships of, 290 + Green influenced by, 137 + historical work, + merits of, 276-84; + style of, 286-87 + humour of, 287 + interests of, 264-67, 271-72 + kindliness of, 278, 291 + literary preferences of, 269-70 + methodical ways of, 285 + military history, fondness for, 357 + Oxford work of, 287-89 + political views of, 272-75 + simplicity and directness of, 270-71, 275 + Trollope and, 120, 271 and note + works of, 267, 284-86, 291-92 + + Froude, J. A., 271 note + + + Gardiner, S. R., 357; + quoted, 274 + + Gibbon, 133, 169, 281, 284 + + Gladstone, William Ewart-- + Acton, Lord, relations with, 383, 399 + _Alabama_ claims, action regarding, 444, 446, 449, 451 + American Civil War, attitude towards, 57 + career of, 412 + characteristics of-- + breadth and keenness of interests, 400, 413, 459 + caution, 409, 414, 419, 447, 453 + complexity of nature, 400, 409-410, 412 + conservatism, 401, 439 + constructive power, 439-41 + conversational powers, 461 + courage, 447 and note, 451 note + courtesy, 423 and note, 455-456, 461 + dignity, 457 + emotional excitability, 405, 410-411, 433-34 + humour, 460 + impulsiveness, 401, 405, 421, 447 + independence, 418-19, 450 + ingenuity, 404, 416-17, 430-31, 466 + insight into character, 453 + intensity, 402, 405, 426, 435, 450, 453, 460, 462 + loyalty, 455 + magnanimity, 457, 477 + memory, 404, 424, 459 + for faces, 423 + open-mindedness, 416, 452, 454 + oratory, 411, 426-39, 463 + over-subtlety, 407, 432, 448, 452 + patriotism, 450-51 + pride, 416, 420, 423, 452, 455, 474, 477 + religious disposition, 472-75 + views, 401, 406-407 + reserve: + political, 409, 414-15, 419, 452 + personal, 424, 475-476 + Scottish temperament, 403-405 + self-confidence, 224 + simplicity, 453, 458, 461, 475 + sincerity, 401 + temper, 455-56 + tranquillity, 462 + voice, 430, 436-38 + Disraeli and, 11, 33, 35 + estimates of, 411, 417, 448 + continental, 444 + family of, 403 + foreign affairs, attitude towards, 443-46, 458 + Freeman's appointment by, 263 + High Church appointments of, 198 + home life of, 462, 474, 477 + Home Rule Bill of (1886), 272 + Homeric studies and views of, 401, 465-68 + hostility to, 304 + literary activities of, 401, 458, 462-68 + Lowe compared with, 293, 299, 429, 435 + Lowe's antagonism to, 295 + Lowe in Cabinet of, 299 + mistakes of, 449 + Northcote and, 212, 216 + Oxford training of, 406-408 + parliamentary abilities of, 420-21, 424-26 + Parnell's resentment against, 239-240, 247 + Peel's influence on, 10, 409, 452 + poetry, attitude towards, 471 + quoted, 56 + Reform Bill of, 13, 442 + scholarship of, 468 + science, attitude towards, 407-408, 470 + suffrage qualifications, proposed reduction of, 308 note + theological views of, tinging political, 473 + otherwise mentioned, 67, 113, 179, 187, 221, 260 + + Godkin, Edwin Lawrence-- + career of, 365-66 + courage of, 370-71 + geniality of, 376 + humour of, 368-73 + independence of, 364, 369, 381 + influence of, 378-80 + sincerity of, 367, 373, 380 + style of, 367-68, 373 + Tammany, attitude towards, 374 and note + views of, 366-67, 370, 374-76 + + Green, John Richard-- + biography of, 131 note + career of, 131-34 + conversation of, 165-66 + eloquence of, 166 + gifts and qualities of, 146, 151-52, 154, 160-62, 164-67 + ill-health of, 138, 141-46 + interests of, 151, 154-57 + letters of, 131 note, 152-53 + literary work of-- + _Saturday Review_ articles, 133, 135-37, 153; + historical, 138-39, 142-45, 155, 158-60, 163-64; + characteristics of, 139-40, 150, 152-53, 157-65, 167-69 + military history, fondness for, 357 + political activity of, 140-41 + views of, 134 + + Green, Prof. Thomas Hill-- + career of, 85 + characteristics of, 86-91 + civic activities of, 98 + influence of, 95-97, 99 + literary works of, 92-94, 98 + political keenness of, 95, 97 + views of, 93, 97, 335 + otherwise mentioned, 265, 268, 278 + + + Hardy, Gathorne, 213 + + Hardy, Thomas, 116 + + Healy, T. M., 443 + + Henry VIII., 271 note + + Herodotus, 149-51 + + Historians-- + qualifications of, 146-48, 156, 277 + two classes of, 149 + + History, Freeman's view of, 268, 274 + + Hodgkin, Dr. Thomas, 357 + + Holker, Sir John, 453 note + + House of Commons-- + character of, 48 + erroneous sketches of, 121 + lawyers in, 172 + leadership of, 217, 424 + occasional detachment of, from popular sentiment, 51 + power of, declining, 308-309 + rhetoric unpopular with, 296 + + Huxley, 207 + + + Iddesleigh. _See_ Northcote + + Ireland-- + Anglo-Irish Protestants, 229-30 + Church disestablishment in, 113, 187, 273, 407, 419, 442, 449 and note + Disraeli's attitude towards, 56-57, 67 + Green, J. R., views of, regarding, 141 + Home Rule, views regarding, of + Acton, 384; + Bowen, 356; + Bright, 455 note; + Freeman, 272; + Gladstone, 272, 414, 447; + Godkin, 375 + Land Bill of 1881, 425, 442-43 + + + James, Henry, 129 + + Jessel, Sir George-- + Cairns compared with, 180, 193 + career of, 171 + judicial methods of, 174-75, 179-181, 194 + mental powers of, 173, 181-82 + parliamentary manner of, 172 + quickness of, 173, 176, 183, 193 + + Jews-- + bigotry towards, 183 + Cambridge scholar, anecdote of, 319 note + concentration, power of, possessed by, 23 and note + conservatism of, 25 note + detachment of, 19-20 + distinctions gained by, 171 + practicality of, 182 + satirical powers of, 45 + + Jowett, 113, 150 + + + Kelvin, Lord, 184 + + Kipling, Rudyard, 129 + + + Lawrence, Lord, 184 + + Lightfoot, Bishop, 199-200, 209, 290 + + Louis Napoleon, 55, 64, 98 + + Lowe, Robert-- + biography of, 293 note + Cairns compared with, 188 + career of, 293-95, 299-300 + characteristics of, 301-304 + Disraeli and, 34, 302 + eclipse of fame of, 293, 300 + educational work of, 294-95, 304-305 + Gladstone compared with, 293, 299, 429, 435; + antagonism to Gladstone, 295; + in Gladstone's Cabinet, 299 + Oxford, at, 301 note 2 + rhetorical power of, 296-97 + shortsightedness of, 300-301 + Utilitarianism of, 304 + + Lyndhurst, Lord, 29 + + + Macaulay, 139, 169, 270, 274, 281, 427, 428 and note 2 + + Macdonald, Sir John A., 422 + + Maclennan, John F., 320 + + Magee, Archbishop, 112, 199, 429 + + Manning, Cardinal Henry Edward-- + biography of, 260-61 + career of, 250-51 + characteristics of, 251-54, 261 + conversions effected by, 255 + Infallibilist cause, work for, 256 + interests and sympathies of, 257-61 + speeches of, 255 + + Maurice, F. D., 134, 408 + + Mellish, Lord Justice, 176-79 + + Meredith, George, 116, 122 + + Mill, John Stuart, 61, 78 note, 93, 304 + + Monk, Bishop, 197 + + Mugwumps, 375 and note + + + Napoleon Bonaparte, 238 + + Napoleon, Louis, 55, 64, 98 + + _Nation, The_, 365, 368, 371-73, 378 + + Newman, Cardinal, 251-52, 428 note 1, 467 + + Newnham College, Cambridge, 329-330 + + Nonconformists-- + Disraeli's dislike of, 8, 52 + Education Act (1870) resented by, 15 + Fraser's attitude towards, 202, 206-208 and note + Gladstone trusted by, 401 + Green's dislike of, 134 + + Northcote, Sir Stafford (Lord Iddesleigh)-- + biography of, 211 note + career of, 212-13 + characteristics of, 213, 222-23, 225-26 + Gladstone compared with, 435 + parliamentary abilities of, 214-16, 218 + + Novels, types of, 122 + + + O'Connell, Daniel, 6, 8, 248 + + Oliphant, Mrs., 116 + + Oratory-- + elevation in, 433 + reputation for, nature of, 427 + + Oxford-- + Green, T. H., on municipal council of, 98-99 + Thackeray's candidature for, 120 + + Oxford University-- + Tractarian movement in, 252, 264 note, 406 + training at, characteristics of, 408, 467 + + + Palmer, Roundell (Lord Selborne), 176, 191-92, 294 + + Palmerston, Lord, 13, 28, 49, 57, 98, 294 + + Parliament. _See_ House of Commons + + Parnell, Charles Stewart-- + biography of, 227 note + career of, 228-29 + family of, 227 + leadership, aptness for, 248 + moral courage of, 239 + parliamentary tactics of, 218-19, 244; + knowledge of procedure, 242-43 + passion and self-control of, 240 + Phoenix Park murders, demeanour after, 236, 238 + Pigott affair, attitude towards, 239 + practicality of, 230-33 + pride of, 233, 235-38 + self-confidence of, 224, 236, 238 + speeches of, 241-42 + unscrupulousness of, 237-38 + unsympathetic manner of, 190 + views of, 245-46 + + Peel, Sir Robert-- + caution of, 408-409, 452 + death of, 10 + Disraeli's conduct towards, 28 and note + his view of, 55 + financial policy of, 441-42 + Gladstone compared with, 411, 439, 455, 475 + separation of, from Conservatives, 9, 61 + speeches of, 428 + + Pitt, William, 429, 435, 439, 442, 476 + + _Popular Government_, Sir H. Maine's, cited, 309 note + + Psychical Research Society, 331-32 + + Pusey, Dr., cited, 80 + + + Rhodes, Cecil, 246 + + Rolt, Lord Justice, 191-92 + + Roman Catholic Church. _See under_ Church + + Russell, Lord, 13, 28, 57, 295 + + + Salisbury, Lord, 186, 247, 295, 456 + + _Saturday Review_-- + Bowen's contributions to, 360 + Freeman's contributions to, 285 + dissociation from, 275 + Green's contributions to, 133, 135-137, 153 + + Schoolmasters, types of, 343, 346 + + Schools Inquiry Commission, 200-201 + + Scott, Sir Walter, 123, 125 + + Scottish temperament and characteristics, 315, 403-405 + + Selborne, Lord. _See_ Palmer, Roundell + + Sherbrooke, Viscount. _See_ Lowe, Robert + + Sidgwick, Henry-- + career of, 327-29 + characteristics of, 338-42 + impartiality of, 334 + literary preferences of, 338 + psychical research, interest in, 331-332 + views of, philosophical and political, 335-37 + women's education promoted by, 329 + + Sidgwick, Henry-- + works of, 332-34, 338 + + Skene, Mr., cited, 158 + + Smith, Professor Goldwin, 76, 281 + + Smith, R. Bosworth, quoted, 349-50 + + Smith, Prof. Robertson-- + Acton, Lord, and, 387 + career of, 311-12, 315, 318-320 + characteristics of, 323-25 + ecclesiastical trial of, 313-16 + _Encyclopædia Britannica_, work on, 312-14 + versatility of, 322 + works of, 320-21; + characteristics of, 321 + + Stanley, Very Rev. Arthur Penrhyn-- + career of, 70 + characteristics of, 71, 73, 77, 82-84 + debating power of, 77 + Disraeli and, 81 + family of, 69-70 + Green influenced by, 132, 137 + literary work of, 71-74 + politics of, 78 + sermons of, 76-77 + theological position of, 80-81 + Tait, attitude towards, 113 + otherwise mentioned, 164-65, 205-206 + + Statesmanship, necessary qualifications for, 46 + + Stevenson, R. L., 129 + + Stubbs, Bishop, 138, 160, 289-90, 453 note + + Suffrage extension-- + Disraeli's view of, 52, 57-58, 67-68, 310 + Lowe's opposition to, 295-98, 305-306 + results of, 306-309 + + + Tait, Archibald Campbell, Archbishop of Canterbury-- + biography of, cited, 100 note + career of, 107 + characteristics of, 108-12, 209 + Green appointed librarian by, 133-134 + influence of, 110-12 + Irish Church Disestablishment Bill, attitude towards, 187 + policy of, 112, 114 + views of, 110 + + Temple, Archbishop, 113 and note, 199 + + Tennyson, 39, 459 + + Thackeray, W. M., 35, 120, 123-25 + + Thirlwall, Bishop, 112 + + Thucydides, 149-50 + + Tone, Wolfe, 229, 248 + + Tory party-- + nature of, 218; + (1848-1865), 60-62 + suffrage extension profitable to, 52, 57-58, 67, 310 + + Tractarian movement, 252, 264 note, 406 + + Trollope, Anthony-- + biographies of, cited, 116 note + Freeman and, 120, 271 and note + literary position of, 116-18 + personality of, 118, 126 + political activity of, 120 + travels of, 121-22 + works of, 117-20, 128; + characteristics of, 122-30 + + + United States-- + Acton's knowledge of history of, 387 + Freeman's visit to, 268 + journalism in, 379 + Presbyterianism in, 317 + religion and politics dissociated in, 100 + Trollope's account of, 122 + University influence in, 378 + + + Westbury, Lord, 303 + + Whiggism, 6, 8, 63, 298, 469 + + Wilberforce, Bishop Samuel, 111-12, 198, 254, 429 + + Women, education of, 329-31 + + Wordsworth, 301 + + Wright, William, 319 and note, 320 + + + + +THE END + + +_Printed by_ R. & R. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Studies in Contemporary Biography</p> +<p>Author: James Bryce, Viscount Bryce</p> +<p>Release Date: March 17, 2010 [eBook #31677]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDIES IN CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4 class="center">E-text prepared by David Clarke, Dan Horwood,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net/c/">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> + from page images generously made available by<br /> + Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries<br /> + (<a href="http://www.archive.org/details/toronto">http://www.archive.org/details/toronto</a>)</h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/Canadian Libaries. See + <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/r8548972200brycuoft"> + http://www.archive.org/details/r8548972200brycuoft</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h1>STUDIES<br /> +<span style='font-size:0.5em;'>IN</span><br /> +CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY</h1> +<hr class='major' /> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_1' id='linki_1'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/i002.png' alt='' title='' width='100' height='30' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='major' /> +<div class='center'> +<h1 style='margin-bottom:2em;'><span style='font-size:0.8em;'>STUDIES</span><br /> +<span style='font-size:0.5em;'>IN</span><br /> +CONTEMPORARY<br /> +BIOGRAPHY</h1> + +<p style='font-size:0.8em;'>BY</p> +<p style='margin-top:0.8em; font-size:1.2em;'>JAMES BRYCE</p> +<p style='font-size:0.7em;'>AUTHOR OF<br /> +‘THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE,’ ‘THE AMERICAN COMMONWEALTH’, ETC.</p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<p style='font-weight:bold; margin-top:4em;'>London</p> +<p>MACMILLAN AND CO., <span class='smcap'>Limited</span></p> +<p style='font-size:0.8em;'>NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</p> +<p style='margin-bottom:2em;'>1903</p> +<p style='font-size:0.8em;'><i>All rights reserved</i></p> +</div> +<hr class='mini' /> +<p class='center'><i>Copyright in the United States of America 1903</i></p> +<hr class='mini' /> +<div class='center' style='margin:4em auto;'> +<p><span style='font-size:0.8em;'>TO</span><br /> +CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT<br /> +<span style='font-size:0.7em;'>PRESIDENT OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY</span></p> +<p style='font-size:0.8em;'>IN COMMEMORATION OF A LONG AND<br /> +VALUED FRIENDSHIP</p> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_vii' name='page_vii'></a>vii</span> +<a name='PREFACE' id='PREFACE'></a> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> +</div> +<p>The first and the last of these Studies relate to +persons whose fame has gone out into all lands, and +about whom so much remains to be said that one +who has reflected on their careers need not offer +an apology for saying something. Of the other +eighteen sketches, some deal with eminent men +whose names are still familiar, but whose personalities +have begun to fade from the minds of the +present generation. The rest treat of persons +who came less before the public, but whose +brilliant gifts and solid services to the world +make them equally deserve to be remembered +with honour. Having been privileged to enjoy +their friendship, I have felt it a duty to do what +a friend can to present a faithful record of their +excellence which may help to keep their memory +fresh and green.</p> +<p>These Studies are, however, not to be regarded +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_viii' name='page_viii'></a>viii</span> +as biographies, even in miniature. My aim +has rather been to analyse the character and +powers of each of the persons described, and, +as far as possible, to convey the impression +which each made in the daily converse of life. +All of them, except Lord Beaconsfield, were +personally, and most of them intimately, known +to me.</p> +<p>In the six Studies which treat of politicians +I have sought to set aside political predilections, +and have refrained from expressing political +opinions, though it has now and then been +necessary to point out instances in which the +subsequent course of events has shown the +action of Lord Beaconsfield, Mr. Lowe, and +Mr. Gladstone to have been right or wrong (as +the case may be) in the action they respectively +took.</p> +<p>The sketches of T. H. Green, E. A. Freeman, +and J. R. Green were originally written +for English magazines, and most of the other +Studies have been published in the United +States. All of those that had already appeared +in print have been enlarged and revised, some +indeed virtually rewritten. I have to thank the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_ix' name='page_ix'></a>ix</span> +proprietors of the <i>English Historical Review</i>, +the <i>Contemporary Review</i>, and the <i>New York +Nation</i>, as also the Century Company of New +York, for their permission to use so much of +the matter of the volume as had appeared (in +its original form) in the organs belonging to +them respectively.</p> +<p><i>March 6, 1903.</i></p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_xi' name='page_xi'></a>xi</span> +<a name='CONTENTS' id='CONTENTS'></a> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +</div> +<table id='toc' border='0' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Contents' style='margin:1em auto;'> +<tr> + <td /> + <td /> + <td /> + + <td valign='top' align='right' style='font-size:0.8em;'>PAGE</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>I.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1804-1881</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#BENJAMIN_DISRAELI_EARL_OF_BEACONSFIELD1'>1</a></td> + +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>II.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Dean of Westminster</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1815-1881</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#DEAN_STANLEY16'>69</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>III.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Thomas Hill Green</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1836-1882</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THOMAS_HILL_GREEN'>85</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>IV.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1811-1882</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#ARCHBISHOP_TAIT19'>100</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>V.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Anthony Trollope</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1815-1882</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#ANTHONY_TROLLOPE21'>116</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>VI.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>John Richard Green</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1837-1883</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#JOHN_RICHARD_GREEN22'>131</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>VII.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Sir George Jessel</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1824-1883</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#SIR_GEORGE_JESSEL_MASTER_OF_THE_ROLLS'>170</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>VIII.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Hugh M’Calmont Cairns, Earl Cairns</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1819-1885</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#LORD_CHANCELLOR_CAIRNS'>184</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>IX.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>James Fraser, Bishop of Manchester</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1818-1885</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#BISHOP_FRASER'>196</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>X.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Stafford Henry Northcote, Earl of Iddesleigh</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1818-1887</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#SIR_STAFFORD_HENRY_NORTHCOTE_EARL_OF_IDDESLEIGH34'>211</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XI.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Charles Stewart Parnell</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1846-1891</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHARLES_STEWART_PARNELL'>227</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XII.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Henry Edward Manning, Archbishop and Cardinal</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1808-1892</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CARDINAL_MANNING'>250</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XIII.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Edward Augustus Freeman</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1823-1892</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#EDWARD_AUGUSTUS_FREEMAN37'>262</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XIV.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1811-1892</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#ROBERT_LOWE_VISCOUNT_SHERBROOKE41'>293</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XV.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>William Robertson Smith</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1846-1894</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#WILLIAM_ROBERTSON_SMITH'>311</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XVI.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Henry Sidgwick</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1838-1900</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#HENRY_SIDGWICK'>327</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XVII.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Edward Ernest Bowen</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1836-1901</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#EDWARD_ERNEST_BOWEN53'>343</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XVIII.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Edwin Lawrence Godkin</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1831-1902</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#EDWIN_LAWRENCE_GODKIN'>363</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XIX.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>John Emerich Dalberg-Acton, Lord Acton</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1834-1902</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#LORD_ACTON'>382</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XX.</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>William Ewart Gladstone</span></td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>1809-1898</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#WILLIAM_EWART_GLADSTONE'>400</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_1' name='page_1'></a>1</span> +<a name='BENJAMIN_DISRAELI_EARL_OF_BEACONSFIELD1' id='BENJAMIN_DISRAELI_EARL_OF_BEACONSFIELD1'></a> +<h2>BENJAMIN DISRAELI, EARL OF BEACONSFIELD<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor2">[1]</a></h2> +</div> +<p>When Lord Beaconsfield died in 1881 we all +wondered what people would think of him fifty +years thereafter. Divided as our own judgments +were, we asked whether he would still seem a +problem. Would opposite views regarding his +aims, his ideas, the sources of his power, still +divide the learned, and perplex the ordinary +reader? Would men complain that history cannot +be good for much when, with the abundant +materials at her disposal, she had not framed a +consistent theory of one who played so great a +part in so ample a theatre? People called him +a riddle; and he certainly affected a sphinx-like +attitude. Would the riddle be easier then than +it was for us, from among whom the man had +even now departed?</p> +<p>When he died, there were many in England +who revered him as a profound thinker and a +lofty character, animated by sincere patriotism. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_2' name='page_2'></a>2</span> +Others, probably as numerous, held him for no +better than a cynical charlatan, bent through +life on his own advancement, who permitted no +sense of public duty, and very little human +compassion, to stand in the way of his insatiate +ambition. The rest did not know what to think. +They felt in him the presence of power; they +felt also something repellent. They could not +understand how a man who seemed hard and +unscrupulous could win so much attachment and +command so much obedience.</p> +<p>Since Disraeli departed nearly one-half of +those fifty years has passed away. Few are +living who can claim to have been his personal +friends, none who were personal enemies. No +living statesman professes to be his political +disciple. The time has come when one may discuss +his character and estimate his career without +being suspected of doing so with a party bias +or from a party motive. Doubtless those who +condemn and those who defend or excuse some +momentous parts of his conduct, such as, for +instance, his policy in the East and in Afghanistan +from 1876 to 1879, will differ in their +judgment of his wisdom and foresight. If this +be a difficulty, it is an unavoidable one, and +may never quite disappear. There were in the +days of Augustus some who blamed that sagacious +ruler for seeking to check the expansion of the +Roman Empire. There were in the days of King +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_3' name='page_3'></a>3</span> +Henry the Second some who censured and others +who praised him for issuing the Constitutions of +Clarendon. Both questions still remain open to +argument; and the conclusion any one forms +must affect in some measure his judgment of +each monarch’s statesmanship. So differences of +opinion about particular parts of Disraeli’s long +career need not prevent us from dispassionately +inquiring what were the causes that enabled him +to attain so striking a success, and what is the +place which posterity is likely to assign to him +among the rulers of England.</p> +<p>First, a few words about the salient events of +his life, not by way of writing a biography, but +to explain what follows.</p> +<p>He was born in London, in 1804. His father, +Isaac Disraeli, was a literary man of cultivated +taste and independent means, who wrote a good +many books, the best known of which is his +<i>Curiosities of Literature</i>, a rambling work, full +of entertaining matter. He belonged to that +division of the Jewish race which is called +the Sephardim, and traces itself to Spain and +Portugal;<a name='FNanchor_0001' id='FNanchor_0001'></a><a href='#Footnote_0001' class='fnanchor'>[2]</a> but he had ceased to frequent the +synagogue—had, in fact, broken with his co-religionists. +Isaac had access to good society, so +that the boy saw eminent and polished men from +his early years, and, before he had reached manhood, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_4' name='page_4'></a>4</span> +began to make his way in drawing-rooms +where he met the wittiest and best-known people +of the day. He was articled to a firm of attorneys +in London in 1821, but after two or three +years quitted a sphere for which his peculiar gifts +were ill suited.<a name='FNanchor_0002' id='FNanchor_0002'></a><a href='#Footnote_0002' class='fnanchor'>[3]</a> Samuel Rogers, the poet, took +a fancy to him, and had him baptized at the age +of thirteen. As he grew up, he was often to be +seen with Count d’Orsay and Lady Blessington, +well-known figures who fluttered on the confines +of fashion and Bohemia. It is worth remarking +that he never went either to a public school or to +a university. In England it has become the +fashion to assume that nearly all the persons who +have shone in public life have been educated in one +of the great public schools, and that they owe to +its training their power of dealing with men and +assemblies. Such a superstition is sufficiently +refuted by the examples of men like Pitt, +Macaulay, Bishop Wilberforce, Disraeli, Cobden, +Bright, and Cecil Rhodes, not to add instances +drawn from Ireland and Scotland, where till very +recently there have been no public schools in the +current English sense.</p> +<p>Disraeli first appeared before the public in +1826, when he published <i>Vivian Grey</i>, an amazing +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_5' name='page_5'></a>5</span> +book to be the production of a youth of twenty-two. +Other novels—<i>The Young Duke</i>, <i>Venetia</i>, +<i>Contarini Fleming</i>, <i>Henrietta Temple</i>—maintained +without greatly increasing his reputation +between 1831 and 1837. Then came two +political stories, <i>Coningsby</i> and <i>Sybil</i>, in 1844 +and 1845, followed by <i>Tancred</i> in 1847, and the +<i>Life of Lord George Bentinck</i> in 1852; with a +long interval of silence, till, in 1870, he produced +<i>Lothair</i>, in 1880 <i>Endymion</i>. Besides these he +published in 1839 the tragedy of <i>Alarcos</i>, and in +1835 the more ambitious <i>Revolutionary Epick</i>, +neither of which had much success. In 1828-31 +he took a journey through the East, visiting +Constantinople, Syria, and Egypt, and it was +then, no doubt, in lands peculiarly interesting to +a man of his race, that he conceived those ideas +about the East and its mysterious influences +which figure largely in some of his stories, +notably in <i>Tancred</i>, and which in 1878 had no +small share in shaping his policy and that of +England. Meanwhile, he had not forgotten the +political aspirations which we see in <i>Vivian Grey</i>. +In 1832, just before the passing of the Reform +Bill, he appeared as candidate for the petty +borough of High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, +and was defeated by a majority of twenty-three +to twelve, so few were the voters in many +boroughs of those days. After the Bill had +enlarged the constituency, he tried his luck twice +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_6' name='page_6'></a>6</span> +again, in 1833 and 1835, both times unsuccessfully, +and came before two other boroughs also, +Taunton and Marylebone, though in the latter +case no contest took place. Such activity in a +youth with little backing from friends and comparatively +slender means marked him already as +a man of spirit and ambition. His next attempt +was more lucky. At the general election of 1837 +he was returned for Maidstone.</p> +<p>His political professions during this period +have been keenly canvassed; nor is it easy to +form a fair judgment on them. In 1832 he +had sought and obtained recommendations from +Joseph Hume and Daniel O’Connell, and people +had therefore set him down as a Radical. Although, +however, his professions of political +faith included dogmas which, like triennial parliaments, +the ballot, and the imposition of a new +land-tax, were part of the so-called “Radical” +platform, still there was a vague and fanciful +note in his utterances, and an aversion to the +conventional Whig way of putting things, which +showed that he was not a thorough-going +adherent of any of the then existing political +parties, but was trying to strike out a new line +and attract men by the promise of something +fresher and bolder than the recognised schools +offered. In 1834 his hostility to Whiggism +was becoming more pronounced, and a tenderness +for some Tory doctrines more discernible. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_7' name='page_7'></a>7</span> +Finally, in 1835, he appeared as an avowed +Tory, accepting the regular creed of the party, +and declaring himself a follower of Sir Robert +Peel, but still putting forward a number of +views peculiar to himself, which he thereafter +developed not only in his speeches but in his +novels. <i>Coningsby</i> and <i>Sybil</i> were meant to be +a kind of manifesto of the “Young England” +party—a party which can hardly be said to have +existed outside his own mind, though a small knot +of aristocratic youths who caught up and repeated +his phrases seemed to form a nucleus for it.</p> +<p>The fair conclusion from his deliverances +during these early years is that he was at first +much more of a Liberal than a Tory, yet with +ideas distinctively his own which made him appear +in a manner independent of both parties. The +old party lines might seem to have been almost +effaced by the struggle over the Reform Bill; +and it was natural for a bold and inventive mind +to imagine a new departure, and put forward a +programme in which a sort of Radicalism was +mingled with doctrines of a different type. But +when it became clear after a time that the old +political divisions still subsisted, and that such a +distinctive position as he had conceived could not +be maintained, he then, having to choose between +one or other of the two recognised parties, chose +the Tories, dropping some tenets he had previously +advocated which were inconsistent with their +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_8' name='page_8'></a>8</span> +creed, but retaining much of his peculiar way +of looking at political questions. How far the +change which passed over him was a natural +development, how far due to mere calculations of +interest, there is little use discussing: perhaps he +did not quite know himself. Looking back, we +of to-day might be inclined to think that he received +more blame for it than he deserved, but +contemporary observers generally set it down to a +want of principle. In one thing, however, he was +consistent then, and remained consistent ever after—his +hearty hatred of the Whigs. There was +something in the dryness and coldness of the great +Whig families, their stiff constitutionalism, their +belief in political economy, perhaps also their +occasional toyings with the Nonconformists +(always an object of dislike to Disraeli), which +roused all the antagonisms of his nature, personal +and Oriental.</p> +<p>When he entered the House of Commons he +was already well known to fashionable London, +partly by his striking face and his powers of conversation, +partly by the eccentricities of his dress—he +loved bright-coloured waistcoats, and decked +himself with rings,—partly by his novels, whose +satirical pungency had made a noise in society. +He had also become, owing to his apparent change +of front, the object of angry criticism. A quarrel +with Daniel O’Connell, in the course of which he +challenged the great Irishman to fight a duel, each +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_9' name='page_9'></a>9</span> +party having described the other with a freedom +of language bordering on scurrility, made him, for +a time, the talk of the political world. Thus +there was more curiosity evoked by his first +speech than usually awaits a new member. It +was unsuccessful, not from want of ability, but +because its tone did not suit the temper of +the House of Commons, and because a hostile +section of the audience sought to disconcert him +by their laughter. Undeterred by this ridicule, +he continued to speak, though in a less +ambitious and less artificial vein, till after a few +years he had become one of the most conspicuous +unofficial members. At first no one had eulogised +Peel more warmly, but after a time he +edged away from the minister, whether repelled +by his coldness, which showed that in that +quarter no promotion was to be expected, or +shrewdly perceiving that Peel was taking a line +which would ultimately separate him from the +bulk of the Conservative party. This happened +in 1846, when Peel, convinced that the import +duties on corn were economically unsound, proposed +their abolition. Disraeli, who, since 1843, +had taken repeated opportunities of firing stray +shots at the powerful Prime Minister, now bore a +foremost part not only in attacking him, but in +organising the Protectionist party, and prompting +its leader, Lord George Bentinck. In embracing +free trade, Peel carried with him his own personal +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_10' name='page_10'></a>10</span> +friends and disciples, men like Gladstone, Sidney +Herbert, Lord Lincoln, Sir James Graham, Cardwell, +and a good many others, the intellectual <i>élite</i> +of the Tory party. The more numerous section +who clung to Protection had numbers, wealth, +respectability, cohesion, but brains and tongues +were scarce. An adroit tactician and incisive +speaker was of priceless value to them. Such +a man they found in Disraeli, while he gained, +sooner than he had expected, an opportunity of +playing a leading part in the eyes of Parliament +and the country. In the end of 1848, Lord +George Bentinck, who, though a man of natural +force and capable of industry when he pleased, +had been to some extent Disraeli’s mouthpiece, +died, leaving his prompter indisputably the keenest +intellect in the Tory-Protectionist party. In 1850, +Peel, who might possibly have in time brought +the bulk of that party back to its allegiance +to him, was killed by a fall from his horse. +The Peelites drifted more and more towards +Liberalism, so that when Lord Derby, who, in +1851, had been commissioned as head of the +Tory party to form a ministry, invited them to +join him, they refused to do so, imagining him +to be still in favour of the corn duties, and +resenting the behaviour of the Protectionist +section to their own master. Being thus unable +to find one of them to lead his followers in +the House of Commons, Lord Derby turned in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span> +1852 to Disraeli, giving him, with the leadership, +the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer. The +appointment was thought a strange one, because +Disraeli brought to it absolutely no knowledge +of finance and no official experience. He had +never been so much as an Under-Secretary. +The Tories themselves murmured that one whom +they regarded as an adventurer should be raised +to so high a place. After a few months Lord +Derby’s ministry fell, defeated on the Chancellor +of the Exchequer’s Budget, which had been +vehemently attacked by Mr. Gladstone. This +was the beginning of that protracted duel between +him and Mr. Disraeli which lasted down till the +end of the latter’s life.</p> +<p>For the following fourteen years Disraeli’s +occupation was that of a leader of Opposition, +varied by one brief interval of office in 1858-59. +His party was in a permanent minority, so that +nothing was left for its chief but to fight with +skill, courage, and resolution a series of losing +battles. This he did with admirable tenacity of +purpose. Once or twice in every session he used +to rally his forces for a general engagement, and +though always defeated, he never suffered himself +to be dispirited by defeat. During the rest of the +time he was keenly watchful, exposing all the mistakes +in domestic affairs of the successive Liberal +Governments, and when complications arose in +foreign politics, always professing, and generally +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span> +manifesting, a patriotic desire not to embarrass +the Executive, lest national interests should suffer. +Through all these years he had to struggle, not +only with a hostile majority in office, but also +with disaffection among his own followers. Many +of the landed aristocracy could not bring themselves +to acquiesce in the leadership of a new +man, of foreign origin, whose career had been +erratic, and whose ideas they found it hard to +assimilate. Ascribing their long exclusion from +power to his presence, they more than once +conspired to dethrone him. In 1861 these plots +were thickest, and Disraeli was for a time left +almost alone. But as it happened, there never +arose in the House of Commons any one on the +Conservative side possessing gifts of speech and +of strategy comparable to those which in him +had been matured and polished by long experience, +while he had the address to acquire +an ascendency over the mind of Lord Derby, +still the titular head of the party, who, being +a man of straightforward character, high social +position, and brilliant oratorical talent, was therewithal +somewhat lazy and superficial, and therefore +disposed to lean on his lieutenant in the +Lower House, and to borrow from him those +astute schemes of policy which Disraeli was fertile +in devising. Thus, through Lord Derby’s support, +and by his own imperturbable confidence, he frustrated +all the plots of the malcontent Tories. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span> +New men came up who had not witnessed his +earlier escapades, but knew him only as the bold +and skilful leader of their party in the House of +Commons. He made himself personally agreeable +to them, encouraged them in their first +efforts, diffused his ideas among them, stimulated +the local organisation of the party, and held out +hopes of great things to be done when fortune +should at last revisit the Tory banner.</p> +<p>While Lord Palmerston lived, these exertions +seemed to bear little fruit. That minister had, in +his later years, settled down into a sort of practical +Toryism, and both parties acquiesced in his +rule. But, on his death, the scene changed. +Lord Russell and Mr. Gladstone brought forward +a Reform Bill strong enough to evoke the latent +Conservative feeling of a House of Commons +which, though showing a nominally Liberal +majority, had been chosen under Palmerstonian +auspices. The defeat of the Bill, due to the defection +of the more timorous Whigs, was followed +by the resignation of Lord Russell’s Ministry. +Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli came into power, +and, next year, carried a Reform Bill which, as it +was finally shaped in its passage through the House, +really went further than Lord Russell’s had done, +enfranchising a much larger number of the working +classes in boroughs. To have carried this Bill +remains the greatest of Disraeli’s triumphs. He +had to push it gently through a hostile House of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span> +Commons by wheedling a section of the Liberal +majority, against the appeals of their legitimate +leader. He had also to persuade his own followers +to support a measure which they had all their lives +been condemning, and which was, or in their view +ought to have been, more dangerous to the Constitution +than the one which they and the recalcitrant +Whigs had thrown out in the preceding +year. He had, as he happily and audaciously +expressed it, to educate his party into doing the +very thing which they (though certainly not he +himself) had cordially and consistently denounced.</p> +<p>The process was scarcely complete when the +retirement of Lord Derby, whose health had given +way, opened Disraeli’s path to the post of first +Minister of the Crown. He dissolved Parliament, +expecting to receive a majority from the gratitude +of the working class whom his Act had admitted +to the suffrage. To his own surprise, and to the +boundless disgust of the Tories, a Liberal House +of Commons was again returned, which drove him +and his friends once more into the cold shade of +Opposition. He was now sixty-four years of age, +had suffered an unexpected and mortifying discomfiture, +and had no longer the great name of +Lord Derby to cover him. Disaffected voices +were again heard among his own party, while the +Liberals, reinstalled in power, were led by the +rival whose unequalled popularity in the country +made him for the time omnipotent. Still Mr. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span> +Disraeli was not disheartened. He fought the +battle of apparently hopeless resistance with his +old tact, wariness, and tenacity, losing no occasion +for any criticism that could damage the measures—strong +and large measures—which Mr. Gladstone’s +Government brought forward.</p> +<p>Before long the tide turned. The Dissenters +resented the Education Act of 1870. A reaction +in favour of Conservatism set in, which grew +so fast that, in 1874, the general election gave, for +the first time since 1846, a decided Conservative +majority. Mr. Disraeli became again Prime +Minister, and now a Prime Minister no longer +on sufferance, but with the absolute command of +a dominant party, rising so much above the rest +of the Cabinet as to appear the sole author of its +policy. In 1876, feeling the weight of age, he +transferred himself to the House of Lords as +Earl of Beaconsfield. The policy he followed +(from 1876 till 1880) in the troubles which arose +in the Turkish East out of the insurrection in +Herzegovina and the massacres in Bulgaria, as +well as that subsequently pursued in Afghanistan +and in South Africa, while it received the enthusiastic +approval of the soldiers, the stockbrokers, +and the richer classes generally, raised no less +vehement opposition in other sections of the +nation, and especially in those two which, when +heartily united and excited, have usually been +masters of England—the Protestant Nonconformists +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span> +and the upper part of the working class. +An election fought with unusual heat left him in +so decided a minority that he resigned office in +April 1880, without waiting for an adverse vote +in Parliament. When the result had become +clear he observed, “They,” meaning his friends, +“will come in again, but I shall not.” A year +later he died.</p> +<p>Here is a wonderful career, not less wonderful +to those who live in the midst of English +politics and society than it appears to observers +in other countries. A man with few external +advantages, not even that of education at a +university, where useful friendships are formed, +with grave positive disadvantages in his Jewish +extraction and the vagaries of his first years of +public life, presses forward, step by step, through +slights and disappointments which retard but never +dishearten him, assumes as of right the leadership +of a party—the aristocratic party, the party in those +days peculiarly suspicious of new men and poor +men,—wins a reputation for sagacity which makes +his early errors forgotten, becomes in old age the +favourite of a court, the master of a great country, +one of the three or four arbiters of Europe. +There is here more than one problem to solve, +or, at least, a problem with more than one aspect. +What was the true character of the man who had +sustained such a part? Did he hold any principles, +or was he merely playing with them as counters? +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span> +By what gifts or arts did he win such a success? +Was there really a mystery beneath the wizard’s +robe which he delighted to wrap around him? +And how, being so unlike the Englishmen among +whom his lot was cast, did he so fascinate and +rule them?</p> +<p>Imagine a man of strong will and brilliant +intellectual powers, belonging to an ancient and +persecuted race, who finds himself born in a +foreign country, amid a people for whose ideas +and habits he has no sympathy and scant +respect. Suppose him proud, ambitious, self-confident—too +ambitious to rest content in a +private station, so self-confident as to believe that +he can win whatever he aspires to. To achieve +success, he must bend his pride, must use the +language and humour the prejudices of those he +has to deal with; while his pride avenges itself +by silent scorn or thinly disguised irony. Accustomed +to observe things from without, he discerns +the weak points of all political parties, the hollowness +of institutions and watchwords, the instability +of popular passion. If his imagination be more +susceptible than his emotions, his intellect more +active than his conscience, the isolation in which +he stands and the superior insight it affords him +may render him cold, calculating, self-centred. +The sentiment of personal honour may remain, +because his pride will support it; and he will be +tenacious of the ideas which he has struck out, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span> +because they are his own. But for ordinary +principles of conduct he may have small regard, +because he has not grown up under the conventional +morality of the time and nation, but has +looked on it merely as a phenomenon to be +recognised and reckoned with, because he has +noted how much there is in it of unreality or +pharisaism—how far it sometimes is from representing +or expressing either the higher judgments +of philosophy or the higher precepts of religion. +Realising and perhaps exaggerating the power +of his own intelligence, he will secretly revolve +schemes of ambition wherein genius, uncontrolled +by fears or by conscience, makes all +things bend to its purposes, till the scruples and +hesitations of common humanity seem to him +only parts of men’s cowardice or stupidity. What +success he will win when he comes to carry out +such schemes in practice will largely depend on +the circumstances in which he finds himself, as +well as on his gift for judging of them. He may +become a Napoleon. He may fall in a premature +collision with forces which want of sympathy has +prevented him from estimating.</p> +<p>In some of his novels, and most fully in the +first of them, Mr. Disraeli sketched a character +and foreshadowed a career not altogether unlike +that which has just been indicated. It would be +unfair to treat as autobiographical, though some +of his critics have done so, the picture of Vivian +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span> +Grey. What that singular book shows is that, +at an age when his contemporaries were lads at +college, absorbed in cricket matches or Latin +verse-making, Disraeli had already meditated +profoundly on the conditions and methods of +worldly success, had rejected the allurements of +pleasure and the attractions of literature, as well +as the ideal life of philosophy, had conceived of +a character isolated, ambitious, intense, resolute, +untrammelled by scruples, who moulds men to +his purposes by the sheer force of his intellect, +humouring their foibles, using their weaknesses, +and luring them into his chosen path by the bait +of self-interest.</p> +<p>To lay stress on the fact that Mr. Disraeli +was of Hebrew birth is not, though some of his +political antagonists stooped so to use it, to cast +any reproach upon him: it is only to note a fact +of the utmost importance for a proper comprehension +of his position. The Jews were at the +beginning of the nineteenth century still foreigners +in England, not only on account of their religion, +with its mass of ancient rites and usages, but also +because they were filled with the memory of +centuries of persecution, and perceived that in +some parts of Europe the old spirit of hatred had +not died out. The antiquity of their race, their +sense of its long-suffering and isolation, their +pride in the intellectual achievements of those +ancestors whose blood, not largely mixed with +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span> +that of any other race, flows in their veins, lead +the stronger or more reflective spirits to revenge +themselves by a kind of scorn upon the upstart +Western peoples among whom their lot is cast. +The mockery one finds in Heinrich Heine could +not have come from a Teuton. Even while imitating, +as the wealthier of them have latterly begun +to imitate, the manners and luxury of those +nominal Christians among whom they live, they +retain their feeling of detachment, and are apt +to regard with a coldly observant curiosity the +beliefs, prejudices, enthusiasms of the nations of +Europe. The same passionate intensity which +makes the grandeur of the ancient Hebrew +literature still lives among them, though often +narrowed by ages of oppression, and gives them +the peculiar effectiveness that comes from turning +all the powers of the mind, imaginative as well as +reasoning, into a single channel, be that channel +what it may. They produce, in proportion to +their numbers, an unusually large number of able +and successful men, as any one may prove by +recounting the eminent Jews of the last seventy +years. This success has most often been won in +practical life, in commerce, or at the bar, or in +the press (which over the European continent +they so largely control); yet often also in the +higher walks of literature or science, less frequently +in art, most frequently in music.</p> +<p>Mr. Disraeli had three of these characteristics +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span> +of his race in full measure—detachment, intensity, +the passion for material success. Nature gave +him a resolute will, a keen and precociously active +intellect, a vehement individuality; that is to +say, a consciousness of his own powers, and a +determination to make them recognised by his +fellows. In some men, the passion to succeed is +clogged by the fear of failure; in others, the +sense of their greatness is self-sufficing and +indisposes them to effort. But with him ambition +spurred self-confidence, and self-confidence +justified ambition. He grew up in a cultivated +home, familiar not only with books but with the +brightest and most polished men and women of +the day, whose conversation sharpened his wits +almost from childhood. No religious influences +worked upon him, for his father had ceased to +be a Jew in faith without becoming even +nominally a Christian, and there is little in his +writings to show that he had ever felt anything +more than an imaginative, or what may be called an +historical, interest in religion.<a name='FNanchor_0003' id='FNanchor_0003'></a><a href='#Footnote_0003' class='fnanchor'>[4]</a> Thus his development +was purely intellectual. The society he moved +in was a society of men and women of the world—witty, +superficial in its interests, without seriousness +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span> +or reverence. He felt himself no Englishman, +and watched English life and politics as a +student of natural history might watch the habits +of bees or ants. English society was then, and +perhaps is still, more complex, more full of inconsistencies, +of contrasts between theory and +practice, between appearances and realities, than +that of any other country. Nowhere so much +limitation of view among the fashionable, so much +pharisaism among the respectable, so much vulgarity +among the rich, mixed with so much real +earnestness, benevolence, and good sense; nowhere, +therefore, so much to seem merely ridiculous to +one who looked at it from without, wanting the +sympathy which comes from the love of mankind, +or even from the love of one’s country. It was +natural for a young man with Disraeli’s gifts to +mock at what he saw. But he would not sit +still in mere contempt. The thirst for power +and fame gave him no rest. He must gain what +he saw every one around him struggling for. +He must triumph over these people whose follies +amused him; and the sense that he perceived +and could use their follies would add zest to +his triumph. He might have been a great +satirist; he resolved to become a great statesman. +For such a career, his Hebrew detachment gave +him some eminent advantages. It enabled him +to take a cooler and more scientific view of the +social and political phenomena he had to deal +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span> +with. He was not led astray by party cries. +He did not share vulgar prejudices. He calculated +the forces at work as an engineer calculates +the strength of his materials, the strain they have +to bear from the wind, and the weights they +must support. And what he had to plan was +not the success of a cause, which might depend +on a thousand things out of his ken, but his own +success, a simpler matter.</p> +<p>A still greater source of strength lay in his +Hebrew intensity. It would have pleased him, +so full of pride in the pure blood of his race,<a name='FNanchor_0004' id='FNanchor_0004'></a><a href='#Footnote_0004' class='fnanchor'>[5]</a> +to attribute to that purity the singular power +of concentration which the Jews undoubtedly +possess. They have the faculty of throwing the +whole stress of their natures into the pursuit of +one object, fixing their eyes on it alone, sacrificing +to it other desires, clinging to it even when +it seems unattainable. Disraeli was only twenty-eight +when he made his first attempt to enter +the House of Commons. Four repulses did +not discourage him, though his means were but +scanty to support such contests; and the fifth +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span> +time he succeeded. When his first speech in +Parliament had been received with laughter, and +politicians were congratulating themselves that +this adventurer had found his level, he calmly +told them that he had always ended by succeeding +in whatever he attempted, and that +he would succeed in this too. He received no +help from his own side, who regarded him with +suspicion, but forced himself into prominence, +and at last to leadership, by his complete superiority +to rebuffs. Through the long years in +which he had to make head against a majority +in the House of Commons, he never seemed +disheartened by his repeated defeats, never relaxed +the vigilance with which he watched his +adversaries, never indulged himself (though he +was physically indolent and often in poor health) +by staying away from Parliament, even when +business was slack; never missed an opportunity +for exposing a blunder of his adversaries, or +commending the good service of one of his +own followers. The same curious tenacity was +apparent in his ideas. Before he was twenty-two +years of age he had, under the inspiration +of Bolingbroke, excogitated a theory of the +Constitution of England, of the way England +should be governed at home and her policy +directed abroad, from which he hardly swerved +through all his later life. Often as he was +accused of inconsistency, he probably believed +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span> +himself to be, and in a sense he was, substantially +faithful, I will not say to the same +doctrines, but to the same notions or tendencies; +and one could discover from the phrases he employed +how he fancied himself to be really following +out these old notions, even when his conduct +seemed opposed to the traditions of his party.<a name='FNanchor_0005' id='FNanchor_0005'></a><a href='#Footnote_0005' class='fnanchor'>[6]</a> +The weakness of intense minds is their tendency +to narrowness, and this weakness was in so far +his that, while always ready for new expedients, +he was not accessible to new ideas. Indeed, +the old ideas were too much a part of himself, +stamped with his own individuality, to be forsaken +or even varied. He did not love knowledge, nor +enjoy speculation for its own sake; he valued +views as they pleased his imagination or as they +carried practical results with them; and having +framed his theory once for all and worked steadily +upon its lines, he was not the man to admit that +it had been defective, and to set himself in later +life to repair it. His pride was involved in +proving it correct by applying it.</p> +<p>With this resolute concentration of purpose +there went an undaunted courage—a quality less +rare among English statesmen, but eminently +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span> +laudable in him, because for great part of his +career he had no family or party connections to +back him up, but was obliged to face the world +with nothing but his own self-confidence. So far +from seeking to conceal his Jewish origin, he displayed +his pride in it, and refused all support to +the efforts which the Tory party made to maintain +the exclusion of Jews from Parliament. Nobody +showed more self-possession and (except on two +or three occasions) more perfect self-command in +the hot strife of Parliament than this suspected +stranger. His opponents learnt to fear one who +never feared for himself; his followers knew that +their chief would not fail them in the hour of +danger. His very face and bearing had in them +an impassive calmness which magnetised those +who watched him. He liked to surround himself +with mystery, to pose as remote, majestic, self-centred, +to appear above the need of a confidant. +He would sit for hours on his bench in the House +of Commons, listening with eyes half-shut to furious +assaults on himself and his policy, not showing by +the movement of a muscle that he had felt a +wound; and when he rose to reply would discharge +his sarcasms with an air of easy coolness. That +this indifference was sometimes simulated appeared +by the resentment he showed afterwards.</p> +<p>Ambition such as his could not afford to be +scrupulous, nor have his admirers ever claimed +conscientiousness as one of his merits. One who +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span> +sets power and fame before him as the main +ends to be pursued may no doubt be restrained +by pride from the use of such means as are +obviously low and dishonourable. Other questionable +means he may reject because he knows +that the opinion of those whose good-will and +good word he must secure would condemn them. +But he will not be likely to allow kindliness or +compassion to stand in his way; nor will he be +very regardful of truth. To a statesman, who +must necessarily have many facts in his knowledge, +or many plans in his mind, which the +interests of his colleagues, or of his party, or of +the nation, forbid him to reveal, the temptation to +put questioners on a false scent, and to seem to +agree where he really dissents, is at all times a +strong one. An honest man may sometimes be +betrayed into yielding to it; and those who know +how difficult are the cases of conscience that arise +will not deal harshly with a possibly misleading +silence, or even with the evasion of an embarrassing +inquiry, where a real public interest can +be pleaded, for the existence of such a public +interest, if it does not justify, may palliate omissions +to make a full disclosure of the facts. All +things considered, the standard of truthfulness +among English public men has (of course with +some conspicuous exceptions) been a high one. +Of that standard Disraeli fell short. People did +not take his word for a thing as they would have +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span> +taken the word of the Duke of Wellington, or +Lord Althorp, or Lord Derby, or Lord Russell, +or even of that not very rigid moralist, Lord +Palmerston. Instances of his lapses were not +wanting as late as 1877. His behaviour toward +Sir Robert Peel, whom he plied with every dart +of sarcasm, after having shortly before lavished +praises on him, and sought office under him, has +often been commented on.<a name='FNanchor_0006' id='FNanchor_0006'></a><a href='#Footnote_0006' class='fnanchor'>[7]</a> Disraeli was himself +(as those who knew him have often stated) accustomed +to justify it by observing that he was +then an insignificant personage, to whom it was +supremely important to attract public notice and +make a political position; that the opportunity +of attacking the powerful Prime Minister, at a +moment when their altered attitude towards the +Corn Laws had exposed the Ministry to the suspicions +of their own party, was too good to be +lost; and that he was therefore obliged to assail +Peel, though he had himself no particular attachment +to the Corn Laws, and believed Peel to have +been a <i>bona-fide</i> convert. It was therefore no +personal resentment against one who had slighted +him, but merely the exigencies of his own career, +that drove him to this course, whose fortunate +result proved the soundness of his calculations.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span></div> +<p>This defence will not surprise any one who +is familiar with Disraeli’s earlier novels. These +stories are as far as possible from being immoral; +that is to say, there is nothing in them unbecoming +or corrupting. Friendship, patriotism, love, are +all recognised as powerful and worthy motives of +conduct. That which is wanting is the sense of +right and wrong. His personages have for certain +purposes the conventional sense of honour, though +seldom a fine sense, but they do not ask whether +such and such a course is conformable to principle. +They move in a world which is polished, agreeable, +dignified, averse to baseness and vulgarity, +but in which conscience and religion scarcely +seem to exist. The men live for pleasure or +fame, the women for pleasure or love.</p> +<p>Some allowance must, of course, be made for +the circumstances of Disraeli’s position and early +training. He was brought up neither a Jew nor +a Christian. The elder people who took him +by the hand when he entered life, people like +Samuel Rogers and Lady Blessington, were not +the people to give lessons in morality. Lord +Lyndhurst, the first of his powerful political +friends, and the man whose example most affected +him, was, with all his splendid gifts, conspicuously +wanting in political principle. Add to this the +isolation in which the young man found himself, +standing outside the common stream of English +life, not sharing its sentiments, perceiving the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span> +hollowness of much that passed for virtue and +patriotism, and it is easy to understand how he +should have been as perfect a cynic at twenty-five +as their experience of the world makes many +at sixty. If he had loved truth or mankind, he +might have quickly worked through his youthful +cynicism. But pride and ambition, the pride of +race and the pride of genius, left no room for +these sentiments. Nor was his cynicism the fruit +merely of a keen and sceptical intelligence. It +came from a cold heart.</p> +<p>The pursuit of fame and power, to which he +gave all his efforts, is presented in his writings as +the only alternative ideal to a life of pleasure; and +he probably regarded those who pursued some +other as either fools or weaklings. Early in his +political life he said one night to Mr. Bright +(from whom I heard the anecdote), as they took +their umbrellas in the cloak-room of the House +of Commons: “After all, what is it that brings +you and me here? Fame! This is the true +arena. I might have occupied a literary throne; +but I have renounced it for this career.” The +external pomps and trappings of life, titles, stately +houses and far-spreading parks, all those gauds and +vanities with which sumptuous wealth surrounds +itself, had throughout his life a singular fascination +for him. He liked to mock at them in his novels, +but they fascinated him none the less. One can +understand how they might fire the imagination +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span> +of an ambitious youth who saw them from a +distance—might even retain their charm for one +who was just struggling into the society which +possessed them, and who desired to feel himself +the equal of the possessors. It is stranger that, +when he had harnessed the English aristocracy +to his chariot, and was driving them where he +pleased, he should have continued to admire such +things. So, however, it was. There was even +in him a vein of inordinate deference to rank +and wealth which would in a less eminent person +have been called snobbishness. In his will he +directs that his estate of Hughenden Manor, in +Buckinghamshire, shall pass under an entail as +strict as he could devise, that the person who +succeeds to it shall always bear the name of +Disraeli. His ambition is the common, not to +say vulgar, ambition of the English <i>parvenu</i>, +to found a “county family.” In his story of +<i>Endymion</i>, published a few months before his +death, the hero, starting from small beginnings, +ends by becoming prime minister: this is the +crown of his career, the noblest triumph an +Englishman can achieve. It might have been +thought that one who had been through it all, +who had realised the dreams of his boyhood, who +had every opportunity of learning what power +and fame come to, would have liked to set forth +some other conception of the end of human life, +or would not have told the world so naively of his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span> +self-content at having attained the aim he had +worked for. With most men the flower they have +plucked withers. It might have been expected +that one who was in other things an ironical cynic +would at least have sought to seem disillusionised.</p> +<p>To say that Disraeli’s heart was somewhat +cold is by no means to say that he was heartless. +He was one of those strong natures who permit +neither persons nor principles to stand in their +way. His doctrine was that politics had nothing +to do with sentiment; so those who appealed to +him on grounds of humanity appealed in vain. +No act of his life ever so much offended English +opinion as the airy fashion in which he tossed aside +the news of the Bulgarian massacre of 1876. It +incensed sections who were strong enough, when +thoroughly roused, to bring about his fall. But +he was far from being unkindly. He knew how +to attach men to him by friendly deeds as well as +friendly words. He seldom missed an opportunity +of saying something pleasant and cheering +to a <i>débutant</i> in Parliament, whether of his own +party or the opposite. He was not selfish in +little things; was always ready to consider the +comfort and convenience of those who surrounded +him. Age and success, so far from making him +morose or supercilious, softened the asperities of +his character and developed the affectionate side +of it. His last novel, published a few months +before his death, contains more human kindliness, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span> +a fuller recognition of the worth of friendship and +the beauty of sisterly and conjugal love, than do +the writings of his earlier manhood. What it +wants in intellectual power it makes up for in a +mellower and more tender tone. Of loyalty to +his political friends he was a model, and nothing +did more to secure his command of the party +than its sense that his professional honour, so to +speak, could be implicitly relied upon. To his +wife, a warm-hearted woman older than himself, +and inferior to him in education, he was uniformly +affectionate and indeed devoted. The +first use he made of his power as Prime +Minister was to procure for her the title of +viscountess. Being once asked point blank by a +lady what he thought of his life-long opponent, +Mr. Gladstone answered that two things had +always struck him as very admirable in Lord +Beaconsfield’s character—his perfect loyalty to +his wife, and his perfect loyalty to his own race. +A story used to be told how, in Disraeli’s earlier +days, when his political position was still far from +assured, he and his wife happened to be the +guests of the chief of the party, and that chief so +far forgot good manners as to quiz Mrs. Disraeli +at the dinner-table. Next morning Disraeli, +whose visit was to have lasted for some days +longer, announced that he must leave immediately. +The host besought him to stay, and made all +possible apologies. But Disraeli was inexorable, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span> +and carried off his wife forthwith. To literary +men, whatever their opinions, he was ready to +give a helping hand, representing himself as one +of their profession. In paying compliments he +was singularly expert, and few used the art so well +to win friends and disarm enemies. He knew how +to please Englishmen, and especially the young, +by showing interest in their tastes and pleasures, +and, without being what would be called genial, +was never wanting in <i>bonhomie</i>. In society he +was a perfect man of the world—told his anecdote +apropos, wound up a discussion by some +epigrammatic phrase, talked to the guest next +him, if he thought that guest’s position made him +worth talking to, as he would to an old acquaintance. +But he had few intimates; nor did his +apparent frankness unveil his real thoughts.</p> +<p>He was not of those who complicate political +opposition with private hatreds. Looking on +politics as a game, he liked, when he took off +his armour, to feel himself on friendly terms with +his antagonists, and often seemed surprised to +find that they remembered as personal affronts +the blows which he had dealt in the tournament. +Two or three years before his death, a friend +asked him whether there was in London any one +with whom he would not shake hands. Reflecting +for a moment, he answered, “Only one,” and +named Robert Lowe, who had said hard things of +him, and to whom, when Lowe was on one occasion +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span> +in his power, he had behaved with cruelty. Yet +his resentments could smoulder long. In <i>Lothair</i> +he attacked, under a thin disguise, a distinguished +man of letters who had criticised his conduct years +before. In <i>Endymion</i> he gratified what was evidently +an ancient grudge by a spiteful presentation +of Thackeray, as he had indulged his more bitter +dislike of John Wilson Croker by portraying +that politician in <i>Coningsby</i> under the name of +Nicholas Rigby. For the greatest of his adversaries +he felt, there is reason to believe, +genuine admiration, mingled with inability to +comprehend a nature so unlike his own. No +passage in the striking speech which that adversary +pronounced, one might almost say, over +Lord Beaconsfield’s grave—a speech which may +possibly go down to posterity with its subject—was +more impressive than the sentence in which +he declared that he had the best reason to believe +that, in their constant warfare, Lord Beaconsfield +had not been actuated by any personal hostility. +Brave men, if they can respect, seldom dislike, a +formidable antagonist.</p> +<p>His mental powers were singularly well suited +to the rest of his character—were, so to speak, +all of a piece with it. One sometimes sees intellects +which are out of keeping with the active +or emotional parts of the man. One sees persons +whose thought is vigorous, clear, comprehensive, +while their conduct is timid; or a comparatively +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span> +narrow intelligence joined to an enterprising +spirit; or a sober, reflective, sceptical turn of mind +yoked to an ardent and impulsive temperament. +What we call the follies of the wise often spring +from some such source. Not so with him. His +intelligence had the same boldness, intensity, concentration, +directness, which we discover in the +rest of the man. It was just the right instrument, +not perhaps for the normal career of a +normal Englishman seeking political success, but +for the particular kind of work Disraeli had +planned to do; and this inner harmony was one +of the chief causes of his success, as the want of it +has caused the failure of so many gifted natures.</p> +<p>The range of his mind was not wide. All its +products were like one another. No one of them +gives the impression that Disraeli could, had he so +wished, have succeeded in a wholly diverse line. +It was a peculiar mind: there is even more variety +in minds than in faces. It was not logical or discursive, +liking to mass and arrange stores of knowledge, +and draw inferences from them, nor was it +judicial, with a turn for weighing reasons and +reaching a decision which recognises all the facts +and is not confused by their seeming contradictions. +Neither was it analytically subtle. It +reached its conclusions by a process of intuition +or divination in which there was an imaginative +as well as a reflective element. It might almost +have been called an artist’s mind, capable of deep +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span> +meditation, but meditating in an imaginative way, +not so much on facts as on its own views of +facts, on the pictures which its own creative +faculty had called up. The meditation became +dreamy, but the dreaminess was corrected by an +exceedingly keen and quick power of observation, +not the scientific observation of the philosopher, +but rather the enjoying observation of the artist +who sees how he can use the characteristic +details which he notes, or the observation of +the forensic advocate (an artist, too, in his way) +who perceives how they can be fitted into the presentation +of his case. There are, of course, other +qualities in Disraeli’s work. As a statesman he +was obliged to learn how to state facts, to argue, +to dissect an opponent’s arguments. But the +characteristic note, both of his speeches and of +his writings, is the combination of a few large +ideas, clear, perhaps, to himself, but generally +expressed with grandiose vagueness, and often +quite out of relation to the facts as other people +saw them, with a turn for acutely fastening +upon small incidents or personal traits. In his +speeches he used his command of sonorous +phrases and lively illustrations, sometimes to +support the views he was advancing, but more +frequently to conceal the weakness of those +views; that is, to make up for the absence of +such solid arguments as were likely to move his +hearers. Everybody is now and then conscious +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span> +of holding with assured conviction theories which +he would find it hard to prove to a given +audience, partly because it is too much trouble +to trace out the process by which they were +reached, partly because uninstructed listeners +could not be made to feel the full cogency of +the considerations on which his own mind +relies. Disraeli was usually in this condition +with regard to his political and social doctrines. +He believed them, but as he had not reached +them by logic, he was not prepared to use +logic to establish them; so he picked up some +plausible illustration, or attacked the opposite +doctrine and its supporters with a fire of raillery +or invective. This non-ratiocinative quality of +his thinking was a source both of strength and +of weakness—of weakness, because he could +not prove his propositions; of strength, because, +stated as he stated them, it was not less hard +to disprove them. That mark of a superior +mind, that it must have a theory, was never +wanting. Some one said of him that he was +“the ruins of a thinker.” He could not rest +content, like many among his followers, with a +prejudice, a dogma delivered by tradition, a stolid +suspicion unamenable to argument. He would +not acquiesce in negation. He must have a +theory, a positive theory, to show not only that +his antagonist’s view was erroneous, but that he +had himself a more excellent way. These theories +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span> +generally had in them a measure of truth and +value for any one who could analyse them; but +as this was exactly what the rank and file of the +party could not do, they got into sad confusion +when they tried to talk his language.</p> +<p>He could hardly be called a well-read man, +nor were his intellectual interests numerous. His +education had consisted mainly in promiscuous +reading during boyhood and early youth. There +are worse kinds of education for an active intelligence +than to let it have the run of a large +library. The wild browsings of youth, when +curiosity is strong as hunger, stir the mind and +give the memory some of the best food it ever +gets. The weak point of such a method is that it +does not teach accuracy nor the art of systematic +study. In middle life natural indolence and his +political occupations had kept Disraeli from filling +up the gaps in his knowledge, while, in conversation, +what he liked best was persiflage. He +was, however, tolerably familiar with the ancient +classics, and with modern English and French +literature; enjoyed Quintilian and Lucian, preferred +Sophocles to Æschylus and (apparently) Horace +to Virgil, despised Browning, considered Tennyson +the best of contemporary poets, but “not a +poet of a high order.”<a name='FNanchor_0007' id='FNanchor_0007'></a><a href='#Footnote_0007' class='fnanchor'>[8]</a> Physical science seems +never to have attracted him. Political economy +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span> +he hated and mocked at almost as heartily as +did Carlyle. People have measured his knowledge +of history and geography by observing +that he placed the Crucifixion in the lifetime +of Augustus, and thought, down till 1878, when +he had to make a speech about Afghanistan, that +the Andes were the highest mountains in the +world. But geography is a subject which a man +of affairs does not think of reading up in later +life: he is content if he can get information +when he needs it. There are some bits of metaphysics +and some historical allusions scattered +over his novels, but these are mostly slight or +superficial. He amused himself and the public +by now and then propounding doctrines on agricultural +matters, but would not appear to have +mastered either husbandry or any other economical +or commercial subject. Such things were not +in his way. He had been so little in office as +not to have been forced to apply himself to them, +while the tide of pure intellectual curiosity had +long since ebbed.</p> +<p>For so-called “sports” he had little taste. He +liked to go mooning in a meditative way round his +fields and copses, and he certainly enjoyed Nature; +but there seems to be no solid evidence that the +primrose was his favourite flower. In his fondness +for particular words and phrases there +was a touch of his artistic quality, and a touch +also of the cynical view that words are the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span> +counters with which the wise play their game. +There is a passage in <i>Contarini Fleming</i> (a story +into which he has put a good deal of himself) +where this is set out. Contarini tells his father +that he left college “because they taught me only +words, and I wished to learn ideas.” His father +answers, “Few ideas are correct ones, and what +are correct, no one can ascertain; but with words +we govern men.”</p> +<p>He went on acting on this belief in the power +of words till he became the victim of his own +phrases, just as people who talk cynically for +effect grow sometimes into real cynics. When +he had invented a phrase which happily expressed +the aspect he wished his view, or some part of his +policy, to bear, he came to believe in the phrase, +and to think that the facts were altered by the +colour the phrase put upon them. During the +contest for the extension of the parliamentary +franchise, he declared himself “in favour of +popular privileges, but opposed to democratic +rights.” When he was accused of having assented, +at the Congress of Berlin, to the dismemberment +of the Turkish Empire, he said +that what had been done was “not dismemberment, +but consolidation.” No statesman of recent +times has given currency to so many quasi-epigrammatic +expressions: “organised hypocrisy,” +“England dislikes coalitions,” “plundering and +blundering,” “peace with honour,” “<i>imperium +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span> +et libertas</i>,” “a scientific frontier,” “I am on +the side of the angels,” are a few, not perhaps +the best, though the best remembered, of the +many which issued from his fertile mint. This +turn for epigram, not common in England, +sometimes led him into scrapes which would +have damaged a man of less imperturbable +coolness. No one else could have ventured to +say, when he had induced the Tories to pass +a Reform Bill stronger than the one they had +rejected from the Liberals in the preceding +year, that it had been his mission “to educate +his party.” Some of his opponents professed +to be shocked by such audacity, and many +old Tories privily gnashed their teeth. But the +country received the dictum in the spirit in which +it was spoken. “It was Disraeli all over.”</p> +<p>If his intellect was not of wide range, it was +within its range a weapon of the finest flexibility +and temper. It was ingenious, ready, incisive. +It detected in a moment the weak point, if not of +an argument, yet of an attitude or of a character. +Its imaginative quality made it often picturesque, +sometimes even impressive. Disraeli had the +artist’s delight in a situation for its own sake, and +what people censured as insincerity or frivolity was +frequently only the zest which he felt in posing, +not so much because there was anything to be +gained, as because he realised his aptitude for +improvising a new part in the drama which he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span> +always felt himself to be playing. The humour of +the situation was too good to be wasted. Perhaps +this love of merry mischief may have had something +to do with his tendency to confer honours +on those whom the world thought least deserving.</p> +<p>His books are not only a valuable revelation +of his mind, but have more literary merit than +critics have commonly allowed to them, perhaps +because we are apt, when a man excels in one +walk, to deem him to have failed in any other +wherein he does not reach the same level. The +novels foam over with cleverness; indeed, <i>Vivian +Grey</i>, with all its youthful faults, gives as great +an impression of intellectual brilliance as does +anything Disraeli ever wrote or spoke. Their +easy fertility makes them seem to be only, +so to speak, a few sketches out of a large +portfolio. There is some variety in the subjects—<i>Contarini +Fleming</i> and <i>Tancred</i> are +more romantic than the others, <i>Sybil</i> and <i>Coningsby</i> +more political—as well as in the merits +of the stories. The two latest, <i>Lothair</i> and +<i>Endymion</i>, works of his old age, are markedly +inferior in spirit and invention; but the general +features are the same in all—a lively fancy, a +knack of hitting characters off in a few lines and +of catching the superficial aspects of society, a +brisk narrative, a sprightly dialogue, a keen insight +into the selfishness of men and the vanities of +women, with flashes of wit lighting up the whole +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span> +stage. It is always a stage. The brilliance +is never open-air sunshine. There is scarcely one +of the characters whom we feel we might have +met and known. Heroes and heroines are +theatrical figures; their pathos rings false, their +love, though described as passionate, does not +spring from the inner recesses of the soul. The +studies of men of the world, and particularly of +heartless ones, are the most life-like; yet, even +here, any one who wants to feel the difference +between the great painter and the clever sketcher +need only compare Thackeray’s Marquis of +Steyne with Disraeli’s Marquis of Monmouth, +both of them suggested by the same original. +There is little intensity, little dramatic power +in these stories, as also in his play of <i>Alarcos</i>; +and if we read them with pleasure it is not +for the sake either of plot or of character, +but because they contain so many sparkling +witticisms and reflections, setting in a strong +light, yet not always an unkindly light, the seamy +side of politics and human nature. The slovenliness +of their style, which is often pompous, but +seldom pure, makes them appear to have been +written hastily. But Disraeli seems to have +taken the composition of them (except, perhaps, +the two latest) quite seriously. When he wrote +the earlier tales, he meant to achieve literary +greatness; while the middle ones, especially +<i>Coningsby</i> and <i>Sybil</i>, were designed as political +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span> +manifestoes. The less they have a purpose or +profess to be serious, the better they are; and +the most vivacious of all are two classical burlesques, +written at a time when that kind of +composition had not yet become common—<i>Ixion +in Heaven</i> and <i>The Infernal Marriage</i>—little +pieces of funning worthy of Thackeray, +I had almost said of Voltaire. They recall, +perhaps they were suggested by, similar pieces +of Lucian’s. Is Semitic genius specially rich in +this mocking vein? Lucian was a Syrian from +Samosata, probably a Semite; Heinrich Heine +was a Semite; James Russell Lowell used to +insist, though he produced little evidence for his +belief, that Voltaire was a Semite.</p> +<p>Whether Disraeli could ever have taken high +rank as a novelist if he had thrown himself completely +into the profession may be doubted, for his +defects were such as pains and practice would hardly +have lessened. That he had still less the imagination +needed by a poet, his <i>Revolutionary Epick</i>, conceived +on the plains of Troy, and meant to make +a fourth to the <i>Iliad</i>, the <i>Æneid</i>, and the <i>Divina +Commedia</i>, is enough to show. The literary +vocation he was best fitted for was that of a +journalist or pamphleteer; and in this he might +have won unrivalled success. His dash, his +verve, his brilliancy of illustration, his scorching +satire, would have made the fortune of any newspaper, +and carried dismay into the enemy’s ranks.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span></div> +<p>In inquiring how far the gifts I have sought to +describe qualified Disraeli for practical statesmanship, +it is well to distinguish the different kinds +of capacity which an English politician needs to +attain the highest place. They may be said to +be four. He must be a debater. He must be a +parliamentary tactician. He must understand the +country. He must understand Europe. This last +is, indeed, not always necessary; there have been +moments when England, leaving Europe to itself, +may look to her own affairs only; but when the +sky grows stormy over Europe, the want of knowledge +which English statesmen sometimes evince +may bode disaster.</p> +<p>An orator, in the highest sense of the word, +Disraeli never was. He lacked ease and fluency. +He had not Pitt’s turn for the lucid exposition of +complicated facts, nor for the conduct of a close +argument. The sustained and fiery declamation of +Fox was equally beyond his range. And least of +all had he that truest index of eloquence, the power +of touching the emotions. He could not make his +hearers weep. But he could make them laugh; +he could put them in good-humour with themselves; +he could dazzle them with rhetoric; +he could pour upon an opponent streams of +ridicule more effective than the hottest indignation. +When he sought to be profound or solemn, +he was usually heavy and laboured—the sublimity +often false, the diction often stilted. For wealth +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span> +of thought or splendour of language his speeches +will not bear to be compared—I will not say with +those of Burke (on whom he sometimes tried to +model himself), but with those of three or four of +his own contemporaries. Even within his own +party, Lord Derby, Lord Ellenborough, and Lord +Cairns in their several ways surpassed him. There +is not one of his longer and more finished harangues +which can be read with interest from beginning to +end. But there is hardly any among them which +does not contain some striking passage, some +image or epigram, or burst of sarcasm, which +must have been exceedingly effective when delivered. +It is partly upon these isolated passages, +especially the sarcastic ones (though the witticisms +were sometimes borrowed), and still more upon +the aptness of the speech to the circumstances +under which it was made, that his parliamentary +fame rests. If he was not a great orator he was +a superb debater, who watched with the utmost +care the temper of the audience, and said just +what was needed at the moment to disconcert an +opponent or to put heart into his friends. His +repartees were often happy, and must sometimes +have been unpremeditated. As he had not the +ardent temperament of the born orator, so neither +had he the external advantages which count for +much before large assemblies. His voice was +not remarkable either for range or for quality. +His manner was somewhat stiff, his gestures few, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span> +his countenance inexpressive. Yet his delivery +was not wanting in skill, and often added point, +by its cool unconcern, to a stinging epigram.</p> +<p>What he lacked in eloquence he made up +for by tactical adroitness. No more consummate +parliamentary strategist has been seen in +England. He had studied the House of Commons +till he knew it as a player knows his instrument—studied +it collectively, for it has a collective +character, and studied the men who compose +it: their worse rather than their better side, +their prejudices, their foibles, their vanities, +their ambitions, their jealousies, above all, that +curious corporate pride which they have, and +which makes them resent any approach to dictation. +He could play on every one of these +strings, and yet so as to conceal his skill; and he +so economised himself as to make them always +wish to hear him. He knew how in a body of +men obliged to listen to talk, and most of it +tedious talk, about matters in themselves mostly +uninteresting, the desire for a little amusement +becomes almost a passion; and he humoured +this desire so far as occasionally to err by +excess of banter and flippancy. Almost always +respectful to the House, he had a happy +knack of appearing to follow rather than to +lead, and when he made an official statement +it was with the air of one who was taking +them into his confidence. Much of this he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span> +may have learned from observing Lord Palmerston; +but the art came more naturally to that +statesman, who was an Englishman all through, +than to a man of Mr. Disraeli’s origin, who +looked on Englishmen from outside, and never +felt himself, so to speak, responsible for their +habits or ideas.</p> +<p>As leader of his party in Opposition, he was +at once daring and cautious. He never feared +to give battle, even when he expected defeat, +if he deemed it necessary, with a view to the +future, that the judgment of his party should +have been pronounced in a formal way. On +the other hand, he was wary of committing himself +to a policy of blind or obstinate resistance. +When he perceived that the time had come to +yield, he knew how to yield with a good grace, +so as both to support a character for reasonableness +and to obtain valuable concessions as +the price of peace. If difficulties arose with +foreign countries he claimed full liberty of +criticising the conduct of the Ministry, but +ostentatiously abstained from obstructing or +thwarting their acts, declaring that England must +always present a united front to the foreigner, +whatever penalties she might afterwards visit +on those who had mismanaged her concerns. +As regards the inner discipline of his party, +he had enormous difficulties to surmount in the +jealousy which many Tories felt for him as a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span> +new man, a man whom they could not understand +and only partially trusted.<a name='FNanchor_0008' id='FNanchor_0008'></a><a href='#Footnote_0008' class='fnanchor'>[9]</a> Conspiracies +were repeatedly formed against him; malcontents +attacked him in the press, and sometimes even in +Parliament. These he seldom noticed, maintaining +a cool and self-confident demeanour which +disheartened the plotters, and discharging the +duties of his post with steady assiduity. He +was always on the look-out for young men of +promise, drew them towards him, encouraged +them to help him in parliamentary sharp-shooting, +and fostered in every way the spirit of party. +The bad side of that spirit was seen when he +came into office, for then every post in the +public service was bestowed either by mere +favouritism or on party grounds; and men who +had been loyal to him were rewarded by places +or titles to which they had no other claim. +But the unity and martial fervour of the Tory +party was raised to the highest point. Nor was +Disraeli himself personally unpopular with his +parliamentary opponents, even when he was most +hotly attacked on the platform and in the press.</p> +<p>To know England and watch the shifting +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span> +currents of its opinion is a very different matter +from knowing the House of Commons. Indeed, +the two kinds of knowledge are in a measure +incompatible. Men who enter Parliament soon +begin to forget that it is not, in the last resort, +Parliament that governs, but the people. Absorbed +in the daily contests of their Chamber, +they over-estimate the importance of those contests. +They come to think that Parliament is +in fact what it is in theory, a microcosm of +the nation, and that opinion inside is sure to +reflect the opinion outside. When they are in a +minority they are depressed; when they are in +a majority they fancy that all is well, forgetting +their masters out-of-doors. This tendency is +aggravated by the fact that the English Parliament +meets in the capital, where the rich and +luxurious congregate and give their tone to +society. The House of Commons, though many +of its members belong to the middle class by +origin, belongs practically to the upper class by +sympathy, and is prone to believe that what it +hears every evening at dinners or receptions is +what the country is thinking. A member of the +House of Commons is, therefore, ill-placed for +feeling the pulse of the nation, and in order to +do so must know what is being said over the +country, and must frequently visit or communicate +with his constituents. If this difficulty is +experienced by an ordinary private member, it +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span> +is greater for a minister whose time is filled +by official duties, or for a leader of Opposition, +who has to be constantly thinking of his tactics +in the House. In Disraeli’s case there was a +keenness of observation and discernment far +beyond the common. But he was under the disadvantages +of not being really an Englishman, +and of having never lived among the people.<a name='FNanchor_0009' id='FNanchor_0009'></a><a href='#Footnote_0009' class='fnanchor'>[10]</a> +The detachment I have already referred to tended +to weaken his power of judging popular sentiment, +and appraising at their true value the various +tendencies that sway and divide a nation so +complex as the English. Early in life he had +formed theories about the relations of the different +classes of English society—nobility, gentry, +capitalists, workmen, peasantry, and the middle +classes—theories which were far from containing +the whole truth; and he adhered to them even +when the changes of half a century had made them +less true. He had a great aversion, not to say contempt, +for Puritanism, and for the Dissenters among +whom it chiefly holds its ground, and pleased himself +with the notion that the extension of the suffrage +which he carried in 1867 had destroyed their +political power. The Conservative victory at the +election of 1874 confirmed him in this belief, and +made him also think that the working classes +were ready to follow the lead of the rich. He +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span> +perceived that the Liberal ministry of 1868-74 +had offended certain influential sections by appearing +too demiss or too unenterprising in foreign +affairs, and fancied that the bulk of the nation +would be dazzled by a warlike mien, and an +active, even aggressive, foreign policy. Such a +policy was congenial to his own ideas, and to +the society that surrounded him. It was applauded +by some largely circulated newspapers +which had previously been unfriendly to the +Tory party. Thus he was more surprised than +any other man of similar experience to find the +nation sending up a larger majority against him +in 1880 than it had sent up for him in 1874. +This was the most striking instance of his miscalculation. +But he had all through his career +an imperfect comprehension of the English +people. Individuals, or even an assembly, may +be understood by dint of close and long-continued +observation; but to understand a whole nation, +one must also have sympathy, and this his circumstances, +not less than his character, had denied him.</p> +<p>It was partly the same defect that prevented +him from mastering the general politics of Europe. +There is a sense in which no single man can +pretend to understand Europe. Bismarck himself +did not. The problem is too vast, the facts +to be known too numerous, the undercurrents +too varying. One can speak only of more or +less. If Europe had been in his time what it +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span> +was a century before, Disraeli would have had +a far better chance of being fit to become what +it was probably his dearest wish to become—its +guide and arbiter. He would have taken the +measure of the princes and ministers with whom +he had to deal, would have seen and adroitly +played on their weaknesses. His novels show +how often he had revolved diplomatic situations +in his mind, and reflected on the way of handling +them. Foreign diplomatists are agreed that at +the Congress of Berlin he played his part to +admiration, spoke seldom, but spoke always to +the point and with dignity, had a perfect conception +of what he meant to secure, and of the +means he must employ to secure it, never haggled +over details or betrayed any eagerness to win +support, never wavered in his demands, even when +they seemed to lead straight to war. Dealing +with individuals, who represented material forces +which he had gauged, he was perfectly at home, +and deserved the praise he obtained from Bismarck, +who, comparing him with other eminent +figures at the Congress, is reported to have said, +bluntly but heartily, “Der alte Jude, das ist der +Mann.”<a name='FNanchor_0010' id='FNanchor_0010'></a><a href='#Footnote_0010' class='fnanchor'>[11]</a> But to know what the condition of +South-Eastern Europe really was, and understand +how best to settle its troubles, was a far more difficult +task, and Disraeli possessed neither the knowledge +nor the insight required. In the Europe +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span> +of to-day, peoples count for more than the wills +of individual rulers: one must comprehend the +passions and sympathies of peoples if one is to +forecast the future. This he seldom cared to +do. He did not realise the part and the power +of moral forces. Down to the outbreak of the +American Civil War he maintained that the +question between the North and the South was +mainly a fiscal question between the Protectionist +interests of the one and the Free Trade interests +of the other. He always treated with contempt +the national movement in Italy. He made no +secret in the days before 1859 of his good-will +to Austria and of his liking for Louis Napoleon—a +man inferior to him in ability and in courage, +but to whose character his own had some affinities. +In that elaborate study of Sir Robert Peel’s character,<a name='FNanchor_0011' id='FNanchor_0011'></a><a href='#Footnote_0011' class='fnanchor'>[12]</a> +which is one of Disraeli’s best literary performances, +he observes that Peel “was destitute +of imagination, and wanting imagination he wanted +prescience.” True it is that imagination is necessary +for prescience, but imagination is not enough +to give prescience. It may even be a snare.</p> +<p>Disraeli’s imagination, his fondness for theories, +and disposition rather to cling to them than to +study and interpret facts, made him the victim +of his own preconceived ideas, as his indolence +deterred him from following the march of change +and noting how different things were in the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span> +’seventies from what they had been in the +’thirties. Mr. Gladstone said to me in 1876, +“Disraeli’s two leading ideas in foreign policy +have always been the maintenance of the temporal +power of the Pope, and the maintenance of the +power of the Sultan.” Unable to save the one, he +clung to the hope of saving the other. He was +possessed by the notion, seductive to a dreamy +mind, that all the disturbances of Europe arose +from the action of secret societies; and when the +Eastern Question was in 1875 re-opened by the +insurrection in Herzegovina, followed by the +war of Servia against the Turks, he explained +the event in a famous speech by saying, “The +secret societies of Europe have declared war +against Turkey”—the fact being that the societies +which in Russia were promoting the Servian war +were public societies, openly collecting subscriptions, +while those secret “social democratic” +societies of which we have since heard so much +were strongly opposed to the interference of +Russia, and those other secret societies in the +rest of Europe, wherein Poles and Italians have +played a leading part, were, if not hostile, at any +rate quite indifferent to the movement among the +Eastern Christians.</p> +<p>Against these errors there must be set several +cases in which he showed profound discernment. +In 1843 and 1844 he delivered, in debates on the +condition of Ireland, speeches which then constituted +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span> +and long remained the most penetrating +and concise diagnosis of the troubles of that country +ever addressed to Parliament. Ireland has, he +said, a starving peasantry, an alien church, and an +absentee aristocracy, and he went on to add that +the function of statesmanship was to cure by peaceful +and constitutional methods ills which in other +countries had usually induced, and been removed +by, revolution. During the American Civil War of +1861-65, Disraeli was the only leading statesman +on his own side of politics who did not embrace and +applaud the cause of the South. Whether this +arose from a caution that would not commit itself +where it recognised ignorance, or from a perception +of the superior strength of the Northern +States (a perception which whoever visits the +South even to-day is astonished that so few +people in Europe should have had), it is not easy +to decide; but whatever the cause, the fact is an +evidence of his prudence or sagacity all the more +weighty because Lord Palmerston, Lord Russell, +and Mr. Gladstone, as well as Lord Derby and +Sir Hugh Cairns, had each of them expressed +more or less sympathy with, or belief in, the +success of the Southern cause.</p> +<p>The most striking instance, however, of Disraeli’s +insight was his perception that an extension +of the suffrage would not necessarily injure, +and might end by strengthening, the Tory party. +The Act of 1867 was described at the time as +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span> +“a leap in the dark.” But Disraeli’s eyes had +pierced the darkness. For half a century politicians +had assumed that the masses of the people +were and would remain under the Liberal banner. +Even as late as 1872 it was thought on Liberal +platforms a good joke to say of some opinion that +it might do for Conservative working men, if there +were any. Disraeli had, long before 1867, seen +deeper, and though his youthful fancies that the +monarchy might be revived as an effective force, +and that “the peasantry” would follow with +mediæval reverence the lead of the landed gentry, +proved illusory, he was right in discerning that +wealth and social influence would in parliamentary +elections count for more among the masses than +the traditions of constitutional Whiggism or the +dogmas of abstract Radicalism.</p> +<p>In estimating his statesmanship as a whole, +one must give due weight to the fact that it +impressed many publicists abroad. No English +minister had for a long time past so fascinated +observers in Germany and Austria. Supposing +that under the long reign of Liberalism Englishmen +had ceased to care for foreign politics, they +looked on him as the man who had given back to +Britain her old European position, and attributed +to him a breadth of design, a grasp and a foresight +such as men had revered in Lord Chatham, +greatest in the short list of ministers who have +raised the fame of England abroad. I remember +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span> +seeing in a Conservative club, about 1880, a +large photograph of Lord Beaconsfield, wearing +the well-known look of mysterious fixity, under +which is inscribed the line of Homer: “He alone +is wise: the rest are fleeting shadows.”<a name='FNanchor_0012' id='FNanchor_0012'></a><a href='#Footnote_0012' class='fnanchor'>[13]</a> It +was a happy idea to go for a motto to the +favourite poet of his rival, as it was an unhappy +chance to associate the wisdom ascribed +to Disraeli with his policy in the Turkish East +and in Afghanistan, a policy now universally admitted +to have been unwise and unfortunate.<a name='FNanchor_0013' id='FNanchor_0013'></a><a href='#Footnote_0013' class='fnanchor'>[14]</a> +But whatever may be thought of the appropriateness +of the motto, the fact remains that this was +the belief he succeeded in inspiring. He did it +by virtue of those very gifts which sometimes +brought him into trouble—his taste for large and +imposing theories, his power of clothing them in +vague and solemn language, his persistent faith in +them. He came, by long posing, to impose upon +himself and to believe in his own profundity. +Few people could judge whether his ideas of +imperial policy were sound and feasible; but +every one saw that he had theories, and many +fell under the spell which a grandiose imagination +can exercise. It is chiefly this gift, coupled with +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span> +his indomitable tenacity, which lifts him out of +the line of mere party leaders. If he failed to see +how much the English are sometimes moved by +compassion, he did see that it may be worth while +to play to their imagination.</p> +<p>We may now ask again the question asked at +first: How did a man, whatever his natural gifts, +who was weighted in his course by such disadvantages +as Disraeli’s, by his Jewish origin, by the +escapades of his early career, by the want of confidence +which his habitual cynicism inspired, by the +visionary nature of so many of his views,—how did +he, in a conservative and aristocratic country like +England, triumph over so many prejudices and +enmities, and raise himself to be the head of the +Conservative and aristocratic party, the trusted +counsellor of the Crown, the ruler, almost the +dictator, of a free people?</p> +<p>However high be the estimate formed of +Disraeli’s gifts, secondary causes must have been +at work to enable him to overcome the obstacles +that blocked his path. The ancients were not +wrong in ascribing to Fortune a great share in +human affairs. Now, among the secondary causes +of success, that “general minister and leader set +over worldly splendours,” as Dante calls her,<a name='FNanchor_0014' id='FNanchor_0014'></a><a href='#Footnote_0014' class='fnanchor'>[15]</a> +played no insignificant part. One of these causes +lay in the nature of the party to which he belonged. +The Tory party of the years between 1848 and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span> +1865 contained a comparatively small number of +able men. When J. S. Mill once called it the +stupid party, it did not repudiate the name, but +pointed to its cohesion and its resolution as +showing how many things besides mere talent +go to make political greatness. A man of +shining gifts had within its ranks few competitors; +and this was signally the case immediately +after Peel’s defection. That statesman +had carried off with him the intellectual flower +of the Conservatives. Those who were left +behind to form the Protectionist Opposition in +the House of Commons were broad-acred squires, +of solid character but slender capacity. Through +this heavy atmosphere Mr. Disraeli rose like a +balloon. Being practically the only member of +his party in the Commons with either strategical +or debating power, he became indispensable, and +soon established a supremacy which years of +patient labour might not have given him in a +rivalry with the distinguished band who surrounded +Peel. During the twenty years that +followed the great Tory schism of 1846 no +man arose in the Tory ranks capable of disputing +his throne. The conspiracies hatched +against him might well have prospered could a +candidate for the leadership have been found +capable of crossing swords with the chieftain in +possession. Fortune, true to her nursling, suffered +none such to appear.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span></div> +<p>Another favouring influence not understood +outside England was to be found in the character +of the party he led. In his day the Tories, being +the party of the property-holders, and having not +to advance but to stand still, not to propose +changes but to resist them, having bonds of +interest as well as of sentiment to draw them +close together, possessed a cohesion, a loyalty +to their chiefs, a tenacious corporate spirit, far +exceeding what was to be found among their +adversaries, who were usually divided into a +moderate or Whig and an advanced or Radical +section. He who established himself as the Tory +leader was presently followed by the rank and file +with a devotion, an unquestioning submission and +confidence, which placed his character and doctrines +under the ægis of the party, and enforced loyalty +upon parliamentary malcontents. This corporate +spirit was of infinite value to Disraeli. The +historical past of the great Tory party, its associations, +the social consideration which it enjoys, all +went to ennoble his position and efface the remembrance +of the less creditable parts of his career. +And in the later days of his reign, when no one +disputed his supremacy, every Tory was, as a +matter of course, his advocate and admirer, and +resented assaults on him as insults to the party. +When a man excites hatred by his words or deeds, +attacks on his character are an inevitable relief to +overcharged feelings. Technically regarded, they +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span> +are not good politics. Misrepresentation sometimes +succeeds; vituperation seldom. Let a man +be personally untrustworthy or dangerous, still, it +is only his own words that damage him, at least in +England and America. Even his own words, however +discrediting, even his acts, however culpable, +may, if they belong to a past unfamiliar to the voter +of to-day, tell little, perhaps too little, on the voter’s +mind when they are brought up against him. The +average citizen has a short memory, and thinks +that the dead may be allowed to bury their dead.</p> +<p>Let it be further noted that Disraeli’s career +coincided with a significant change in English +politics, a change partly in the temper of the nation, +partly in the balance of voting power. For thirty +years after the Reform Act of 1832, not only had +the middle classes constituted the majority of +the electors, but the social influence of the great +Whig families and the intellectual influence of +the economic school of Cobden had been potent +factors. These forces were, in the later part of +Disraeli’s life, tending to decline. The working-class +vote was vastly increased in 1867. The +old Whig light gradually paled, and many of the +Whig magnates, obeying class sympathies rather +than party traditions, drifted slowly into Toryism. +A generation arose which had not seen the Free +Trade struggle, or had forgotten the Free Trade +arguments, and which was attracted by ideals other +than those which Cobden had preached. The +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span> +grievances which had made men reformers had +been largely removed. The battle of liberty and +nationality in Continental Europe had been in +the main won, and Englishmen had lost the +enthusiasm for freedom which had fired them in +the days when the memory of their own struggle +against the Crown and the oligarchy was still +fresh. With none of these changes had Disraeli’s +personal action much to do, but they all enured +to the benefit of his party, they all swelled the +tide which bore him into office in 1874.</p> +<p>Finally, he had the great advantage of living +long. Many a statesman has died at fifty, +and passed from the world’s memory, who might +have become a figure in history with twenty years +more of life. Had Disraeli’s career closed in +1854, he would have been remembered as a +parliamentary gladiator, who had produced a few +incisive speeches, a crude Budget, and some +brilliant social and political sketches. The +stronger parts of his character might have remained +unknown. True it is that a man must +have greatness in order to stand the test of long +life. Some are found out, like Louis Napoleon. +Some lose their balance and therewith their +influence, like Lord Brougham. Some cease to +grow or learn, and if a statesman is not better +at sixty than he was at thirty, he is worse. +Some jog heavily on, like Metternich, or stiffen +into arbitrary doctrinaires, like Guizot. Disraeli +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span> +did not merely stand the test, he gained immensely +by it. He gained by rising into a +position where his strength could show itself. +He gained also by so impressing his individuality +upon people as to make them accept it as an +ultimate fact, till at length they came, not so much +to blame him for what he did in accord with his +established reputation, as rather to relish and +enter into the humour of his character. As they +unconsciously took to judging him by a standard +different from that which they applied to ordinary +Englishmen, they hardly complained of deflections +from veracity which would have seemed grave +in other persons. He had given notice that +he was not like other men, that his words must +not be taken in their natural sense, that he was +to be regarded as the skilful player of a great +game, the consummate actor in a great part. +And, once more, he gained by the many years +during which he had opportunities of displaying +his fortitude, patience, constancy under defeat, +unwavering self-confidence—gifts rarer than mere +intellectual power, gifts that deserve the influence +they bestow. Nothing so fascinates mankind as +to see a man equal to every fortune, unshaken +by reverses, indifferent to personal abuse, maintaining +a long combat against apparently hopeless +odds with the sharpest weapons and a smiling +face. His followers fancy he must have hidden +resources of wisdom as well as of courage. When +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span> +some of his predictions come true, and the +turning tide of popular feeling begins to bear +them toward power, they believe that he has +been all along right and the rest of the world +wrong. When victory at last settles on his crest, +even his enemies can hardly help applauding a +reward which seems so amply earned. It was +by this quality, more perhaps than by anything +else, by this serene surface with fathomless depths +below, that he laid his spell upon the imagination +of observers in Continental Europe, and received +at his death a sort of canonisation from a large +section of the English people.</p> +<p>What will posterity think of him, and by +what will he be remembered? The glamour has +already passed away, and to few of those who on +the 19th of April deck his statue with flowers +is he more than a name.</p> +<p>Parliamentary fame is fleeting: the memory of +parliamentary conflicts soon grows dim and dull. +Posterity fixes a man’s place in history by asking +not how many tongues buzzed about him in his +lifetime, but how great a factor he was in the +changes of the world, that is, how far different +things would have been twenty or fifty years +after his death if he had never lived. Tried by +this standard, the results upon the course of events +of Disraeli’s personal action are not numerous, +though some of them may be deemed momentous. +He was an adroit parliamentary tactician who +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span> +held his followers together through a difficult +time. By helping to keep the Peelites from +rejoining their old party, he gave that party a +colour different from the sober hues which it +had worn during the leadership of Peel. He +became the founder of what has in later days +been called Tory democracy, winning over a +large section of the humbler classes to the +banner under which the majority of the wealthy +and the holders of vested interests already stood +arrayed. He saved for the Turkish Empire +a part of its territories, yet in doing so merely +prolonged for a little the death agony of +Turkish power. Though it cannot be said +that he conferred any benefit on India or the +Colonies, he certainly stimulated the imperial +instincts of Englishmen. He had occasional +flashes of insight, as when in 1843 he perceived +exactly what Ireland needed, and at least one +brilliant flash of foresight when he predicted that +a wide extension of the suffrage would bring no +evil to the Tory party. Yet in the case of +Ireland he did nothing, when the chance came +to him, to give effect to the judgment which he +had formed, while in the case of the suffrage he +did but follow up and carry into effect an impulse +given by others. The Franchise Act of 1867 is +perhaps the only part of his policy which has, +by hastening a change that induced other changes, +permanently affected the course of events; and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span> +it remains the chief monument of his parliamentary +skill. There was nothing in his career to +set the example of a lofty soul or a noble purpose. +He did not raise, he may even have lowered, +the tone of English public life.</p> +<p>Yet history will not leave him without a meed +of admiration. When all possible explanations of +his success have been given, what a wonderful +career! An adventurer foreign in race, in +ideas, in temper, without money or family +connections, climbs, by patient and unaided +efforts, to lead a great party, master a powerful +aristocracy, sway a vast empire, and make himself +one of the four or five greatest personal +forces in the world. His head is not turned by +his elevation. He never becomes a demagogue; +he never stoops to beguile the multitude by +appealing to sordid instincts. He retains through +life a certain amplitude of view, a due sense of +the dignity of his position, a due regard for the +traditions of the ancient assembly which he leads, +and when at last the destinies of England fall +into his hands, he feels the grandeur of the +charge, and seeks to secure what he believes to +be her imperial place in the world. Whatever +judgment history may ultimately pass upon +him, she will find in the long annals of the +English Parliament no more striking figure.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span> +<a name='DEAN_STANLEY16' id='DEAN_STANLEY16'></a> +<h2>DEAN STANLEY<a name="FNanchor_16" id="FNanchor_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor2">[16]</a></h2> +</div> +<p>In the England of his time there was no personality +more attractive, nor any more characteristic of +the country, than Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Dean +of Westminster. England is the only European +country in which such a figure could have appeared, +for it is the only country in which a man may hold +a high ecclesiastical post and yet be regarded +by the nation, not specially as an ecclesiastic, but +rather as a distinguished writer, an active and +influential man of affairs, an ornament of social +life. But if in this respect he was typical of his +country, he was in other respects unique. He +was a clergyman untouched by clericalism, a +courtier unspoiled by courts. No one could +point to any one else in England who occupied +a similar position, nor has any one since arisen +who recalls him, or who fills the place which his +departure left empty.</p> +<p>Stanley was born in 1815. His father, then +Rector of Alderley, in Cheshire, afterwards Bishop +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span> +of Norwich, belonged to the family of the Stanleys +of Alderley, a branch of that ancient and famous +line the head of which is Earl of Derby. His +mother, Catherine Leycester, was a woman of +much force of character and intellectual power. +He was educated at Rugby School under Dr. +Arnold, the influence of whose ideas remained +great over him all through his life, and at +Oxford, where he became a fellow and tutor +of University College. Passing thence to be +Canon of Canterbury, he returned to the University +as Professor of Ecclesiastical History, +and remained there for seven years. In 1863 +he was appointed Dean of Westminster, and at +the same time married Lady Augusta Bruce +(sister of the then Lord Elgin, Governor-General +first of Canada and afterwards of India). He +died in 1881.</p> +<p>He had an extraordinarily active and busy life, +so intertwined with the history of the University of +Oxford and the history of the Church of England +from 1850 to 1880, that one can hardly think of any +salient point in either without thinking also of +him. Yet it was perhaps rather in the intensity +of his nature and the nobility of his sentiments +than in either the compass or the strength of his +intellectual faculties that the charm and the force +he exercised lay. In some directions he was +curiously deficient. He had no turn for abstract +reasoning, no liking for metaphysics or any other +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span> +form of speculation. He was equally unfitted +for scientific inquiry, and could scarcely work +a sum in arithmetic. Indeed, in no field was +he a logical or systematic thinker. Neither, +although he had a retentive memory, and +possessed a great deal of various knowledge on +many subjects, could he be called learned, for +he had not really mastered any branch of history, +and was often inaccurate in details. He had never +been trained to observe facts in natural history. +He had absolutely no ear for music, and very +little perception either of colour or of scent. He +learned foreign languages with difficulty and never +spoke them well. He was so short-sighted as to +be unable to recognise a face passing close in the +street. Yet with these shortcomings he was a +born traveller, went everywhere, saw everything +and everybody worth seeing, always seized on +the most characteristic features of a landscape, or +building, or a person, and described them with a +freshness which made one feel as if they had +never been described before. Of the hundreds +who have published books on the Desert of +Sinai and the Holy Land, many of them skilful +writers or men of profound knowledge, he is +the only one who is still read and likely to continue +to be read, so vivid in colour, so exquisite +in feeling, are the pictures he has given. Nature +alone, however, nature taken by herself, did not +satisfy him, did not, indeed, in his later days (for +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span> +in his boyhood he had been a passionate lover of +the mountains) greatly interest him. A building +or a landscape had power to rouse his imagination +and call forth his unrivalled powers of description +only when it was associated with the +thoughts and deeds of men.</p> +<p>The largest part of his literary work was done +in the field of ecclesiastical history, a subject +naturally congenial to him, and to which he was +further drawn by the professorship which he held +at Oxford during a time when a great revival of +historical studies was in progress. It was work +which critics could easily disparage, for there were +many small errors scattered through it; and the +picturesque method of treatment he employed +was apt to pass into scrappiness. He fixed on +the points which had a special interest for his +own mind as illustrating some trait of personal +or national character, or some moral lesson, and +passed hastily over other matters of equal or +greater importance. Nevertheless his work +had some distinctive merits which have not received +from professional critics the whole credit +they deserved. In all that Stanley wrote one +finds a certain largeness and dignity of view. +He had a sense of the unity of history, of the +constant relation of past and present, of the similarity +of human nature in one age and country to +human nature in another; and he never failed to +dwell upon the permanently valuable truths which +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span> +history has to teach. Nothing was too small to +attract him, because he discovered a meaning in +everything, and he was therefore never dull, +for even when he moralised he would light up +his reflections by some happy anecdote. With +this he possessed a keen eye, the eye of a +poet, for human character, and a power of +sympathy that enabled him to appreciate even +those whose principles and policy he disliked. +Herein he was not singular, for the sympathetic +style of writing history has become fashionable +among us. What was remarkable in him was +that his sympathy did not betray him into the +error, now also fashionable, of extenuating moral +distinctions. His charity never blunted the edge +of his justice, nor prevented him from reprobating +the faults of the personages who had touched his +heart. For one sin only he had little historical +tolerance—the sin of intolerance. So there was +one sin only which ever led him to speak severely +of any of his contemporaries—the sin of untruthfulness. +Being himself so simple and straightforward +as to feel his inability to cope with +deceitful men, deceit incensed him. But he did not +resent the violence of his adversaries, for though +he suffered much at their hands he knew many +of them to be earnest, unselfish, and conscientious +men.</p> +<p>His pictures of historical scenes are admirable, +for with his interest in the study of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span> +character there went a large measure of dramatic +power. Nothing can be better in its way +than the description of the murder of St. +Thomas of Canterbury given in the <i>Memorials +of Canterbury</i>, which, after <i>Sinai and Palestine</i> +and the <i>Life of Arnold</i>, may be deemed +the best of Stanley’s books. Whether he +could, with more leisure for careful thought +and study, have become a great historian, was +a question which those of us who were dazzled +by his Public Lectures at Oxford used often +to discuss. The leisure never came, for he +was throughout life warmly interested in every +current ecclesiastical question, and ready to +bear a part in discussing it, either in the +press—for he wrote in the <i>Edinburgh Review</i>, +and often sent letters to the <i>Times</i> under +the signature of “Anglicanus”—or in Convocation, +where he had a seat during the latter +part of his career. These interruptions not +only checked the progress of his studies, but +gave to his compositions an air of haste, which +made them seem to want system and finish. The +habit of rapid writing for magazines or other +ephemeral purposes is alleged to tell injuriously +upon literary men: it told the more upon Stanley +because he was also compelled to produce sermons +rapidly. Now sermon-writing, while it breeds a +tendency to the making of rhetorical points, subordinates +the habit of dispassionate inquiry to the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span> +enforcement of a moral lesson. Stanley, who +had a touch of the rhetorical temperament, and +was always eager to improve an occasion, certainly +suffered in this way. When he brings out a general +truth he is not content with it as a truth, but +seeks to turn it also to edification, or to make +it illustrate and support some view for which he +is contending at the time. When he is simply +describing, he describes rather as a dramatic artist +working for effect than as a historian solely +anxious to represent men and events as they +were. Yet if we consider how much a historian +gains, not only from an intimate knowledge of +his own time, but also, and even more +largely, from playing an active part in the +events of his own time, from swaying opinion by +his writings and his speeches, from sitting in +assemblies and organising schemes of attack and +defence, we may hesitate to wish that Stanley’s +time had been more exclusively given to quiet +investigation. The freshness of his historical +portraits is notably due to the sense he carried +about with him of moving in history and being +a part of it. He never mounted his pulpit +in the Abbey or walked into the Jerusalem +Chamber when Convocation was sitting without +feeling that he was about to do something which +might possibly be recorded in the annals of his +country. I remember his mentioning, to illustrate +undergraduate ignorance, that once when he was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span> +going to give a lecture to his class, he suddenly +recollected that Mr. Goldwin Smith, then Regius +Professor of Modern History, was announced to +deliver a public lecture at the same hour. Telling +the class that they would be better employed in +hearing Mr. Goldwin Smith than himself, he led +them all there. The next time the class met, +one of them, after making some acute comments +on the lecture, asked who the lecturer was. “I +was amazed,” said Stanley, “that an intelligent +man should ask such a question, and then it +occurred to me that probably he did not know +who I was either.” There was nothing of personal +vanity or self-importance in this. All the +men of mark among whom he moved were to him +historical personages, and he would describe to +his friends some doing or saying of a contemporary +statesman or ecclesiastic with the same +eagerness, the same sense of its being a fact to +be noted and remembered, as the rest of us feel +about a personal anecdote relating to Oliver +Cromwell or Cardinal Richelieu.</p> +<p>His sermons, like nearly all good sermons, will +be inadequately appreciated by those who now +peruse them, not only because they were composed +for a given audience with special reference to the +circumstances of the time, but also because the +best of them gained so much by his impassioned +delivery. They were all read from manuscript, and +his handwriting was so illegible that it was a marvel +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span> +how he contrived to read them. I once asked +him, not long after he had been promoted to the +Deanery of Westminster, whether he found it +easy to make himself heard in the enormous nave +of the Abbey church. His frame, it ought to +be stated, was spare as well as small, and his +voice not powerful. He answered: “That depends +on whether I am interested in what I +am saying. If the sermon is on something +which interests me deeply I can fill the nave; +otherwise I cannot.” When he had got a worthy +theme, or one which stimulated his own emotions, +the power of his voice and manner was wonderful. +His tiny body seemed to swell, his chest +vibrated as he launched forth glowing words. +The farewell sermon he delivered when quitting +Oxford for Westminster lives in the memory of +those who heard it as a performance of extraordinary +power, the power springing from the +intensity of his own feeling. No sermon has +ever since so moved the University.</p> +<p>He was by nature shy and almost timid, and he +was not supposed to possess any gift for extempore +speaking. But when in his later days he found +himself an almost solitary champion in Convocation +of the principles of universal toleration and +comprehension which he held, he developed a debating +power which surprised himself as well as +his friends. It was to him a matter of honour and +conscience to defend his principles, and to defend +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span> +them all the more zealously because he stood +alone on their behalf in a hostile assembly. His +courage was equal to the occasion, and his faculties +responded to the call his courage made.</p> +<p>In civil politics he was all his life a Liberal, belonging +by birth to the Whig aristocracy, and disposed +on most matters to take rather the Whiggish +than the Radical view, yet drawn by the warmth +of his sympathy towards the working classes, +and popular with them. One of his chief +pleasures was to lead parties of humble visitors +round the Abbey on public holidays. Like most +members of the Whig families, he had no great +liking for Mr. Gladstone, not so much, perhaps, +on political grounds as because he distrusted the +High Churchism and anti-Erastianism of the +Liberal leader. However, he never took any +active part in general politics, reserving his +strength for those ecclesiastical questions which +seemed to lie within his peculiar province.<a name='FNanchor_0015' id='FNanchor_0015'></a><a href='#Footnote_0015' class='fnanchor'>[17]</a> +Here he had two leading ideas: one, that the +Church of England must at all hazards continue +to be an Established Church, in alliance with, or +subjection to, the State (for his Erastianism was +unqualified), and recognising the Crown as her +head; the other, that she must be a comprehensive +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span> +Church, finding room in her bosom for +every sort or description of Christian, however +much or little he believed of the dogmas contained +in the Thirty-nine Articles and the Prayer-Book, +to which she is bound by statute. The +former view cut him off from the Nonconformists +and the Radicals; the latter exposed him to the fire +not only of those who, like the High Churchmen +and the Evangelicals, attach the utmost importance +to these dogmas, but of those also among +the laity who hold that a man ought under no +circumstances to sign any test or use any form of +prayer which does not express his own convictions. +Stanley would, of course, have greatly preferred +that the laws which regulate the Church of England +should be so relaxed as to require little or +no assent to any doctrinal propositions from her +ministers. He strove for this; and he continued +to hope that this might be ultimately won. But +he conceived that in the meantime it was a less +evil that men should be technically bound by +subscriptions they objected to than that the +National Church should be narrowed by the +exclusion of those whose belief fell short of her +dogmatic standards. It was remarkable that +not only did he maintain this unpopular view of +his with unshaken courage on every occasion, +pleading the cause of every supposed heretic +against hostile majorities with a complete forgetfulness +of his own peace and ease, but that no +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span> +one ever thought of attributing the course he +took to any selfish or sinister motive. It was +generally believed that his own opinions were +what nine-tenths of the Church of England would +call unorthodox. But the honesty and uprightness +of his character were so patent that nobody +supposed that this fact made any difference, or +that it was for the sake of keeping his own place +that he fought the cause of others.</p> +<p>What his theological opinions were it might +have puzzled Stanley himself to explain. His +mind was not fitted to grasp abstract propositions. +His historical imagination and his early +associations attached him to the doctrines of the +Nicene Creed; but when he came to talk of +Christianity, he laid so much more stress on +its ethics than on its dogmatic side that his +clerical antagonists thought he held no creed at +all. Dr. Pusey once said that he and Stanley did +not worship the same God. The point of difference +between him and them was not so much that he +consciously disbelieved the dogmas they held—probably +he did not—as that he did not, like them, +think that true religion and final salvation depended +on believing them. And the weak point in his +imagination was that he seemed never to understand +their position, nor to realise how sacred and +how momentous to them were statements which +he saw in a purely imaginative light. He never +could be got to see that a Church without any +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span> +dogmas would not be a Church at all in the sense +either of mankind in the past or of mankind in +the present. An anecdote was current that once +when he had in Disraeli’s presence been descanting +on the harm done by the enforcement of dogmatic +standards, Disraeli had observed, “But pray +remember, Mr. Dean, no dogma, no Dean.”</p> +<p>Those who thought him a heathen would have +assailed him less bitterly if he had been content +to admit his own differences from them. What +most incensed them was his habit of assuming +that, except in mere forms of expression, there +were really no differences at all, and that they +also held Christianity to consist not in any body +of doctrines, but in reverence for God and purity +of life. They would have preferred heathenism +itself to this kind of Universalism.</p> +<p>As ecclesiastical preferment had not discoloured +the native hue of his simplicity, so neither did the +influences of royal favour. It says little for +human nature that few people should be proof +against what the philosopher deems the trivial +and fleeting fascinations of a court. Stanley’s +elevation of mind was proof. Intensely interested +in the knowledge of events passing behind the +scenes which his relations with the reigning family +opened to him, he scarcely ever referred to those +relations, and seemed neither to be affected +thereby, nor to care a whit more for the pomps +and vanities of power or wealth, a whit less for +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span> +the friends and the causes he had learned to value +in his youth.</p> +<p>In private, that which most struck one in his +intellect was the quick eagerness with which his +imagination fastened upon any new fact, caught +its bearings, and clothed it with colour. His +curiosity remained inexhaustible. His delight in +visiting a new country was like that of an +American scholar landing for the first time in +Europe. A friend met him a year before his +death at a hotel in the North of England, +and found he was going to the Isle of Man. +He had mastered its geography and history, +and talked about it and what he was to +explore there as one might talk of Rome or +Athens when visiting them for the first time. +When anybody told him an anecdote his susceptible +imagination seized upon points which the +narrator had scarcely noticed, and discovered a +whole group of curious analogies from other times +or countries. Whatever you planted in this fertile +soil struck root and sprouted at once. Morally, +he impressed those who knew him not only by +his kindness of heart, but by a remarkable +purity and nobleness of aim. Nothing mean or +small or selfish seemed to harbour in his mind. +You might think him right or wrong, but you +never doubted that he was striving after the +truth. He was not merely a just man; he +loved justice with passion. It was partly, perhaps, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span> +because justice, goodness, honour, charity, +seemed to him of such paramount importance in +life that he made little of doctrinal differences, +having perceived that these virtues may exist, and +may also be found wanting, in every form of +religious creed or philosophical profession. When +the Convocation of the Anglican Church met at +Westminster, it was during many years his habit +to invite a great number of its leading members to +the deanery, the very men who had been attacking +him most hotly in debate, and who would +go on denouncing his latitudinarianism till Convocation +met again. They yielded—sometimes +reluctantly, but still they yielded—to the kindliness +of his nature and the charm of his +manner. He used to dart about among them, +introducing opponents to one another, as indeed +on all occasions he delighted to bring the most +diverse people together, so that some one said +the company you met at the deanery were either +statesmen and duchesses or starving curates and +briefless barristers.</p> +<p>He had on the whole a happy life. It is +true that the intensity of his attachments exposed +him to correspondingly intense grief when he +lost those who were dearest to him; true also +that, being by temperament a man of peace, he +was during the latter half of his life almost constantly +at war. But his home, first in the lifetime +of his mother and then in that of his wife, had +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span> +a serene and unclouded brightness; and the care +of the Abbey, rich with the associations of nearly +a thousand years of history, provided a function +which exactly suited him and which constituted +a never-failing source of enjoyment. To dwell in +the centre of the life of the Church of England, +and to dwell close to the Houses of Parliament, +in the midst of the making of history, knowing +and seeing those who were principally concerned +in making it, was in itself a pleasure to his +quenchless historical curiosity. His cheerfulness +and animation, although to some extent revived +by his visit to America and the reception he met +with there, were never the same after his wife’s +death in 1876. But the sweetness of his disposition +and his affection for his friends knew +no diminution. He remembered everything that +concerned them; was always ready with sympathy +in sorrow or joy; and gave to all alike, +high or low, famous or unknown, the same impression, +that his friendship was for themselves, +and not for any gifts or rank or other worldly +advantage they might enjoy. The art of friendship +is the greatest art in life. To enjoy his was +to be educated in that art.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span> +<a name='THOMAS_HILL_GREEN' id='THOMAS_HILL_GREEN'></a> +<h2>THOMAS HILL GREEN</h2> +</div> +<p>The name of Thomas Green, Professor of Moral +Philosophy in the University of Oxford, was not, +during his lifetime, widely known outside the +University itself. But he is still remembered by +students of metaphysics and ethics as one of the +most vigorous thinkers of his time; and his personality +was a striking one, which made a deep +and lasting impression on those with whom he +came in contact.</p> +<p>He was born in Yorkshire in 1836, the son +of a country clergyman; was educated at Rugby +School and at Balliol College, Oxford, of which +he became a fellow in 1860, and a tutor in 1869. +In 1867 he was an unsuccessful candidate for a +chair of philosophy at St. Andrews, and in 1878 +was elected Professor of Moral Philosophy in his +own University, which he never thereafter quitted. +He was married in 1869 and died in 1882. It +was a life externally uneventful, but full of +thought and work, and latterly crowned by great +influence over the younger and great respect from +the senior members of the University.</p> +<p>I can best describe Green as he was in his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span> +undergraduate days, for it was then that I saw +most of him. His appearance was striking, +and made him a familiar figure even to those +who did not know him personally. Thick +black hair, a sallow complexion, dark eyebrows, +deep-set eyes of rich brown with a peculiarly +steadfast look, were the features which first +struck one; and with these there was a remarkable +seriousness of expression, an air of +solidity and quiet strength. He knew comparatively +few people, and of these only a very few +intimately, having no taste or turn for those +sports in which university acquaintances are most +frequently made, and seldom appearing at breakfast +or wine parties. This caused him to pass +for harsh or unsocial; and I remember having +felt a slight sense of alarm the first time I found +myself seated beside him. Though we belonged +to different colleges I had heard a great deal +about him, for Oxford undergraduates are warmly +interested in one another, and at the time I am +recalling they had an inordinate fondness for +measuring the intellectual gifts and conjecturing +the future of those among their contemporaries +who seemed likely to attain eminence.</p> +<p>Those who came to know Green intimately, +soon perceived that under his reserve there +lay not only a capacity for affection—no +man was more tenacious in his friendships—but +qualities that made him an attractive companion. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span> +His tendency to solitude sprang less +from pride or coldness, than from the occupation +of his mind by subjects which seldom weigh on +men of his age. He had, even when a boy +at school (where he lived much by himself, but +exercised considerable moral influence), been +grappling with the problems of metaphysics and +theology, and they had given a tinge of gravity +to his manner. The relief to that gravity lay in +his humour, which was not only abundant but +genial and sympathetic. It used to remind us +of Carlyle—he had both the sense of humour +and an underlying Puritanism in common with +Carlyle, one of the authors who (with Milton +and Wordsworth) had most influenced him—but +in Green the Puritan tinge was more kindly, +and, above all, more lenient to ordinary people. +While averse, perhaps too severely averse, to +whatever was luxurious or frivolous in undergraduate +life, he had the warmest interest in, and +the strongest sympathy for, the humbler classes. +Loving social equality, and filled with a sense of +the dignity of simple human nature, he liked to +meet farmers and tradespeople on their own level, +and knew how to do so without seeming to condescend; +indeed nothing pleased him better, than +when they addressed him as one of themselves, +the manner of his talk to them, as well as the +extreme plainness of his dress, conducing to such +mistakes. The belief in the duty of approaching +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span> +the people directly and getting them to think and +to form and express their own views in their own +way was at the root of all his political doctrines.</p> +<p>Though apt to be silent in general company, +no one could be more agreeable when +you were alone with him. We used to say +of him—and his seniors said the same—that +one never talked to him without carrying +away something to ponder over. On everything +he said or wrote there was stamped the +impress of a strong individuality, a mind that +thought for itself, a character ruggedly original, +wherein grimness was mingled with humour, and +practical shrewdness with a love for abstract +speculation. His independence appeared even in +the way he pursued his studies. With abilities of +the highest order, he cared comparatively little +for the distinctions which the University offers; +choosing rather to follow out his own line of +reading in the way he judged permanently useful +than to devote himself to the pursuit of honours +and prizes.</p> +<p>He was constitutionally lethargic, found it hard +to rouse himself to exertion, and was apt to let +himself be driven to the last moment in finishing +a piece of work. There was a rule in his College +that an essay should be given in every Friday +evening. His was, to the great annoyance of +the dons, never ready till Saturday. But when +it did go in, it was the weightiest and most +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span> +thoughtful, as well as the most eloquent, that the +College produced. This indolence had one good +result. It disposed him to brood over subjects, +while others were running quickly through many +books and getting up subjects for examination. +It contributed to that depth and systematic +quality which struck us in his thinking, and +made him seem mature beside even the ablest +of his contemporaries. When others were +being, so to speak, blown hither and thither, +picking up and fascinated by new ideas, which +they did not know how to fit in with their old +ones, he seemed to have already formed for himself, +at least in outline, a scheme of philosophy and +life coherent and complete. There was nothing +random or scattered in his ideas; his mind, like +his style of writing, which ran into long and complicated +sentences, had a singular connectedness. +You felt that all its principles were in relation with +one another. This maturity in his mental attitude +gave him an air of superiority, just as the +strength of his convictions gave a dogmatic quality +to his deliverances. Yet in spite of positiveness +and tenacity he had the saving grace of a humility +which distrusted human nature in himself at least +as much as he distrusted it in others. Leading +an introspective life, he had many “wrestlings,” +and often seemed conscious of the struggle between +the natural man and the spiritual man, as +described in the Epistle to the Romans.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span></div> +<p>In these early days, before, and to a less +extent after, taking his degree, he used to +speak a good deal, mostly on political topics, +at the University Debating Society, where so +many generations of young men have sharpened +their wits upon one another. His speaking +was vigorous, shrewd, and full of matter, yet +it could not be called popular. It was, in a +certain sense, too good for a debating society, +too serious, and without the dash and sparkle +which tell upon audiences of that kind. Sometimes, +however, and notably in a debate on the +American War of Secession in 1863, he produced, +by the concentrated energy of his language and +the fierce conviction with which he spoke, a +powerful effect.<a name='FNanchor_0016' id='FNanchor_0016'></a><a href='#Footnote_0016' class='fnanchor'>[18]</a> In a business assembly, discussing +practical questions, he would soon have +become prominent, and would have been capable +on occasions of an oratorical success.</p> +<p>Retired as was Green’s life, he became by +degrees more and more widely known beyond the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span> +circle of his own intimates; and became also, I +think, more willing to make new friends. His +truthfulness appeared in this that, though powerful +in argument, he did not argue for victory. +When he felt the force of what was urged against +him, his admissions were candid. Thus people +came to respect his character, with its high sense +of duty, its simplicity, its uprightness, its earnest +devotion to an ideal, even more than they admired +his intellectual powers. I remember one friend of +my own, himself eminent in undergraduate Oxford, +and belonging to another college, between which +and Green’s there existed much rivalry, who, +having been defeated by Green in competition +for a University prize, said, “If it had been +any one else, I should have been vexed, but I +don’t mind being beaten by a man I respect so +much.” My friend knew Green very slightly, +and had been at one time strongly prejudiced +against him by rumours of his heterodox opinions.</p> +<p>So much for those undergraduate days on +which recollection loves to dwell, but which were +not days of unmixed happiness to Green, for his +means were narrow and the future rose cloudy +before him. When anxiety was removed by the +income which a fellowship secured, he still hesitated +as to his course in life. At one time he +thought of journalism, or of seeking a post in the +Education Office. More frequently his thoughts +turned to the clerical profession. His theological +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span> +opinions would not have permitted him to enter +the service of the Church of England, but he +did seriously consider whether he should become +a Unitarian minister. It was not till he found +that his college needed him as a teacher that +these difficulties came to an end. Similarly he +had doubted whether to devote himself to history, +to theology, or to metaphysics. For history +he had unquestionable gifts. With no exceptional +capacity for mastering or retaining facts, +he had a remarkable power of penetrating at once +to the dominant facts, of grasping their connection, +and working out their consequences. He had also +a keen sense of the dramatic aspect of events, and +a turn, not unlike Carlyle’s, partly perhaps formed +on Carlyle, of fastening on the details in which +character shows itself, and illumining narrative by +personal touches. On the problems of theology +he had meditated even at school, and after taking +his degree he set himself to a systematic study of +the German critics, and I remember that when +we were living together at Heidelberg he had +begun to prepare a translation of C. F. Baur’s +principal treatise. As he worked slowly, the translation +was never finished. Though not professing +to be an adherent of the Tübingen school, +he had been fascinated by Baur’s ingenuity and +constructive power.</p> +<p>Ultimately he settled down to metaphysical +and ethical inquiries, and devoted to these the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span> +last thirteen years of his life. During his undergraduate +years the two intellectual forces most +powerful at Oxford had been the writings of +J. H. Newman in the religious sphere, though +their influence was already past its meridian, and +the writings of John Stuart Mill in the sphere +of logic and philosophy. By neither of these, +save in the way of antagonism, had Green been +influenced. He heartily hated all the Utilitarian +school, and had an especial scorn for Buckle, who, +now almost forgotten, enjoyed in those days, as +being supposed to be a philosophic historian, a brief +term of popularity. Green had been led by Carlyle +to the Germans, and his philosophic thinking was +determined chiefly by Kant and Hegel, more +perhaps by the former than by the latter, for it +was always upon ethical rather than upon purely +metaphysical problems that his mind was bent. +His religious vein and his hold upon practical +life made him more interested in morals than +in abstract speculation. Thus he became the +leader in Oxford of a new philosophic school +which looked to Kant as its master, and which +for a time, partly perhaps because it effectively +attacked the school of Mill, received the adhesion +of some among the most thoughtful of the younger +High Churchmen. Like Kant, he set himself to +answer David Hume, and the essay prefixed to +his edition of Hume’s <i>Treatise on Human Nature</i>. +along with his <i>Prolegomena to Ethics</i>, are the only +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span> +books in which his doctrines have been given to +the world, for he did not live to write the more +systematic exposition he had planned. These +two essays are hard reading, for his philosophical +style was usually technical, and sometimes verged +on obscurity. But when he wrote on less abstruse +matters he was intelligible as well as weighty, full +of thought, and with an occasional underglow +of restrained eloquence. The force of character +and convictions makes itself felt through the +language.</p> +<p>His mind, though constructive, was not, having +regard to its general power, either fertile or +versatile. Like most of those who prefer solitary +musings to the commerce of men, he had little +facility, and found it hard to express his thoughts +in any other words than those into which his +musings had first flowed. Thus even his oral +teaching was not easy to follow. An anecdote was +current how when one day he had been explaining +to a small class his theory of the origin of our +ideas, the class listened in rapt attention to +his forcible rhetoric, admiring each sentence as +it fell, and thinking that all their difficulties +were being removed. When he ended they +expressed their gratitude for the pleasure he +had given them, and were quitting the room, +when one, halting at the door, said timidly, +“But, Mr. Green, what did you say was really +the origin of our ideas?” However, whether +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span> +they were or were not capable of assimilating +his doctrines, his pupils all joined in their respect +for him. They felt the loftiness of his character, +they recognised the fervour of his belief. He +was the most powerful ethical influence, and +perhaps also the most stimulative intellectual +influence, that in those years played upon the +minds of the ablest youth of the University. +But it was a singular fact, which those who +have never lived in Oxford or Cambridge may +find it hard to understand, that when he rose +from the post of a college tutor to that of a +University professor, his influence declined, not +that his powers or his earnestness waned, but +because as a professor he had fewer auditors +and less personal relation with them than he +had commanded as a college teacher. Such is +the working of the collegiate system in Oxford, +curiously unfortunate when it deprives the ablest +men, as they rise naturally to the highest positions, +of the opportunities for usefulness they had previously +enjoyed.</p> +<p>As his powers developed and came to be +recognised, so did those slight asperities which +had been observed in undergraduate days soften +down and disappear. Though he lived a retired +life, his work brought him into contact with +a good many people, and he became more +genial in general company. I remember his +saying with a smile when I had lured him into +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span> +Wales for a short excursion, “I don’t know +whether it is a sign of declining virtue, but I find +as I grow older that I am less and less fond of +my own company.” From the first he had won +the confidence and affection of his pupils. Many of +them used long afterwards to say that his conduct +and his teaching had been the one great example +or one great influence they had found and felt in +Oxford. The unclouded happiness of his married +life made it easier for him to see the bright side of +things, and he could not but enjoy the sense that +the seed he sowed was falling on ground fit to +receive it. Even when ill-health had fastened +on him, and was checking both his studies and +his public work, it did not affect the evenness of +his temper nor sharpen the edge of his judgments +of others. In earlier days these had been sometimes +austere, though expressed in temperate and +measured terms.</p> +<p>I must not forget to add that although +Green’s opinions were by no means orthodox, the +influence he exerted while he remained a college +tutor was in large measure a religious influence. +As the clergyman used to be in the English Universities +less of a clergyman than he was anywhere +else, so conversely it caused no surprise there that +a lay teacher should concern himself with the +religious life of his pupils. Green, however, did +more, for he on two occasions at least delivered +to his pupils, before the celebration of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span> +communion in the college chapel, addresses which +were afterwards privately printed, and which present +his view of the relations of ethics and religion +in a way impressive even to those who may find +it hard to follow the philosophical argument.</p> +<p>Metaphysicians are generally as little interested +in practical politics as poets are, and not better +suited for political life. Green was a remarkable +exception. Politics were in a certain sense the +strongest of his interests. To him metaphysics +were not only the basis of theology, but also the +basis of politics. Everything was to converge +on the free life of the individual in a free State; +rational faith and reason inspired by emotion +were to have their perfect work in making the +good citizen.</p> +<p>His interest in politics was perhaps less +active in later years than it had been in his +youth, but his principles stood unchanged. He +was a thoroughgoing Liberal, or what used to be +called a Radical, full of faith in the people, an +advocate of pretty nearly every measure that +tended to democratise English institutions, a +friend of peace and of non-intervention. In +our days he would have been called a Little +Englander, for though his ideal of national life +was lofty, the wellbeing of the masses was to +him a more essential part of that ideal than any +extension of territory or power. He once said +that he would rather see the flag of England +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span> +trailed in the dirt than add sixpence to the taxes +that weigh upon the poor. In foreign politics +Louis Napoleon, as the corrupter of France and +the disturber of Europe, was his favourite aversion; +in home politics, Lord Palmerston, as the +chief obstacle to parliamentary reform. The +statesman whom he most admired and trusted +was Mr. Bright. A strong sense of civic duty +led him to enter the City Council of Oxford, +although he could ill spare from his study and +his lecture-room the time which the discharge of +municipal duties required. He was the first tutor +who had ever offered himself to a ward for election. +The townsfolk, between whom and the University +there had generally been little love, the former +thinking themselves looked down upon by the +latter, warmly appreciated his action in coming +out of his seclusion to help them, and his influence +in the Council contributed to secure some useful +reforms, among others, the establishment of a +“grammar” or secondary school for the city.</p> +<p>One of the last things he wrote was a short +pamphlet on freedom of contract, intended to +justify the interference with bargains between +landlord and tenant which was proposed by Mr. +Gladstone’s Irish Land Bill of 1881. It is a +vigorous piece of reasoning, which may still be +read with interest in respect of its application +of philosophical principles to a political controversy. +Had he desired it he might have gone +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span> +to the House of Commons as member for the city +of Oxford. But he had found in the Council a +field for local public work, and apart from his +constitutional indolence and his declining health, +he had concluded that his first duty lay in expounding +his philosophical system.</p> +<p>Green will be long remembered in the English +Universities as the strongest force in the sphere +of ethical philosophy that they have seen in the +second half of the nineteenth century, and remembered +also as a singular instance of a metaphysician +with a bent towards politics and practical +life, no less than as a thinker far removed from +orthodoxy who exerted over orthodox Christians +a potent and inspiring religious influence.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span> +<a name='ARCHBISHOP_TAIT19' id='ARCHBISHOP_TAIT19'></a> +<h2>ARCHBISHOP TAIT<a name="FNanchor_19" id="FNanchor_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor2">[19]</a></h2> +</div> +<p>England is now the only Protestant country in +which bishops retain some relics of the dignity +and influence which belonged to the episcopal +office during the Middle Ages. Even in Roman +Catholic countries they have been sadly shorn +of their ancient importance, though the prelates +of Hungary still hold vast possessions, while in +France, or Spain, or the Catholic parts of +Germany a man of eminent talents and energy +may occasionally use his official position to become, +through his influence over Catholic electors +or Catholic deputies, a considerable political +factor. This happens even in the United States +and Canada, though in the United States the +general feeling that religion must be kept out of +politics obliges ecclesiastics to use their spiritual +powers cautiously and sparingly. England stands +alone in the fact that although the Protestant +Episcopal Church is, in so far as she is established +by law, the creature and subject of the State, +she is nevertheless so far independent as a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span> +religious organisation that she retains a greater +power than in other Protestant nations. State +establishment, though it may have depressed, has +not stifled her ecclesiastical life, and an interest +in ecclesiastical questions is shown by a larger +proportion of her laity than one finds in Germany +or the Scandinavian kingdoms. A man of shining +parts has, as an English bishop, a wide field of +action and influence open to him outside the +sphere of theology or of purely official duty. And +the opportunities of the position attain their maximum +when he reaches the primatial chair of +Canterbury, which is now the oldest and the most +dignified of all the metropolitan sees in countries +that have accepted the Reformation of the sixteenth +century.</p> +<p>Ever since there was a bishop at Canterbury +at all, that is to say, ever since the conversion of +the English began in the seventh century of our +era, the holder of that see has been the greatest +ecclesiastical personage in these islands, with a +recognised authority over all England, as well +as an influence and dignity to which, in the +Middle Ages, the Archbishops of Armagh and +St. Andrews (primates of the Irish and Scottish +Churches) practically bowed, even while refusing +to admit his legal supremacy. To be the most +highly placed and officially the most powerful +man in the churches of Britain, in days when +the Church was better organised, and in some +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span> +ways stronger, than the State, meant a vast deal. +The successor of Augustine was often called a +Pope of his own world—that world of Britain +which lay apart from the larger world of the +European continent. Down to the Reformation, +the English primates possessed a power which +made some of them almost a match for the +English kings. Dunstan, Lanfranc, Anselm, +Thomas (Becket), Hubert, Stephen Langton, +Arundel, Warham, were among the foremost +statesmen of their time. After Henry VIII.’s +breach with Rome, the Primate of England received +some access of dignity in becoming independent +of the Pope; but, in reality, the loss +of church power and church wealth which the +Reformation caused lowered his political importance. +In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, +however, there were still some conspicuous and +influential prelates at Canterbury—Cranmer, Pole, +Whitgift, and Laud the best remembered among +them. After the Revolution of 1688, a time of +smaller men begins. The office retained its +dignity as the highest place open to a subject, +ranking above the Lord Chancellor or the Lord +President of the Council, but the Church of +England, having no fightings within, nor anything +to fear from without, was lapped in placid +ease, so it mattered comparatively little who her +chief pastor was.</p> +<p>Bishoprics were in those days regarded chiefly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span> +as pieces of rich preferment with which prime +ministers bought the support of powerful adherents. +But since the middle of the nineteenth +century, as the Anglican Church has become at +once more threatened and more energetic, as +more of the life of the nation has flowed into +her and round her, the office of a bishop +has risen in importance. People show more +interest in the appointments to be made, and +ministers have become proportionately careful +in making them. Bishops work harder and are +more in the public eye now than they were +eighty, or even fifty, years ago. They have +lost something of the antique dignity and social +consideration which they enjoyed. They no +longer wear wigs or ride in State coaches. They +may be seen in third-class railway carriages, +or sitting on the tops of omnibuses. But they +have gained by having countless opportunities +opened up to them for exerting influence in +philanthropic as well as in religious movements; +and the more zealous among them turn these +opportunities to excellent account.</p> +<p>Whatever is true of an ordinary bishop is true +<i>a fortiori</i> of the Archbishop of Canterbury. He +is still a great personage, but he is great in a new +way, with less of wealth and power but larger +opportunities of influence. He is also a kind +of Pope in a new way, because he is the central +figure of the Anglican communion over the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_104' name='page_104'></a>104</span> +whole world, with no legal jurisdiction outside +England (except in India), but far over-topping +all the prelates of that communion in the United +States or the British Colonies. Less deference is +paid to the office, considered simply as an office, +than it received in the Middle Ages, because +society and thought have been tinged by the +spirit of democratic equality, and people realise +that offices are only artificial creations, whose +occupants are human beings like themselves. But +if he is himself a man of ability and force, he may +make his headship of an ancient and venerated +church a vantage-ground whence to address the +nation as well as the members of his own communion. +He is sure of being listened to, which is +of itself no small matter in a country where many +voices are striving to make themselves heard at +the same time. The world takes his words into +consideration; the newspapers repeat them. His +position gives him easy access to the ministers of +the Crown, and implies a confidential intercourse +with the Crown itself. He is, or can be, “in +touch” with all the political figures who can in +any way influence the march of events, and is +able to enforce his views upon them. All his +conduct is watched by the nation; so that if it +is discreet, provident, animated by high and +consistent principle, he gets full credit for +whatever he does well, and acquires that influence +to which masses of men are eager to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span> +bow whenever they can persuade themselves +that it is deserved. During the first half of +the nineteenth century the English people was +becoming more interested in ecclesiastical and in +theological matters than it had been during the +century preceding. It grew by slow degrees +more inclined to observe ecclesiastical persons, +to read and think about theological subjects, to +reflect upon the relations which the Church +ought to bear to civil life and moral progress. +Thus a leader of the Church of England +became relatively a more important factor than +he had been a century ago, and an archbishop, +strong by his character, rectitude, and +powers of utterance, rose to occupy a more +influential, if not more conspicuous, position than +his predecessors in the days of the Georges had +done.</p> +<p>These changes naturally made the selection +of an archbishop a more delicate and troublesome +business than it was in those good old +days. Nobody then blamed a Prime Minister +for preferring an aspirant who had the support +of powerful political connections. Blameless in +life he must be: even the eighteenth century +demanded that from candidates for English, if +not, according to Dean Swift, for Irish sees. +If he was also a man of courtly grace and +dignity, and a finished scholar, so much the +better. If he was a man of piety, that also was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span> +well. By the time of Queen Victoria the possession +of piety and of gifts of speech had become +more important qualifications, but the main thing +was tactful moderation. Even in apostolic days +it was required that a bishop should rule his own +house well, and the Popes esteemed most saintly +have not always been the best, as the famous case +of Celestine the Fifth attests. An archbishop +must first and foremost be a discreet and guarded +man, expressing few opinions, and those not extreme +ones. His chief virtue came to be, if not +the purely negative one of offending no section by +expressing the distinctive views of any other, yet +that of swerving so little from the <i>via media</i> between +Rome and Geneva that neither the Tractarian +party, who began to be feared after 1837, +nor the pronounced Low Churchmen could claim +the Primate as disposed to favour their opinions. +In the case of ordinary bishops the plan could +be adopted, and has since the days of Lord +Palmerston been mostly followed, of giving every +party its turn, while choosing from every party +men of the safer sort. This method, however, +was less applicable to the See of Canterbury, for +a man on whose action much might turn could +not well be taken from any particular section. +The acts and words of a Primate, who is expected +to “give a line” to the clergy generally and to +speak on behalf of the bench of bishops as a +whole, are so closely scrutinised that he must +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span> +be prudent and wary, yet not so wary as to seem +timid. He ought to be both firm and suave, +conciliatory and decided. That he may do +justice to all sections of the Church of England, +he ought not to be an avowed partisan +of any. Yet he must be able and eminent, and +of course able and eminent men are apt to throw +themselves into some one line of action or set +of views, and so come to be considered partisans. +The position which the Archbishop of Canterbury +holds as the representative in Parliament +of the whole Established Church, makes statesmanship +the most important of all qualifications. +Learning, energy, eloquence, piety would +none of them, nor all of them together, make +up for the want of calmness and wisdom. Yet +all those qualities are obviously desirable, because +they strengthen as well as adorn the primate’s +position.</p> +<p>Archibald Campbell Tait (born in Scotland in +1811, died 1882) was educated at Glasgow University +and at Balliol College, Oxford; worked at +his college for some years as a tutor, succeeded +Dr. Arnold as headmaster of Rugby School in +1843, became Dean of Carlisle and then Bishop +of London, and was translated to Canterbury +in 1868. It has been generally understood that +Mr. Disraeli, then Prime Minister, suggested +another prelate for the post, but the Queen, +who did not share her minister’s estimate of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span> +that prelate, expressed a preference for Tait. +Her choice was amply justified, for Tait united, +and indeed possessed in a high degree, the +qualifications which have just been enumerated. +He was, if it be not a paradox to say so, more +remarkable as an archbishop than as a man. He +had no original power as a thinker. He was +not a striking preacher, and the more pains he +took with his sermons the less interesting did they +become. He was so far from being learned that +you could say no more of him than that he was +a sound scholar and a well-informed man. He +was deeply and earnestly pious, but in a quiet, +almost dry way, which lacked what is called +unction, though it impressed those who were +in close contact with him. He showed slight +interest either in the historical or in the speculative +side of theology. Though a good headmaster, +he was not a stimulating teacher. Had +he remained all his life in a subordinate position, +as a college tutor at Oxford, or as canon of +some cathedral, he would have discharged the +duties of the position in a thoroughly satisfactory +way, and would have acquired influence +among his colleagues, but no one would have +felt that Fate had dealt unfairly with him in +depriving him of some larger career and loftier +post. No one, indeed, who knew him when he +was a college tutor seems to have predicted +the dignities he was destined to attain, although +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span> +he had shown in the theological strife that then +raged at Oxford the courage and independence +of his character.</p> +<p>In what, then, did the secret of his success +lie—the secret, that is, of his acquitting himself +so excellently in those dignities as to have +become almost a model to his own and the +next generation of what an Archbishop of Canterbury +ought to be? In the statesmanlike quality +of his mind. He had not merely moderation, +but what, though often confounded with moderation, +is something rarer and better, a steady +balance of mind. He was carried about by +no winds of doctrine. He seldom yielded to +impulses, and was never so seduced by any one +theory as to lose sight of other views and conditions +which had to be regarded. He was, I think, +the first man of Scottish birth who ever rose to +be Primate of England, and he had the cautious +self-restraint which is deemed characteristic of his +nation. He knew how to be dignified without +assumption, firm without vehemence, prudent +without timidity, judicious without coldness. +He was, above all things, a singularly just +man, who recognised every one’s rights, and +did not seek to overbear them by an exercise +of authority. He was as ready to listen to his +opponents as to his friends. Indeed, he so held +himself as to appear to have no opponents, but +to be rather a judge before whom different +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span> +advocates were stating their respective cases, +than a leader seeking to make his own views +or his own party prevail. Genial he could +hardly be called, for there was little warmth, +little display of emotion, in his manner; and the +clergy noted, at least in his earlier episcopal +days, a touch of the headmaster in his way of +receiving them. But he was simple and kindly, +capable of seeing the humorous side of things, +desiring to believe the good rather than the +evil, and to lead people instead of driving them. +With all his caution he was direct and straightforward, +saying no more than was necessary, +but saying nothing he had occasion to be ashamed +of. He sometimes made mistakes, but they were +not mistakes of the heart, and, being free from +vanity or self-conceit, he was willing in his quiet +way to admit them and to alter his course accordingly. +So his character by degrees gained upon +the nation, and so even ecclesiastical partisanship, +proverbially more bitter than political, +because it springs from deeper wells of feeling, +grew to respect and spare him. The influence +he obtained went far to strengthen the position +of the Established Church, and to keep its +several parties from breaking out into more open +hostility with one another. He himself inclined +to what might be called a moderate Broad +Church attitude, leaning more to Evangelical +than to Tractarian or Romanising views in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span> +matters of doctrine. At one time the extreme +High Churchmen regarded him as an enemy. +But this unfriendliness had almost died away +when the death of his wife and his only son +(a young man of singularly winning character), +followed by his own long illness, stilled the voices +of criticism.</p> +<p>He exerted great influence in the House +of Lords by his tact, by his firmness of +character, and by the consistency of his public +course, as well as by powers of speech, which, +matured by long practice, had risen to a +high level. Without eloquence, without either +imagination or passion, which are the chief +elements in eloquence, he had a grave, weighty, +thoughtful style which impressed that fastidious +audience. His voice was strong and sonorous, +his diction plain yet pure and dignified, his +matter well considered. His thought moved +on a high plane; he spoke as one who fully +believed every word he said. The late Bishop +of Winchester, the famous Dr. Samuel Wilberforce, +was incomparably his superior not only +as a talker but as an orator, but no less inferior +in his power over the House of Lords, for +so little does rhetorical brilliance count in a +critical and practical assembly. Next to courage, +the quality which gains trust and regard in a +deliberative body is that which is familiarly +described when it is said of a man, “You always +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span> +know where to find him.” Tait belonged to no +party. But his principles, though not rigid, were +fixed and settled; his words and votes were the +expression of his principles.</p> +<p>The presence of bishops in the House of +Lords is disapproved by some sections of English +opinion, and there are those among the temporal +peers who, quite apart from any political feeling, +are said to regard them with little favour. But +every one must admit that they have raised +and adorned the debates in that chamber. +Besides Tait and Wilberforce, two other prelates +of the same generation stood in the front +rank of speakers, Dr. Magee, whose wit and +fire would have found a more fitting theatre +in the House of Commons, and Dr. Thirlwall, +a scholar and historian whose massive intellect +and stately diction were too rarely used to raise +great political issues above the dust-storms of +party controversy.</p> +<p>Perhaps no Archbishop since the Revolution +of 1688 has exercised so much influence as Dr. +Tait, and certainly none within living memory +is so well entitled to be credited with a definite +ecclesiastical policy. His aim was to widen the +bounds of the Church of England, so far as the law +could, without evasion, be stretched for that purpose. +He bore a leading part in obtaining an Act of +Parliament which introduced a new and less strict +form of clerical subscription. He realised that the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span> +Church of England can maintain her position +as a State Church only by adapting herself to +the movements of opinion, and accordingly he +voted for the Divorce Bill of 1859, and for the +Burials Bill, which relieved Dissenters from a +grievance that exposed the Established Church +to odium. The Irish Church Disestablishment +Bill of 1869 threw upon him, at the critical +moment when it went from the House of +Commons, where it had passed by a large +majority, to the House of Lords, where a still +larger majority was hostile, a duty delicate in +itself, and such as seldom falls to the lot of a +prelate. The Queen wrote to him suggesting +that he should endeavour to effect a compromise +between Mr. Gladstone, then head of the +Liberal Ministry, and the leading Tory peers +who were opposing the Bill. He conducted the +negotiation with tact and judgment, and succeeded +in securing good pecuniary terms for the Protestant +Episcopal Establishment. Though he +had joined in the Letter of the Bishops which +conveyed their strong disapproval of the book +called <i>Essays and Reviews</i> (whose supposed +heretical tendencies roused such a storm in +1861), and had thereby displeased his friends, +Temple (afterwards archbishop), Jowett, and +Stanley,<a name='FNanchor_0017' id='FNanchor_0017'></a><a href='#Footnote_0017' class='fnanchor'>[20]</a> he joined in the judgment of the Privy +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span> +Council which in 1863 dismissed the charges +against the impugned Essayists. Despite his +advocacy of the Bill which in 1874 provided a +new procedure to be used against clergymen +transgressing the ritual prescribed by law, he +discouraged prosecutions, and did his utmost +to keep Ritualists as well as moderate Rationalists +within the pale of the Church of England. +He did not succeed—no one could have succeeded, +even though he had spoken with the +tongues of men and of angels—in stilling ecclesiastical +strife. The controversies of his days still +rage, though in a slightly different form. But +in refusing to yield to the pressure of any section, +in regarding the opinion of the laity rather than +that of the clergy, in keeping close to the law +yet giving it the widest possible interpretation, +he laid down the lines on which the Anglican +Established Church can best be defended and +upheld. That she will last, as an Establishment, +for any very long time, will hardly be +expected by those who mark the direction in +which thought tends to move all over the civilised +world. But Tait’s policy and personality +have counted for something in prolonging the +time-honoured connection of the Anglican Church +with the English State.</p> +<p>Perhaps a doubtful service either to the Church +or to the State. Yet even those who regret +the connection, and who, surveying the long +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span> +course of Christian history from the days of the +Emperor Constantine down to our own, believe +that the Christian Church would have been +spiritually purer and morally more effective had +she never become either the mistress or the +servant or the ally of the State, but relied on +her divine commission only, may wish that, when +the day arrives for the ancient bond to be unloosed, +it should be unloosed not through an embittered +political struggle, but because the general sentiment +of the nation, and primarily of religious +men throughout the nation, has come to approve +the change.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span> +<a name='ANTHONY_TROLLOPE21' id='ANTHONY_TROLLOPE21'></a> +<h2>ANTHONY TROLLOPE<a name="FNanchor_21" id="FNanchor_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor2">[21]</a></h2> +</div> +<p>When Mr. Anthony Trollope died (December +11, 1882) at the age of sixty-seven, he was the +best known of our English writers of fiction, +and stood foremost among them if the double +test of real merit and wide popularity be applied. +Some writers, such as Wilkie Collins, may have +commanded a larger sale. One writer at least, Mr. +George Meredith, had produced work of far deeper +insight and higher imaginative power. But the +gifts of Mr. Meredith had then scarcely begun +to win recognition, and not one reader knew his +name for five who knew Trollope’s. So Mr. +Thomas Hardy had published what many continue +to think his two best stories, but they had not +yet caught the eye of the general public. Mrs. +Oliphant, high as was the general level of her +work, and inexhaustible as her fertility appeared, +had not cut her name so deep upon the time +as Trollope did. Everything she did was good, +nothing superlatively good. No one placed +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span> +Trollope in the first rank of creative novelists +beside Dickens or Thackeray, or beside George +Eliot, who had died two years before. But in +the second rank he stood high; and though +other novelists may have had as many readers +as he, none was in so many ways representative +of the general character and spirit +of English fiction. He had established his +reputation nearly thirty years before, when +Thackeray and Dickens were still in the fulness +of their fame; and had maintained it during +the zenith of George Eliot’s. For more than +a generation his readers had come from the +best-educated classes as well as from those who +lack patience or taste for anything heavier +than a story of adventure. In this respect +he stood above Miss Braddon, Mrs. Henry +Wood, Ouida, and other heroines of the circulating +libraries, and also above such more +artistic or less sensational writers as William +Black, Walter Besant, James Payn, and Whyte +Melville. (The school of so-called realistic +fiction had scarcely begun to appear.) None +of these had, like Trollope, succeeded in making +their creations a part of the common thought of +cultivated Englishmen; none had, like him, given +us characters which we treat as typical men and +women, and discuss at a dinner-table as though +they were real people. Mrs. Proudie, for instance, +the Bishop of Barchester’s wife, to take the most +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span> +obvious instance (though not that most favourable +to Trollope, for he produced better portraits than +hers), or Archdeacon Grantly, was when Trollope +died as familiar a name to English men and +women between sixty and thirty years of age +as Wilkins Micawber, or Blanche Amory, or +Rosamond Lydgate. There was no other living +novelist of whose personages the same could be +said, and perhaps none since has attained this +particular kind of success.</p> +<p>Personally, Anthony Trollope was a bluff, +genial, hearty, vigorous man, typically English +in his face, his talk, his ideas, his tastes. His +large eyes, which looked larger behind his large +spectacles, were full of good-humoured life and +force; and though he was neither witty nor +brilliant in conversation, he was what is called +very good company, having travelled widely, +known all sorts of people, and formed views, +usually positive views, on all the subjects of +the day, views which he was prompt to declare +and maintain. There was not much novelty in +them—you were disappointed not to find so +clever a writer more original—but they were +worth listening to for their solid common-sense, +tending rather to commonplace sense, and you +enjoyed the ardour with which he threw himself +into a discussion. Though boisterous and +insistent in his talk, he was free from assumption +or conceit, and gave the impression of liking the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span> +world he lived in, and being satisfied with his +own place in it. Neither did one observe in him +that erratic turn which is commonly attributed to +literary men. He was a steady and regular worker, +who rose every morning between five and six to +turn out a certain quantity of copy for the printer +before breakfast, enjoying his work, and fond of +his own characters—indeed he declared that he +filled his mind with them and saw them moving +before him—yet composing a novel just as other +people might compose tables of statistics. These +methodical habits were to some extent due to his +training as a clerk in the Post Office, where he +spent the earlier half of his working life, having +retired in 1864. He did not neglect his duties +there, even when occupied in writing, and claimed +to have been the inventor of the pillar letter-box. +It was probably in his tours as an inspector of +postal deliveries that he obtained that knowledge +of rural life which gives reality to his pictures +of country society. He turned his Civil Service +experiences to account in some of his stories, +giving faithful and characteristic sketches, in +<i>The Three Clerks</i> and <i>The Small House at +Allington</i>, of different types of Government +officials, a class which is much more of a class in +England than it is in America, though less of +a class than it is in Germany or France. His +favourite amusement was hunting, as readers of +his novels know, and until his latest years he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span> +might have been seen, though a heavy weight, +following the hounds in Essex once or twice a +week.</p> +<p>When E. A. Freeman wrote a magazine +article denouncing the cruelty of field sports, +Trollope replied, defending the amusement he +loved. Some one said it was a collision of two +rough diamonds. But the end was that Freeman +invited Trollope to come and stay with him at +Wells, and they became great friends.</p> +<p>Like most of his literary contemporaries, he +was a politician, and indeed a pretty keen one. +He once contested in the Liberal interest—in +those days literary men were mostly Liberals—the +borough of Beverley in Yorkshire, a corrupt little +place, where bribery proved too strong for him. +It was thereafter disfranchised as a punishment +for its misdeeds; and his costly experiences doubtless +suggested the clever electioneering sketches +in the story of <i>Ralph the Heir</i>. Thackeray also +was once a Liberal candidate. He stood for the +city of Oxford, and the story was current there for +years afterwards how the freemen of the borough +(not an exemplary class of voters) rose to an unwonted +height of virtue by declaring that though +they did not understand his speeches or know +who he was, they would vote for him, expecting +nothing, because he was a friend of Mr. Neate’s. +Trollope showed his continued interest in public +affairs by appearing on the platform at the great +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span> +meeting in St. James’s Hall in December 1876, +which was the beginning of a vehement party +struggle over the Eastern Question that only +ended at the general election of 1880. He was +a direct and forcible speaker, who would have +made his way had he entered Parliament. But +as he had no practical experience of politics +either in the House of Commons or as a working +member of a party organisation in a city where +contests are keen, the pictures of political life +which are so frequent in his later tales have +not much flavour of reality. They are sketches +obviously taken from the outside. Very rarely +do even the best writers of fiction succeed in reproducing +any special and peculiar kind of life and +atmosphere. Of the various stories that purport +to describe what goes on in the English Parliament, +none gives to those who know the social +conditions and habits of the place an impression +of truth to nature, and the same has often been +remarked with regard to tales of English University +life. Trollope, however, with his quick +eye for the superficial aspects of any society, +might have described the House of Commons +admirably had he sat in it himself. He was +fond of travel, and between 1862 and 1880 +visited the United States, the West Indies, +Australia and New Zealand, and South Africa, +about all of which he wrote books which, if +hardly of permanent value, were fresh, vigorous, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span> +and eminently readable, conveying a definite and +generally correct impression of the more obvious +social and economic phenomena he found then +existing. His account of the United States, +for instance, is excellent, and did something to +make the Americans forgive the asperity with +which his mother had described her experiences +there many years before. Trollope’s travel +sketches are as much superior in truthfulness to +Froude’s descriptions of the same regions as +they are inferior in the allurements of style.</p> +<p>The old classification of novels, based on the +two most necessary elements of a drama, divided +them into novels of plot and novels of character. +To these we have of late years added novels of +incident or adventure, novels of conversation, +novels of manners, not to speak of “novels +with a purpose,” which are sermons or pamphlets +in disguise. No one doubted to which of these +categories Trollope’s work should be referred. +There was in his stories as little plot as a story +can well have. The conversations never beamed +with humour like that of Scott, nor glittered +with aphorisms like those of George Meredith. +The incidents carried the reader pleasantly along, +but seldom surprised him by any ingenuity of +contrivance. Character there was, and, indeed, +great fertility in the creation of character, for +there is hardly one of the tales in which three +or four at least of the personages do not stand +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span> +out as people whom you would know again if +you met them years after. But the conspicuous +merit of Trollope’s novels, in the eyes of his +own countrymen, is their value as pictures of +contemporary manners. Here he may claim +to have been surpassed by no writer of his +own generation. Dickens, with all his great +and splendid gifts, did not describe the society +he lived in. His personages were too unusual +and peculiar to speak and act and think +like the ordinary men and women of the nineteenth +century; nor would a foreigner, however +much he might enjoy the exuberant humour and +dramatic power with which they are presented, +learn from them much about the ways and habits +of the average Englishman. The everyday life +to which the stories are most true is the life +of the lower middle class in London; and some +one has observed that although this class changes +less quickly than the classes above it, it is already +unlike that which Dickens saw when in the +’thirties he was a police-court reporter. Critics +have, indeed, said that Dickens was too great +a painter to be a good photographer, but the +two arts are not incompatible, as appears from +the skill with which Walter Scott, for instance, +portrayed the peasantry of his own country in +<i>The Antiquary</i>. Thackeray, again, though he +has described certain sections of the upper or +upper middle class with far more power and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span> +delicacy than Trollope ever reached, does not +go beyond those sections, and has little to tell +us about the middle class generally, still less +about the classes beneath them. Trollope +was thoroughly at home in the English middle +class and also (though less perfectly) in the +upper class; and his pictures are all the more +true to life because there is not that vein of +stern or cynical reflection which runs through +Thackeray, and makes us think less of the +story than of the moral. Trollope usually has +a moral, but it is so obvious, so plainly and +quietly put, that it does not distract attention +from the minor incidents and little touches of +every day which render the sketches lifelike. If +even his best-drawn characters are not far removed +from the commonplace this helps to make them +fairly represent the current habits and notions of +their time. They are the same people we meet +in the street or at a dinner-party; and they are +mostly seen under no more exciting conditions than +those of a hunting meet, or a lawn-tennis match, +or an afternoon tea. They are flirting or talking +for effect, or scheming for some petty temporary +end; they are not under the influence of strong +passions, or forced into striking situations, like +the leading characters in Charlotte Brontë’s or +George Eliot’s novels; and for this reason again +they represent faithfully the ordinary surface of +English upper and upper middle class society: +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span> +its prejudices, its little pharisaisms and hypocrisies, +its snobbishness, its worship of conventionalities, +its aloofness from or condescension to those +whom it deems below its own level; and therewith +also its public spirit, its self-helpfulness, +its neighbourliness, its respect for honesty and +straightforwardness, its easy friendliness of manner +towards all who stand within the sacred pale +of social recognition. Nor, again, has any one +more skilfully noted and set down those transient +tastes and fashions which are, so to speak, the +trimmings of the dress, and which, transient +though they are, and quickly forgotten by contemporaries, +will have an interest for one who, +a century or two hence, feels the same curiosity +about our manners as we feel about those of +the subjects of King George the Third. That +Trollope will be read at all fifty years after +his death one may hesitate to predict, considering +how comparatively few in the present +generation read Richardson, or Fielding, or Miss +Edgeworth, or Charlotte Brontë, and how much +reduced is the number of those who read even +Walter Scott and Thackeray. But whoever +does read Trollope in 1930 will gather from his +pages better than from any others an impression +of what everyday life was like in England in the +“middle Victorian” period. The aspects of that +life were already, when his latest books were +written, beginning to change, and the features he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span> +drew are fast receding into history. Even the +clergy of 1852-1862 are no longer, except in +quiet country districts, the same as the clergy +we now see.</p> +<p>People have often compared the personal impressions +which eminent writers make on those +who talk to them with the impressions previously +derived from their works. Thomas Carlyle and +Robert Browning used to be taken as two +instances representing opposite extremes. Carlyle +always talked in character: had there been phonographs +in his days, the phonographed “record” +might have been printed as part of one of his +books. Browning, on the other hand, seemed +unlike what his poems had made a reader +expect: it was only after a long <i>tête-à-tête</i> with +him that the poet whose mind had been learned +through his works stood revealed. Trollope at +first caused a similar though less marked surprise. +This bluff burly man did not seem the kind of +person who would trace with a delicate touch +the sunlight sparkling on, or a gust of temper +ruffling, the surface of a youthful soul in love. +Upon further knowledge one perceived that +the features of Trollope’s talent, facile invention, +quick observation, and a strong common-sense +view of things, with little originality or +intensity, were really the dominant features of his +character as expressed in talk. Still, though the +man was more of a piece with his books than he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span> +had seemed, one could never quite recognise in +him the delineator of Lily Dale.</p> +<p>As a painter of manners he recalls two of his +predecessors—one greater, one less great than +himself. In his limitations and in his fidelity +to the aspects of daily life as he saw them, he +resembles Miss Austen. He is inferior to her +in delicacy of portraiture, in finish, in atmosphere. +No two of his books can be placed on a level +with <i>Emma</i> and <i>Persuasion</i>. On the other hand, +while he has done for the years 1850-1870 what +Miss Burney did for 1770-1790, most critics will +place him above her both in fertility and in +naturalness. Her characters are apt either to +want colour, like the heroines of <i>Evelina</i> and +<i>Cecilia</i>, or to be so exaggerated, like Mr. Briggs +and Miss Larolles, as to approach the grotesque. +Trollope is a realist in the sense of being, in all +but a few of his books, on the lines of normal +humanity, though he is seldom strong enough to +succeed, when he pierces down to the bed-rock of +human nature, in rendering the primal passions +either solemn or terrible. Like Miss Austen, he +attains actuality by observation rather than by +imagination, hardly ever entering the sphere of +poetry.</p> +<p>His range was not wide, for he could not +present either grand characters or tragical situations, +any more than he could break out into +the splendid humour of Dickens. His wings +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span> +never raised him far above the level floor of +earth. But within that limited range he had +surprising fertility. His clerical portrait-gallery +is the most complete that any English novelist +has given us. No two faces are exactly alike, +and yet all are such people as one might see +any day in the pulpit. So, again, there is +scarcely one of his stories in which a young +lady is not engaged, formally or practically, to +two men at the same time, or one man more +or less committed to two women; yet no story +repeats exactly the situation, or raises the +problem of honour and duty in quite the same +form as it appears in the stories that went +before. Few people who have written so much +have so little appeared to be exhausting their +invention.</p> +<p>It must, however, be admitted that Trollope’s +fame might have stood higher if he had written +less. The public which had been delighted with +his earlier groups of novels, and especially +with that group in which <i>The Warden</i> comes +first and <i>Barchester Towers</i> second, began +latterly to tire of what they had come to deem +the mannerisms of their favourite, and felt that +they now knew the compass of his gifts. +Partly, perhaps, because he feared to be always +too like himself, he once or twice attempted +to represent more improbable situations and exceptional +personages. But the attempt was not +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span> +successful. He lost his touch of ordinary life +without getting into any higher region of poetical +truth; and in his latest stories he had begun to +return to his earlier and better manner.</p> +<p>New tendencies, moreover, embodying themselves +in new schools, were already beginning to +appear. R. L. Stevenson as leader of the school +of adventure, Mr. Henry James as the apostle of +the school of psychological analysis, soon to be +followed by Mr. Kipling with a type of imaginative +directness distinctively his own, were beginning to +lead minds and tastes into other directions. The +influence of France was more felt than it had +been when Trollope began to write. And what a +contrast between Trollope’s manner and that of +his chief French contemporaries, such as Octave +Feuillet or Alphonse Daudet or Guy de Maupassant! +The French novelists, be their faculty of +invention greater or less, at any rate studied their +characters with more care than English writers +had usually shown. The characters were fewer, +almost as few as in a classical drama; and +the whole action of the story is carefully subordinated +to the development of these characters, +and the placing of them in a critical +position which sets their strength and weakness +in the fullest light. There was more of a +judicious adaptation of the parts to the whole +in French fiction than in ours, and therefore more +unity of impression was attained. Trollope, no +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span> +doubt, set a bad example in this respect. He +crowded his canvas with figures; he pursued the +fortunes of three or four sets of people at the same +time, caring little how the fate of the one set +affected that of the others; he made his novel a +sort of chronicle which you might open anywhere +and close anywhere, instead of a drama animated +by one idea and converging towards one centre. +He neglected the art which uses incidents small +in themselves to lead up to the <i>dénoûment</i> and make +it more striking. He took little pains with his +diction, seeming not to care how he said what he +had to say. These defects strike those who turn +over his pages to-day. But to those who read +him in the ’fifties or ’sixties, the carelessness was +redeemed by, or forgotten in, the vivacity with +which the story moved, the freshness and faithfulness +of its pictures of character and manners.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span> +<a name='JOHN_RICHARD_GREEN22' id='JOHN_RICHARD_GREEN22'></a> +<h2>JOHN RICHARD GREEN<a name="FNanchor_22" id="FNanchor_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor2">[22]</a></h2> +</div> +<p>John Richard Green was born in Oxford +on 12th December 1837, and educated first +at Magdalen College School, and afterwards, +for a short time, at a private tutor’s. He +was a singularly quick and bright boy, and at +sixteen obtained by competition a scholarship +at Jesus College, Oxford, where he began to +reside in 1856. The members of that college +were in those days almost entirely Welshmen, and +thereby somewhat cut off from the rest of the +University. They saw little of men in other +colleges, so that a man might have a reputation +for ability in his own society without +gaining any in the larger world of Oxford. It +so happened with Green. Though his few +intimate friends perceived his powers, they had +so little intercourse with the rest of the University, +either by way of breakfasts and wine-parties, +or at the University debating society, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span> +or in athletic sports, that he remained unknown +even to those among his contemporaries who +were interested in the same things, and would +have most enjoyed his acquaintance. The only +eminent person who seems to have appreciated +and influenced him was Dean Stanley, then +Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Canon of +Christ Church. Green had attended Stanley’s +lectures, and Stanley, whose kindly interest in +young men never failed, was struck by him, and +had some share in turning his studies towards +history. He graduated in 1860, having refused +to compete for honours, because he had not +received from those who were then tutors of the +college the recognition to which he was entitled.</p> +<p>In 1860 he was ordained, and became curate +in London at St. Barnabas, King’s Square, +whence, after two years’ experience, and one or +two temporary engagements, including the sole +charge of a parish in Hoxton, he was appointed +in 1865 to the incumbency of St. Philip’s, Stepney, +a district church in one of the poorest parts of +London, where the vicar’s income was ill-proportioned +to the claims which needy parishioners +made upon him. Here he worked with zeal +and assiduity for about three years, gaining an +insight into the condition and needs of the poor +which scholars and historians seldom obtain. +He learnt, in fact, to know men, and the real +forces that sway them; and he used to say in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span> +later life that he was conscious how much this +had helped him in historical writing. Gibbon, +as every one knows, makes a similar remark +about his experience as a captain in the Hampshire +militia.</p> +<p>Green threw the whole force of his nature +into the parish schools, spending some part of +every day in them; he visited incessantly, and +took an active part in the movement for regulating +and controlling private charity which led +to the formation of the Charity Organisation +Society. An outbreak of cholera and period +of distress among the poor which occurred +during his incumbency drew warm-hearted men +from other parts of London to give their +help to the clergy of the East End. Edward +Denison, who was long affectionately remembered +by many who knew him in Oxford and +London, chose Green’s parish to work in, and +the two friends confirmed one another in their +crusade against indiscriminate and demoralising +charity. It was at this time that Green, who +spent upon the parish nearly all that he received +as vicar, found himself obliged to earn some +money by other means, and began to write +for the <i>Saturday Review</i>. The addition of +this labour to the daily fatigues of his parish +duties told on his health, which had always +been delicate, and made him willingly accept +from Archbishop Tait, who had early marked +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span> +and learned to value his abilities, the post of +librarian at Lambeth. He quitted Stepney, and +never took any other clerical work.</p> +<p>Although physical weakness was one of the +causes which compelled this step, there was also +another. He had been brought up in Tractarian +views, and is said to have been at one time on +the point of entering the Church of Rome. This +tendency passed off, and before he went to St. +Philip’s he had become a Broad Churchman, and +was much influenced by the writings of Mr. F. +D. Maurice, whom he knew and used frequently +to meet, and whose pure and noble character, +even more perhaps than his preaching, had +profoundly impressed him. However, his restless +mind did not stop long at that point. The same +tendency which had carried him away from +Tractarianism made him feel less and less at +home in the ministry of the Church of England, +and would doubtless have led him, even had his +health been stronger, to withdraw from clerical +duties. After a few years his friends ceased to +address letters to him under the usual clerical +epithet; but he continued to interest himself in +ecclesiastical affairs, and always retained a marked +dislike to Nonconformity. Aversions sometimes +outlive attachments.</p> +<p>On leaving Stepney he went to live in lodgings +in Beaumont Street, Marylebone, and divided +his time between Lambeth and literary work. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span> +He now during several years wrote a good deal +for the <i>Saturday Review</i>, and his articles were +among the best which then appeared in that +organ. The most valuable of them were reviews +of historical books, and descriptions from +the historical point of view of cities or other remarkable +places, especially English and French +towns. Some of these are masterpieces. Other +articles were on social, or what may be called +occasional, topics, and attracted much notice at +the time from their gaiety and lightness of touch, +which sometimes seemed to pass into flippancy. +He never wrote upon politics, nor was he in the +ordinary sense of the word a journalist, for with +the exception of these social articles, his work +was all done in his own historical field, and done +with as much care and pains as others would +bestow on the composition of a book. Upon +this subject I may quote the words of one of his +oldest and most intimate friends (Mr. Stopford +Brooke), who knew all he did in those days.</p> +<blockquote> +<p>The real history of this writing for the <i>Saturday Review</i> +has much personal, pathetic, and literary interest.</p> +<p>It was when he was vicar of St. Philip’s, Stepney, that he +wrote the most. The income of the place was, I think, +£300 a year, and the poverty of the parish was very great. +Mr. Green spent every penny of this income on the parish. +And he wrote—in order to live, and often when he was +wearied out with the work of the day and late into the night—two, +and often three, articles a week for the <i>Saturday +Review</i>. It was less of a strain to him than it would have +been to many others, because he wrote with such speed, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span> +because his capacity for rapidly throwing his subject into +form and his memory were so remarkable. But it was a +severe strain, nevertheless, for one who, at the time, had in +him the beginnings of the disease of which he died.</p> +<p>I was staying with him once for two days, and the first +night he said to me, “I have three articles to write for the +<i>Saturday Review</i>, and they must all be done in thirty-six +hours.” “What are they?” I said; “and how have you found +time to think of them?” “Well,” he answered, “one is on +a volume of Freeman’s <i>Norman Conquest</i>, another is a ‘light +middle,’ and the last on the history of a small town in +England; and I have worked them all into form as I was +walking to-day about the parish and in London.” One of +these studies was finished before two o’clock in the morning, +and while I talked to him; the other two were done the next +day. It is not uncommon to reach such speed, but it is very +uncommon to combine this speed with literary excellence of +composition, and with permanent and careful knowledge. +The historical reviews were of use to, and gratefully acknowledged +by, his brother historians, and frequently extended, in +two or three numbers of the <i>Saturday Review</i>, to the length +of an article in a magazine. I used to think them masterpieces +of reviewing, and their one fault was the fault which +was then frequent in that <i>Review</i>—over-vehemence in +slaughtering its foes. Such reviewing cannot be fairly +described as journalism. It was an historical scholar speaking +to scholars.</p> +<p>Another class of articles written by Mr. Green were articles +on towns in England, France, or Italy. I do not know +whether it was he or Mr. Freeman who introduced this +custom of bringing into a short space the historical aspect of +a single town or of a famous building, and showing how the +town or the building recorded its own history, and how it +was linked to general history, but Mr. Green, at least, began +it very early in his articles on Oxford. At any rate, it was +his habit, at this time, whenever he travelled in England, +France, or Italy, to make a study of any town he visited.</p> +<p>Articles of this kind—and he had them by fifties in his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span> +head—formed the second line of what has been called his +journalism. I should prefer to call them contributions to +history. They are totally different in quality from ordinary +journalism. They are short historical essays.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>As his duties at Lambeth made no great +demands on his time, he was now able to devote +himself more steadily to historical work. His +first impulse in that direction seems, as I have +said, to have been received from Dean Stanley +at Oxford. His next came from E. A. Freeman, +who had been impressed by an ingenious +paper of his at a meeting of the Somerset +Archæological Society, and who became from that +time his steadfast friend. Green was a born +historian, who would have been eminent without +any help except that of books. But he was wise +enough to know the value of personal counsel +and direction, and generous enough to be heartily +grateful for what he received. He did not belong +in any special sense to what has been called +Freeman’s school, differing widely from that distinguished +writer in many of his views, and still +more in style and manner. But he learnt much +from Freeman, and he delighted to acknowledge +his debt. He learnt among other things the value +of accuracy, the way to handle original authorities, +the interpretation of architecture, and he received, +during many years of intimate intercourse, the +constant sympathy and encouragement of a friend +whose affection was never blind to faults, while +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span> +his admiration was never clouded by jealousy. +It was his good fortune to win the regard and +receive the advice of another illustrious historian, +Dr. Stubbs, who has expressed in language +perhaps more measured, but not less emphatic +than Freeman’s, his sense of Green’s services +to English history. These two he used to call +his masters; but no one who has read him and +them needs to be told that his was one of those +strong and rich intelligences which, in becoming +more perfect by the study of others, loses nothing +of its originality.</p> +<p>His first continuous studies had lain among the +Angevin kings of England, and the note-books still +exist in which he had accumulated materials for +their history. However, the book he planned +was never written, for when the state of his lungs +(which forced him to spend the winter of 1870-71 +at San Remo) had begun to alarm his friends, +they urged him to throw himself at once into +some treatise likely to touch the world more than +a minute account of so remote a period could +do. Accordingly he began, and in two or three +years, his winters abroad sadly interrupting work, +he completed the <i>Short History of the English +People</i>. When a good deal of it had gone +through the press, he felt, and his friends agreed +with him, that the style of the earlier chapters +was too much in the eager, quick, sketchy, +“point-making” manner of his <i>Saturday Review</i> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span> +articles, “and did not possess” (says the friend +whom I have already quoted) “enough historical +dignity for a work which was to take in the whole +history of England. It was then, being convinced +of this, that he cancelled a great deal of what +had been stereotyped, and re-wrote it, re-creating, +with his passionate facility, his whole style.” In +order to finish it he gave up the <i>Saturday +Review</i> altogether, though he could ill spare what +his writing there brought him in. It is seldom +that one finds such swiftness and ease in composition +as his, united to so much fastidiousness. +He went on remoulding and revising till his +friends insisted that the book should be published +anyhow, and published it accordingly was, in +1874. Feeling that his time on earth might be +short, for he was often disabled even by a catarrh, +he was the readier to yield.</p> +<p>The success of the <i>Short History</i> was rapid +and overwhelming. Everybody bought it. It was +philosophical enough for scholars, and popular +enough for schoolboys. No historical book since +Macaulay’s <i>History</i> has made its way so fast, or +been read with so much avidity. And Green was +under disadvantages from which his great predecessor +did not suffer. Macaulay’s name was +famous before his <i>History of England</i> appeared, +and Macaulay’s scale was so large that he could +enliven his pages with a multitude of anecdotes +and personal details. Green was known only to a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span> +small circle of friends, having written nothing under +his own signature except one or two papers in +magazines or in the Transactions of archæological +societies; and the plan of his book, which dealt, in +eight hundred and twenty pages, with the whole +fourteen centuries of English national life, obliged +him to handle facts in the mass, and touch +lightly and briefly on personal traits. A summary +is of all kinds of writing that which it is hardest +to make interesting, because one must speak +in general terms, one must pack facts tightly +together, one must be content to give those facts +without the delicacies of light and shade, or the +subtler tints of colour. Yet such was his skill, +both literary and historical, that his outlines gave +more pleasure and instruction than other people’s +finished pictures.</p> +<p>In 1876 he took, for the only time in his life, +except when he had supported a working-man’s +candidate for the Tower Hamlets at the general +election of 1868, an active part in practical +politics. Towards the end of that year, when +war seemed impending between Russia and +the Turks, fears were entertained that England +might undertake the defence of the Sultan, and +a body called the Eastern Question Association +was formed to organise opposition to the pro-Turkish +policy of Lord Beaconsfield’s Ministry. +Green threw himself warmly into the movement, +was chosen to serve on the Executive Committee +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span> +of the Association, and was one of a sub-committee +of five (which included also Mr. Stopford Brooke +and Mr. William Morris the poet<a name='FNanchor_0018' id='FNanchor_0018'></a><a href='#Footnote_0018' class='fnanchor'>[23]</a>) appointed to +draw up the manifesto convoking the meeting of +delegates from all parts of the country, which was +held in December 1876, under the title of the +Eastern Question Conference. The sub-committee +met at my house and spent the whole +day on its work. It was a new and curious +experience to see these three great men of +letters drafting a political appeal. Morris and +Green were both of them passionately anti-Turkish, +and Morris indeed acted for the next +two years as treasurer of the Association, doing +his work with a business-like efficiency such as +poets seldom possess. Green continued to attend +the general committee until, after the Treaty of +Berlin, it ceased to meet, and took the keenest +interest in its proceedings. But his weak health +and frequent winter absences made public appearances +impossible to him. He was all his +life an ardent Liberal. His sympathy with +national movements did not confine itself to +Continental Europe, but embraced Ireland and +made him a Home Ruler long before Mr. +Gladstone and the Liberal party adopted that +policy. It ought to be added that though he +had ceased to belong to the Church of England, +he remained strongly opposed to disestablishment.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span></div> +<p>When he had completed the re-casting of his +<i>Short History</i> in the form of a larger book, which +appeared under the title of <i>A History of the +English People</i>, he addressed himself with characteristic +activity to a new project. He had for a +long time meditated upon the <i>origines</i> of English +history, the settlement of the Teutonic invaders +in Britain, followed by the consolidation of their +tribes into a nation with definite institutions and a +settled order; and his desire to treat this topic +was stimulated by the way in which some critics +had sought to disparage his <i>Short History</i> +as a mere popularising of other people’s ideas. +The criticism was unjust, for, if there had been +no rummaging in MS. sources for the <i>Short +History</i>, there was abundant originality in the +views the book contained. However, these +carpings disposed his friends to recommend an enterprise +which would lead him to deal chiefly with +original authorities, and to put forth those powers +of criticism and construction which they knew him +to possess. Thus he set to work afresh at the +very beginning, at Roman Britain and the Saxon +Conquest. He had not advanced far when, having +gone to spend the winter in Egypt, he caught an +illness which so told on his weak frame that he was +only just able to return to London in April, and +would not have reached it at all but for the care +with which he was tended by his wife. (He had +married Miss Alice Stopford in 1877.) In a few +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span> +weeks he so far recovered as to be able to resume +his studies, though now forbidden to give to them +more than two or three hours a day. However, +what he could not do alone he did with and through +his wife, who consulted the original sources for +him, investigated obscure points, and wrote at +his dictation. In this way, during the summer +and autumn months of 1881, when often some +slight change of weather would throw him back +and make work impossible for days or weeks, +the book was prepared, which he published in +February 1882, under the title of <i>The Making of +England</i>. Even in those few months it was incessantly +rewritten; no less than ten copies were +made of the first chapter. It was warmly received +by the few persons who were capable of judging +its merits. But he was himself far from satisfied +with it as a literary performance, thinking that a +reader would find it at once too speculative and +too dry, deficient in the details needed to make +the life of primitive England real and instructive. +If this had been so it would have been due to no +failing in his skill, but to the scantiness of the +materials available for the first few centuries of +our national history. But he felt it so strongly +that he was often disposed to recur to his idea of +writing a history of the last seventy or eighty +years, and was only induced by the encouragement +of a few friends to pursue the narrative +which, in <i>The Making of England</i>, he had carried +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span> +down to the reign of Egbert. The winter of 1881 +was spent at Mentone, and the following summer +in London. He continued very weak, and was +sometimes unable for weeks together to go out +driving or to work at home. But the moment +that an access of strength returned, the note-books +were brought out, and he was again busy +going through what his wife’s industry had +tabulated, and dictating for an hour or two till +fatigue forced him to desist. Those who saw +him during that summer were amazed, not only +at the brave spirit which refused to yield to +physical feebleness, but at the brightness and +clearness of his intellect, which was not only +as active as it had ever been before, but as +much interested in whatever passed in the world. +When one saw him sitting propped up with +cushions on the sofa, his tiny frame worn to +skin and bone, his voice interrupted by frequent +fits of coughing, it seemed wrong to stay, but, +after a little, all was forgotten in the fascination +of his talk, and one found it hard to +realise that where thought was strong speech +might be weak.</p> +<p>In October, when he returned to Mentone, +the tale of early English history had been completed, +and was in type down to the death of +Earl Godwine in <span class='smcaplc'>A.D.</span> 1052. He had hesitated +as to the point at which the book should end, +but finally decided to carry it down to <span class='smcaplc'>A.D.</span> 1085, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span> +the date of the dispersion of the last great Scandinavian +armament which threatened England. As +the book dealt with both the Danish and Norman +invasions, he called it <i>The Conquest of England</i>. +It appeared after his death, wanting, indeed, +those expansions in several places which he had +meant to give it, but still a book such as few but he +could have produced, full of new light, and equal +in the parts which have been fully handled to the +best work of his earlier years.</p> +<p>Soon after he returned to Mentone he became +rapidly worse, and unfit for any continuous exertion. +He could barely sit in the garden during +an hour or two of morning sunshine. There +I saw him in the end of December, fresh and +keen as ever, aware that the most he could +hope for was to live long enough to complete +his <i>Conquest</i>, but eagerly reading every new +book that came to him from England, starting +schemes for various historical treatises sufficient +to fill three life-times, and ranging in talk over +the whole field of politics, literature, and history. +It seemed as if the intellect and will, which strove +to remain till their work was done, were the only +things which held the weak and wasted body +together. The ardour of his spirit prolonged +life amid the signs of death. In January there +came a new attack, and in February another +unexpected rally. On the 2nd of March he +remarked that it was no use fighting longer, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span> +and expired five days afterwards at the age of +forty-six.</p> +<p>Short as his life was, maimed and saddened +by an ill-health which gave his powers no fair +chance, it was not an unhappy life, for he had +that immense power of enjoyment which so often +belongs to a vivacious intelligence. He delighted +in books, in travel, in his friends’ company, in the +constant changes and movements of the world. +No satiety dulled his taste for these things, nor was +his spirit, except for passing moments, darkened +by the shadows which to others seemed to lie +so thick around his path. He enjoyed, though +without boasting, the fame his books had won, +and the sense of creative power. And the last +six years of his life were brightened by the +society and affection of one who entered into +all his tastes and pursuits with the fullest +sympathy, and enabled him, by her unwearied +diligence, to prosecute labours which physical +weakness must otherwise have arrested.</p> +<p>He might have won fame as a preacher or as +a political journalist. It was, however, towards +historical study that the whole current of his +intellect set, and as it is by what he did in that +sphere that he will be remembered, his special +gifts for it deserve to be examined.</p> +<p>A historian needs four kinds of capacity. +First of all, accuracy, and a desire for the exact +truth, which will grudge no time and pains in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span> +tracing out even what might seem a trivial +matter. Secondly, keen observation, which can +fasten upon small points, and discover in isolated +data the basis for some generalisation, or the +illustration of some principle. Thirdly, a sound +and calm judgment, which will subject all +inferences and generalisations, both one’s own +and other people’s, to a searching review, +and weigh in delicate scales their validity. +These two last-mentioned qualifications taken +together make up what we call the critical +faculty, <i>i.e.</i> the power of dealing with evidence +as tending to establish or discredit statements +of fact, and those general conclusions which +are built on the grouping of facts. Neither +acuteness alone nor the judicial balance alone is +enough to make the critic. There are men quick +in observation and fertile in suggestion whose +conclusions are worthless, because they cannot +weigh one argument against another, just as +there are solid and well-balanced minds that +never enlighten a subject because, while detecting +the errors of others, they cannot combine the +data and propound a luminous explanation. To +the making of a true critic, in history, in philosophy, +in literature, in psychology, even largely +in the sciences of nature, there should go not only +judgment, but also a certain measure of creative +power. Fourthly, the historian must have imagination, +not indeed with that intensity which +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span> +makes the poet, but in sufficient volume to let him +feel the men of other ages and countries to be +living and real like those among whom he moves, +to present to him a large and full picture of a +world remote from himself in time—as a world +moving, struggling, hoping, fearing, enjoying, believing, +like the near world of to-day—a world in +which there went on a private life of thousands or +millions of men and women, vaster, more complex, +more interesting than that public life which is +sometimes all that the records of the past have +transmitted to us. Our imaginative historian +may or may not be able to reconstruct for us the +private and personal as well as the public or +political life of the past. If he can, he will. If +the data are too scanty, he may cautiously forbear. +Yet he will still feel that those whose +movements on the public stage he chronicles +were steeped in an environment of natural +and human influences which must have affected +them at every turn; and he will so describe +them as to make us feel them human, and give +life to the pallid figures of far-off warriors and +lawgivers.</p> +<p>To these four aptitudes one need hardly add +the faculty of literary exposition, for whoever +possesses in large measure the last three, or +even the last alone, cannot fail to interest his +readers; and what more does literary talent +mean?</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span></div> +<p>Distinguishing these several aptitudes, historians +will be found to fall into two classes, +according as there predominates in them the +critical or the imaginative faculty. Though no +one can attain greatness without both gifts, still +they may be present in very unequal degrees. +Some will investigate tangible facts and their +relations with special care, occupying themselves +chiefly with that constitutional and diplomatic +side of history in which positive conclusions are +(from the comparative abundance of records) most +easily reached. Others will be drawn towards +the dramatic and personal elements in history, +primarily as they appear in the lives of famous +individual men, secondarily as they are seen, +more dimly but not less impressively, in groups +and masses of men, and in a nation at large, +and will also observe and dwell upon incidents +of private life or features of social and +religious custom, which the student of stately +politics passes by.</p> +<p>As Coleridge, when he divided thinkers into +two classes, took Plato as the type of one, Aristotle +of the other, so we may take as representatives of +these two tendencies among historians Thucydides +for the critical and philosophical, Herodotus for the +imaginative and picturesque. The former does not +indeed want a sense of the dramatic grandeur of a +situation; his narrative of the later part of the +Athenian expedition against Syracuse is like a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span> +piece of Æschylus in prose. So too Herodotus +is by no means without a philosophical view of +things, nor without a critical instinct, although +his generalisations are sometimes vague or +fanciful, and his critical apparatus rudimentary. +Each is so splendid because each is wide, with +the great gifts largely, although not equally, +developed.</p> +<p>Green was an historian of the Herodotean +type. He possessed capacities which belong to +the other type also; he was critical, sceptical, +perhaps too sceptical, and philosophical. Yet +the imaginative quality was the leading and distinctive +quality in his mind and writing. An +ordinary reader, if asked what was the main +impression given by the <i>Short History of the +English People</i>, would answer that it was the +impression of picturesqueness and vividity—picturesqueness +in attention to the externals of +the life described, vividity in the presentation +of that life itself.</p> +<p>I remember to have once, in talking with +Green about Greek history, told him how I +had heard Mr. Jowett, in discussing the ancient +historians, disparage Herodotus and declare him +unworthy to be placed near Thucydides. Green +answered, almost with indignation, that to say +such a thing showed that eminent scholars might +have little feeling for history. “Great as Thucydides +is,” he said, “Herodotus is far greater, or +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span> +at any rate far more precious. His view was so +much wider.” I forget the rest of the conversation, +but what he meant was that Herodotus, to +whom everything in the world was interesting, +and who has told us something about every +country he visited or heard of, had a more fruitful +conception of history than his Athenian successor, +who practically confined himself to politics in the +narrower sense of the term, and that even the +wisdom of the latter is not so valuable to us as the +flood of miscellaneous information which Herodotus +pours out about everything in the early world—a +world about which we should know comparatively +little if his book had not been preserved.</p> +<p>This deliverance was thoroughly characteristic +of Green’s own view of history. Everything was +interesting to him because his imagination laid +hold of everything. When he travelled, nothing +escaped his quick eye, perpetually ranging over +the aspects of places and society. When he went +out to dinner, he noted every person present whom +he had not known before, and could tell you afterwards +something about them. He had a theory, +so to speak, about each of them, and indeed about +every one with whom he exchanged a dozen +words. When he read the newspaper, he seemed +to squeeze all the juice out of it in a few minutes. +Nor was it merely the large events that fixed his +mind; he drew from stray notices of minor current +matters evidence of principles or tendencies +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span> +which escaped other people’s eyes. You never +left him without having new light thrown upon +the questions of the hour. His memory was retentive, +but more remarkable was the sustained +keenness of apprehension with which he read, +and which made him fasten upon everything in +a book or in talk which was significant, and +could be made the basis for an illustration of +some view. He had the Herodotean quality of +reckoning nothing, however small or apparently +remote from the main studies of his life, to +be trivial or unfruitful. His imagination vitalised +the small things, and found a place for them +in the pictures he was always sketching out.</p> +<p>As this faculty of discerning hidden meanings +and relations was one index and consequence +of his imaginative power, so another was found +in that artistic gift to which I have referred. To +give literary form to everything was a necessity +of his intellect. He could not tell an anecdote +or repeat a conversation without unconsciously +dramatising it, putting into people’s mouths better +phrases than they would have themselves employed, +and giving a finer point to the moral +which the incident expressed. Verbal accuracy +suffered, but what he thought the inner truth +came out the more fully.</p> +<p>Though he wrote very fast, and in the most +familiar way, the style of his more serious letters +was as good, I might say as finished, as that of his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span> +books. Every one of them had a beginning, +middle, and end. The ideas were developed in an +apt and graceful order, the sentences could all be +construed, the diction was choice. It was the +same with the short articles which he at one time +used to write for the <i>Saturday Review</i>. They +are little essays, some of them worthy to live not +only for the excellent matter they contain, but +for the delicate refinement of their form. Yet +they were all written swiftly, and sometimes in +the midst of physical exhaustion. The friend I +have previously quoted describes the genesis of +one. Green had reached the town of Troyes +early one morning with two companions, and +immediately started off to explore it, darting +hither and thither through the streets like a dog +trying to find a scent. In two or three hours the +examination was complete. The friends lunched +together, took the train on to Basel, got there +late, and went off to bed. Green, however, wrote +before he slept, and laid on the breakfast-table +next morning, an article on Troyes, in which its +characteristic features were brought out and connected +with its fortunes and those of the Counts +of Champagne during some centuries, an article +which was really a history in miniature. Then they +went out together to look at Basel, and being asked +some question about that city he gave on the spur +of the moment a sketch of its growth and character +equally vivid and equally systematic, grouping all +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span> +he had to say round two or three leading theories. +Yet he had never been in either place before, and +had not made a special study of either. He could +apparently have done the same for many another +town in France or the Rhineland.</p> +<p>Nothing struck one so much in daily intercourse +with him as his passionate interest in +human life. The same quickness of sympathy +which had served him well in his work among +the East End poor, enabled him to pour feeling +into the figures of a bygone age, and become +the most human, and in so far the most real and +touching, of all who have dealt with English +history. Whether or not his portraits are true, +they always seem to breathe.</p> +<p>Men and women—that is to say, such of them +as have characteristics pronounced enough to +make them classifiable—may be divided into +those whose primary interests are in nature and +what relates to nature, and those whose primary +interests are in and for man. Green was the most +striking type I have known of the latter class, +not merely because his human interests were +strong, but also because they excluded, to a +degree singular in a mind so versatile, interests +in purely natural things. He did not seem to +care for or seek to know any of the sciences of +nature<a name='FNanchor_0019' id='FNanchor_0019'></a><a href='#Footnote_0019' class='fnanchor'>[24]</a> except in so far as they bore directly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span> +upon man’s life, and were capable of explaining +it or of serving it. He had a keen eye for +country, for the direction and character of hills, +the position and influence of rivers, forests, and +marshes, of changes in the line of land and sea. +Readers of <i>The Making of England</i> will recall +the picture of the physical aspects of Britain when +the Teutonic invaders entered it as an unsurpassed +piece of reconstructive description. So +on a battle-field or in an historical town, his +vision of the features of the ground or the site +was unerring. But he perceived and enjoyed +natural beauty chiefly in reference to human life. +The study of the battle-field and the town site +were aids to the comprehension of historical +events. The exquisite landscape was exquisite +because it was associated with the people dwelling +there, with the processes of their political growth, +with their ideas or their social usages. I remember +to have had from him the most vivid +descriptions of the towns of the Riviera and +of Capri, where he used to pass the winter, but +he never touched on anything which did not +illustrate or intertwine itself with the life of the +people, leaving one uninformed on matters purely +physical. Facts about the character of the +mountains, the relation of their ranges to one +another, or their rocks, or the trees and flowers +of their upper regions, the prospects their +summits command, the scenes of beauty in their +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span> +glens, or beside their wood-embosomed lakes, +all, in fact, which the mountain lover delights +in, and which are to him a part of the mountain +ardour, of the passion for pure nature unsullied +by the presence of man—all this was cold to +him. But as soon as a touch of human life fell +like a sunbeam across the landscape, all became +warm and lovable.</p> +<p>It was the same with art. With an historian’s +delight in the creative ages and their work, he +had a fondness for painting and sculpture, and +could so describe what he saw in the galleries and +churches of Italy as to bring out meanings one +had not perceived before. But here, too, it was +the human element that fascinated him. Technical +merits, though he observed them, as he observed +most things, were forgotten; he dwelt only on +what the picture expressed or revealed. Pure +landscape painting gave him little pleasure.</p> +<p>It seems a truism to say that one who writes +history ought to care for all that bears upon +man in the present in order that he may comprehend +what bore upon him in the past. This +roaring loom of Time, these complex physical +and moral forces playing round us, and driving +us hither and thither by such a strange and +intricate interlacement of movements that we +seem to perceive no more than what is next us, +and are unable to say whither we are tending, +ought to be always before the historian’s mind. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span> +But there are few who have tried, as Green +tried, to follow every flash of the shuttle, and to +discover a direction and a relation amidst apparent +confusion, for there are few who have taken +so wide a view of the historian’s functions, and +have so distinctly set before them as their object +the comprehension and realisation and description +of the whole field of bygone human life. +The Past was all present to him in this sense, +that he saw and felt in it not only those large +events which annalists or state papers have recorded, +but the everyday life of the people, their +ideas, their habits, their external surroundings. +And the Present was always as if past to him +in this sense, that in spite of his strong political +feelings, he looked at it with the eye of a +philosophical observer, trying to disengage principles +from details, permanent tendencies from +passing outbursts. His imagination visualised, +so to speak, the phenomena as in a picture; his +speculative faculty tried to harmonise them, +measure them, and forecast their effects. Hence +it was a necessity to him to know what was +passing in the world. The first thing he did +every day, whatever other pressure there might +be on him, was to read the daily newspaper. +The last thing that he ceased to read, when what +remained of life began to be counted by hours, +was the daily newspaper. This warm interest in +mankind is the keynote of his <i>History of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span> +English People</i>. It is the whole people that is +ever present to him, as it had been present before +to few other historians.</p> +<p>Such power of imagination and sympathy as I +have endeavoured to describe is enough to make +a brilliant writer, yet not necessarily a great +historian. One must see how far the other +qualifications, accuracy, acuteness of observation, +and judgment, are also brought into action.</p> +<p>His accuracy has been much impeached. When +the first burst of applause that welcomed the +<i>Short History</i> had subsided, several critics began +to attack it on the score of minor errors. They +pointed out a number of statements of fact which +were doubtful, and others which were incorrect, +and spread in some quarters the impression that +Green was a careless and untrustworthy writer. +I do not deny that there are in the first editions +of the <i>Short History</i> some assertions made +more positively than the evidence warrants, +some pictures drawn from exceedingly slender +materials. Mr. Skene remarks of the account +given of the battle between the Jutes and the +Britons which took place in the middle of the fifth +century, somewhere near Aylesford in Kent, and +about which we really know scarcely anything, +“Mr. Green describes it as if he had been present.” +The temptation to such liberties is strong where +the treatment of a period is summary. A writer +who compresses the whole history of England +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span> +into eight hundred pages of small octavo, making +his narrative not a bare narrative but a picture +full of colour and incident—incident which, for +brevity’s sake, must often be given by allusion—cannot +be always interrupting the current of the +story to indicate doubts or quote authorities for +every statement in which there may be an +element of conjecture; and it is probable that +when the authorities are scrutinised their result +will sometimes appear different from that which +the author has presented. On this head the +<i>Short History</i> may be admitted to have occasionally +purchased vividity at the price of exactitude. +Of mistakes, strictly so called—<i>i.e.</i> statements +demonstrably incorrect and therefore ascribable +to haste or carelessness—there are enough to +make a show under the hands of a hostile critic, +yet not more than one is prepared to expect +from any but the most careful scholars. The +book falls far short of the accuracy of Thirlwall +or Ranke or Stubbs, short even of the accuracy +of Gibbon or Carlyle; but it is not greatly +below the standard of Grote or Macaulay or +Robertson, it is equal to the standard of Milman, +above that of David Hume. I take famous +names, and could put a better face on the matter +by choosing for comparison divers contemporary +writers whose literary eminence is higher than +their historical. And Green’s mistakes, although +pretty numerous, were (for they have been corrected +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span> +in later editions) nearly all in small matters. +He puts an event, let us say, in 1340 which +happened in the November of 1339; he calls a +man John whose name was William. These are +mistakes to the eye of a civil service examiner, +but they seldom make any difference to the +general reader, for they do not affect the doctrines +and pictures which the book contains, and in +which lies its permanent value as well as its literary +charm. As Bishop Stubbs says, “Like other +people, Green makes mistakes sometimes; but +scarcely ever does the correction of his mistakes +affect either the essence of the picture or the +force of the argument.... All his work was +real and original work; few people besides those +who knew him well would see under the charming +ease and vivacity of his style the deep research +and sustained industry of the laborious student.” +It may be added that Green’s later and more +detailed works, <i>The Making of England</i> and +<i>The Conquest of England</i>, though they contain +plenty of debatable matter, as in the paucity +of authentic data any such book must do, have +been charged with few errors in matters of +fact.</p> +<p>In considering his critical gift, it is well to distinguish +those two elements of acute perception +and sober judgment which I have already specified, +for he possessed the former in larger measure than +the latter. The same activity of mind which made +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span> +him notice everything while travelling or entering +a company of strangers, played incessantly +upon the historical data of his work, and supplied +him with endless theories as to the meaning of +a statement, the source it came from, the way it +had been transmitted, the conditions under which +it was made. No one could be more acute and +penetrating in what the Germans call <i>Quellenforschung</i>, +the collection and investigation and +testing of the sources of history, nor could any +one be more painstaking. Errors of view, apart +from those trivial inaccuracies already referred to, +did not arise from an indolence that left any +stone unturned, but rather from an occupation +with the leading idea which had drawn his +attention away from the details of time and place. +The ingenuity with which he built up theories +was as admirable as the art with which he +stated them. People whom that art fascinated +sometimes fancied that the charm lay entirely in +the style. But the style was only a part of the +craftsmanship. The facility in theorising, the +power of grouping facts under new aspects, the +skill in gathering and sifting evidence, were +as remarkable as those artistic qualities which +expressed themselves in the paragraphs and +sentences and phrases. What danger there was +arose from this fecundity. His mind was so +fertile, could see so much in a theory and apply +it so dexterously, that his judgment was sometimes +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span> +dazzled by the brilliance of his ingenuity. +I do not think he loved his theories specially +because they were his own, for he often modified +them, and was ready to consider any one else’s +suggestions; but he had a passion for light, and +when a new view seemed to him to explain things +previously dark, he wanted the patience to suspend +his judgment and abide in uncertainty. +Some of his hypotheses he himself dropped. +Some others he probably would have dropped, +as the authorities he respected have not embraced +them. Others have made their way into general +acceptance, and may become still more useful as +future research works them out. But, whether +right or wrong, they were instructive. Every +one of them is based upon facts whose importance +had not been so fully seen before, and +suggests a point of view worth considering. +Green’s view may sometimes appear fanciful: it +is never foolish, or superficial, or perverse. And +so far from being credulous, his natural tendency +was towards doubt.</p> +<p>Inventive as his mind was, it was also solvent +and sceptical. Seldom is a strong imagination +coupled with so unsparing a criticism as that +which he applied to the materials on which the +constructive faculty had to work. His later +tendencies were rather towards scepticism, and +towards what one may call a severe and ascetic +view of history. While writing <i>The Making of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span> +England</i> and <i>The Conquest of England</i>, he used +to lament the scantiness of the data and the +barren dryness which he feared the books would +consequently show. “How am I to make anything +of these meagre entries of marches and +battles which are the only materials for the history +of whole centuries? Here are the Norsemen +and Danes ravaging and occupying the country; +we learn hardly anything about them from English +sources, and nothing at all from Danish. How +can one conceive and describe them? how have +any comprehension of what England was like in +the districts the Northmen took and ruled?” I +tried to get him to work at the Norse Sagas, and +remember in particular to have entreated him +when he came to the battle of Brunanburh to +eke out the pitifully scanty records of that fight +from the account given of it in the story of +the Icelandic hero, Egil, son of Skallagrim. +But he answered that the Saga was unhistorical, +a bit of legend written down more than a +century after the events, and that he could not, +by using it in the text, appear to trust it, or to +mix up authentic history with what was possibly +fable. It was urged that he could guard himself +in a note from being supposed to take it +for more than what it was, a most picturesque +embellishment of his tale. But he stood firm. +Throughout these two last books, he steadily +refrained from introducing any matter, however +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span> +lively or romantic, which could not stand the +test of his stringent criticism, and used laughingly +to tell how Dean Stanley had long ago said to +him, after reading one of his earliest pieces, “I +see you are in danger of growing picturesque. +Beware of it. I have suffered for it.”</p> +<p>If in these later years he reined in his +imagination more tightly, the change was due +to no failing in his ingenuity. Nothing in +his work shows higher constructive ability than +<i>The Making of England</i>. He had to deal +with a time which has left us scarcely any +authentic records, and to piece together his narrative +and his picture of the country out of these +records, and the indications, faint and scattered, +and often capable of several interpretations, which +are supplied by the remains of Roman roads and +villas, the names of places, the boundaries of local +divisions, the casual statements of writers many +centuries later. What he has given us remains +an enduring witness to his historical power. +For here it is not a question of mere brilliance +of style. The result is due to patience, penetration, +and the careful weighing of evidence, +joined to that faculty of realising things in +the concrete by which a picture is conjured up +out of a mass of phenomena, everything falling +into its place under laws which seem to prove +themselves as soon as they are stated.</p> +<p>Of his style nothing need be said, for his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span> +readers have felt its charm. But it deserves +to be remarked that this accomplished master +of words had little verbal memory. He used +to say that he could never recollect a phrase in +its exact form, and in his books he often unconsciously +varied, writing from memory, some expression +whose precise form is on record. Nor +had he any turn for languages. German he knew +scarcely at all, a fact which makes the range of his +historical knowledge appear more striking; and +though he had spent several winters in Italy, he +could not speak Italian except so far as he +needed it for the inn or the railway. The want +of mere verbal memory partly accounts for this +deficiency, but it was not unconnected with the +vehemence of his interest in the substance of +things. He was so anxious to get at the kernel +that he could not stop to examine the nut. In +this absence of linguistic gifts, as well as in the +keenness of his observation (and in his shortsightedness), +he resembled Dean Stanley, who, +though he had travelled in and brought back all +that was best worth knowing from every country +in Europe, had no facility in any language but his +own.</p> +<p>Green was not one of those whose personality +is unlike their books, for there was in both the +same fertility, the same vivacity, the same quickness +of sympathy. Nevertheless, his conversation +seemed to give an even higher impression +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span> +of intellectual power than did his writings, +because it was so swift and so spontaneous. +Such talk has rarely been heard in our time, so +gay was it, so vivid, so various, so full of anecdote +and illustration, so acute in criticism, so +candid in consideration, so graphic in description, +so abundant in sympathy, so flashing in +insight, so full of colour and emotion as well as +of knowledge and thought. One had to forbid +one’s self to visit him in the evening, because +it was impossible to get away before two o’clock +in the morning. And, unlike many famous +talkers, he was just as willing to listen as to +speak. One of the charms of his company +was that it made a man feel better than his +ordinary self. His appreciation of whatever had +any worth in it, his comments and replies, +so stimulated the interlocutor’s mind that it +moved faster and could hit upon apter expressions +than at any other time. The same +gifts which shone in his conversation, lucid +arrangement of ideas, ready command of words, +and a power in perceiving the tendencies of +those whom he addressed, would have made +him an admirable public speaker. I do not +remember that he ever did speak, in his later +years, to any audience larger than a committee +of twenty. But he was an eloquent preacher. +The first time I ever saw him was in St. Philip’s +Church at Stepney about 1866, and I shall never +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span> +forget the impression made on me by the impassioned +sentences that rang through the church +from the fiery little figure in the pulpit with its +thin face and bright black eyes.</p> +<p>What Green accomplished seems to those who +used to listen to him little in comparison with +what he might have done had longer life and a +more robust body been granted him. Some of +his finest gifts would not have found their full +scope till he came to treat of a period where the +materials for history are ample, and where he +could have allowed himself space to deal with +them—such a period, for instance, as that of his +early choice, the Angevin kings of England. +Yet, even basing themselves on what he has +done, they may claim for him a place among the +foremost writers of his time. He left behind him +no one who combined so many of the best gifts. +There were among his contemporaries historians +more learned and equally industrious. There were +two or three whose accuracy was more scrupulous, +their judgment more uniformly sober and cautious. +But there was no one in whom so much knowledge +and so wide a range of interests were united +to such ingenuity, acuteness, and originality, as +well as to such a power of presenting results in +rich, clear, pictorial language. A master of style +may be a worthless historian. We have instances. +A skilful investigator and sound reasoner may be +unreadable. The conjunction of fine gifts for +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span> +investigation with fine gifts for exposition is a +rare conjunction, which cannot be prized too +highly, for while it advances historical science, it +brings historical methods, as well as historical +facts, within the horizon of the ordinary reader.</p> +<p>Of the services Green rendered to English +history, the first, and that which was most +promptly appreciated, was the intensity with +which he realised, and the skill with which he +portrayed, the life of the people of England as +a whole, and taught his readers that the exploits +of kings and the intrigues of ministers, and the +struggles of parties in Parliament, are, after all, +secondary matters, and important chiefly as they +affect the welfare or stimulate the thoughts and +feelings of the great mass of undistinguished +humanity in whose hands the future of a nation +lies. He changed the old-fashioned distribution +of our annals according to reigns and dynasties +into certain periods, showing that such divisions +often obscure the true connection of events, and +suggesting new and better conceptions of the +periods into which the record of English progress +naturally falls. And, lastly, he laid, in his latest +books, a firm and enduring foundation for our +mediæval history by that account of the Teutonic +occupation of England, of the state of the country +as they found it, and the way they conquered and +began to organise it, which I have already dwelt +on as a signal proof of his constructive faculty.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span></div> +<p>Many readers will be disposed to place him +near Macaulay, for though he was less weighty +he was more subtle, and not less fascinating. To +fewer perhaps will it occur to compare him with +Gibbon, yet I am emboldened by the opinion of +one of our greatest contemporary historians to +venture on the comparison. There are indeed +wide differences between the two. Green is +as completely a man of the nineteenth century +as Gibbon was a man of the eighteenth. Green’s +style has not the majestic march of Gibbon: it +is quick and eager almost to restlessness. Nor +is his judgment so uniformly grave and sound. +But one may find in his genius what was +characteristic of Gibbon’s also, the combination +of a mastery of multitudinous details, with a large +and luminous view of those far-reaching forces +and relations which govern the fortunes of peoples +and guide the course of empire. This width and +comprehensiveness, this power of massing for the +purposes of argument the facts which his literary +art has just been clothing in its most brilliant +hues, is the highest of a historian’s gifts, and is +the one which seems most surely to establish +Green’s position among the leading historical +minds of his time.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span> +<a name='SIR_GEORGE_JESSEL_MASTER_OF_THE_ROLLS' id='SIR_GEORGE_JESSEL_MASTER_OF_THE_ROLLS'></a> +<h2>SIR GEORGE JESSEL, MASTER OF THE ROLLS</h2> +</div> +<p>There is hardly any walk of English life in +which brilliant abilities win so little fame for +their possessor among the public at large as +that of practice at the Chancery bar. A +leading ecclesiastic, or physician, or surgeon, +or financier, or manufacturer, or even a great +man of science, unless his work is done in some +sphere which, like pure mathematics, is far +removed from the comprehension of ordinary +educated men, is sure, in a time like ours, to +become well known to the world and acquire +influence in it. A great advocate practising in +the Common-law Courts is, of course, still more +certain to become a familiar figure. But the cases +which are dealt with by the Courts of Equity, +though they often involve vast sums of money +and raise intricate and important points of +law, mostly turn on questions of a technical +kind, and are seldom what the newspapers call +sensational. Thus it may happen that a practitioner +or a judge in these Courts enjoys an +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span> +extraordinary reputation within his profession, +and is by them regarded as one of the ornaments +of his time, while the rest of his fellow-countrymen +know nothing at all about his merits.</p> +<p>This was the case with Sir George Jessel, +though towards the end of his career the admiration +which the Bar felt for his powers began so +far to filter through to the general public that +his premature death was felt to be a national +misfortune.</p> +<p>Jessel (born in 1824, died in 1883) was only +one among many instances England has lately +seen of men of Jewish origin climbing to the +highest distinction. But he was the first instance +of a Jew who, continuing to adhere to the creed of +his forefathers, received a very high office; for Mr. +Disraeli, as every one knows, had been baptized +as a boy, and always professed to be a Christian. +Jessel’s career was not marked by any remarkable +incidents. He rose quickly to eminence at the bar, +being in this aided by his birth; for the Jews in +London, as elsewhere, hold together. There are +among them many solicitors in large practice, and +these take a natural pleasure in pushing forward +any specially able member of their community. +His powers were more fully seen and appreciated +when he became (in 1865) a Queen’s Counsel, +and brought him with unusual speed to the front +rank. He came into Parliament at the general +election of 1868 on the Liberal side, and three +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span> +years later was made Solicitor-General in Mr. +Gladstone’s first Government, retaining, as was +then usual, his private practice, which had become +so large that there was scarcely any case of +first-rate importance brought into the Chancery +Courts in which he did not appear. Although +a decided Liberal, as the Jews mostly were +until Lord Beaconsfield’s foreign policy had +begun to lead them into other paths, he had +borne little part in politics till he took his +seat in the House of Commons; and when +he spoke there, he obtained no great success. +Lawyers in the English Parliament are under +the double disadvantage of having had less leisure +than most other members to study and follow +political questions, and of having contracted a +manner and style of speaking not suited to an +assembly which, though deliberative, is not deliberate, +and which listens with impatience to a +technical or forensic method of treating the topics +which come before it.</p> +<p>Jessel’s ability would have soon overcome +the former difficulty, but less easily the latter. +Though he was lucid and powerful in his treatment +of legal topics, and made a quite admirable +law officer in the way of advising ministers and +the public departments, he was never popular +with the House of Commons, for he presented +his views in a hard, dry, dogmatic form, with no +graces of style or delivery. However, he did +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span> +not long remain in that arena, but on the retirement +of Lord Romilly from the office of Master +of the Rolls, was in 1873 appointed to succeed him. +In this post his extraordinary gifts found their +amplest sphere. The equity judges in England +used always to sit, and in nearly all cases do still +sit, without a jury to hear causes, with or without +witnesses, and they despatch a great deal of the +heaviest business that is brought into the courts. +Commercial causes of the first importance come +before them, no less than those which relate to +trusts or to real property; and the granting of +injunctions, a specially serious matter, rests chiefly +in their hands. Each equity judge sits alone, and +the suitor may choose before which of them he will +bring his case. Among the four—a number subsequently +increased to five—equity judges of first +instance, Jessel immediately rose to the highest +reputation, so that most of the heavy and difficult +cases were brought into his court. He possessed +a wonderfully quick, as well as powerful, mind, +which got to the kernel of a matter while other +people were still hammering at the shell, and +which applied legal principles just as swiftly and +surely as it mastered a group of complicated facts.</p> +<p>The Rolls Court used to present, while he +presided over it, a curious and interesting sight, +which led young counsel, who had no business +to do there, to frequent it for the mere sake of +watching the Judge. When the leading counsel +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span> +for the plaintiff was opening his case, Jessel +listened quietly for the first few minutes only, +and then began to address questions to the +counsel, at first so as to guide his remarks in a +particular direction, then so as to stop his course +altogether and turn his speech into a series of +answers to the Judge’s interrogatories. When, +by a short dialogue of this kind, Jessel had +possessed himself of the vital facts, he would +turn to the leading counsel for the defendant +and ask him whether he admitted such and such +facts alleged by the plaintiff to be true. If these +facts were admitted, the Judge proceeded to +indicate the view he was disposed to take of the +law applicable to the facts, and, by a few more +questions to the counsel on the one side or the +other, as the case might be, elicited their respective +legal grounds of contention. If the facts +were not admitted, it of course became necessary +to call the witnesses or read the affidavits, +processes which the vigorous impatience of +the Judge considerably shortened, for it was a +dangerous thing to read to him any irrelevant +or loosely-drawn paragraph. But more generally +his searching questions and the sort of pressure +he applied so cut down the issues of fact that +there was little or nothing left in controversy +regarding which it was necessary to examine the +evidence in detail, since the counsel felt that +there was no use in putting before him a contention +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span> +which they could not sustain under the fire +of his criticism. Then Jessel proceeded to deliver +his opinion and dispose of the case. The affair +was from beginning to end far less an argument +and counter-argument by counsel than an investigation +directly conducted by the Judge himself, +in which the principal function of the counsel +was to answer the Judge’s questions concisely +and exactly, so that the latter might as soon as +possible get to the bottom of the matter. The +Bar in a little while came to learn and adapt +themselves to his ways, and few complained of +being stopped or interrupted by him, because +his interruptions, unlike those of some judges, +were neither inopportune nor superfluous. The +counsel (with scarcely an exception) felt themselves +his inferiors, and recognised not only that +he was better able to handle the case than they +were, but that the manner and style in which they +presented their facts or arguments would make +little difference to the result, because his penetration +was sure to discover the merits of each contention, +and neither eloquence nor pertinacity +would have the slightest effect on his resolute +and self-confident mind. Thus business was +despatched before him with unexampled speed, +and it became a maxim among barristers that, +however low down in the cause-list at the +Rolls your cause might stand, it was never +safe to be away from the court, so rapidly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span> +were cases “crumpled up” or “broken down” +under the blows of this vigorous intellect. +It was more surprising that the suitors, as well +as the Bar and the public generally, acquiesced, +after the first few months, in this way of +doing business. Nothing breeds more discontent +than haste and heedlessness in a judge. +But Jessel’s speed was not haste. He did as +much justice in a day as others could do in a +week; and those few who, dissatisfied with these +rapid methods, tried to reverse his decisions before +the Court of Appeal, were very seldom successful, +although that court then contained in Lord Justice +James and Lord Justice Mellish two unusually +strong men, who would not have hesitated to +differ even from the redoubtable Master of the +Rolls.</p> +<p>As I have mentioned Lord Justice Mellish, I +may turn aside for a moment to say a word regarding +that extraordinary man, who stood along +with Cairns and Roundell Palmer in the foremost +rank of Jessel’s professional contemporaries. +Mellish held for some years before his elevation +to the Bench in 1869 a position unique at the +English Common-law Bar as a giver of opinions +on points of law. As the Israelites in King +David’s day said of Ahithophel that his counsel +was as if a man had inquired at the oracle of +God,<a name='FNanchor_0020' id='FNanchor_0020'></a><a href='#Footnote_0020' class='fnanchor'>[25]</a> so the legal profession deemed Mellish +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span> +practically infallible, and held an opinion signed +by him to be equal in weight to a judgment of +the Court of Exchequer Chamber (the then court +of appeal in common-law cases). He was not +effective as an advocate addressing a jury, being +indeed far too good for any jury; but in arguing +a point of law his unerring logic, the lucidity +with which he stated his position, the cogency +and precision with which he drew his inferences, +made it a delight to listen to him. The chain of +ratiocination seemed irrefragable:</p> +<table summary=''><tr><td> +<p class='cg'><span class='greek' title="en d' ethet' akmothetô megan akmona, kopte de desmous">ἐν δ᾽ ἔθετ᾽ ἀκμοθέτῳ μέγαν ἄκμονα, κόπτε δὲ δεσμοὺς</span><br /> +<span class='greek' title="arrhêktous alutous, ophr' empedon authi menoien">ἀρρήκτους ἀλύτους, ὄφρ᾽ ἔμπεδον αὖθι μένοιεν.</span><a name='FNanchor_0021' id='FNanchor_0021'></a><a href='#Footnote_0021' class='fnanchor'>[26]</a></p> +</td></tr></table> +<p>He had, indeed, but one fault as an arguer. +He could not argue a point whose soundness he +doubted as effectively as one in which he had +faith; and when it befell that several points arose +in a case, and the Court seemed disposed to lay +more stress on the one for which he cared little +than on the one he deemed conclusive, he refused +to fall in with their view and continued to insist +upon that which his own mind approved.</p> +<p>I remember to have once heard him and +Cairns argue before the House of Lords (sitting +as the final Court of Appeal) a case relating +to a vessel called the <i>Alexandra</i>—it was a case +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span> +arising out of an attempt of the Confederates, +during the American War of Secession, to get +out of a British port a cruiser they had ordered. +Cairns spoke first with all his usual power, and +seemed to have left nothing to be added. But +when Mellish followed on the same side, he set +his points in so strong a light, and placed his +contention on so solid a basis, that even Cairns’s +speech was forgotten, and it seemed impossible +that any answer could be found to Mellish’s +arguments. One felt as if the voice of pure +reason were speaking through his lips.</p> +<p>Such an intellect might seem admirably qualified +for judicial work. But as a judge, Mellish, +admirable though he was in temper, in fairness, +in learning, and in logic, did not win so exceptional +a reputation as he had won at the Bar. People used +to ascribe this partly to his weak health, partly +to the fact that he, who had been a common-law +practitioner, was sitting in a court which heard +equity appeals, and alongside of a quick and +strong colleague reared in the equity courts.<a name='FNanchor_0022' id='FNanchor_0022'></a><a href='#Footnote_0022' class='fnanchor'>[27]</a> +But something may have been due to the fact +that he needed the stimulus of conflict to bring +out the full force of his splendid intelligence. +A circumstance attending the appointment of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span> +Mellish illustrates the remark already made +that a great counsel whose work lies apart +from so-called “sensation cases” may remain +unknown to his contemporaries. When Mr. +Gladstone, being then Prime Minister, and +having to select a Lord Justice of Appeal, +was told that Mellish was the fittest man for +the post, he asked, “Can that be the boy +who was my fag at Eton?” He had not +heard of Mellish during the intervening forty +years!</p> +<p>However, I return to the Master of the Rolls. +In dealing with facts, Jessel has never had a +superior, and in our days, perhaps, no rival. He +knew all the ways of the financial and commercial +world. In his treatment of points of law, every +one admitted and admired both an extraordinary +knowledge and mastery of reported cases, and +an extremely acute and exact appreciation of +principles, a complete power of extracting them +from past cases and fitting them to the case in +hand. He had a memory which forgot nothing, and +which, indeed, wearied him by refusing to forget +trivial things. When he delivered an elaborate +judgment it was his delight to run through a long +series of cases, classifying and distinguishing +them. His strength made him bold; he went +further than most judges in readiness to carry +a principle somewhat beyond any decided case, +and to overrule an authority which he did not +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span> +respect. The fault charged on him was his +tendency, perhaps characteristic of the Hebrew +mind, to take a somewhat hard and dry view +of a legal principle, overlooking its more delicate +shades, and, in the interpretation of +statutes or documents, to adhere too strictly to +the letter, overlooking the spirit. An eminent +lawyer said, “If all judges had been like +Jessel, there might have been no equity.” In +that respect many deemed him inferior to +Lord Cairns, the greatest judge among his contemporaries, +who united to an almost equally +wide and accurate knowledge of the law a grasp +of principles even more broad and philosophical +than Jessel’s was. Be this as it may, the +judgments of the Master of the Rolls, which +fill so many pages of the recent English Law +Reports, are among the best that have ever gone +to build up the fabric of the English law. Except +on two occasions, when he reserved judgment +at the request of his colleagues in the Court +of Appeal, they were delivered on the spur of +the moment, after the conclusion of the arguments, +or of so much of the arguments as he +allowed counsel to deliver; but they have all the +merits of carefully-considered utterances, so clear +and direct is their style, so concisely as well as +cogently are the authorities discussed and the +grounds of decision stated. The bold and sweeping +character which often belongs to them makes +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span> +them more instructive as well as more agreeable +reading than the judgments of most modern +judges, whose commonest fault is a timidity +which tries to escape, by dwelling on the details +of the particular case, from the enunciation +of a definite general principle. Positive and +definite Jessel always was. As he put it himself: +“I may be wrong, but I never have any +doubts.”</p> +<p>At the Bar, Jessel had been far from popular; +for his manners were unpolished, and his conduct +towards other counsel overbearing. On the +Bench he improved, and became liked as well as +respected. There was a sort of rough <i>bonhomie</i> +about him, and though he could be disagreeable +on occasions to a leading counsel, especially if +brought from the common-law bar into his court, +he showed a good-humoured wish to deal gently +with young or inexperienced barristers. There +was also an obvious anxiety to do justice, an +impatience of mere technicalities, and a readiness, +remarkable in so strong-willed a man, to hear +what could be said against his own opinion, and to +reconsider it. Besides, a profession is naturally +proud of any one whose talents adorn it, and +whose eminence seems to be communicated to +the whole body.</p> +<p>Ever since, under the Plantagenet kings, the +Chancery became a law court, the office of Master +of the Rolls had been that of a judge of first +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span> +instance. In 1881 its character was changed, +and its occupant placed at the head of the +Court of Appeal. Thus it was as an appellate +judge that Jessel latterly sat, giving no less +satisfaction in that capacity than in his former +one, and being indeed confessedly the strongest +judicial intellect (except Lord Cairns) on the +Bench. Outside his professional duties, his chief +interest was in the University of London, at +which he had himself graduated. He was a +member of its senate, and busied himself with its +examinations, being up till the last excessively +fond of work, and finding that of a judge who +sits for five or six hours daily insufficient to +satisfy his appetite. He was not what would +be called a highly cultivated man, although he +knew a great deal beyond the field of law, +mathematics, for instance, and Hebrew literature +and botany, for he had been brought up in +a not very refined circle, and had been absorbed +in legal work during the best years of his life. +But his was an intelligence of extraordinary power +and flexibility, eminently practical, as the Semitic +intellect generally is, and yet thoroughly scientific. +And he was also one of those strong natures who +make themselves disliked while they are fighting +their way to the top, but grow more genial and +more tolerant when they have won what they +sought, and perceive that others admit their pre-eminence. +The services which he rendered as a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span> +judge illustrate not only the advantage of throwing +open all places to all comers—the bigotry of +an elder day excluded the Jews from judicial office +altogether—but also the benefit of having a judge +at least equal in ability to the best of those who +practise before him. It was because Jessel was +so easily master in his court that so large and +important a part of the judicial business of the +country was, during many years, despatched with +a swiftness and a success seldom equalled in the +annals of the English Courts.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span> +<a name='LORD_CHANCELLOR_CAIRNS' id='LORD_CHANCELLOR_CAIRNS'></a> +<h2>LORD CHANCELLOR CAIRNS</h2> +</div> +<p>Hugh M’Calmont Cairns, afterwards Earl +Cairns (born 1819, died 1885), was one of three +remarkable Scoto-Irishmen whom the north-east +corner of Ulster gave to the United Kingdom +in one generation, and each of whom was foremost +in the career he entered. Lord Lawrence +was the strongest of Indian or Colonial administrators, +and did more than any other man to +save India for England in the crisis of the great +Mutiny of 1857. Lord Kelvin has been, since the +death of Charles Darwin, the first among British +men of science. Lord Cairns was unquestionably +the greatest judge of the Victorian epoch, perhaps +of the nineteenth century.<a name='FNanchor_0023' id='FNanchor_0023'></a><a href='#Footnote_0023' class='fnanchor'>[28]</a> His name and family +were of Scottish origin, but he combined with the +shrewd sense and grim persistency of Scotland +some measure of the keen partisanship which +marks the Irish Orangeman. Born an Episcopalian, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span> +he grew up a Tory in politics, an earnest +Low-Church Evangelical in religion; nor did his +opinions in either respect ever seem to alter +during his long life. His great abilities were +perceived both at school (he was educated at +the Academy in Belfast) and at college (Trinity +College, Dublin), and so much impressed the +counsel in whose chambers he studied for a +year in London, that he strongly dissuaded the +young man from returning to Dublin to practise +at the Irish bar, promising him a brilliant career +on the wider theatre of England. The prediction +was verified by the rapidity with which Cairns, +who had, no doubt, the advantage of influential +connections in the City of London, rose into +note. He obtained (as a Conservative) a seat +in Parliament for his native town of Belfast +when only thirty-three years of age, and was +appointed Solicitor-General to Lord Derby’s +second Ministry six years later—a post which +few eminent lawyers have reached before fifty. +In the House of Commons, though at first +somewhat diffident and nervous, he soon proved +himself a powerful as well as ready speaker, and +would doubtless have remained in an assembly +where he was rendering such valuable services +to his party but for the weakness of his lungs +and throat, which had threatened his life since +boyhood. He therefore accepted, in 1867, the +office of Lord Justice of Appeal, with a seat in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span> +the House of Lords, and next year was made +Lord Chancellor by Mr. Disraeli, then Prime +Minister, who dismissed Lord Chelmsford, then +Chancellor, in order to have the benefit of Cairns’s +help as a colleague. Disraeli subsequently caused +him to be raised to an earldom.</p> +<p>After Lord Derby’s death, Cairns led the +Tory party in the House of Lords for a time +(replacing the Duke of Richmond when the latter +quitted the leadership), but his very pronounced +Low-Church proclivities, coupled perhaps with a +certain jealousy felt toward him as a newcomer, +prevented him from becoming popular there, so +that ultimately the leadership of that House settled +itself in the hands of Lord Salisbury, a statesman +not superior to Cairns in political judgment or +argumentative power, but without the disadvantage +of being a lawyer, possessing a wider range +of political experience, and in closer sympathy +with the feelings and habits of the titled order. +There were, however, some peers who, when +Lord Beaconsfield died in 1881, desired to see +Cairns chosen to succeed him in the leadership +of the Tory party, then in opposition, in the +Upper Chamber. Whether in opposition or in +power, Cairns took a prominent part in all “full-dress” +political debates in the House of Lords +and in the discussion of legal measures, and was +indeed so absolutely master of the Chamber when +such measures came under discussion, that the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span> +Liberal Government, during the years from 1868 +to 1874, and again from 1880 till 1885, could +carry no legal reforms through the House of +Lords except by his permission, which, of +course, was never given when such reforms +could seem to affect any political issue. Yet +the vehemence of his party feeling did not overcast +his judgment. It was mainly through his +interposition (aided by that of Archbishop Tait) +that the House of Lords consented to pass the +Irish Church Bill of 1869, a measure which +Cairns, of course heartily disliking it, accepted +for the sake of saving to the disestablished +Church a part of her funds, since these might +have been lost had the Bill been rejected then +and passed next year by an angrier House of +Commons. Of all the members of Disraeli’s +two Cabinets, he was the one whom Disraeli +himself had been wont most to trust and +most to rely on. In January 1874, when Mr. +Gladstone’s suddenly announced dissolution of +Parliament startled all England one Saturday +morning, Disraeli, who heard of it while still in +bed, was at first frightened, thinking that the +Liberal leader had played his cards boldly and +well, and would carry the elections. When his +chief party manager came to see him he was +found restless and dejected, and cried out, “Send +for Cairns at once.” Lord Cairns was sent for, +came full of vigour, hope, and counsel, and after +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span> +an hour’s talk so restored the confidence of his +ally that Disraeli sat down in the best spirits to +compose his electoral manifesto. As everybody +knows, Cairns’s forecast was right, and the Tories +won the general election by a large majority.</p> +<p>For political success Cairns had several qualities +of the utmost value—a stately presence, a clear +head, a resolute will, and splendid oratorical gifts. +He was not an imaginative speaker, nor fitted +to touch the emotions; but he had a matchless +power of statement, and a no less matchless +closeness and cogency in argument. In the +famous controversies of 1866, he showed himself +the clearest and most vigorous thinker among +the opponents of reform, more solid, if less +brilliant, than was Robert Lowe. His diction, +without being exceptionally choice, was pure and +precise, and his manner had a dignity and weight +which seemed to compel your attention even +when the matter was uninteresting. A voice +naturally neither strong nor musical, and sometimes +apt to sound hollow (for the chest was weak), +was managed with great skill; action and gesture +were used sparingly but effectively, and the tall +well-built figure and strongly-marked, somewhat +Roman features, with their haughty and distant +air, deepened the impression of power, courage, +and resolution which was characteristic of the +whole man.</p> +<p>The qualities of oratory I have described +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span> +may seem better fitted to a comparatively sober +and sedate assembly like the House of Lords +than to a changeful and excitable assembly +like the House of Commons. Yet, in point of +fact, Cairns spoke better in the Commons than he +did afterwards in the Lords, and would have left +an even higher oratorical reputation had his +career in the popular House been longer and his +displays more numerous. The reason seems to be +that the heat of that House warmed his somewhat +chilly temperament, and roused him to a more +energetic and ardent style of speaking than was +needed in the Upper Chamber, where he and +his friends, commanding a large majority, had +things all their own way. In the House of +Commons he confronted a crowd of zealous +adversaries, and put forth all the forces of his +logic and rhetoric to overcome them. In the more +languid House of Lords he was apt to be didactic, +sometimes even prolix. He overproved his own +case without feeling the need, which he would have +felt in the Commons, of overthrowing the case of +the other side; his manner wanted animation and +his matter variety. Still, he was a great speaker, +greater as a speaker upon legal topics, where a +power of exact statement and lucid exposition is +required, than any one he left behind him.</p> +<p>Why, it may be asked, with these gifts, and +with so much firmness and energy of character, +did he not play an even more conspicuous part +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span> +in politics, and succeed, after Lord Beaconsfield’s +death, to the chieftaincy of the Tory party? +The answer is to be found partly in the prejudice +which still survives in England against legal +politicians, partly in certain defects of his own +personality. Although sincerely pious, and exemplary +in all the relations of domestic life, he +was ungenial and unbending in social intercourse. +Few equally eminent men of our time have had so +narrow a circle of personal friends. There was a +dryness, a coldness, and an appearance of reserve +and hauteur about his manner which repelled +strangers, and kept acquaintanceship from ripening +into friendship. To succeed as a political leader, a +man must usually (I do not say invariably, because +there are a few remarkable instances—Mr. Parnell’s +would appear to be one of them—to the contrary) +at least seem sympathetic; must be able to enter +into the feelings of his followers, and show himself +interested in them not merely as party +followers, but as human beings. There must be +a certain glow, a certain effluence of feeling about +him, which makes them care for him and rally +to him as a personality. Whether Lord Cairns +wanted warmth of heart, or whether it was that an +inner warmth failed to pierce the cloak of reserve +and pride which he habitually wore, I do not +attempt to determine. But the defect told heavily +against him. He never became a familiar figure +to the mass of his party, a person whose features +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span> +they knew, at whose name they would cheer; +and nowadays all leaders, to whatever party they +belong, find a source of strength in winning this +kind of popularity. The quality which Americans +call magnetism is perhaps less essential +in England than in the country which distinguished +and named it; but it is helpful even +in England. Cairns, though an Irishman, was +wholly without it.</p> +<p>In the field of law, where passion has no +place, and even imagination must be content +to move with clipped wings along the ground, +the merits of Lord Cairns’s intellect showed +to the best advantage. At the Chancery bar he +was one of a trio who had not been surpassed, if +ever equalled, during the nineteenth century, and +whom none of our now practising advocates rivals. +The other two were Mr., afterwards Lord Justice, +Rolt, and Mr. Roundell Palmer, afterwards Lord +Chancellor Selborne. All were admirable lawyers, +but, of the three, Rolt excelled in his spirited presentation +of a case and in the lively vigour of his +arguments. Palmer was conspicuous for exhaustless +ingenuity, and for a subtlety which sometimes +led him away into reasonings too fine for the +court to follow. Cairns was broad, massive, +convincing, with a robust urgency of logic which +seemed to grasp and fix you, so that while he +spoke you could fancy no conclusion possible save +that toward which he moved. His habit was to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span> +seize upon what he deemed the central and vital +point of the case, throwing the whole force of +his argument upon that one point, and holding +the judge’s mind fast to it.</p> +<p>All these famous men were raised to the judicial +bench. Rolt remained there for a few months +only, so his time was too short to permit him to +enrich our jurisprudence and leave a memory of +himself in the Reports. Palmer sat in the House +of Lords from his accession to the Chancellorship +in 1872 till his death in 1896, and, while fully +sustaining his reputation as a man of eminent +legal capacity, was, on the whole, less brilliant as a +judge than he had been as an advocate, because a +tendency to over-refinement is more dangerous +in the judicial than in the forensic mind. He +made an admirable Chancellor, and showed himself +more industrious and more zealous for law +reform than did Cairns. But Cairns was the +greater judge, and became to the generation +which argued before him a model of judicial excellence. +In hearing a cause he was singularly +patient, rarely interrupting counsel, and then only +to put some pertinent question. His figure was +so still, his countenance so impassive, that people +sometimes doubted whether he was really attending +to all that was urged at the bar. But when +the time came for him to deliver judgment, +which in the House of Lords is done in the form +of a speech addressed to the House in moving +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span> +or supporting a motion that is to become the judgment +of the tribunal, it was seen how fully he had +apprehended the case in all its bearings. His +deliverances were never lengthy, but they were +exhaustive. They went straight to the vital principles +on which the question turned, stated these +in the most luminous way, and applied them with +unerring exactitude to the particular facts. It is +as a storehouse of fundamental doctrines that his +judgments are so valuable. They disclose less +knowledge of case-law than do those of some other +judges; but Cairns was not one of the men who +love cases for their own sake, and he never cared +to draw upon, still less to display, more learning +than was needed for the matter in hand. It +was in the grasp of the principles involved, in +the breadth of view which enabled him to see +these principles in their relation to one another, in +the precision of the logic which drew conclusions +from the principles, in the perfectly lucid language +in which the principles were expounded and +applied, that his strength lay. Herein he surpassed +the most eminent of contemporary judges, +the then Master of the Rolls, for while Jessel had +perhaps a quicker mind than Cairns, he had not so +wide a mind, nor one so thoroughly philosophical +in the methods by which it moved.</p> +<p>Outside the spheres of law and politics, Cairns’s +only interest was in religion. He did not seem, +although a good classical scholar and a competent +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span> +mathematician, to care either for letters or for +science. But he was a Sunday-school teacher +nearly all his life. Prayer-meetings were held +at his house, at which barristers, not otherwise +known for their piety, but believed to desire +county court judgeships, were sometimes seen. +He used to take the chair at missionary and +other philanthropic meetings. He was surrounded +by evangelisers and clergymen. But +nothing softened the austerity or melted the ice +of his manners. Neither did the great position +he had won seem to give a higher and broader +quality to his statesmanship. It is true that in +law he was wholly free from the partisanship +which tinged his politics. No one was more +perfectly fair upon the bench; no one more +honestly anxious to arrive at a right decision. +And as a law reformer, although he effected less +than might have been hoped from his abilities or +expected from the absolute sway which he exercised +while Chancellor in Lord Beaconsfield’s +Government from 1874 to 1880, he was free from +prejudice, and willing to sweep away antiquated +rules or usages if they seemed to block the +channel of speedy justice. But in politics this +impartiality and elevation vanished even after he +had risen so high that he did not need to humour +the passions or confirm the loyalty of his own +associates. He seemed to be not merely a party +man, which an English politician is forced to be, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span> +because if he stands outside party he cannot effect +anything, but a partisan—that is, a man wholly +devoted to his party, who sees everything through +its eyes, and argues every question in its interests. +He gave the impression of being either unwilling +or unable to rise to a higher and more truly +national view, and sometimes condescended to +arguments whose unsoundness his penetrating +intellect could hardly have failed to detect. His +professional tone had been blameless, but at the +bar the path of rectitude is plain and smooth, and +a scrupulous mind finds fewer cases of conscience +present themselves in a year than in Parliament +within a month. Yet if in this respect Cairns +failed to reach a level worthy of his splendid +intellect, the defect was due not to any selfish +view of his own interest, but rather to the narrowness +of the groove into which his mind had fallen, +and to the atmosphere of Orange sentiment in +which he had grown up. As a politician he is +already beginning to be forgotten; but as a judge +he will be held in honourable remembrance as +one of the five or six most brilliant luminaries +that have adorned the English bench since those +remote days<a name='FNanchor_0024' id='FNanchor_0024'></a><a href='#Footnote_0024' class='fnanchor'>[29]</a> in which the beginning of legal +memory is placed.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span> +<a name='BISHOP_FRASER' id='BISHOP_FRASER'></a> +<h2>BISHOP FRASER</h2> +</div> +<p>James Fraser, Bishop of Manchester from 1870 +till 1885, was born in Gloucestershire, of a Scottish +family, in 1818, and died at Manchester in 1885.<a name='FNanchor_0025' id='FNanchor_0025'></a><a href='#Footnote_0025' class='fnanchor'>[30]</a> +He took no prominent part in ecclesiastical politics, +and no part at all in general politics. Though +a sound classical scholar in the old-fashioned +sense of the term—he won the Ireland University +Scholarship at Oxford, then and still the most +conspicuous prize in the field of classics—he was +not an exceptionally cultivated man, and he never +wrote anything except official reports and episcopal +charges. Neither was he, although a ready +and effective speaker, gifted with the highest +kind of eloquence. Neither was he a profound +theologian. Yet his character and career are of +permanent interest, for he created not merely a +new episcopal type, but (one may almost say) +a new ecclesiastical type within the Church of +England.</p> +<p>Till some sixty or seventy years ago the +normal English bishop was a rich, dignified, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span> +rather easy-going magnate, aristocratic in his +tastes and habits, moderate in his theology, sometimes +to the verge of indifferentism, quite as much +a man of the world as a pastor of souls. He had +usually obtained his preferment by his family connections, +or by some service rendered to the court +or a political chief—perhaps even by solicitation +or intrigue. Now and then eminence in learning +or literature raised a man to the bench: there +were, for instance, the “Greek play” bishops, +such as Dr. Monk of Gloucester, whose fame +rested on their editions of the Attic dramatists; +and the <i>Quarterly Review</i> bishops, such as +Dr. Copleston, of Llandaff, whose powerful pen, +as well as his wise administration of the great +Oxford College over which he long presided, +amply justified his promotion. So even in the +eighteenth century the illustrious Butler had +been Bishop of Durham, as in Ireland the +illustrious Berkeley had been Bishop of Cloyne. +But, on the whole, the bishops of our grandfathers’ +days were more remarkable for their +prudence and tact, their adroitness or suppleness, +than for intellectual or moral superiority to +the rest of the clergy. Their own upper-class +world, and the middle class which, in the main, +took its view of English institutions from the +upper class, respected them as a part of the solid +fabric of English society, but they were a mark +for Radical invective and for literary sneers. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span> +Their luxurious pomp and ease were incessantly +contrasted with the simplicity of the apostles and +the poverty of curates, and the abundance among +them of the gifts that befit the senate or the +drawing-room was compared with the rarity of the +graces that adorn a saint. The comparison was +hardly fair, for saints are scarce, and a good bishop +needs some qualities which a saint may lack.</p> +<p>That revival within the Church of England +which went on in various forms from 1800 till +1870, at first Low Church or Evangelical in its +tendencies, latterly more conspicuously High +Church and Ritualist, began from below and +worked upwards till at length it reached the +bishops. Lord Palmerston, influenced by Lord +Shaftesbury, filled the vacant sees that fell to him +with earnest men, sometimes narrow, sometimes +deficient in learning, but often good preachers, and +zealous for the doctrines they held. When the +High Churchmen found their way to the Bench, +as they did very largely under Lord Derby’s and +Mr. Gladstone’s rule, they showed as much theological +zeal as the Evangelicals, and perhaps more +talent for administration. The popular idea of +what may be expected from a bishop rose, and the +bishops rose with the idea. As Bishop of Oxford, +Dr. Samuel Wilberforce was among the first to +make himself powerfully felt through his diocese. +His example told upon other prelates, and prime +ministers grew more anxious to select energetic +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span> +and popular men. So it came to pass that the +bishops began to be among the foremost men in +the Church of England. Some, like Dr. Magee +of Peterborough, and afterwards of York, were +brilliant orators; some, like Dr. Lightfoot of +Durham, profound scholars; some, like Dr. +Temple of Exeter, able and earnest administrators. +There remained but few who had not +some good claim to the dignity they enjoyed. +So it may be said, when one compares the later +Victorian bishops with their Georgian predecessors, +that no class in the country has improved +more. Few now sneer at them, for no set of men +take a more active and more creditable part in the +public business of the country. Their incomes, +curtailed of late years in the case of the richer +sees, are no more than sufficient for the expenses +which fall upon them, and they work as hard as +any other men for their salaries. Though the +larger sees have been divided, the reduction of +the toil of bishops thus effected has been less than +the addition to it due to the growth of population +and the increased activity of the clergy. The +only defect which the censorious still impute to +them is a certain episcopal conventionality, a disposition +to try to please everybody by the use of +vague professional language, a tendency to think +too much about the Church as a church establishment, +and to defer to clerical opinion when they +ought to speak and act with an independence +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span> +born of their individual opinions. Some of them, +as, for instance, the three I have just mentioned, +were not open to this reproach. It was one +of the merits and charms of Fraser that he was +absolutely free from any such tendency. Other +men, such as Bishop Lightfoot, have been not +less eminent models of the virtues which ought +to characterise a great Christian pastor; but +Fraser (appointed some time before Lightfoot) +was the first to be an absolutely unconventional +and, so to speak, unepiscopal bishop. His career +marked a new departure and set a new example.</p> +<p>Fraser spent the earlier years of his manhood +in Oxford, as a tutor in Oriel College, teaching +Thucydides and Aristotle. Like many of his +Oxford contemporaries, he continued through life +to think on Aristotelian lines, and one could trace +them in his sermons. He then took in succession +two college livings, both in quiet nooks in the +South of England, and discharged for nearly +twenty years the simple duties of a parish priest, +unknown to the great world, but making himself +beloved by the people, and doing his best to +improve their condition. The zeal he had shown +in promoting elementary education caused him to +be appointed (in 1865) by the Schools Inquiry +Commissioners to be their Assistant Commissioner +to examine the common-school system of +the United States, and the excellence of his report +thereon attracted the notice of the late Lord +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span> +Lyttelton, one of those Commissioners who were +then sitting to investigate the state of secondary +education in England. His report long remained +by far the best general picture of American +schools, conspicuous for its breadth of view, its +clearness of statement, its sympathetic insight +into conditions unlike those he had known in +England. On the recommendation (as has been +generally believed) of Lord Lyttelton and of the +then Bishop of Salisbury, who was a friend of +Dr. Fraser’s, Mr. Gladstone, at that time Prime +Minister, appointed him Bishop of Manchester +in 1870. The diocese of Manchester, which +included all Lancashire except Liverpool and a +small district in the extreme north of the county, +had been under a bishop who, although an able +and learned man, capable of making himself +agreeable when he pleased, was personally unpopular, +and had done little beyond his formal +duties. He lived in a large and handsome +country-house some miles from the city, and was +known by sight to very few of its inhabitants. +(I was familiar with Lancashire in those days, for +I had visited all its grammar-schools as Assistant +Commissioner to the Commission just referred +to, and there was hardly a trace to be found in +it of the bishop’s action.) Fraser had not been +six months in the county before everything was +changed. The country mansion was sold, and he +procured a modest house in one of the less fashionable +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span> +suburbs of the city. He preached twice +every Sunday, usually in some parish church, and +spent the week in travelling up and down his +diocese, so that the days were few in which he +was not on the railway. He stretched out the +hand of friendship to the Dissenters (numerous +and powerful in the manufacturing districts), who +had hitherto regarded a bishop as a sort of natural +enemy, gained their confidence, and soon became +as popular with them as with the laity of his +own Church. He associated himself with all +the works of benevolence or public utility which +were in progress, subscribed to all so far as his +means allowed, and was always ready to speak +at a meeting on behalf of any good enterprise. +He dealt in his sermons with the topics of the +day, avoiding party politics, but speaking his +mind on all social and moral questions with a +freedom which sometimes involved him in passing +difficulties, but stimulated the minds of his hearers, +and gave the impression of his own perfect +candour and perfect courage. He used to say +that as he felt it his duty to speak wherever he +was asked to do so, he must needs speak without +preparation, and must therefore expect sometimes +to get into hot water; that this was a pity, but +it was not his fault that he was reported, and +that it was better to run the risk of making +mistakes and suffering for them than to refuse +out of self-regarding caution to give the best of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span> +himself to the diocese. He had that true modesty +which makes a man willing to do a thing imperfectly, +at the risk of lowering his intellectual +reputation. He knew that he was neither a deep +thinker nor a finished preacher, and was content +to be what he was, so long as he could perform +the work which it was in him to do. He lost +no opportunity of meeting the working men, +would go and talk to them in the yards of the +mills or at the evening gatherings of mechanics’ +institutes; and when any misfortune befell, such +as a colliery accident, he was often among the +first who reached the spot to help the survivors +and comfort the widows. He made no difference +between rich and poor, showed no wish to be a +guest in the houses of the great, and treated the +poorest curate with as much courtesy as the most +pompous county magnate. His work in Lancashire +seldom allowed him to appear in the House +of Lords; and this he regretted, not that he +desired to speak there, but because, as he said, +“Whether or not bishops do Parliament good, +Parliament does bishops good.”</p> +<p>Such a simple, earnest, active course of conduct +told upon the feelings of the people who read of +his words and doings. But even greater was the +impression made by his personality upon those +who saw him. He was a tall, well-built man,<a name='FNanchor_0026' id='FNanchor_0026'></a><a href='#Footnote_0026' class='fnanchor'>[31]</a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span> +erect in figure, with a quick eye, a firm step, a +ruddy face, an expression of singular heartiness +and geniality. He seemed always cheerful, and, +in spite of his endless labours, always fresh and +strong. His smile and the grasp of his hand +put you into good-humour with yourself and the +world; if you were dispirited, they led you out +of shadow into sunlight. He was not a great +reader, and had no time for sustained and searching +thought; yet he seemed always abreast of +what was passing in the world, and to know what +the books and articles and speeches of the day +contained, although he could not have found time +to peruse them. With strong opinions of his own, +he was anxious to hear yours; a ready and eager +talker, yet a willing listener. His oratory was +plain, with few flights of rhetoric, but it was direct +and vigorous, free from conventional phrases, +charged with clear good sense and genuine feeling, +and capable, when his feeling was exceptionally +strong, of rising to eloquence. He had a +ready sense of humour, the best proof of which +was that he relished a joke against himself.<a name='FNanchor_0027' id='FNanchor_0027'></a><a href='#Footnote_0027' class='fnanchor'>[32]</a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span> +However, the greatest charm, both of his public +and private talk, was the transparent sincerity +and honesty that shone through it. His mind +was like a crystal pool of water in a mountain +stream. You saw everything that was in it, and +saw nothing that was mean or unworthy. This +sincerity and freshness made his character not +only manly, but lovable and beautiful, beautiful +in its tenderness, its loyalty to his friends, its +devotion to truth.</p> +<p>His conscientious anxiety to say nothing more +than he thought was apt to make him an embarrassing +ally. It happened more than once +that when he came to speak at a public meeting +on behalf of some enterprise, he was not content, +like most men, to set forth its merits and claims, +but went on to dwell upon possible drawbacks +or dangers, so that the more ardent friends of +the scheme thought he was pouring cold water +on them, and called him a Balaam reversed. In +a political assembly he would have been an <i>enfant +terrible</i> whom his party would have feared to put +up to speak; but as people in the diocese got to +know that this was his way, they only smiled at +his too ingenuous honesty. As he spoke with no +preparation, and was naturally impulsive, he now +and then spoke unadvisedly, and received a good +deal of newspaper censure. But he was never +involved in real trouble by these speeches. As +Dean Stanley wrote to him, “You have a singular +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span> +gift of going to the very verge of imprudence and +yet never crossing it.”</p> +<p>No one will wonder that such a character, set +in a conspicuous place, and joined to extraordinary +activity and zeal, should have produced an immense +effect on the people of his city and diocese. +Since Nonconformity arose in England in the +seventeenth century, no bishop, perhaps, indeed +no man, whether cleric or layman, had done so +much to draw together people of different religious +persuasions and help them to realise their common +Christianity. Densely populated South Lancashire +is practically one huge town, and he was its +foremost citizen; the most instant in all good +works; the one whose words were most sure to +find attentive listeners. This was because he +spoke, I will not say as a layman, but simply +as a Christian, never claiming for himself any +special authority in respect either of his sacerdotal +character or his official position. No English +prelate before him had been so welcome to all +classes and sections; none was so much lamented +by the masses of the people. But it is a significant +fact that he was from first to last more +popular with the laity than with the clergy. Not +that there was ever any slur on his orthodoxy. +He began life as a moderate High Churchman, +and gradually verged, half unconsciously, toward +what would be called a Broad-Church position; +maintaining the claim of the Anglican Church to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span> +undertake, and her duty to hold herself responsible +for, the education of the people, and upholding +her status as an establishment, but dwelling little +on minor points of doctrinal difference, and seeming +to care still less for external observances or +points of ritual. This displeased the Anglo-Catholic +party, and even among other sections of +the clergy there was a kind of feeling that the +Bishop was not sufficiently clerical, did not set full +store by the sacerdotal side of his office, and did +not think enough about ecclesiastical questions.</p> +<p>He was, I think, the first bishop who greeted +men of science as fellow-workers for truth, and +declared that Christianity had not, and could not +have, anything to fear from scientific inquiry. +This has often been said since, but in 1870 it was +so novel that it drew from Huxley a singularly +warm and impressive recognition. He was one +of the first bishops to condemn the system of +theological tests in the English universities. He +even declared that “it was an evil hour when +the Church thought herself obliged to add to or +develop the simple articles of the Apostles’ Creed.” +These deliverances, which any one can praise +now, alarmed a large section of the Church of +England then; nor was the bishop’s friendliness +to Dissenters favourably regarded by those who +deny to Dissenting pastors the title of Christian +ministers.<a name='FNanchor_0028' id='FNanchor_0028'></a><a href='#Footnote_0028' class='fnanchor'>[33]</a></p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_208' name='page_208'></a>208</span></div> +<p>The gravest trouble of his life arose in connection +with legal proceedings which he felt bound +to take in the case of a Ritualist clergyman +who had persisted in practices apparently illegal. +Fraser, though personally the most tolerant of +men to those who differed from his own theological +views, felt bound to enforce the law, because +it was the law, and was at once assailed unjustly, +as well as bitterly, by those who sympathised with +the offending clergyman, and who could not, or +would not, understand that a bishop, like other +persons in an official position, may hold it his +absolute duty to carry out the directions of the +law whether or no he approves the law, and at +whatever cost to himself. These attacks were +borne with patience and dignity. He was never +betrayed into recriminations, and could the more +easily preserve his calmness, because he felt no +animosity.</p> +<p>A bishop may be a power outside his own +religious community even in a country where +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_209' name='page_209'></a>209</span> +the clergy are separated as a caste from the lay +people. Such men as Dupanloup in France show +that. So too he may be a mighty moral and +religious force outside his own religious community +in a country where there is no church +established or endowed by the State. The +example of Dr. Phillips Brooks in the United +States shows that. But Dupanloup would have +been eminent and influential had he not been a +clergyman at all; and Dr. Brooks was the most +inspiring preacher and the most potent leader of +religious thought in America long before, in +the last years of his life, he reluctantly consented +to accept the episcopal office. Fraser, not so +gifted by nature as either of those men, would +have had little chance of doing the work he did +save in a country where the existence of an +ancient establishment secures for one of its dignitaries +a position of far-reaching influence. When +the gains and losses to a nation of the retention +of a church establishment are reckoned up, this +may be set down among the gains.</p> +<p>If the Church of England possessed more +leaders like Tait, Fraser, and Lightfoot—the +statesman, the citizen, and the scholar—in the +characters and careers of all of whom one finds +the common mark of a catholic and pacific spirit, +she would have no need to fear any assaults of +political foes, no temptation to ally herself with +any party, but might stand as an establishment +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_210' name='page_210'></a>210</span> +until, after long years, by the general wish of her +own people, as well as of those who are without, +she passed peaceably into the position of being +the first in honour, numbers, and influence among +a group of Christian communities, all equally free +from State control.</p> +<p>Fraser’s example showed how much an attitude +of unpretending simplicity and friendliness to all +sects and classes may do to mitigate the jealousy +and suspicion which still embitter the relations of +the different religious bodies in England, and +which work for evil even in its politics. He +created, as Dean Stanley said, a new type of +episcopal excellence: and why should not originality +be shown in the conception and discharge of +an office as well as in the sphere of pure thought +or of literary creation?</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span> +<a name='SIR_STAFFORD_HENRY_NORTHCOTE_EARL_OF_IDDESLEIGH34' id='SIR_STAFFORD_HENRY_NORTHCOTE_EARL_OF_IDDESLEIGH34'></a> +<h2>SIR STAFFORD HENRY NORTHCOTE, EARL OF IDDESLEIGH<a name="FNanchor_34" id="FNanchor_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor2">[34]</a></h2> +</div> +<p>Sir Stafford Northcote (born 1818, died 1887) +belonged to a type of politician less common +among us than it used to be, and likely to +become still more rare as England grows more +democratic—the county gentleman of old family +and good estate, who receives and profits by a +classical education at one of the ancient universities, +who is at an early age returned to +Parliament in respect of his social position in +his county, who has leisure to cultivate himself +for statesmanship, who has tastes and +resources outside the sphere of politics. Devonshire, +whence he came, has preserved more +of the old features of English country life +than the central and northern parts of England, +where manufactures and the growth of population +have swept away the venerable remains of +feudalism. In Devonshire the old families are +still deeply respected by the people. They are +so intermarried that most of them have ties of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_212' name='page_212'></a>212</span> +kinship with all their neighbours. Few rich +parvenus have intruded among them; society is +therefore exceptionally easy, simple, and unostentatious. +There is still a strong local patriotism, +which makes every Devonshire man, whatever +his political prepossessions, proud of other Devonshire +men who rise to eminence, and which +exerts a wholesome influence on the tone of +manners and social intercourse. Northcote was a +thorough Devonshire man, who loved his county +and knew its dialect: his Devonshire stories, +told with the strong accent he could assume, +were the delight of any company that could +tempt him to repeat them. He was immensely +popular in the county, and had well earned his +popularity by his pleasant neighbourly ways, as +well as by his attention to county business and +to the duties of a landowner.</p> +<p>He had the time-honoured training of the +good old English type, was a schoolboy at +Eton, went thence to Oxford, won the highest +distinctions as a scholar, and laid the foundations +of a remarkably wide knowledge of modern +as well as ancient literature. He served his +apprenticeship to statesmanship as private secretary +to Mr. Gladstone, who was then (1843) +a member of Sir Robert Peel’s Government. +When the great schism in the Tory party took +place over the question of free trade in corn, he +was not yet in Parliament, and therefore was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span> +not driven to choose between Peel and the +Protectionists. In 1855, when he first entered +the House of Commons, that question was settled +and gone, so there was no inconsistency in his +entering the Tory ranks although himself a +decided Free Trader. He was not a man who +would have elbowed his way upward. But elbows +were not needed. His abilities, as well as his +industry and the confidence he inspired, speedily +brought him to the top. He was appointed +Secretary to the Treasury in 1859, entered the +Cabinet in 1866, when a new Tory Ministry +was formed under Lord Derby; and when in +1876 Mr. Disraeli retired to the House of Lords, +he became, being then Chancellor of the Exchequer, +leader of the majority in the House +of Commons, while Mr. Gathorne Hardy, the +only other person who had been thought of +as suitable for that post, received a peerage. +Mr. Hardy was a more forcible and rousing +speaker, but Northcote had more varied accomplishments +and a fuller mastery of official work. +Disraeli said that he had “the largest parliamentary +knowledge of any man he had met.”</p> +<p>As an administrator, Sir Stafford Northcote +was diligent, judicious, and free from any taint +of jobbery. He sought nothing for himself; +did not abuse his patronage; kept the public +interests steadily before his mind. He was considerate +to his subordinates, and gracious to all +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span> +men. He never grudged labour, although there +might be no prospect of winning credit by it. +Scrupulous in discharging his duties to his +party, he overtaxed his strength by speaking +constantly at public meetings in the country, a +kind of work he must have disliked, and for +which he was ill fitted by the moderation of his +views and of his language. Parliament is not a +good place for the pursuit of pure truth, but the +platform is still less favourable to that quest. It +was remarked of him that even in party gatherings, +where invective against political opponents +is apt to be expected and relished, he argued +fairly, and never condescended to abuse.</p> +<p>As a Parliamentarian he had two eminent +merits—immense knowledge and admirable +readiness. He had been all his life a keen +observer and a diligent student; and as his +memory was retentive, all that he had observed +or read stood at his command. In +questions of trade and finance, questions which, +owing, perhaps, to their increasing intricacy, +seem to be less and less frequently mastered +by practical politicians in England, he was +especially strong. No other man on his own +side in politics spoke on such matters with equal +authority, and the brunt of the battle fell on +him whenever they came up for discussion. +As he had now his old master for his chief +antagonist, the conflict was no easy one; but he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span> +never shrank from it. Not less remarkable was +his alertness in debate. His manner was indeed +somewhat ineffective, for it wanted both force +and variety. Sentence followed sentence in a +smooth and easy stream, always clear, always +grammatically correct, but with a flow too equably +unbroken. There were few impressive phrases, +few brilliant figures, few of those appeals to +passion with which it is necessary to warm and +rouse a large assembly. When the House grew +excited at the close of a long full-dress debate, +and Sir Stafford rose in the small hours of the +morning to wind it up on behalf of his party, men +felt that the ripple of his sweet voice, the softness +of his gentle manner, were not what the occasion +called for. But what he said was always to the +point and well worth hearing. No facts or +arguments suddenly thrown at him by opponents +disconcerted him; for there was sure to +be an answer ready. However weak his own +case might seem, his ingenuity could be relied +upon to strengthen it; however powerfully the +hostile case had been presented, he found weak +places in it and shook it down by a succession +of well-planted criticisms, each apparently small, +but damaging when taken all together, because +no one of them could be dismissed as irrelevant.</p> +<p>It was interesting to watch him as he sat on +the front bench, with his hat set so low on his brow +that it hid all the upper part of his face, while the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_216' name='page_216'></a>216</span> +lower part was covered by a thick yellowish-brown +beard, perfectly motionless, rarely taking a note +of what was said, and, to all appearance, the most +indifferent figure in the House. The only sign +of feeling which he gave was to be found in +his habit of thrusting each of his hands up the +opposite sleeve of his coat when Mr. Gladstone, +the only assailant whom he needed to fear, burst +upon him in a hailstorm of declamation. But +when he rose, one perceived that nothing had +escaped him. Every point which an antagonist +had made was taken up and dealt with; no point +that could aid his own contention was neglected; +and the fluent grace with which his discourse +swept along, seldom aided by a reference to +notes, was not more surprising than the unfailing +skill with which he shunned dangerous ground, +and put his propositions in a form which made +it difficult to contradict them. I remember to +have heard a member of the opposite party +remark, that nothing was more difficult than to +defend your argument from Northcote, because +he had the art of nibbling it away, admitting +a little in order to evade or overthrow the rest.</p> +<p>So much for his parliamentary aptitudes, which +were fully recognised before he rose to leadership. +But as it was his leadership that has given him a +place in history, I may dwell for a little upon the +way in which he filled that most trying as well +as most honourable post. He led the House—that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span> +is to say, the Ministerial majority—for four +sessions (1877-1880), and the Tory Opposition for +five and a half sessions (1880 to middle of 1885). +To lead the House of Commons a man must have, +over and above the qualities which make a good +debater, an unusual combination of talents. He +must be both bold and cautious, combative and +cool. He must take, on his own responsibility, +and on the spur of the moment, decisions which +commit the whole Ministry, and yet, especially if +he be not Prime Minister, he must consider how +far his colleagues will approve and implement his +action. He must put enough force and fire +into his speeches to rouse his own ranks and +intimidate (if he can) his opponents, yet must +have regard to the more timorous spirits among +his own supporters, going no further than he +feels they will follow, and must sometimes throw +a crafty fly over those in the Opposition whom +he thinks wavering or disaffected. Under the +fire of debate, perhaps while composing the +speech he has to make in reply, he must +consider not merely the audience before him +but also the effect his words will have when +they are read next morning in cold blood, +and, it may be, the effect not only in England +but abroad. Being responsible for the whole +conduct of parliamentary business, he must keep +a close watch upon every pending bill, and determine +how much of Government time shall be +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_218' name='page_218'></a>218</span> +allotted to each, and in what order they shall be +taken, and how far the general feeling of the +House will let him go in seizing the hours usually +reserved for private members, and in granting or +refusing <a name='TC_1' id='TC_1'></a><ins class="trchange" title="Was 'opportunies'">opportunities</ins> for discussing topics he would +prefer to have not discussed at all.</p> +<p>So far as prudence, tact, and knowledge of +business could enable him to discharge these +duties, Northcote discharged them admirably. +It was his good fortune to have behind him in +Lord Beaconsfield, who had recently gone to the +House of Lords, a chief of the whole party who +trusted him, and with whom he was on the best +terms. The immense authority of that chief +secured his own authority. His party was—as +the Tory party usually is—compact and loyal; +and his majority ample, so he had no reason +to fear defeat. In the conflicts that arose +over Eastern affairs in 1877-79, affairs at some +moments highly critical, he was cautious and +adroit, more cautious than Lord Beaconsfield, +sometimes repairing by moderate language the +harm which the latter’s theatrical utterances +had done. When a group of Irish Nationalist +members, among whom Mr. Parnell soon came +to the front, began to evade the rules and +paralyse the action of the House by obstructive +tactics, he was less successful. Their +ingenuity baffled the Ministry, and brought the +House into sore straits. But it may be doubted +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span> +whether any leader could have overcome the +difficulties of the position. It was a new +position. The old rules framed under quite +different conditions were not fit to check members +who, far from regarding the sentiments of +the House, avowed their purpose to reduce it to +impotence, and thereby obtain that Parliament +of their own, which could alone, as they held, +cure the ills of Ireland.</p> +<p>After ten years of struggle and experiment, +drastic remedies for obstruction were at last +devised; but in the then state of opinion within +the House, those remedies could not have been +carried. Members accustomed to the old state of +things could not for a good while make up their +minds to sacrifice part of their own privileges in +order to deal with a difficulty the source of which +they would not attempt to cure. On the whole, +therefore, though he was blamed at the time, +Northcote may be deemed to have passed creditably +through his first period of leadership.</p> +<p>It was when he had to lead his party in +Opposition, after April 1880, that his severest +trial came. To lead the minority is usually easier +than to lead the majority. A leader of the +Opposition also must, no doubt, take swift decisions +in the midst of a debate, must consider +how far he is pledging his party to a policy +which they may be required to maintain when +next they come into power, must endeavour to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_220' name='page_220'></a>220</span> +judge, often on scanty data, how many of his usual +or nominal supporters will follow him into the +lobby when a division is called, and how best he +can draw off some votes from among his opponents. +Still, delicate as this work is, it is not so hard as +that of the leader of the Government, for it is +rather critical than constructive, and a mistake +can seldom do irreparable mischief. Northcote, +however, had special difficulties to face. Mr. +Gladstone, still full of energy and fire, was +leading the majority. After a few months +Lord Beaconsfield’s mantle no longer covered +Northcote (that redoubtable strategist died +in April 1881), and a small but active group +of Tory members set up an irregular skirmishing +Opposition on their own account, paying +little heed to his moderate counsels. The Tory +party was then furious at its unexpected defeat +at the election of 1880. It was full of fight, burning +for revenge, eager to denounce every trifling +error of the Ministry, and to give battle on small +as well as great occasions. Hence it resented +the calm and cautiously critical attitude which +Northcote took up. He had plenty of courage; +but he thought, as indeed most impartial observers +thought, that little was to be gained +by incessantly worrying an enemy so superior +in force and flushed with victory; that premature +assaults might consolidate a majority within +which there existed elements of discord; and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_221' name='page_221'></a>221</span> +that it was wiser to wait till the Ministry should +begin to make mistakes and incur misfortunes in +the natural course of events, before resuming the +offensive against them. There is a natural tendency +to reaction in English popular opinion, and +a tendency to murmur against whichever party +may be in power. This tendency must soon +have told in favour of the Tories, with little +effort on their own part; and when it was already +manifest, a Parliamentary attack could have been +delivered with effect. Northcote’s view and plan +were probably right, but, being too prone to yield +to pressure, and finding his hand forced, he +allowed himself to be drawn by the clamour of +his followers into aggressive operations, which, +nevertheless, himself not quite approving them, +he conducted in a half-hearted way. He had +not Mr. Gladstone’s power of doing excellently +what he hated to have to do. And it must be +admitted that from 1882 onwards, when troubles +in Ireland and oscillations in Egyptian policy +had begun to shake the credit of the Liberal +Ministry, he showed less fire and pugnacity than +the needs of the time required from a party +leader. In one thing the young men, who, +like Zulu warriors, wished to wash their spears, +were right and he was wrong. He conceived +that frequent attacks and a resort to obstructive +tactics would damage the Opposition in the eyes +of the country. Experience has shown that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_222' name='page_222'></a>222</span> +parties do not greatly suffer from the way they +fight their Parliamentary battles. Few people +follow the proceedings closely enough to know +when an Opposition deserves blame for prolonging +debate, or a Ministry for abuse of the closure. +So, too, in the United States it would seem that +neither the tyrannical action of a majority nor +filibustering by a minority shocks the nation.</p> +<p>Not only was Northcote’s own temper pacific, +but he was too sweetly reasonable and too dispassionate +to be a successful leader in Opposition. +He felt that he was never quite a +party man. His mind was almost too judicial, +his courtesy too unfailing, his temper too unruffled, +his manner too unassuming. He did not +inspire awe or fear. Not only did he never +seek to give pain, even where pain might have +been a wholesome discipline for pushing selfishness—he +seemed incapable of irritation, and +bore with vexatious obstruction from some +members of the House, and mutinous attacks +from others who belonged to his own party, +when a spirit less kindly and forgiving might have +better secured his own authority and the dignity +of the assembly. He proceeded on the assumption, +an unsafe one, as he had too much reason +to know, that every one else was a gentleman +like himself, penetrated by the old traditions of +the House of Commons.</p> +<p>While superior to the prejudices of the old-fashioned +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_223' name='page_223'></a>223</span> +wing of his party, he was too cautious +and conscientious to join those who sought to +lead it into demagogic courses. So far as +political opinions went, he might, had fortune +sent him into the world as the son of a Whig +family, have made an excellent Whig, removed +as far from high Toryism on the one hand as +from Radicalism on the other. There was, therefore, +a certain incompatibility between the man +and the position. Average partisans felt that a +leader so very reasonable was not in full sympathy +with them. Even his invincible optimism +displeased them. “Hang that fellow Northcote!” +said one of them; “he’s always seeing blue sky.” +The militant partisans, whatever their opinions, +desired a pugnacious chief. That a leader +should draw the enemy’s fire does him good with +his followers, and makes them rally to him. But +the fire of his opponents was hardly ever directed +against Northcote, even when controversy was +hottest. Had he possessed a more imperious +will, he might have overcome these difficulties, +because his abilities and experience were of +the highest value to his party, and his character +stood so high that the mass of sensible +Tories all over the country might perhaps have +rallied to him, if he had appealed to them +against the intrigues by which it was sought to +supplant him. He did not lack courage. But +he lacked what men call “backbone.” For +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_224' name='page_224'></a>224</span> +practical success, it is less fatal to fail in wisdom +than to fail in resolution. He had not that unquenchable +self-confidence which I have sought +to describe in Disraeli, and shall have to describe +in Parnell and in Gladstone. He yielded to pressure, +and people came to know that he would +yield to pressure.</p> +<p>The end of it was that the weakened prestige +and final fall of the Liberal Ministry were not +credited to his generalship, but rather to those +who had skirmished in advance of the main army. +That fall was in reality due neither to him nor to +them, but partly to the errors or internal divisions +of the Ministry itself, partly to causes such as the +condition of Ireland and the revolt of Arabi in +Egypt, for which Mr. Gladstone’s Cabinet was +no more, perhaps less, to blame than many of +its predecessors. No Ministry of recent years +seemed, when it was formed, to have such a +source of strength in the abilities of the men who +composed it as did the Ministry of 1880. None +proved so persistently unlucky.</p> +<p>The circumstances under which Northcote’s +leadership came to an end by his elevation to the +Upper House (June 1885) as Earl of Iddesleigh, +as well as those under which he was subsequently +(1887) removed from the post of Foreign Secretary +in the then Tory Ministry, evoked much +comment at the time, but some of the incidents +attending them have not yet been disclosed, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_225' name='page_225'></a>225</span> +they could not be discussed without bringing in +other persons with whom I am not here concerned. +Conscious of his own loyalty to his party, and +remembering his long and laborious services, he +felt those circumstances deeply; and they may have +hastened his death, which came very suddenly in +February 1887, and called forth a burst of sympathy +such as had not been seen since Peel perished by +an accident nearly forty years before.</p> +<p>In private life Northcote had the charm of +unpretending manners, coupled with abundant +humour, a store of anecdote, and a geniality +which came straight from the heart. No man +was a more agreeable companion. In 1884, +when the University of Edinburgh celebrated +its tercentenary, he happened to be Lord Rector, +and in that capacity had to preside over the +festivities. Although a stranger to Scotland, +and as far removed (for he was a decided +High Churchman) from sympathy with Scottish +Presbyterianism as he was removed in politics +from the Liberalism then dominant in Edinburgh, +he won golden opinions from the Scotch, +as well as from the crowd of foreign visitors, by +the tact and grace he showed in the discharge of +his duties, and the skill with which, putting off +the politician, he entered into the spirit of the +occasion as a lover of letters and learning. +Though political eminence had secured his election +to the office, every one felt that it would have been +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_226' name='page_226'></a>226</span> +hard to find in the ranks of literature and science +any one fitter to preside over such a gathering.</p> +<p>He left behind few in whom the capacities +of the administrator were so happily blended with +a philosophic judgment and a wide culture. It is +a combination which was inadequately appreciated +in his own person. Vehemence in controversy, +domineering audacity of purpose, the power of +moving crowds by incisive harangues, were the +qualities which the younger generation seemed +disposed to cultivate. They are qualities apt to be +valued in times of strife and change, times when +men are less concerned to study and apply principles +than to rouse the passions and consolidate +the organisation of their party, while dazzling the +nation by large promises or bold strokes of policy. +For such courses Northcote was not the man. +Were it to be observed of him that he was too +good for the work he had to do, it might be +answered that political leadership is work for +which no man can be too good, and that it was +rather because his force of will and his combativeness +were not commensurate with his other gifts, +that those other gifts did not have their full effect +and win their due success. Yet this at least may +be said, that if he had been less amiable, less fair-minded, +and less open-minded, he would have +retained his leadership to the end.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_227' name='page_227'></a>227</span> +<a name='CHARLES_STEWART_PARNELL' id='CHARLES_STEWART_PARNELL'></a> +<h2>CHARLES STEWART PARNELL</h2> +</div> +<p>Though I do not propose to write even the briefest +narrative of Parnell’s life, but only to note certain +salient features of his intellect and character, it +may be well to state a few facts and dates; for in +these days of rapid change and hasty reading, +facts soon pass out of most men’s memories, +leaving only vague impressions behind.<a name='FNanchor_0029' id='FNanchor_0029'></a><a href='#Footnote_0029' class='fnanchor'>[35]</a></p> +<p>He belonged to a family which, established at +Congleton in Cheshire, had at the time of the +Restoration migrated to Ireland, had settled on +an estate in Wicklow, and had produced in every +subsequent generation a person of distinction. +Thomas Parnell, the friend of Pope and Swift, +is still remembered by his poem of <i>The Hermit</i>. +Another Parnell (Sir John) was Chancellor of +the Irish Exchequer in the days of Henry +Grattan, whose opinions he shared. Another +(Sir Henry) was a leading Irish Liberal member +of the House of Commons, and died by his +own hand in 1842. Charles’s father and grandfather +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_228' name='page_228'></a>228</span> +figured less in the public eye. But +his mother was a remarkable woman, and +the daughter of a remarkable man, Commodore +Charles Stewart, one of the most brilliant naval +commanders on the American side in the war of +1812. Stewart was the son of a Scoto-Irishman +from Ulster, who had emigrated to America in +the middle of the eighteenth century; so there +was a strain of Scottish as well as a fuller strain +of English blood in the most powerful Irish +leader of recent times.</p> +<p>Parnell was born at Avondale, the family estate +in Wicklow, in 1846, and was educated mostly at +private schools in England. He spent some +months at Magdalene College, Cambridge, but, +having been rusticated for an affray in the street, +refused to return to the College, and finished his +education for himself at home. It was a very imperfect +education. He cared nothing for study, +and indeed showed interest only in mathematics +and cricket. In 1874 he stood as a candidate for +Parliament, but without success. When he had to +make a speech he broke down utterly. In 1875 he +was returned as member for the county of Meath, +and within two years had made his mark in the +House of Commons. In 1880 he was elected leader +of the Irish Parliamentary party, and ruled it and +his followers in Ireland with a rod of iron until +he was deposed, in 1890, at the instance of +the leaders of the English Liberal party, who +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_229' name='page_229'></a>229</span> +thought that the verdict against him in a divorce +suit in which he was co-respondent had fatally +discredited him in the eyes of the bulk of the +English Liberal party, and made co-operation +with him impossible. Refusing to resign his +leadership, he conducted a campaign in Ireland +against the majority of his former followers with +extraordinary energy till November 1891, when +he died of rheumatic fever after a short illness. +A constitution which had never been strong was +worn out by the ceaseless exertions and mental +tension of the last twelve months.</p> +<p>The whole of his political activity was comprised +within a period of sixteen years, during +ten of which he led the Irish Nationalist party, +exercising an authority more absolute than any +Irish leader had exercised before.</p> +<p>It has often been observed that he was not +Irish, and that he led the Irish people with success +just because he did not share their characteristic +weaknesses. But it is equally true that he was +not English. One always felt the difference +between his temperament and that of the normal +Englishman. The same remark applies to some +other famous Irish leaders. Wolfe Tone, for +instance, and Fitzgibbon (afterwards Lord Clare) +were unlike the usual type of Irishman—that is, +the Irishman in whom the Celtic element predominates; +but they were also unlike Englishmen. +The Anglo-Irish Protestants, a strong race +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_230' name='page_230'></a>230</span> +who have produced a number of remarkable men +in excess of the proportion they bear to the +whole population of the United Kingdom, fall +into two classes—the men of North-Eastern +Ulster, in whom there is so large an infusion +of Scottish blood that they may almost be called +“Scotchmen with a difference,” and the men +of Leinster and Munster, who are true Anglo-Celts. +It was to this latter class that Parnell +belonged. They are a group by themselves, in +whom some of the fire and impulsiveness of the +Celt has been blended with some of the firmness, +the tenacity, and the close hold upon facts which +belong to the Englishman. Mr. Parnell, however, +though he might be reckoned to the Anglo-Irish +type, was not a normal specimen of it. He +was a man whom you could not refer to any +category, peculiar both in his intellect and in his +character generally.</p> +<p>His intellect was eminently practical. He +did not love speculation or the pursuit of +abstract truth, nor had he a taste for literature, +still less a delight in learning for its own sake. +Even of the annals of Ireland his knowledge +was most slender. He had no grasp of constitutional +questions, and was not able to give any +help in the construction of a Home Rule scheme +in 1886. His general reading had been scanty, +and his speeches show no acquaintance either +with history, beyond the commonest facts, or with +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_231' name='page_231'></a>231</span> +any other subject connected with politics. Very +rarely did they contain a maxim or reflection of +general applicability, apart from the particular +topic he was discussing. Nor did he ever +attempt to give to them the charm of literary +ornament. All was dry, direct, and practical, +without so much as a graceful phrase or a +choice epithet. Sometimes, when addressing a +great public meeting, he would seek to rouse the +audience by vehement language; but though there +might be a glow of suppressed passion, there were +no flashes of imaginative light. Yet he never +gave the impression of an uneducated man. +His language, though it lacked distinction, was +clear and grammatical. His taste was correct. +It was merely that he did not care for any of +those things which men of ability comparable to +his usually do care for. His only interests, outside +politics, lay in mechanics and engineering +and in the development of the material resources +of his country. He took pains to manage his +estate well, and was specially anxious to make +something out of his stone quarries, and to learn +what could be done in the way of finding and +working minerals.</p> +<p>Those who observed that he was almost +always occupied in examining and attacking the +measures or the conduct of those who governed +Ireland were apt to think his talent a purely +critical one. They were mistaken. Critical, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_232' name='page_232'></a>232</span> +indeed, it was, in a remarkable degree; keen, +penetrating, stringently dissective of the arguments +of an opponent, ingenious in taking advantage of +a false step in administration or of an admission +imprudently made in debate. But it had also a +positive and constructive quality. From time to +time he would drop his negative attitude and +sketch out plans of legislation which were always +consistent and weighty, though not made attractive +by any touch of imagination. They were the +schemes not so much of a statesman as of an able +man of business, who saw the facts, especially +the financial facts, in a sharp, cold light, and +they seldom went beyond what the facts could be +made to prove. And his ideas struck one as +being not only forcible but independent, the fruit +of his own musings. Although he freely used +the help of others in collecting facts or opinions, +he did not seem to be borrowing the ideas, +but rather to have looked at things for himself, +and seen them as they actually were, in +their true perspective, not (like many Irishmen) +through the mists of sentiment or party feeling. +The impression made by one of his more elaborate +speeches might be compared to that which +one receives from a grey sunless day with an east +wind, a day in which everything shows clear, but +also hard and cold.</p> +<p>To call his mind a narrow one, as people sometimes +did, was to wrong it. If the range of his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_233' name='page_233'></a>233</span> +interests was limited, his intelligence was not. +Equal to any task it undertook, it judged soundly, +appreciating the whole phenomena of the case, +men and things that had no sort of attraction +for it. There was less pleasure in watching its +activities than the observation of a superior +mind generally affords, for it was always directed +to immediate aims, and it wanted the originality +which is fertile in ideas and analogies. It +was not discursive, not versatile, not apt to +generalise. It did not rejoice in the exercise of +thought for thought’s sake, but felt itself to be +merely a useful instrument for performing the +definite practical work which the will required +of it.</p> +<p>If, however, the intellect of the man could +not be called interesting, his character had at +least this interest, that it gave one many +problems to solve, and could not easily be +covered by any formulæ. An observer who +followed the old method of explaining every +man by ascribing to him a single ruling passion, +would have said that his ruling passion was +pride. The pride was so strong that it +almost extinguished vanity. Parnell did not +appear to seek occasions for display, frequently +neglecting those which other men would have +chosen, seldom seeming to be elated by the +applause of crowds, and treating the House of +Commons with equal coolness whether it cheered +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_234' name='page_234'></a>234</span> +him or howled at him. He cared nothing for +any social compliments or attentions, rarely +accepted an invitation to dinner, dressed with +little care and often in clothes whose style and +colour seemed unworthy of his position. He +was believed to be haughty and distant to his +followers; and although he could occasionally +be kindly and even genial, scarcely any were +admitted to intimacy, and few of the ordinary +signs of familiarity could be observed between +him and them. Towards other persons he was +sufficiently polite but warily reserved, showing +no desire for the cultivation of friendship, +or, indeed, for any relations but those +of business. Of some ordinary social duties, +such as opening and answering letters, he was, +especially in later years, more neglectful than +good breeding permits; and men doubted +whether to ascribe this fault to indolence or to +a superb disregard of everybody but himself. +Such disregard he often showed in greater +matters, taking no notice of attacks made +upon him which he might have refuted, and +intimating to the English his indifference to +their praise or blame. On one remarkable +occasion, at the beginning of the session of +1883, he was denounced by Mr. W. E. Forster +in a long and bitter speech, which told powerfully +upon the House. Many instances were +given in which Irish members had palliated +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_235' name='page_235'></a>235</span> +or failed to condemn criminal acts, and Parnell +was arraigned as the head and front of this line +of conduct, and thus virtually responsible for the +outrages that had occurred. The Irish leader, +who had listened in impassive silence, broken +only by one interjected contradiction, to this +fierce invective, did not rise to reply, and was +with difficulty induced by his followers to deliver +his defence on the following day. To the +astonishment of every one, that defence consisted +in a declaration, delivered in a cold, +careless, almost scornful way, that for all he +said or did in Ireland he held himself responsible +to his countrymen only, and did not in +the least regard what Englishmen thought of +him. It was an answer not of defence but of +defiance.</p> +<p>Even to his countrymen he could on occasion +be disdainful, expecting them to defer to his own +judgment of his own course. He would sometimes +remain away from Parliament for weeks +together, although important business might be +under consideration, perhaps would vanish altogether +from public ken. Yet this lordly attitude +and the air of mystery which surrounded him +did not seem to be studied with a view to effect. +They were due to his habit of thinking first +and chiefly of himself. If he desired to indulge +his inclinations, he indulged them. Some extremely +strong motive of passion or interest might +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_236' name='page_236'></a>236</span> +interpose to restrain this desire and stimulate +him to an unwelcome exertion; but no respect +for the opinion of others, nor fear of censure +from his allies or friends, would be allowed to +do so.</p> +<p>This boundless self-confidence and independence +greatly contributed to his success as a leader. +His faith in his star inspired a conviction that +obstacles whose reality his judgment recognised +would ultimately yield to his will, and gave him in +moments of crisis an undismayed fortitude which +only once forsook him—in the panic which was +suddenly created by the Phœnix Park murders of +May 1882. The confidence which he felt, or appeared +to feel, reacted upon his party, and became +a chief ground of their obedience to him and their +belief in his superior wisdom. His calmness, his +tenacity, his patience, his habit of listening quietly +to every one, but deciding for himself, were all +evidences of that resolute will which imposed +itself upon the Irish masses no less than upon +his Parliamentary following, and secured for him +a loyalty in which there was little or nothing of +personal affection.</p> +<p>In these several respects his overweening pride +was a source of strength. In another direction, +however, it proved a source of weakness. There +are men in whom the want of moral principle, +of noble emotions, or of a scrupulous conscience +and nice sense of honour, is partly replaced by +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_237' name='page_237'></a>237</span> +deference to the opinion of their class or of the +world. Such men may hold through life a +tolerably upright course, neither from the love +of virtue nor because they are ambitious and +anxious to stand well with those whom they +aspire to influence or rule, but because, having +a sense of personal dignity, combined with a +perception of what pleases or offends mankind, +they are resolved to do nothing whereby +their good name can be tarnished or an opening +given to malicious tongues. But when pride +towers to such a height as to become a law to +itself, disregarding the judgment of others, it +may not only lead its possessor into an attitude +of defiance which the world resents, but may +make him stoop to acts of turpitude which discredit +his character. Mr. Parnell was certainly +not a scrupulous man. Without dwelling upon +the circumstances attending the divorce case +already referred to, or upon his betrayal of Mr. +Gladstone’s confidences, and his reckless appeals +during the last year of his life to the most inflammable +elements in Ireland, there are facts +enough in his earlier career to show that he had +little regard for truth and little horror for crime. +A revolution may extenuate some sins, but even +in a revolution there are men (and sometimes +the strongest men) whose moral excellence shines +through the smoke of conflict and the mists of +detraction. In Mr. Parnell’s nature the moral +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_238' name='page_238'></a>238</span> +element was imperfectly developed. He seemed +cynical and callous; and it was probably his +haughty self-reliance which prevented him from +sufficiently deferring to the ordinary moralities +of mankind. His pride, which ought to have +kept him free from the suspicion of dishonour, +made him feel himself dispensed from the usual +restraints. Whatever he did was right in his +own eyes, and no other eyes need be regarded. +Phenomena somewhat similar were observable in +Napoleon. But Napoleon, though he came of a +good family, was obviously not a gentleman in +the common sense of the term. Mr. Parnell +was a gentleman in that sense. He had the +bearing, the manners, the natural easy dignity +of a man of birth who has always moved in +good society. He rarely permitted any one to +take liberties with him, even the innocent liberties +of familiar intercourse. This made his +departures from what may be called the inner +and higher standard of gentlemanly conduct all +the more remarkable.</p> +<p>He has been accused of a want of physical +courage. He did no doubt after the Phœnix +Park murders ask the authorities in England for +police protection, being, not unnaturally, in fear +for his life; and he habitually carried firearms. +He was at times in danger, and there was every +reason why he should be prepared to defend himself. +An anecdote was told of another member +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_239' name='page_239'></a>239</span> +of the House of Commons whose initials were the +same as his own, and who, taking what he supposed +to be his own overcoat from the peg on +which it hung in the cloakroom of the House, +was startled when he put his hand into the pocket +to feel in it the cold iron of a pistol. Moral +courage he showed in a high degree during +his whole public career, facing his antagonists +with an unshaken front, even when they were +most numerous and bitter. Though he intensely +disliked imprisonment, the terms on which he +came out of Kilmainham Gaol left no discredit +upon him. He behaved with perfect dignity +under the attacks of the press in 1887, and in +the face of the use made of letters attributed to +him which turned out to have been forged by +Richard Pigott—letters which the bulk of the +English upper classes had greedily swallowed. +With this courage and dignity there was, however, +little trace of magnanimity. He seldom said a +generous word, or showed himself responsive to +such a word spoken by another. Accustomed to +conceal his feelings, except in his most excited +moments, he rarely revealed, but he certainly +cherished, vindictive sentiments. He never forgave +either Mr. W. E. Forster or Mr. Gladstone +for having imprisoned him in 1881;<a name='FNanchor_0030' id='FNanchor_0030'></a><a href='#Footnote_0030' class='fnanchor'>[36]</a> and though +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_240' name='page_240'></a>240</span> +he stood in some awe of the latter, whom he +considered the only really formidable antagonist +he had ever had to confront, he bore a grudge +which smouldered under the reconciliation of 1886 +and leapt into flame in the manifesto of November +1890.</p> +<p>The union in Mr. Parnell of intense passion +with strenuous self-control struck all who watched +him closely, though it was seldom that passion +so far escaped as to make the contrast visibly +dramatic. Usually he was cold, grave, deliberate, +repelling advances with a sort of icy courtesy. +He hardly ever lost his temper in the House of +Commons, even in his last session under the +sarcasms of his former friends, though the low, +almost hissing tones of his voice sometimes +betrayed an internal struggle. But during the +electoral campaign in Kilkenny, in December +1890, when he was fighting for his life, he was +more than once so swept away by anger that +those beside him had to hold him back from +jumping off the platform into the crowd to strike +down some one who had interrupted him. Suspended +for a moment, his mastery of himself +quickly returned. Men were astonished to +observe how, after some of the stormy passages +at the meetings of Irish members held in one +of the House of Commons committee-rooms in +December 1890, he would address quietly, perhaps +lay his hand upon the shoulder of, some one +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_241' name='page_241'></a>241</span> +of the colleagues who had just been denouncing +him, and on whom he had poured all the vitriol +of his fierce tongue. As this could not have +been good-nature, it must have been either +calculated policy or a pride that would not +accept an injury from those whom he had been +wont to deem his subjects. Spontaneous kindliness +was never ascribed to him; nor had he, +so far as could be known, a single intimate +friend.</p> +<p>Oratory is the usual avenue to leadership in a +democratic movement, and Mr. Parnell is one of +the very few who have arrived at power neither +by that road nor by military success. So far +from having by nature any of the gifts or graces +of a popular speaker, he was at first conspicuously +deficient in them, and became at last effective +only by constant practice, and by an intellectual +force which asserted itself through commonplaceness +of language and a monotonous delivery. +Fluency was wanting, and even moderate ease +was acquired only after four or five years’ practice. +His voice was neither powerful nor delicate in its +modulations, but it was clear, and the enunciation +deliberate and distinct, quiet when the matter +was ordinary, slow and emphatic when an important +point arrived. With very little action of the +body, there was often an interesting and obviously +unstudied display of facial expression. So far from +glittering with the florid rhetoric supposed to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_242' name='page_242'></a>242</span> +characterise Irish eloquence, his speeches were +singularly plain, bare, and dry. Neither had +they any humour. If they ever raised a smile, +which seldom happened, it was by some touch of +sarcasm or adroit thrust at a point left unguarded +by an adversary. Their merit lay in their +lucidity, in their aptness to the matter in hand, +in the strong practical sense which ran through +them, coupled with the feeling that they came +from one who led a nation, and whose forecasts +had often fulfilled themselves. They were carefully +prepared, and usually made from pretty +full notes; but the preparation had been given +rather to the matter and the arrangement than to +the diction, which had rarely any ornament or +literary finish. Of late years he spoke infrequently, +whether from indolence or from weak +health, or because he thought little was to be +done in the face of a hostile majority, now that +the tactics of obstruction had been abandoned. +When he interposed without preparation in a +debate which had arisen unexpectedly, he was +short, pithy, and direct; indeed, nothing was +more characteristic of Parnell than his talent +for hitting the nail on the head, a talent which +always commands attention in deliberative assemblies. +No one saw more clearly or conveyed in +terser language the course which the circumstances +of the moment required; and as his mastery of +parliamentary procedure and practice came next +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_243' name='page_243'></a>243</span> +to that of Mr. Gladstone, any advice that he +gave to the House on a point of order carried +weight. It would indeed be no exaggeration to +say that during the sessions of 1889 and 1890 +he was distinctly the second man in the House +of Commons, surpassed in debating power by +five or six others, but inferior to Mr. Gladstone +alone in the interest which his speeches excited +and in the impression they produced. Along +with this access of influence his attitude and the +spirit of his policy appeared to rise and widen. +There was less of that hard attorneyism which +had marked his criticisms of the Tory Government +and their measures up to March 1880, and of the +Liberal Government and their measures during +the five following years. He seemed to grow +more and more to the full stature of a statesman, +with constructive views and a willingness to make +the best of the facts as he found them. Yet even +in this later and better time one note of greatness +was absent from his speeches. There was +nothing genial or generous or elevated about +them. They never soared into an atmosphere +of lofty feeling, worthy of the man who was by +this time deemed to be leading his nation to +victory, and who had begun to be admired and +honoured by one of the two great historic English +parties.</p> +<p>Parnell was not only versed in the rules of +parliamentary procedure, but also a consummate +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_244' name='page_244'></a>244</span> +master of parliamentary tactics. Soon after he +entered the House of Commons he detected its +weak point, and perfected a system of obstruction +which so destroyed the efficiency of its time-honoured +modes of doing business that new sets +of rules, each more stringent than the preceding, +had to be devised between 1878 and 1888. The +skill with which he handled his small but well-disciplined +battalion was admirable. He was +strict with individuals, requiring absolute obedience +to the party rules, but ready to gratify any +prevailing current of feeling when he saw that +this could be done without harm to the cause. +More than once, when English members who +happened to be acting with him on some particular +question pressed him to keep his men quiet and +let a division be taken at once, he answered that +they were doubtless right in thinking that the +moment for securing a good division had arrived, +but that he must not muzzle his followers when +they wanted to have their fling. The best +proof of the tact with which he ruled a section +comprising many men of brilliant talents lies +in the fact that there was no serious revolt, +or movement towards revolt, against him until +the breach of 1890 between himself and the +Liberal party had led to the belief that his continued +leadership would mean defeat at the polls +in Great Britain, and the postponement, perhaps +for many years, of Home Rule for Ireland.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_245' name='page_245'></a>245</span></div> +<p>Parnell’s political views and tendencies were +eagerly canvassed by those who had studied +him closely. Many, among both Englishmen +and Irishmen, held that he was at heart a Conservative, +valuing strong government and attached +to the rights of property. They predicted that +if an Irish Parliament had been established, as +proposed by Mr. Gladstone in 1886, and an +Irish cabinet formed to administer the affairs of +the island, Parnell would have been the inevitable +and somewhat despotic leader of the +party of authority and order. His co-operation +with the agrarian agitators from 1879 onwards +was in this view merely a politic expedient to +gain support for the Home Rule campaign. For +this theory there is much to be said. Though +he came to lead a revolution, and was willing, +as appeared in the last few months of his life, to +appeal to the genuine revolutionary party, Parnell +was not by temper or conviction a revolutionist. +Those who were left in Ireland of the old Fenian +group, and especially that section of the extreme +Fenians out of which the secret insurrectionary +and dynamitard societies were formed, never +liked or trusted him. The passion which originally +carried him into public life was hatred of +England, and a wish to restore to Ireland, if +possible her national independence (though he +rarely if ever avowed this), or at least her +own Parliament. But he was no democratic +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_246' name='page_246'></a>246</span> +leveller, and still less inclined to those socialistic +doctrines which the section influenced by Mr. +Davitt had espoused. He did not desire the +“extinction of landlordism,” and would probably +have been a restraining and moderating +force in an Irish legislature. That he was +genuinely attached to his native country need not +be doubted. But his patriotism had little of a +sentimental quality, and seemed to spring as +much from dislike of England as from love of +Ireland.</p> +<p>It may excite surprise that a man such as has +been sketched, with so cool a judgment and so +complete a self-control, a man (as his previous +career had shown) able to endure temporary +reverses in the confidence of ultimate success, +should have committed the fatal error, which +blasted his fame and shortened his life, of clinging +to the headship of his party when prudence +prescribed retirement. When he sought +the advice of Mr. Cecil Rhodes, retirement for +a time was the counsel he received. His +absence need not have been of long duration. +Had he, after the sentence of the Divorce +Court in November 1890, gone abroad for +eight or ten months, allowing some one to +be chosen in his place chairman of the Irish +party for the session, he might thereafter have +returned to the House of Commons, and would +doubtless, after a short lapse of time, have +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_247' name='page_247'></a>247</span> +naturally recovered the leadership. No one else +could have resisted his claims. Unfortunately, +the self-reliant pride which had many a time +stood him in good stead, made him refuse to +bow to the storm. Probably he could not +understand the indignation which the proceedings +in the divorce case had awakened in +England, being morally somewhat callous, and +knowing that his offence had been no secret to +many persons in the House of Commons. He +had been accustomed to despise English opinion, +and had on former occasions suffered little +for doing so. He bitterly resented both Mr. +Gladstone’s letter and the movement to depose +him which it roused in his own party. Having +often before found defiant resolution lead to +success, he determined again to rely on the +maxim which has beguiled so many to ruin, just +because it has so much truth in it—“<i>De l’audace, +encore de l’audace, toujours de l’audace.</i>” The +affront to his pride disturbed the balance of his +mind, and made him feel as if even a temporary +humiliation would destroy the prestige that had +been won by his haughty self-confidence. It +was soon evident that he had overestimated his +power in Ireland, but when the schism began +there were many besides Lord Salisbury—many +in Ireland as well as in England—who predicted +triumph for him. Nor must it be thought that +it was pure selfishness which made him resolve +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_248' name='page_248'></a>248</span> +rather to break with the English Liberals than +allow the Nationalist bark to be steered by any +hands but his own. He was a fatalist, and had +that confidence in his star and his mission which +is often characteristic of minds in which superstition—for +he was superstitious—and a certain +morbid taint may be discerned. There were +others who believed that no one but himself could +hold the Irish party together and carry the Irish +cause to triumph. No wonder that this belief +should have filled and perhaps disordered his +own brain.</p> +<p>The swiftness of his rise is a striking instance +of the power which intellectual concentration and a +strenuous will can exert, for he had no adventitious +help from wealth or family connection or from +the reputation of having suffered for his country. +<i>Ergo vivida vis animi pervicit.</i> When he entered +Parliament he was only thirty, with no experience +of affairs and no gift of speech; but the quality +that was in him of leading and ruling men, of +taking the initiative, of seeing and striking at the +weak point of the enemy, and fearlessly facing the +brunt of an enemy’s attack, made itself felt in a +few months, and he rose without effort to the first +place. With some intellectual limitations and +some great faults, he will stand high in the long +and melancholy series of Irish leaders: less +lofty than Grattan, less romantic than Wolfe +Tone, less attractive than O’Connell, less brilliant +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_249' name='page_249'></a>249</span> +than any of these three, yet entitled to be +remembered as one of the most remarkable +characters that his country has produced in her +struggle of many centuries against the larger +isle.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_250' name='page_250'></a>250</span> +<a name='CARDINAL_MANNING' id='CARDINAL_MANNING'></a> +<h2>CARDINAL MANNING</h2> +</div> +<p>Henry Edward Manning, Archbishop of Westminster +and Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, +was born in 1808, eight years after Cardinal +Newman, and died in 1892. He was one of the +most notable figures of his generation; and, indeed, +in a sense, an unique figure, for he contributed +a new type to the already rich and +various ecclesiastical life of England. If he +could scarcely be described as intellectually a man +of the first order, he held a considerable place +in the history of his time, having effected what +greater men might perhaps have failed to effect, +for the race is not always to the swift, and time +and chance favoured Manning.</p> +<p>He was the son of wealthy parents, his father +a City of London merchant; was educated at +Harrow and at Oxford, where he obtained high +classical honours and a Fellowship at Merton +College; was ordained a clergyman, and soon rose +to be Archdeacon of Chichester; and, having by +degrees been led further and further from his +original Low Church position into the Tractarian +movement, ultimately, at the age of forty-three, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_251' name='page_251'></a>251</span> +went over to the Church of Rome. Having +some time before lost his wife, he was at once +re-ordained a priest, was appointed Archbishop +of Westminster on Cardinal Wiseman’s death in +1865, and raised to the Cardinalate by Pope +Pius IX. in 1875.</p> +<p>He was not a great thinker nor a man of +wide learning. His writings show no trace of +originality, nor indeed any conspicuous philosophical +acuteness or logical power. So far as +purely intellectual gifts are concerned, he was +not to be named with Cardinal Newman or with +several other of the ablest members of the +English Tractarian party, such as were the two +metaphysicians W. G. Ward and Dalgairns, both +of whom passed over to Rome, or such as was +Dean Church, an accomplished historian, and a +man of singularly beautiful character, who remained +an Anglican till his death in 1890. Nor, +though he had won a high reputation at his +University, was Manning a leading spirit in the +famous “Oxford Movement.” It was by his winning +manners, his graceful rhetoric, and his zealous +discharge of clerical duties, rather than by any +commanding talents that he rose to eminence in +the Church of England. Neither had his character +the same power either to attract or to awe as that +of Newman. Nobody in those days called him +great, as men called Newman. Nobody felt +compelled to follow where he led. There was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_252' name='page_252'></a>252</span> +not, either in his sermons or in his writings, or +in his bodily presence and conversation, anything +which could be pronounced majestic, or +lofty, or profound. In short, he was not in the +grand style, either as a man or as a preacher, and +wanted that note of ethereal purity or passionate +fervour which marks the two highest forms of +religious character.</p> +<p>Intelligent, however, skilful, versatile he was +in the highest degree; cultivated, too, with a +knowledge of all that a highly educated man +ought to know; dexterous rather than forcible +in theological controversy; an admirable rhetorician, +handling language with something of that +kind of art which Roman ecclesiastics most +cultivate, and in their possession of which the +leading Tractarians showed their affinity to +Rome, an exact precision of phrase and a subtle +delicacy of suggestion. Newman had it in the +fullest measure. Dean Church had it, with less +brilliance than Newman, but with no less grace and +dignity. Manning equalled neither of these, but +we catch in him the echo. He wrote abundantly +and on many subjects, always with cleverness +and with the air of one who claimed to belong +to the <i>âmes d’élite</i>, yet his style never attained +the higher kind of literary merit. There was no +imaginative richness about it, neither were there +the weight and penetration that come from sustained +and vigorous thinking. Similarly, with a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_253' name='page_253'></a>253</span> +certain parade of references to history and to +out-of-the-way writers, he gave scant evidence of +solid learning. He was an accomplished disputant +in the sense of knowing thoroughly the more +obvious weaknesses of the Protestant (and especially +of the Anglican) position, and of being able +to contrast them effectively with the external +completeness and formal symmetry of the Roman +system. But he never struck out a new or +illuminative thought; and he seldom ventured +to face—one could indeed sometimes mark him +seeking to elude—a real difficulty.</p> +<p>What, then, was the secret of his great and +long-sustained reputation and influence? It lay +in his power of dealing with men. For the work +of an ecclesiastical ruler he had three inestimable +gifts—a resolute will, captivating manners, and a +tact equally acute and vigilant, by which he +seemed not only to read men’s characters, but to +discern the most effective means of playing on +their motives. To call him an intriguer would be +unjust, because the word, if it does not imply the +pursuit of some mean or selfish object, does +generally connote a resort to unworthy arts; and +the Cardinal was neither dishonourable nor selfish. +But he had the talents which an intriguer needs, +though he used them in a spirit of absolute +devotion to the interests of his Church, and though +he was too much of a gentleman to think that +the interests of the Church, which might justify +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_254' name='page_254'></a>254</span> +a good deal, could be made to justify any and +every means. In conversation he had the art +of seeming to lay his mind alongside of yours, +wishful to know what you had to say, and +prepared to listen respectfully to it, even though +you might be much younger and of no personal +consequence. Yet you sometimes felt, if your +own power of observation had not been lulled to +sleep by the winning manner, that he was watching +you, and watching, in conformity to a settled +habit, the effect upon you of whatever he said. It +was hard not to be flattered by this air of kindly +deference, and natural to admire the great man +who condescended without condescension, even +though one might be secretly disappointed at the +want of freshness and insight in his conversation. +Like his famous contemporary, Bishop +Samuel Wilberforce, Manning was all things to +all men. He was possessed, no doubt, of far +less wit and far less natural eloquence than that +brilliant but variable creature. But he gave +a more distinct impression of earnest and unquestioning +loyalty to the cause he had made his +own.</p> +<p>In the government of his diocese, Manning +showed himself a finished ruler and manager of +men, flexible in his power of adapting himself to +any character or society, yet inflexible when firmness +was needed, usually tactful if not always +gentle in his methods, but tenacious in his purposes, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_255' name='page_255'></a>255</span> +demanding rightfully from others the +simplicity of life and the untiring industry +of which he set an example himself. Over +women his influence was still greater than over +men, because women are more susceptible to +the charm of presence and address; nor could +any other ecclesiastic count so many conversions +among ladies of high station, his dignified carriage +and ascetic face according admirably with +his sacerdotal rank and his life of strict observance. +For some years it was his habit to go to +Rome early in Lent and remain till after Easter. +Promising subjects, who had doubts as to their +probabilities of salvation in the Anglican communion, +used to be invited to dinner to meet +him, and they fell in swift succession before his +skilful presentation of the peace and bliss to be +found within the Roman fold.</p> +<p>In his public appearances, it was neither +the solid substance of his discourses nor the +literary quality of their style that struck one, but +their judicious adaptation to the audience, and +the grace with which they were delivered. For +this reason—originality being rarer and therefore +more precious in the pulpit, where well-worn +themes have to be handled, than on a platform, +where the topic is one of the moment—his +addresses at public meetings were better than his +sermons, and won for him the reputation of a +speaker whom it was well worth while to secure +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_256' name='page_256'></a>256</span> +at any social or philanthropic gathering. At the +Vatican Œcumenical Council of 1870 it was less +by his speeches than by his work in private among +the assembled prelates that he served the Infallibilist +cause. Himself devoted, and, no doubt, +honestly devoted, to Ultramontane principles, he +did not hesitate to do violence to history and join +in destroying what freedom the Church at large +had retained, in order to exalt the Chair of Peter +to a position unheard of even at Trent, not to say +in the Middle Ages. His activity, his assiduity, +and his tireless powers of persuasion contributed +largely to the satisfaction at that Council +of the wishes of Pius IX., who presently rewarded +him with the Cardinalate. But the opponents of +the new dogma, who were as superior in learning +to the Infallibilists as they proved inferior in +numbers, carried back with them to Germany and +North America an undying distrust of the astute +Englishman who had shown more than a convert’s +proverbial eagerness for rushing to extremes +and forcing others to follow. I remember to +have met some of the anti-Infallibilist prelates +returning to America in the autumn of 1870; +and in our many talks on shipboard they spoke of +the Archbishop in terms no more measured than +Nestorius may have used of St. Cyril after the +Council of Ephesus.</p> +<p>But Manning’s powers shone forth most fully +in the course he gave to his policy as Archbishop +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_257' name='page_257'></a>257</span> +of Westminster and head of the Roman +hierarchy in Britain. He had two difficulties +to confront. One was the suspicion of the +old English Roman Catholic families, who distrusted +him as a recent recruit from Protestantism, +a man brought up in ideas unfamiliar to their +conservative minds. The other was the aversion +of the ruling classes in England, and indeed of +Englishmen generally, to the pretensions of Rome +an aversion which, among the Tories, sprang +from deep-seated historical associations, and among +the Whigs drew further strength from dislike to +the reactionary tendencies of the Popedom on the +European continent, and especially its resistance +to the freedom and unity of Italy. In 1850 +the creation by the Pope of a Roman Catholic +hierarchy in England, followed by Cardinal +Wiseman’s letter dated from the Flaminian Gate, +had evoked a burst of anti-papal feeling which +never quite subsided during Wiseman’s lifetime. +Both these enmities Manning overcame. The +old Catholic families rallied to a prelate who +supported with dignity and vigour the pretensions +of their church; while the suspicions of Protestants +were largely, if not universally, allayed +when they noted the attitude of a patriotic +Englishman, zealous for the greatness of his +country, which the Archbishop assumed, as well +as the heartiness with which he threw himself +into moral and philanthropic causes. Loyalty to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_258' name='page_258'></a>258</span> +Rome never betrayed him into any apparent +disloyalty to England. Too prudent to avow +sympathy with either political party, he seemed +less opposed to Liberalism than his predecessor +had been or than most of the English Catholics +were. While, of course, at issue with the Liberal +party upon educational questions, he was believed +to lean to Home Rule, and maintained good relations +with the Irish leaders. He joined those +who worked for the better protection of children +and the repression of vice, advocated total abstinence +by precept and example, and did much to +promote it among the poorer Roman Catholic +population. Discerning the growing magnitude +of what are called labour questions, he did not +recoil from proposals to limit by legislation the +hours of toil, and gladly exerted himself to settle +differences between employers and workmen, +showing his own sympathy with the needs and +hardships of the latter. Thus he won a popularity +with the London masses greater than any +prelate of the Established Church had enjoyed, +while the middle and upper classes noted with +pleasure that, however Ultramontane in his +theology, he always spoke and wrote as an +Englishman upon non-theological subjects.</p> +<p>In this there was no playing of a part, for he +sincerely cared about temperance, the welfare of +children, the advancement of the labouring class, +and the greatness of England. But there was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_259' name='page_259'></a>259</span> +also a sage perception of the incidental service +which his attitude in these matters could render +to his church; and he relished opportunities of +proving that a Catholic prelate could be not only +a philanthropist but also a patriot. He saw the +value of the attitude, though he used it honestly, +and if he was not artful, he was full of art. +Truth, for its own sake, he neither loved nor +sought, but, having once adopted certain conclusions, +doctrinal and practical, subordinated everything +else to them. Power he loved, yet not wholly +for the pleasure which he found in exerting it, but +also because he knew that he was fit to use it, +and could use it, to promote the aims he cherished. +To his church he was devoted heart and soul; nor +could any one have better served it so far as +England was concerned. No one in our time, +hardly even Cardinal Newman, has done so much +to sap and remove the old Protestant fears and +jealousies of Rome, fears and jealousies which +had descended from days when they were less +unreasonable than the liberality or indifference +of our times will allow. Truly the Roman +Church is a wonderful institution, fertile beyond +any other, since in each succeeding age she has +given birth to new types of force suited to the +conditions she has to deal with. In Manning she +developed a figure full of a kind of charm and +strength which could hardly have found due +scope within a Protestant body: a man who never +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_260' name='page_260'></a>260</span> +obtruded a claim, yet never yielded one; who +was the loyal servant of a spiritual despotism, +yet apparently in sympathy with democratic ideas +and movements; equally welcome among the +poorest Irish of his diocese and at the gatherings +of the great; ready to join in every good work +with those most opposed to his own doctrines, +yet standing detached as the austere and unbending +representative of a world-embracing power.</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p>Since these pages were written there has +appeared a Life of Cardinal Manning which, for +the variety and interest of its contents, and for the +flood of light which it throws upon its subject, +deserves to rank among the best biographies in +the English language. It reveals the inner life +of Manning, his high motives and his tortuous +methods, his piety and his aspirations, his occasional +lapses from sincerity and rectitude, with a +fulness to which one can scarcely find a parallel. +As was remarked by Mr. Gladstone, who was so +keenly interested in the book that for months he +could talk of little else, it leaves nothing for the +Day of Judgment.</p> +<p>It would be idle to deny that Manning’s +reputation did in some measure suffer. Yet it +must in fairness be remembered that an ordeal +such as that to which he has been thus subjected +is seldom applied, and might, if similarly applied, +have lowered many another reputation. Cicero +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_261' name='page_261'></a>261</span> +has suffered in like manner. We should have +thought more highly of him, though I do not +know that we should have liked him better, if his +letters had not survived to reveal weaknesses +which other men, or their biographers, were discreet +enough to conceal.</p> +<p>I have not attempted to rewrite the preceding +pages in the light of Mr. Purcell’s biography, for +to do so would have extended them beyond the +limits of a sketch. I have, moreover, found that +the disclosures contained in the biography do not +oblige me to darken the colours of the sketch +itself. Taken all in all, these intimate records of +Manning’s life tend to confirm the view that, along +with his love of power and pre-eminence, along +with his carelessness about historic truth, along +with the questionable methods he sometimes +allowed himself to use, there lay deep in his heart +a genuine and unfailing sympathy with many +good causes, such as the cause of temperance, +and a real tenderness for the poor and for +children. If he was far removed from a saint, +still less was he the mere worldly ecclesiastic, +crafty and ambitious, who has in all ages been +a familiar and unlovely type of character.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_262' name='page_262'></a>262</span> +<a name='EDWARD_AUGUSTUS_FREEMAN37' id='EDWARD_AUGUSTUS_FREEMAN37'></a> +<h2>EDWARD AUGUSTUS FREEMAN<a name="FNanchor_37" id="FNanchor_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor2">[37]</a></h2> +</div> +<p>Edward Freeman was born at Harborne in +South Staffordshire on 2nd August 1823, and +died at Alicante on 16th March 1892, in the +course of an archæological and historical journey +to the east and south of Spain, whither he had +gone to see the sites of the early Carthaginian +settlements. His life was comparatively uneventful, +as that of learned men in our time +usually is. He was educated at home and at a +private school till he went to Oxford at the age +of eighteen. There he was elected a scholar of +Trinity College in 1841, took his degree (second +class in <i>literae humaniores</i>) in 1845, and was +elected a fellow of Trinity shortly afterwards. +Marrying in 1847, he lost his fellowship, and +settled in 1848 in Gloucestershire, and at a later +time went to live in Monmouthshire, whence +he migrated in 1860 to Somerleaze, a pretty +spot about a mile and a half to the north-west +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_263' name='page_263'></a>263</span> +of Wells in Somerset. Here he lived +till 1884, when he was appointed (on the recommendation +of Mr. Gladstone) to the Regius +Professorship of Modern History at Oxford. +Thenceforth he spent the winter and spring in +the University, returning for the long vacation +to Somerleaze, a place he dearly loved, not only +in respect of the charm of the surrounding +scenery, but from its proximity to the beautiful +churches of Wells and to many places of historical +interest. For the greater part of his manhood +his surroundings were those of a country gentleman, +nor did he ever reconcile himself to town +life, for he loved the open sky, the fields and hills, +and all wild creatures, though he detested what +are called field sports, knew nothing of natural +history, and had neither taste nor talent for +farming. As he began life with an income sufficient +to make a gainful profession unnecessary, +he did not prepare himself for any, but gave free +scope from the first to his taste for study and +research. Thus the record of his life is, with the +exception of one or two incursions into the field +of practical politics, a record of his historical work +and of the journeys he undertook in connection +with it.</p> +<p>History was the joy as well as the labour of +his life. But the conception he took of it was +peculiar enough to deserve some remark. The +keynote of his character was the extraordinary +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_264' name='page_264'></a>264</span> +warmth of his interest in the persons, things, and +places which he cared for, and the scarcely less +conspicuous indifference to matters which lay +outside the well-defined boundary line of his sympathies. +If any branch of inquiry seemed to him +directly connected with history, he threw himself +heartily into it, and drew from it all it could be +made to yield for his purpose. About other subjects +he would neither read nor talk, no matter +how completely they might for the time be filling +the minds of others. While an undergraduate, +and influenced, like most of the abler men among +his Oxford contemporaries, by the Tractarian +opinions and sentiments then in their full force +and freshness,<a name='FNanchor_0031' id='FNanchor_0031'></a><a href='#Footnote_0031' class='fnanchor'>[38]</a> he became interested in church +architecture, discerned the value which architecture +has as a handmaid to historical research, set +to work to study mediæval buildings, and soon +acquired a wonderfully full and exact knowledge +of the most remarkable churches and castles all +over England. He taught himself to sketch, not +artistically, but sufficiently well to record characteristic +points, and by the end of his life he had +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_265' name='page_265'></a>265</span> +accumulated a collection of hundreds of drawings +made by himself of notable buildings in France, +Germany, Italy, and Dalmatia, as well as in the +British Isles. Architecture was always thenceforward +to him the prime external record and +interpreter of history. But it was the only art in +which he took the slightest interest. He cared +nothing for pictures or statuary; was believed +to have once only, when his friend J. R. Green +dragged him thither, visited a picture-gallery in +the course of his numerous journeys; and did not +seem to perceive the significance which paintings +have as revealing the thoughts and social condition +of the time which produced them. Another +branch of inquiry cognate to history which he +prized was comparative philology. With no +great turn for the refinements of classical +scholarship, and indeed with some contempt for +the practice of Latin and Greek verse-making +which used to absorb much of the time and +labour of undergraduates and their tutors at +Oxford and Cambridge, he was extremely fond +of tracing words through different languages so +as to establish the relations of the peoples who +spoke them, and, indeed, used to argue that all +teaching of languages ought to begin with +Grimm’s law, and to base his advocacy of the +retention of Greek as a <i>sine qua non</i> for an Arts +degree in the University on the importance of +that law. But with this love for philology as an +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_266' name='page_266'></a>266</span> +instrument in the historian’s hands, he took little +pleasure in languages simply as languages—that +is to say, he did not care to master, and was not +apt at mastering, the grammar and idioms of a +tongue. French was the only foreign language +he spoke with any approach to ease, though he +could read freely German, Italian, and modern +Greek, and on his tour in Greece made some +vigorous speeches to the people in their own +tongue. He had learnt to pronounce Greek in the +modern fashion, which few Englishmen can do; +but how much of his classically phrased discourses +did the crowds that acclaimed the distinguished +Philhellene understand? So too he was a keen +and well-trained archæologist, but only because +archæology was to him a priceless adjunct—one +might almost say the most trustworthy source—of +the study of early history. As evidence of +his accomplishments as an antiquary I cannot do +better than quote the words of a master of that +subject, who was also one of his oldest friends. +Mr. George T. Clark says:—</p> +<blockquote> +<p>He was an accurate observer, not only of the broad +features of a country but of its ancient roads and earthworks, +its prehistoric monuments, and its earlier and especially its +ecclesiastical buildings. No man was better versed in the +distinctive styles of Christian architecture, or had a better +general knowledge of the earthworks from the study of which +he might hope to correct or corroborate any written records, +and by the aid of which he often infused life and reality into +otherwise obscure narrations.... He visited every spot upon +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_267' name='page_267'></a>267</span> +which the Conqueror is recorded to have set his foot, compared +many of the strongholds of his followers with those +they left behind them in Normandy, and studied the evidence +of Domesday for their character and possessions. When +writing upon Rufus he spent some time in examining the +afforested district of the New Forest, and sought for traces of +the villages and churches said to have been depopulated or +destroyed. And for us archæologists he did more than this. +When he attended a provincial congress and had listened to +the description of some local antiquity, some mound, or +divisional earthbank, or semi-Saxon church, he at once strove +to show the general evidence to be deduced from them, and +how it bore upon the boundaries or formation of some Celtic +or Saxon province or diocese, if not upon the general history +of the kingdom itself.... He thus did much to elevate the +pursuits of the archæologist, and to show the relation they +bore to the far superior labours of the historian.</p> +<p>Freeman was always at his best when in the field. It was +then that the full force of his personality came into play: his +sturdy upright figure, sharp-cut features, flowing beard, well-modulated +voice, clear enunciation, and fluent and incisive +speech. None who have heard him hold forth from the steps +of some churchyard cross, or from the top stone of some half-demolished +cromlech, can ever cease to have a vivid recollection +of both the orator and his theme.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Freeman took endless pains to master the topography +of any place he had to deal with. When +at work in his later years on Sicilian history he +visited, and he has minutely described, the site of +nearly every spot in that island where a battle +or a siege took place in ancient times, so that +his volumes have become an elaborate historical +guide-book for the student or tourist.</p> +<p>But while he thus delighted in whatever bore +upon history as he conceived it, his conception +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_268' name='page_268'></a>268</span> +was one which belonged to the eighteenth century +rather than to our own time. It was to him not +only primarily but almost exclusively a record +of political events—that is to say, of events in +the sphere of war, diplomacy, and government. +He expressed this view with concise vigour in +the well-known dictum, “History is past politics, +and politics is present history”; and though his +friends remonstrated with him against this view +as far too narrow, excluding from the sphere +of history many of its deepest sources of interest, +he would never give way. That historians +should care as much (or more) for the +religious or philosophical opinions of an age, or +for its ethical and social phenomena, or for the +study of its economic conditions, as for forms +of government or battles and sieges, seemed to +him strange. He did not argue against the +friends who differed from him, for he was ready +to believe that there must be something true and +valuable in the views of a man whom he respected; +but he could not be induced to devote +his own labours to the elucidation of these +matters. He would say to Green, “You may +bring in all that social and religious kind of +thing, Johnny, but I can’t.” So when he went +to deliver lectures in the United States, he delighted +in making new acquaintances there, and +was interested in the Federal system and in all +institutions which he could trace to their English +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_269' name='page_269'></a>269</span> +originals, but did not care to see anything or +hear anything about the economic development +or social life of the country.</p> +<p>The same predominant liking for the political +element in history made him indifferent to many +kinds of literature. It may indeed be said that +literature, simply as literature, did not attract +him. In his later years, at any rate, he seldom +read a book except for the sake of the political or +historical information it contained. Among the +writers whom he most disliked were Plato, Carlyle, +and Ruskin, in no one of whom could he see +any merit. Plato, he said, was the only author +he had ever thrown to the other end of the room. +Neither, although very fond of the Greek and +Roman classics generally, did he seem to enjoy +any of the Greek poets except Homer and Pindar +and, to some extent, Aristophanes. His liking +for Pindar used to surprise us, because Pindar is +peculiarly the favourite poet of poetical minds; +and I suspect it was not so much the splendour of +Pindar’s style and the wealth of his imagination +that Freeman enjoyed, as rather the profusion of +historical and mythological references. He was +impatient with the Greek tragedians, and still +more impatient with Virgil, because (as he said) +“Virgil cannot or will not say a thing simply.” +Among English poets his preference was for +the old heroic ballads, such as the songs of +Brunanburh and Maldon, and, among recent +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_270' name='page_270'></a>270</span> +writers, for Macaulay’s <i>Lays</i>. The first thing +he ever published (1850) was a volume of verse, +consisting mainly of ballads, some of them very +spirited, on events in Greek and Moorish history. +It may be doubted if he remembered a line of +Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth, or Tennyson. He +blamed Walter Scott for misrepresenting history +in <i>Ivanhoe</i>, but constantly read the rest of his +stories, taking special pleasure in <i>Peveril of the +Peak</i>. He bestowed warm praise upon <i>Romola</i>, +on one occasion reading it through twice in a +single journey. Mrs. Gaskell’s <i>Mary Barton</i>, +Marryatt’s <i>Peter Simple</i>, Trollope’s <i>The Warden</i> +and <i>Barchester Towers</i>, were amongst his +favourites. Among the moderns, Macaulay was +his favourite prose author, and he was wont to +say that from Macaulay he had learned never +to be afraid of using the same word to describe +the same thing, and that no one was a better +model to follow in the choice of pure English. +Limitations of taste are not uncommon among +eminent men. What was uncommon in Freeman +was the perfect frankness with which he +avowed his aversions, and the absence of any +pretence of caring for things which he did not +really care for. He was in this, as in all other +matters, a singularly simple and truthful man, +never seeking to appear different from what he +was, and finding it hard to understand why other +people should not be equally simple and direct. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_271' name='page_271'></a>271</span> +This directness made him express himself with +an absence of reserve which often gave offence. +Positive and definite, with a strong broad logic +which every one could follow, he was a formidable +controversialist even on subjects outside +history. A good specimen of his powers was +given in the argument against the cruelty of +field sports which he carried on with Anthony +Trollope. His cause was not a popular one in +England, but he stated it so well as to carry off +the honours of the fray.<a name='FNanchor_0032' id='FNanchor_0032'></a><a href='#Footnote_0032' class='fnanchor'>[39]</a></p> +<p>The restriction of his interest to a few topics—wide +ones, to be sure—seemed to increase the +intensity of his devotion to those few; and thus +even the two chief practical interests he had in +life connected themselves with his conception of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_272' name='page_272'></a>272</span> +history. One was the discharge of his duties as +a magistrate in the local government of his county. +While he lived at Somerleaze he rarely missed +Quarter Sessions, speaking seldom, but valuing +the opportunity of taking part in the rule of the +shire. The other was the politics of the time, +foreign politics even more than domestic. He +was from an early age a strong Liberal, throwing +himself into every question which bore on +the Constitution, either in state or in church, for +(as has been said) topics of the social or economic +kind lay rather out of his sphere. When Mr. +Gladstone launched his Irish Home Rule scheme +in 1886, Freeman espoused it warmly, and praised +it for the very point which drew most censure +even from Liberals, the removal of the Irish +members from Parliament. He was intensely +English and Teutonic, and wished the Gael to +be left to settle, or fight over, their own affairs in +their own island, as they had done eight centuries +ago. Even the idea of separating Ireland altogether +from the English Crown would not have +alarmed him, for he did not thank Strongbow +and Henry II. for having invaded it; while, on +the other hand, the plan of turning the United +Kingdom into a federation, giving to England, +Scotland, Ireland, and Wales each a local parliament +of its own, with an imperial parliament +for common concerns, shocked all his historical +instincts.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_273' name='page_273'></a>273</span></div> +<p>In 1859 he was on the point of coming +forward as a parliamentary candidate for the +borough of Newport in Monmouthshire, and +again at the election of 1868 he actually did +stand for one of the divisions of Somerset, and +showed in his platform speeches a remarkable gift +of eloquence, and occasionally, also, of humour, +coupled with a want of those minor arts which +usually contribute more than eloquence does to +success in electioneering. I went round with +him, along with his and my friend Mr. Albert +Dicey, and few are the candidates who get so +much pleasure out of a contest as Freeman did. +He was a strenuous advocate of disestablishment +in Ireland, the question chiefly at issue in the +election of 1868, because he thought the Roman +Catholic Church was of right, and ought by law +to be, the national Church there; but no less +decidedly opposed to disestablishment in England, +where it would have pained him to see the uprooting +of a system entwined with the ideas and +events of the Middle Ages. In his later years +he told me that if the Liberal party took up the +policy of disestablishment in Wales, he did not +know whether he could adhere to them, much as +he desired to do so.</p> +<p>Similarly he disliked all schemes for drawing +the colonies into closer relations with the United +Kingdom, and even seemed to wish that they +should sever themselves from it, as the United +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_274' name='page_274'></a>274</span> +States had done. This view sprang partly from +his feeling that they were very recent acquisitions, +with which the old historic England had nothing +to do, partly also from the impression made +on him by the analogy of the Greek colonies. +He held that the precedent of the Greek +settlements showed the true and proper relation +between a “metropolis,” or mother-city, and her +colonies to be one not of political dependence or +interdependence, but of cordial friendliness and a +disposition to render help, nothing more. These +instances are worth citing because they illustrate +a remarkable difference between his way of looking +historically at institutions and Macaulay’s way. +A friend of his (the late Mr. S. R. Gardiner), +like Freeman a distinguished historian, and like +him a strong Home Ruler, wrote to me upon this +point as follows:—</p> +<blockquote> +<p>Freeman and Macaulay are alike in the high value they +set upon parliamentary institutions. On the other hand, when +Macaulay wants to make you understand a thing, he compares +it with that which existed in his own day. The standard +of the present is always with him. Freeman traces it to +its origin, and testifies to its growth. The strength of this +mode of proceeding in an historian is obvious. Its weakness +is that it does not help him to appreciate statesmanship +looking forward and trying to find a solution of difficult +problems. Freeman’s attitude is that of the people who +cried out for the good laws of King Edward, trying to revive +the past.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Freeman was apt to go beyond his own +dictum about history and politics, for he sometimes +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_275' name='page_275'></a>275</span> +made history present politics as well as +past.</p> +<p>By far the strongest political interest—indeed +it rose to a passion—of his later years was his +hatred of the Turk. In it his historical and +religious sentiment, for there was a good deal +of the Crusader about him, was blended with +his abhorrence of despotism and cruelty. Ever +since the beginning of the Crimean war he had +been opposed to the traditional English policy of +supporting the Sultan. Ever since he had thought +about foreign politics at all he had sympathised +with the Christians of the East. So when Lord +Beaconsfield seemed on the point of carrying the +country into a war with Russia in defence of the +Turks, no voice rose louder or bolder than his in +denouncing the policy then popular with the +upper classes in England. On this occasion he +gave substantial proof of his earnestness by +breaking off his connection with the <i>Saturday +Review</i> because it had espoused the Turkish +cause. This cost him £600 a year, a sum +he could ill spare, and took from him what had +been the joy of his heart, opportunities of delivering +himself upon all sorts of current questions. +But his sense of duty forbade him to write for a +journal which was supporting a misguided policy +and a minister whom he thought unscrupulous.</p> +<p>His habit of speaking out his whole mind +with little regard to the effect his words might +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_276' name='page_276'></a>276</span> +produce, or to the way in which they might +be twisted, sometimes landed him in difficulties. +One utterance raised an outcry at the time, because +it was made at a conference held in London +in December 1876 to oppose Lord Beaconsfield’s +Eastern policy. The Duke of Westminster and +Lord Shaftesbury presided at the forenoon and +afternoon sessions, and the meeting, which told +powerfully on the country, was wound up by Mr. +Gladstone. Freeman’s speech, only ten minutes +long, but an oratorical success at the moment, contained +the words, “Perish the interests of England, +perish our dominion in India, rather than that we +should strike one blow or speak one word on behalf +of the wrong against the right.” This flight +of rhetoric was perverted by his opponents into +“Perish India”; and though he indignantly +repudiated the misrepresentation, it continued to +be repeated against him for years thereafter, and +to be cited as an instance of the irresponsible +violence of the friends of the Eastern Christians.</p> +<p>The most conspicuous and characteristic merits +of Freeman as an historian may be summed up +in six points: love of truth, love of justice, industry, +common sense, breadth of view, and +power of vividly realising the political life of the +past.</p> +<p>Every one knows the maxim, <i>pectus facit +theologum</i>,<a name='FNanchor_0033' id='FNanchor_0033'></a><a href='#Footnote_0033' class='fnanchor'>[40]</a> a maxim accountable, by the way, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_277' name='page_277'></a>277</span> +for a good deal of weak theology. More truly +may it be said that the merits of a great historian +are far from lying wholly in his intellectual +powers. Among the highest of such merits, +merits which the professional student has even +more reason to appreciate than the general reader, +because he more frequently discerns the disturbing +causes, are two moral qualities. One is the zeal +for truth, with the willingness to undertake, in a +search for it, a toil by which no credit will ever +be gained. The other is a clear view of, and +loyal adherence to, the permanent moral standards. +In both these points Freeman stood in the front +rank. He was kindly and fair in his judgments, +and ready to make all the allowances for any +man’s conduct which the conditions of his time +suggested, but he hated cruelty, falsehood, oppression, +whether in Syracuse twenty-four centuries +ago or in the Ottoman empire to-day. That +conscientious industry which spares no pains to +get as near as possible to the facts never failed +him. Though he talked less about facts and +verities than Carlyle did, Carlyle was not so +assiduous and so minutely careful in sifting every +statement before he admitted it into his pages. +That he was never betrayed by sentiment into +partisanship it would be too much to say. +Scottish critics have accused him, perhaps not +without justice, of being led by his English +patriotism to over-state the claims of the English +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_278' name='page_278'></a>278</span> +Crown to suzerainty over Scotland. J. R. Green, +as well as the late Mr. C. H. Pearson, thought +that the same cause disposed him to overlook +the weak points in the character of Harold son +of Godwin, one of his favourite heroes. But +there have been few writers who have so seldom +erred in this way; few who have striven so +earnestly to do full justice to every cause and +every person. Even the race prejudices which +he allowed himself to indulge, in letters and talk, +against Irishmen, Frenchmen, and Jews, scarcely +ever appear in his books. The characters he +has drawn of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, William +the Conqueror and William the Red, St. Thomas +of Canterbury (none of whom he liked), and, in +his <i>History of Sicily</i>, of Nicias, are models of the +fairness which historical portraiture requires. It +is especially interesting to compare his picture +of the unfortunate Athenian with the equally +vigorous but harsher view of Grote. Freeman, +whom many people thought fierce, was one of +the most soft-hearted of men, and tolerant of +everything but perfidy and cruelty. Though +disposed to be positive in his opinions, he was +always willing to reconsider a point when any +new evidence was discovered or any new argument +brought to his notice, and not unfrequently +modified his view in the light of such evidence +or arguments. It was this passion for accuracy +and for that lucidity of statement which is the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_279' name='page_279'></a>279</span> +necessary adjunct of real accuracy, that made him +deal so sternly with confused thinkers and careless +writers. Carelessness seemed to him a moral +fault, because a fault which true conscientiousness +excludes. So also clearness of conception and +exact precision in the use of words were so +natural to him, and appeared so essential to good +work, that he would set down the want of them +rather to indolence than to incapacity, and apply +to them a proportionately severe censure. Mere +ignorance he could pardon, but when it was, as +often happens, even in persons of considerable +pretensions, joined to presumption, his wrath was +the hotter because he deemed it a wholly righteous +wrath. Never touching any subject which he had +not mastered, he thought it his duty as a critic to +expose impostors, and rendered in this way, during +the years when he wrote for the <i>Saturday Review</i>, +services to English scholarship second only to +those which were embodied in his own treatises. +It must be confessed that he enjoyed the work, +and, like Samuel Johnson, was not displeased +to be told that he had “tossed and gored several +persons.”</p> +<p>His determination to get to the bottom of a +question was the cause of the censure he so freely +bestowed both on lawyers, who were wont to +rest content with their technicalities, and not go +back to the historical basis on which those technicalities +rested, and on politicians who fell into +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_280' name='page_280'></a>280</span> +the habit of using stock phrases which muddled +or misrepresented the principles involved. The +expression “national property,” as applied to +tithes, incensed him, and gave occasion for some +of his most vigorous writing. So the commonplace +grumblings against the presence of bishops +in the House of Lords, which may be heard from +people who acquiesce in the presence of hereditary +peers, led him to give the most clear and forcible +statement of the origin and character of that House +which our time has produced. Here he was on +ground he knew thoroughly. But his habits of +accuracy were not less fully illustrated by his attitude +towards branches of history he had not explored. +With a profound and minute knowledge +of English history down to the fourteenth century, +so far as his aversion to the employment of +manuscript authorities would allow, and a scarcely +inferior knowledge of foreign European history +during the same period, with a less full but very +sound knowledge down to the middle of the +sixteenth century, and with a thorough mastery +of pretty nearly all ancient history, his familiarity +with later European history, and with the history +of such outlying regions as India or America, +was not much beyond that of the average educated +man. He used to say when questioned on these +matters that “he had not come down to that +yet.” But when he had occasion to refer to those +periods or countries, he hardly ever made a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_281' name='page_281'></a>281</span> +mistake. If he did not know, he did not refer; +if he referred, he had seized, as if by instinct, +something which was really important and serviceable +for his purpose. The same remark applies +(speaking generally) to Gibbon and to Macaulay, +and I have heard Freeman make it of the writings +of Mr. Goldwin Smith, for whom he had a warm +admiration.</p> +<p>Freeman’s abstention from the use of manuscript +sources was virtually prescribed by his +persistence in refusing to work out of his own +library, or, as he used to say, out of a room +which he could consider to be his library for the +time being. As, however, the original authorities +for the times with which he chiefly dealt +are, with few or unimportant exceptions, all in +print, this habit can hardly be considered a +defect in his historical qualifications. In handling +the sources he was a judicious critic and a +sound scholar, thoroughly at home in Greek and +Latin, and sufficiently equipped in Anglo-Saxon, +or, as he called it, Old English. Of his breadth +of view, of the command he had of the whole +sweep of his knowledge, of his delight in bringing +together things the most remote in place or time, +it is superfluous to speak. These merits are +perhaps most conspicuously seen in the plan of +his treatise on Federal Government, as well as +in the execution of that one volume which unfortunately +was all he produced of what might +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_282' name='page_282'></a>282</span> +have been, if completed, a book of the utmost +value. But one or two trifling illustrations +of this habit of living in an atmosphere in +which the past was no less real to him than +the present may be forgiven. When careless +friends directed letters to him at “Somerleaze, +Wookey, Somerset,” Wookey being a village a +quarter of a mile from his house, but on the other +side of the river Axe, he would write back complaining +that they were “confusing the England +and Wales of the seventh century.” When his +attention had been called to a discussion in the +weekly journals about Shelley’s first wife he wrote +to me, “Why will they worry us with this +<i>Harrietfrage</i>? You and I have quite enough +to do with Helen, and Theodora, and Mary +Stuart.” So in addressing Somersetshire rustics +during his election campaign in 1868, he could +not help on one occasion referring to Ptolemy +Euergetes, and on another launching out into an +eloquent description of the Landesgemeinde of +Uri.</p> +<p>Industry came naturally to Freeman, because +he was fond of his own studies and did not +think of his work as task work. The joy in +reading and writing about bygone times sprang +from the intensity with which he realised them. +He had no geographical imagination, finding +no more pleasure in books of travel than in +dramatic poetry. But he loved to dwell in the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_283' name='page_283'></a>283</span> +past, and seemed to see and feel and make himself +a part of the events he described. Next +to their worth as statements of carefully investigated +facts, the chief merit of his books lies in +the sense of reality which fills them. The politics +of Corinth or Sicyon, the contest of William the +Red with St. Anselm, interested him as keenly +as a general election in which he was himself +a candidate. Looking upon current events with +an historian’s eye, he was fond, on the other +hand, of illustrating features of Roman history +from incidents he had witnessed when taking part +in local government as a magistrate; and in +describing the relations of Hermocrates and +Athenagoras at Syracuse he drew upon observations +which he had made in watching the discussions +of the Hebdomadal Council at Oxford. +This power of realising the politics of ancient +or mediæval times was especially useful to him +as a writer, because without it his minuteness +might have verged on prolixity, seeing that he +cared exclusively for the political part of history. +It was one of the points in which he rose superior +to most of those German students with whom it +is natural to compare him. Many of them have +equalled him in industry and diligence; some have +surpassed him in the ingenuity which they bring +to bear upon obscure problems; but few of them +have shown the same gift for understanding +what the political life of remote times really was. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_284' name='page_284'></a>284</span> +Like Gibbon, Freeman was not a mere student, +but also a man with opportunities of mixing in +affairs, accustomed to bear his share in the world’s +work, and so better able than the mere student +can be to comprehend how that work goes forward. +Though he was too peculiar in his views and his +way of stating them to have been adapted either +to the House of Commons or to a local assembly, +and would indeed have been wasted upon nineteen-twentieths +of the business there transacted, +he loved politics and watched them with a +shrewdly observant eye. Though he indulged +his foibles in some directions, he could turn upon +history a stream of clear common sense which +sometimes made short work of German conjectures. +And he was free from the craving to +have at all hazards something new to advance, +be it a trivial fact or an unsupported guess. He +was accustomed of late years to complain that +German scholarship seemed to be suffering from +the passion for <i>etwas Neues</i>, and the consequent +disposition to disparage work which did not +abound with novelties, however empty or transient +such novelties might be.</p> +<p>To think of the Germans is to think of +industry. Freeman was a true Teuton in the +mass of his production. Besides the seven thick +volumes devoted to the Norman Conquest and +William Rufus, the four thick volumes to Sicily, +four large volumes of collected essays, and nine or +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_285' name='page_285'></a>285</span> +ten smaller volumes on architectural subjects, on +the English constitution, on the United States, +on the Slavs and the Turks, he wrote an even +greater quantity of matter which appeared in the +<i>Saturday Review</i> during the twenty years from +1856 to 1876, and it was by these articles, not +less than by his books, that he succeeded in +dispelling many current errors and confusions, +and in establishing some of his own doctrines +so firmly that we now scarcely remember what +iteration and reiteration, in season and out of +season, and much to the impatience of those +who remembered that they had heard these +doctrines often before, were needed to make them +accepted by the public. Freeman’s swift facility +was due to his power of concentration. He +always knew what he meant an article to contain +before he sat down to his desk; and in his +historical researches he made each step so certain +that he seldom required to reinvestigate a point +or to change, in revising for the press, the substance +of what he had written.</p> +<p>In his literary habits he was so methodical +and precise that he could carry on three undertakings +at the same time, keeping on different +tables in his working rooms the books he needed +for each, and passing at stated hours from one +to the other. It is often remarked that the +growth of journalism, forcing men to write +hastily and profusely, tends to injure literature +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_286' name='page_286'></a>286</span> +both in matter and in manner. In point of +matter, Freeman, though for the best part of +his life a very prolific journalist, did not seem +to suffer. He was as exact, clear, and thorough +at the end as he had been at the beginning. +On his style, however, the results were unfortunate. +It retained its force and its point, +but it became diffuse, not that each particular +sentence was weak, or vague, or wordy, but that +what was substantially the same idea was +apt to be reiterated, with slight differences of +phrase, in several successive sentences or paragraphs. +He was fond of the Psalter, great part +of which he knew by heart, and we told him +that he had caught too much of the manner of +Psalm cxix. This tendency to repetition caused +some of his books, and particularly the <i>Norman +Conquest</i> and <i>William Rufus</i>, to swell to a portentous +bulk. Those treatises, which constitute +a history of England from <span class='smcaplc'>A.D.</span> 1042 to 1100, +would be more widely read if they had been, +as they ought to have been, reduced to three or +four volumes; and as he came to perceive this, +he resolved in the last year of his life to +republish the <i>Norman Conquest</i> in a condensed +form. To be obliged to compress was a wholesome, +though unwelcome, discipline, and the +result is seen in some of his smaller books, such +as the historical essays, and the sketches of +English towns, often wonderfully fresh and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_287' name='page_287'></a>287</span> +vigorous bits of work. Anxiety to be scrupulously +accurate runs into prolixity, and Freeman +so loved his subjects that it pained him +to omit any characteristic detail a chronicler +had preserved; as he once observed to a distinguished +writer who was dealing with a much +later period, “You know so much about your +people that you have to leave out a great deal, +I know so little that I must tell all I know.” +The tendency to repeat the same word too frequently +sprang from his preference for words of +Teutonic origin and his pride in what he +deemed the purity of his English. His pages +would have been livelier had he felt free to +indulge in the humour with which his private +letters sparkled; for he was full of fun, though it +often turned on points too recondite for the public. +But it was only in the notes to his histories, and +seldom even there, that he gave play to one of +the merits that most commended him to his +friends.</p> +<p>So far of his books. He was, however, also +Regius Professor of History at Oxford during +the last eight years of his life, and thus the head +of the historical faculty in his own university +which he dearly loved. That he was less +effective as a teacher than as a writer may be +partly ascribed to his having come too late to +a new kind of work, and one which demands +the freshness of youth; partly also to the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_288' name='page_288'></a>288</span> +cramping conditions under which professors +have to teach at Oxford, where everything is +governed by a system of examinations which +Freeman was never tired of denouncing as +ruinous to study. His friends, however, doubted +whether the natural bent of his mind was +towards oral teaching. It was a peculiar +mind, which ran in a deep channel of its +own, and could not easily, if the metaphor +be permissible, be drawn off to irrigate the +adjoining fields. He was always better at +putting his own views in a clear and telling +way than at laying his intellect alongside of +yours, apprehending your point of view, and +setting himself to meet it. Or, to put the same +thing differently, you learned more by listening +to him than by conversing with him. He +had not the quick intellectual sympathy and +effusion which feels its way to the heart of an +audience, and indeed derives inspiration from the +sight of an audience. In his election meetings +I noticed that the temper and sentiment of the +listeners did not in the least affect him; what +he said was what he himself cared to say, not +what he felt they would wish to hear. So +also in his lecturing he pleased himself, and +chose the topics he liked best rather than those +which the examination scheme prescribed to the +students. Perhaps he was right, for he was of those +whose excellence in performance depends upon +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_289' name='page_289'></a>289</span> +the enjoyment they find in the exercise of their +powers. But even on the topics he selected, he +did not take hold of and guide the mind of the +students, realising their particular difficulties and +needs, but simply delivered his own message in +his own way. Admitting this deficiency, the fact +remains that he was not only an ornament to the +University by the example he set of unflagging +zeal, conscientious industry, loyalty to truth, and +love of freedom, but also a stimulating influence +upon those who were occupied with history. +He delighted to surround himself with the most +studious of the younger workers, gave them +abundant encouragement and recognition, and +never grudged the time to help them by his +knowledge or his counsel.</p> +<p>Much the same might be said of his lifelong +friend and illustrious predecessor in the chair of +history (Dr. Stubbs), whom Freeman had been +generously extolling for many years before the +merits of that admirable scholar became known to +the public. Stubbs disliked lecturing; and though +once a year he delivered a “public lecture” full of +wisdom, and sometimes full of wit also, he was not +effective as a teacher, not so effective, for instance, +as Bishop Creighton, who won his reputation +at Merton College long before he became Professor +of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge. +But Stubbs, by his mere presence in the University, +and by the inexhaustible kindness with +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_290' name='page_290'></a>290</span> +which he answered questions and gave advice, +rendered great services to the studies of the place. +It may be doubted whether, when he was raised +to the episcopal bench, history did not lose more +than the Church of England gained. Other men +of far less ability could have discharged five-sixths +of a bishop’s duties equally well, but there was no +one else in England, if indeed in Europe, capable +of carrying on his historical researches. So +Dr. Lightfoot was, as Professor at Cambridge, +doing work for Christian learning even more +precious than the work which is still affectionately +remembered in his diocese of Durham.</p> +<p>Few men have had a genius for friendship +equal to Freeman’s. The names of those he +cared for were continually on his lips, and their +lives in his thoughts; their misfortunes touched +him like his own; he was always ready to +defend them, always ready to give any aid they +needed. No differences of opinion affected his +regard. Sensitive as he was to criticism, he +received their censure on any part of his work +without offence. The need he felt for knowing +how they fared and for sharing his thoughts with +them expressed itself in the enormous correspondence, +not of business, but of pure affection, which +he kept up with his many friends, and which +forms, for his letters were so racy that many of +them were preserved, the fullest record of his +life.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_291' name='page_291'></a>291</span></div> +<p>This warmth of feeling deserves to be dwelt +on, because it explains the tendency to vehemence +in controversy which brought some enmities +upon him. There was an odd contrast between +his fondness for describing wars and battles and +that extreme aversion to militarism which made +him appear to dislike the very existence of a +British army and navy. So his combativeness, +and the zest with which he bestowed shrewd +blows on those who encountered him, though +due to his wholesome scorn for pretenders, and +his hatred of falsehood and injustice, seemed +inconsistent with the real kindliness of his nature. +The kindliness, however, no one who knew him +could doubt; it showed itself not only in his +care for dumb creatures and for children, but in +the depth and tenderness of his affections. Of +religion he spoke little, and only to his most +intimate friends. In opinion he had drifted a +long way from the Anglo-Catholic position of +his early manhood; but he remained a sincerely +pious Christian.</p> +<p>Though his health had been infirm for some +years before his death, his literary activity did +not slacken, nor did his powers show signs of +decline. There is nothing in his writings, nor +in any writings of our time, more broad, clear, +and forcible than many chapters of the <i>History +of Sicily</i>. Much of his work has effected its +purpose, and will, by degrees, lose its place in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_292' name='page_292'></a>292</span> +the public eye. But much will live on into a +yet distant future, because it has been done so +thoroughly, and contains so much sound and +vigorous thinking, that coming generations of +historical students will need it and value it almost +as our own has done.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_293' name='page_293'></a>293</span> +<a name='ROBERT_LOWE_VISCOUNT_SHERBROOKE41' id='ROBERT_LOWE_VISCOUNT_SHERBROOKE41'></a> +<h2>ROBERT LOWE VISCOUNT SHERBROOKE<a name="FNanchor_41" id="FNanchor_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor2">[41]</a></h2> +</div> +<p>Had Robert Lowe died in 1868, when he became +a Cabinet Minister, his death would have been a +political event of the first magnitude; but when +he died in 1892 (in his eighty-second year) hardly +anybody under forty years of age knew who Lord +Sherbrooke was, and the new generation wondered +why their seniors should feel any interest in the +disappearance of a superannuated peer whose +name had long since ceased to be heard in either +the literary or the political world. It requires +an effort to believe that he was at one time held +the equal in oratory and the superior in intellect +of Mr. Bright and Mr. Gladstone. There are few +instances in our annals of men who have been +equally famous and whose fame has been bounded +by so short a span out of a long life.</p> +<p>No one who knew Lowe ever doubted his +abilities. He made a brilliant reputation, first at +Winchester (where, as his autobiography tells us, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_294' name='page_294'></a>294</span> +he was miserable) and then at Oxford, where he was +the contemporary and fully the peer of Roundell +Palmer (afterwards Lord Chancellor Selborne) +and of Archibald Tait (afterwards Archbishop of +Canterbury). He was much sought after and +wonderfully effective as a private tutor or “coach” +in classical subjects, being not only an excellent +scholar but extremely clear and stimulating as a +teacher. He retained his love of literature all +through life, and made himself, <i>inter alia permulta</i>, +a good Icelandic scholar and a fair Sanskrit +scholar. For mathematics he had no turn at all. +Active sports, he tells us, he enjoyed, characteristically +adding, “they open to dulness also its road +to fame.” When he left the University, where +anecdotes of his caustic wit were long current, he +tried his fortune at the Bar, but with such scant +success that he presently emigrated to New +South Wales, soon rose to prominence and unpopularity +there, returned in ten years with a +tolerable fortune and a detestation of democracy, +became a leading-article writer on the <i>Times</i>, +entered Parliament, but was little heard of till +Lord Palmerston gave him (in 1859) the place of +Vice-President of the Committee of Council on +Education. His function in that office was to +administer the grants made from the national +treasury to elementary schools, and as he found +the methods of inspection rather lax, and noted a +tendency to superficiality and a neglect of backward +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_295' name='page_295'></a>295</span> +children, he introduced new rules for the +distribution of the grant (the so-called “Revised +Code”) which provoked violent opposition. The +motive was good, but the rules were too mechanical +and rigid and often worked harshly; so he +was presently driven from office by an attack led +by Lord Robert Cecil (now Lord Salisbury).</p> +<p>Though Lowe became known by this struggle, +his conspicuous fame dates from 1865, when he +appeared as the trenchant critic of a measure for +extending the parliamentary franchise in boroughs, +introduced by a private member. Next year +his powers shone forth in their full lustre. The +Liberal Ministry of Lord Russell, led in the +House of Commons by Mr. Gladstone, had +brought in a Franchise Extension Bill (applying +to boroughs only) which excited the dislike +of the more conservative or more timid among +their supporters. This dislike might not have gone +beyond many mutterings and a few desertions +but for the vehemence with which Lowe opposed +the measure. He fought against it in a series of +speeches which produced a greater impression in +the House of Commons, and roused stronger +feelings of admiration and hostility in the +country, than any political addresses had done +since 1832. The new luminary rose so suddenly +to the zenith, and cast so unexpected a +light that everybody was dazzled; and though +many dissented, and some attacked him bitterly, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_296' name='page_296'></a>296</span> +few ventured to meet him in argument on the +ground he had selected. The effect of these +speeches of 1866 can hardly be understood by +any one who reads them to-day unless he knows +how commonplace and “practical,” that is to +say, averse to general reasonings and historical +illustrations, the character of parliamentary debating +was becoming even in Lowe’s time. It +is still more practical and still less ornate in our +own day.</p> +<p>The House of Commons then contained, +and has indeed usually contained (though some +Houses are much better than others), many capable +lawyers, capable men of business, capable +country gentlemen; many men able to express +themselves with clearness, fluency, and that sort +of temperate good sense which Englishmen +especially value. Few, however, were able to +produce finished rhetoric; still fewer had a range +of thought and knowledge extending much beyond +the ordinary education of a gentleman and +the ordinary ideas of a politician; and the assembly +was one so intolerant of rhetoric, and so much inclined +to treat, as unpractical, facts and arguments +drawn from recondite sources, that even those who +possessed out-of-the-way learning were disposed, +and rightly so, to use it sparingly. In Robert +Lowe, however, a remarkable rhetorical and dialectical +power was combined with a command +of branches of historical, literary, and economic +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_297' name='page_297'></a>297</span> +knowledge so unfamiliar to the average member +as to have for him all the charm of novelty. +The rhetoric was sometimes too elaborate. The +political philosophy was not always sound. But +the rhetoric was so polished that none could fail +to enjoy it; and the political philosophy was put +in so terse, bright, and pointed a form that it +made the ordinary country gentleman fancy himself +a philosopher while he listened to it in the +House or repeated it to his friends at the club. +The speeches, which, though directed against +a particular measure, constituted an indictment +of democratic government in general, had the +advantages of expressing what many felt but +few had ventured to say, and of being delivered +from one side of the House and cheered by +the other side. No position gives a debater in +the House of Commons such a vantage ground +for securing attention. Its rarity makes it remarkable. +If the speaker who attacks his own +party is supposed to do so from personal motives, +the personal element gives piquancy. If he may +be credited with conscientious conviction, his +shafts strike with added weight, for how strong +must conviction be when it turns a man against +his former friends. Accordingly, nothing so +much annoys a party and gratifies its antagonists +as when one of its own recalcitrant +members attacks it in flank. When one looks +back now at the contents of these speeches—there +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_298' name='page_298'></a>298</span> +were only five or six of them—and finds +one’s self surprised at their success, this favouring +circumstance and the whole temper of the +so-called “upper classes” need to be remembered. +The bulk of the wealthier commercial +class and a large section of the landed class had +theretofore belonged to the Liberal party. Most +of them, however, were then already beginning +to pass through what was called Whiggism into +habits of thought that were practically Tory. +They did not know how far they had gone till +Lowe’s speeches told them, and they welcomed +his ideas as justifying their own tendencies.</p> +<p>In themselves, as pieces either of rhetoric or +of “civil wisdom,” the speeches are not first-rate. +No one would dream of comparing them to +Burke’s, in originality, or in richness of diction, +or in weight of thought. But for the moment +they were far more appreciated than Burke’s +were by the House of his time, which thought of +dining while he thought of convincing. Robert +Lowe was for some months the idol of a large +part of the educated class, and indeed of that +part chiefly which plumed itself upon its culture. +I recollect to have been in those days at a +breakfast party given by an eminent politician +and nominal supporter of the Liberal Ministry, +and to have heard Mr. G. S. Venables, the leader +of the <i>Saturday Review</i> set, an able and copious +writer who was a sort of literary and political +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_299' name='page_299'></a>299</span> +oracle among his friends, deliver, amid general +applause, including that of the host, the opinion +that Lowe was an intellectual giant compared to +Mr. Gladstone, and that the reputation of the +latter had been extinguished for ever.</p> +<p>This period of glory, which was enhanced by +the fall of Lord Russell and Mr. Gladstone from +power in June 1866—the defeat came on a minor +point, but was largely due to Lowe’s speeches—lasted +till Lowe, who had now become a force to +be counted with, obtained office as Chancellor of +the Exchequer in the Liberal Ministry which +Mr. Gladstone formed in the end of 1868. From +that moment his position declined. He lost popularity +and influence both with the country and in +the House of Commons. His speeches were +always able, but they did not seem to tell when +delivered from the ministerial bench. His financial +proposals, though ingenious, were thought +too ingenious, and showed a deficient perception +of the tendencies of the English mind. No +section likes being taxed, but Lowe’s budgets +met with a more than usually angry opposition. +His economies and retrenchments, so far from +bringing him the credit he deserved, exposed +him to the charge of cheese-paring parsimony, +and did much to render the Ministry unpopular. +Before that ministry fell in 1874, Lowe, who +had in 1873 exchanged the Exchequer for the +Home Office, had almost ceased to be a personage +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_300' name='page_300'></a>300</span> +in politics. He did nothing to retrieve his fame +during the six years of Opposition that followed, +seldom spoke, took little part in the denunciation +of Lord Beaconsfield’s Eastern and Afghan policy, +which went on from 1876 till 1880, and once at +least gave slight signs of declining mental power. +So in 1880 he was relegated to the House of +Lords, because the new Liberal Government of +that year could not make room for him. Very +soon thereafter his memory began to fail, and for +the last ten years of his life he had been practically +forgotten, though sometimes seen, a pathetic +figure, at evening parties. There is hardly a +parallel in our parliamentary annals to so complete +an eclipse of so brilliant a luminary.</p> +<p>This rapid obscuration of a reputation which +was genuine, for Lowe’s powers had been amply +proved, was due to no accident, and was apparent +long before mental decay set in. The causes lay +in himself. One cause was purely physical. He +was excessively short-sighted, so much so that +when he was writing a letter, his nose was apt to +rub out the words his pen had traced; and this +defect shut him out from all that knowledge of +individual men and of audiences which is to be +obtained by watching their faces. Mr. Gladstone, +who never seemed to resent Lowe’s attacks, and +greatly admired his gifts—it was not so clear +that Lowe reciprocated the admiration—used to +relate that on one occasion when a foreign potentate +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_301' name='page_301'></a>301</span> +met the Minister in St. James’s Park and put +out his hand in friendly greeting, Lowe repelled +his advances, and when the King said, “But, Mr. +Lowe, you know me quite well,” he answered, +“Yes, indeed, I know you far too well, and I don’t +want to have anything more to do with you.” +He had mistaken the monarch for a prominent +politician with whom he had had a sharp encounter +on a deputation a few days before! For +social purposes Lowe might almost as well have +been blind; yet he did not receive that kind of +indulgence which is extended to the blind. In +the interesting fragment of autobiography which +he left, he attributes his unpopularity entirely to +this cause, declaring that he was really of a kindly +nature, liking his fellow-men just as well as most +of them like one another.<a name='FNanchor_0034' id='FNanchor_0034'></a><a href='#Footnote_0034' class='fnanchor'>[42]</a> But in truth his own +character had something to answer for. Without +being ill-natured, he was deemed a hard-natured +man, who did not appear to consider the feelings +of others. He had indeed a love of mischief, +and gleefully tells in his autobiography how, +when travelling in his youth through the Scottish +Highlands, he drove the too self-conscious Wordsworth +wild by his incessant praise of Walter Scott.<a name='FNanchor_0035' id='FNanchor_0035'></a><a href='#Footnote_0035' class='fnanchor'>[43]</a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_302' name='page_302'></a>302</span> +He had not in political life more than his fair +share of personal enmities. One of them was +Disraeli’s. They were not unequally matched. +Lowe was intellectually in some respects stronger, +but he wanted Disraeli’s skill in managing men +and assemblies. Disraeli resented Lowe’s sarcasms, +and on one occasion, when the latter had +made an indiscreet speech, went out of his way +to inflict on him a personal humiliation.</p> +<p>Nor was this Lowe’s only defect. Powerful +in attack, he was feeble in defence. Terrible as +a critic, he had, as his official career showed, little +constructive talent, little tact in shaping or recommending +his measures. Unsteady or inconstant +in purpose, he was at one moment headstrong, +at another timid or vacillating. These faults, +scarcely noticed when he was in Opposition, +sensibly reduced his value as a minister and as a +Cabinet colleague.</p> +<p>In private Lowe was good company, bright, +alert, and not unkindly. He certainly did not, +as was alleged of another famous contemporary, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_303' name='page_303'></a>303</span> +Lord Westbury, positively enjoy the giving of +pain. But he had a most unchristian scorn for the +slow and the dull and the unenlightened, and never +restrained his scorching wit merely for the sake of +sparing those who came in his way. If the distinction +be permissible, he was not cruel but he +was merciless, that is to say, unrestrained by compassion. +Instances are not wanting of men who +have maintained great influence in spite of their +rough tongues and the enmities which rough +tongues provoke. But such men have usually +also possessed some of the arts of popularity, and +have been able to retain the adherence of their +party at large, even when they had alienated +many who came into personal contact with them. +This was not Lowe’s case. He did not conceal +his contempt for the multitude, and had not the +tact needed for humouring it, any more than for +managing the House of Commons. The very +force and keenness of his intellect kept him aloof +from other people and prevented him from understanding +their sentiments. He saw things so +clearly that he could not tolerate mental confusion, +and was apt to reach conclusions so fast +that he missed perceiving some of the things +which are gradually borne in upon slower minds. +There are also instances of strong men who, +though they do not revile their opponents, incur +hatred because their strength and activity make +them feared. Hostility concentrates itself on the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_304' name='page_304'></a>304</span> +opponents deemed most formidable, and a political +leader who is spared while his fellows are attacked +cannot safely assume that this immunity is a +tribute to his virtues. Incessant abuse fell to +the lot of Mr. Bright, who was not often, and of +Mr. Gladstone, who was hardly ever, personally +bitter in invective. But in compensation Mr. +Bright and Mr. Gladstone received enthusiastic +loyalty from their followers. For Lowe there was +no such compensation. Even his own side did +not love him. There was also a certain harshness, +perhaps a certain narrowness, about his views. +Even in those days of rigid economics, he took +an exceptionally rigid view of all economic problems, +refusing to make allowance for any motives +except those of bare self-interest. Though he +did not belong by education or by social +ties to the Utilitarian group, and gave an ungracious +reception to J. S. Mill’s first speeches +in the House of Commons, he was a far more +stringent and consistent exponent of the harder +kind of Benthamism than was Mill himself. He +professed, and doubtless to some extent felt, a +contempt for appeals to historical or literary +sentiment, and relished nothing more than deriding +his own classical training as belonging to an +effete and absurd scheme of education. He left +his mark on our elementary school system by +establishing the system of payment by results, +but nearly every change made in that system +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_305' name='page_305'></a>305</span> +since his day has tended to destroy the alterations +he made and to bring back the older condition +of things, though no doubt in an amended form. +His ideas of University reform were crude and +barren, limited, indeed, to the substitution of what +the Germans call “bread studies” for mental cultivation, +and to the extension of the plan of competitive +examinations for honours and money +prizes, a plan which more and more displeases +the most enlightened University teachers, and +is felt to have done more harm than good to +Oxford and Cambridge, where it has had the +fullest play. He had also, and could give good +reasons for his opinion, a hearty dislike to endowments +of all kinds; and once, when asked +by a Royal Commission to suggest a mode of +improving their application, answered in his +trenchant way, “Get rid of them. Throw them +into the sea.”</p> +<p>It would not be fair to blame Lowe for the +results which followed his vigorous action against +the extension of the suffrage in 1866, for no one +could then have predicted that in the following +year the Tories, beguiled by Mr. Disraeli, would +reverse their former attitude and carry a suffrage +bill far wider than that which they had rejected a +year before. But the sequel of the successful +resistance of 1866 may stand as a warning to +those who think that the course of thoroughgoing +opposition to a measure they dislike is, because +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_306' name='page_306'></a>306</span> +it seems courageous, likely to be the right and +wise course for patriotic men. Had the moderate +bill of 1866 been suffered to pass, the question of +further extending the suffrage might possibly have +slept for another thirty years, for there was no +very general or urgent cry for it among the working +people, and England would have continued +to be ruled in the main by voters belonging to +the middle class and the upper section of the +working class. The consequence of the heated +contest of 1866 was not only to bring about +a larger immediate change in 1867, but to +create an interest in the question which soon +prompted the demand for the extension of household +suffrage to the counties, and completed in +1884-85 the process by which England has become +virtually a democracy, though a plutocratic +democracy, still affected by the habits and notions +of oligarchic days. Thus Robert Lowe, as much +as Disraeli and Gladstone, may in a sense be +called an author of the tremendous change which +has passed upon the British Constitution since +1866, and the extent of which was not for a +long while realised. Lowe himself never recanted +his views, but never repeated his declaration +of them, feeling that he had incurred +unpopularity enough, and probably feeling also +that the case was hopeless.</p> +<p>People who disliked his lugubrious forecasts +used to call him a Cassandra, perhaps forgetting +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_307' name='page_307'></a>307</span> +that, besides the distinctive feature of Cassandra’s +prophecies that nobody believed them, there was +another distinctive feature, viz. that they came +true. Did Lowe’s? It is often profitable and +sometimes amusing to turn back to the predictions +through which eminent men relieved their +perturbed souls, and see how far these superior +minds were able to discern the tendencies, already +at work in their time, which were beginning to +gain strength, and were destined to determine +the future. Whoever reads Lowe’s speeches of +1865-67 may do worse than glance at the same +time at a book,<a name='FNanchor_0036' id='FNanchor_0036'></a><a href='#Footnote_0036' class='fnanchor'>[44]</a> long since forgotten, which contains +the efforts of a group of young University +Liberals to refute the arguments used by him +and by Lord Cairns, the strongest of his allies, +in their opposition to schemes of parliamentary +reform.</p> +<p>To compare the optimism of these young +writers and Lowe’s pessimism with what has +actually come to pass is a not uninstructive +task. True it is that England has had only +thirty-five years’ experience of the Reform Act +of 1867, and only seventeen years’ experience +of that even greater step towards pure democracy +which was effected by the Franchise and +Redistribution Acts of 1884-85. We are still +far from knowing what sorts of Parliaments and +policies the enlarged suffrage will end by giving. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_308' name='page_308'></a>308</span> +But some at least of the mischiefs Lowe foretold +have not arrived. He expected first of all a +rapid increase in corruption and intimidation at +parliamentary elections. The quality of the +House of Commons would decline, because money +would rule, and small boroughs would no longer +open the path by which talent could enter. +Members would be either millionaires or demagogues, +and they would also become far more +subservient to their constituents. Universal +suffrage would soon arrive, because no halting-place +between the £10 franchise<a name='FNanchor_0037' id='FNanchor_0037'></a><a href='#Footnote_0037' class='fnanchor'>[45]</a> and universal +suffrage could be found. Placed on a democratic +basis, the House of Commons would not be able +to retain its authority over the Executive. The +House of Lords, the Established Church, the +judicial bench (in that dignity and that independence +which are essential to its usefulness), would +be overthrown as England passed into “the bare +and level plain of democracy where every ant-hill +is a mountain and every thistle a forest tree.” +These and the other features characteristic of +popular government on which Lowe savagely +descanted were pieced together out of Plato and +Tocqueville, coupled with his own disagreeable +experiences of Australian politics. None of the +predicted evils can be said to have as yet become +features of the polity and government of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_309' name='page_309'></a>309</span> +England,<a name='FNanchor_0038' id='FNanchor_0038'></a><a href='#Footnote_0038' class='fnanchor'>[46]</a> though the power of the House relatively +to the Cabinet does seem to be declining. +Yet some of Lowe’s incidental remarks are true, +and not least true is his prediction that democracies +will be found just as prone to war, just as apt to +be swept away by passion, as other kinds of +government have been. Few signs herald the +approach of that millennium of peace and enlightenment +which Cobden foretold and for which +Gladstone did not cease to hope.</p> +<p>No one since Lowe has taken up the part of +<i>advocatus diaboli</i> against democracy which he +played in 1866.<a name='FNanchor_0039' id='FNanchor_0039'></a><a href='#Footnote_0039' class='fnanchor'>[47]</a> Since Disraeli passed the Household +Suffrage in Boroughs Bill in 1867, a nullification +of Lowe’s triumph which incensed him +more than ever against Disraeli, no one has ever +come forward in England as the avowed enemy +of changes designed to popularise our government. +Parties have quarrelled over the time and +the manner of extensions of the franchise, but the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_310' name='page_310'></a>310</span> +issue of principle raised in 1866 has not been +raised again. Even in 1884, when Mr. Gladstone +carried his bill for assimilating the county franchise +to that existing in boroughs, the Tory party did +not oppose the measure in principle, but confined +themselves to insisting that it should be accompanied +by a scheme for the redistribution of seats. +The secret, first unveiled by Disraeli, that the +masses will as readily vote for the Tory party as +for the Liberal, is now common property, and +universal suffrage, when it comes to be offered, is +as likely to be offered by the former party as by +the latter. This gives a touch of historical interest +to Lowe’s speeches of 1866. They are the +swan-song of the old constitutionalism. The +changes which came in 1867 and 1884 must have +come sooner or later, for they were in the natural +line of development as we see it all over the +world; but they might have come much later +had not Lowe’s opposition wrecked the moderate +scheme of 1866. Apart from that episode Lowe’s +career would now be scarcely remembered, or +would be remembered by those who knew his +splendid gifts as an illustration of the maxim that +mere intellectual power does not stand first among +the elements of character that go to the winning +of a foremost place.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_311' name='page_311'></a>311</span> +<a name='WILLIAM_ROBERTSON_SMITH' id='WILLIAM_ROBERTSON_SMITH'></a> +<h2>WILLIAM ROBERTSON SMITH</h2> +</div> +<p>Robertson Smith,<a name='FNanchor_0040' id='FNanchor_0040'></a><a href='#Footnote_0040' class='fnanchor'>[48]</a> the most widely learned and +one of the most powerful teachers that either +Cambridge or Oxford could show during the +years of his residence in England, died at the +age of forty-seven on the 31st of March 1894. +To the English public generally his name was +little known, or was remembered only in connection +with the theological controversy and ecclesiastical +trial of which he had been the central figure +in Scotland fifteen years before. But on the +Continent of Europe and by Orientalists generally +he was regarded as the foremost Semitic scholar +of Britain, and by those who knew him as one of +the most remarkable men of his time.</p> +<p>He was born in 1846 in the quiet pastoral +valley of the Don, in Aberdeenshire. His father, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_312' name='page_312'></a>312</span> +who was a minister of the Scottish Free Church +in the parish of Keig, possessed high mathematical +talent, and his mother, who survived him six years, +was a woman of great force of character, who +retained till her death, at seventy-six years of +age, the full exercise of her keen intelligence. +Smith went straight from his father’s teaching to +the University of Aberdeen, and after graduating +there, continued his studies first at Bonn in 1865, +and afterwards at Göttingen (1869). When only +twenty-four he became Professor of Oriental +Languages in the College or Divinity School of +the Free Church at Aberdeen, and two years +later was chosen one of the revisers of the Old +Testament, a striking honour for so young a +man. In 1881 he became first assistant-editor +and then editor-in-chief of the ninth edition of the +<i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i>. He was exceptionally +qualified for the post by the variety of his attainments +and by the extreme quickness of his mind, +which rapidly acquired knowledge on almost any +kind of subject. Those who knew him are agreed +that among all the eminent men who have been +connected with this great <i>Encyclopædia</i> from its +first beginning nearly a century and a half ago until +now, he was surpassed by none, if equalled by any, +in the range of his learning and in the capacity to +bring learning to bear upon editorial work. He +took infinite pains to find the most competent +writers, and was able to exercise effective personal +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_313' name='page_313'></a>313</span> +supervision over a very large proportion of +the articles. The ninth edition was much fuller +and more thorough than any of its predecessors; +and good as the first twelve volumes were, a still +higher level of excellence was attained in the latter +half, a result due to his industry and discernment. +Not a few of the articles on subjects connected +with the Old Testament were from his own pen; +and they were among the best in the work.</p> +<p>The appearance of one of them, that entitled +“Bible,” which contained a general view of the +history of the canonical books of Scripture, their +dates, authorship, and reception by the Christian +Church, became a turning-point in his life. The +propositions he stated regarding the origin of +parts of the Old Testament, particularly the +Pentateuch, excited alarm and displeasure in +Scotland, where few persons had become aware +of the conclusions reached by recent Biblical +scholars in Continental Europe. The article +was able, clear, and fearless, plainly the work +of a master hand. The views it advanced were +not for the most part due to Smith’s own investigations, +but were to be found in the writings +of other learned men. Neither would they now +be thought extreme; they are in fact accepted to-day +by many writers of unquestioned orthodoxy +in Britain and a (perhaps smaller) number in the +United States. In 1876, however, these views +were new and startling to those who had not +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_314' name='page_314'></a>314</span> +studied in Germany or followed the researches of +such men as Ewald, Kuenen, and Wellhausen. +The Scottish Free Church had theretofore prided +itself upon the rigidity of its orthodoxy; and while +among the younger ministers there were a good +many able and learned scholars holding what used +to be called “advanced views,” the mass of the +elder and middle-aged clergy had gone on in the +old-fashioned traditions of verbal inspiration, and +took every word in the Five Books (except the +last chapter of Deuteronomy) to have been written +down by Moses. It was only natural that their +anger should be kindled against the young professor, +whose theories seemed to cut away the +ground from under their feet. Proceedings were +(1876) taken against him before the Presbytery +of Aberdeen, and the case found its way thence +to the Synod of Aberdeen, and ultimately to the +General Assembly of the Free Church. In one +form or another (for the flame was lit anew by +other articles published by him in the <i>Encyclopædia</i>) +it lingered on for five years. So far from +yielding to the storm, Robertson Smith defied it, +maintaining not only the truth of his views, but +their compatibility with the Presbyterian standards +as contained in the Confession of Faith and the +Longer and Shorter Catechisms. In this latter +contention he was successful, proving that the +divines of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries +had not committed themselves to any specific +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_315' name='page_315'></a>315</span> +doctrine of inspiration, still less to any dogmatic +deliverance as to the authorship of particular +books of Scripture. The standards simply declared +that the Word of God was contained in the +canonical books, and as there had been little or +no controversy between Protestants and Roman +Catholics regarding the date or the authorship or +the divine authority of those books (apart of +course from disputes regarding the Apocrypha), +had not dealt specifically with those last mentioned +matters. As it was by reference to the +Confession of Faith that the offence alleged had +to be established, Smith made good his defence; +so in the end, finding it impossible to convict him +of deviation from the standards, and thereby to +deal with him as an ordained minister of the +Church, his adversaries fell back on the plan +of depriving him, by an executive rather than +judicial vote, not indeed of his clerical status, +but of his professorship, on the ground of the +alleged “unsettling character” of his teaching.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, however, there had been an immense +rally to him of the younger clergy and +of the less conservative among the laity. The +main current of Scottish popular thought and +life had ever since the Reformation flowed in +an ecclesiastical channel; and even nowadays, +when Scotland is rapidly becoming Anglicised, +a theological or ecclesiastical question excites a +wider and keener interest there than a similar +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_316' name='page_316'></a>316</span> +question would do in England. So in Scotland +for four years “the Robertson Smith case” was +the chief topic of discussion outside as well as +inside the Free Church. The sympathy felt for +the accused was heightened by the ingenuity, +energy, and courage with which he defended his +position, showing a power of argument and +repartee which made it plain that he would +have held a distinguished place in any assembly +whatever. If his debating had a fault, it was +that of being almost too dialectically cogent, so +that his antagonists felt that they were being +foiled on the form of the argument before they +could get to the issues they sought to raise. +But while he was an accomplished lawyer in +matters of form, he was no less an accomplished +theologian in matters of substance. Although the +party of repression triumphed so far as to deprive +him of his chair, the victory virtually remained +with him, not only because he had shown that the +Scottish Presbyterian standards did not condemn +the views he held, but also because his defence +and the discussions which it occasioned had, in +bringing those views to the knowledge of a great +number of thoughtful laymen, led such persons +to reconsider their own position. Some of them +found themselves forced to agree with Smith. +Others, who distrusted their capacity for arriving +at a conclusion, came at least to think that the +questions involved did not affect the essentials of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_317' name='page_317'></a>317</span> +faith, and must be settled by the ordinary canons +of historical and philological criticism. Thus the +trial proved to be a turning-point for the Scottish +Churches, much as the <i>Essays and Reviews</i> case +had been for the Church of England eighteen +years earlier. Opinions formerly proscribed were +thereafter freely expressed. Nearly all the doctrinal +prosecutions subsequently attempted in +the Scottish Presbyterian Churches have failed. +Much feeling has been excited, but the result +has been to secure a greater latitude than was +dreamt of forty years ago. At first the rigidly +orthodox section of the Free Church, now +almost confined to the Highlands, thought of +seceding from the main body on the ground +that tolerance was passing into indifference or +unbelief. But the new ideas continued to grow, +and the sentiment in favour of letting clergymen +as well as lay church members put a lax construction +on the doctrinal standards drawn up in the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, has spread +as widely in Scotland as in England. The Presbyterian +Churches in America and the Roman +Catholic Church now stand almost alone among +the larger Christian bodies in retaining something +of the ancient rigidity. Even the Roman +Church begins to feel the solvent power of these +researches. It may be conjectured that as the +process of adjusting the letter of Scripture to the +conclusions of science which Galileo was not +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_318' name='page_318'></a>318</span> +permitted to apply in the field of astronomy has +now been generally applied in the fields of geology +and biology, so all the churches will presently reconcile +themselves to the conclusions of historical +and linguistic criticism, now that such criticism +has become truly scientific in its methods.</p> +<p>Having no longer any tie to Scotland, as he +had never desired a pastoral charge there, since +he felt his vocation to lie in study and teaching, +Smith was hesitating which way to turn, when the +offer of the Lord Almoner’s Readership in Arabic, +which had become vacant in 1883, determined +him to settle in Cambridge. He had travelled +in Arabia a few years earlier, thereby adding a +colloquial familiarity to his grammatical mastery +of the language. He was an ardent student of +Arabic literature, and indeed devoted more time +to it than to Hebrew. Though he had felt +deeply the attacks made upon him, and was +indignant at the mode of his dismissal, he was +not in the least dispirited; and his self-control +was shown by the way in which he resisted the +temptation, to which controversialists are prone, +of going further than they originally meant and +thereby damaging the position of their supporters. +Still, he was weary of controversy, and pleased to +see before him a prospect of learned quiet and +labour, although the salary of the Readership +was less than £100 a year. Fortunately he +had come to a place where gifts like his were +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_319' name='page_319'></a>319</span> +appreciated. The Master and Fellows of Christ’s +College elected him to a fellowship with no +duties of tuition attached to it—a wise and graceful +recognition of his merits which did them the +more credit because they had very little personal +knowledge of him, while he had possessed no +prior tie with the University. Christ’s is one of +the smaller colleges, but has almost always had +men of distinction among its fellows, and has maintained +a high standard of teaching. In the list of +its alumni stand the names of John Milton, Isaac +Barrow, Ralph Cudworth, and Charles Darwin. +Robertson Smith dwelt in it for the rest of his +days, entering into the life of hall and common-room +with great zest, for he was of an extremely +sociable turn, and the College became proud of +him. When a vacancy occurred in the office of +University Librarian, he was chosen to fill it. +His knowledge of and fondness for books fitted +him excellently for the place, but the details of +administration worried him, and it was a change +for the better when (in 1889), on the death +of his friend, William Wright, he became Professor +of Arabic.<a name='FNanchor_0041' id='FNanchor_0041'></a><a href='#Footnote_0041' class='fnanchor'>[49]</a> His efforts to build up a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_320' name='page_320'></a>320</span> +school of Oriental studies on the foundations laid +by Wright, and with the help of an eminent +Syriac scholar, Bensley, were proving successful, +and a considerable number of able young men +were gathering round him, when (in 1890) the +hand of disease fell upon him, obliging him first +to curtail and afterwards to intermit his lectures. +The last year of his life was a year of suffering, +borne with uncomplaining fortitude.</p> +<p>What with work on the <i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i>, +with the distractions of his prolonged trial, +with the time spent in oral teaching, and with +the physical weakness of his latest years, Smith’s +leisure available for literary production was not +large, and the books he has left do not adequately +represent either his accumulated knowledge or +his faculty of investigation. The earlier books—<i>The +Old Testament in the Jewish Church</i> and +<i>The Prophets of Israel</i> (the latter a series of +lectures delivered at Glasgow)—are comparatively +popular in handling. The two later—<i>Kinship +and Marriage in Early Arabia</i> and <i>The Religion +of the Semites</i>—are more abstruse and technical, +and also more original, dealing with topics in +which their author was a pioneer, though he +had been influenced by, and acknowledged in +the amplest way his obligations to, his friend +John F. Maclennan, the author of <i>Primitive +Marriage</i>. <i>The Religion of the Semites</i>, though +masterly in plan and execution, and though it +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_321' name='page_321'></a>321</span> +has excited the admiration of the few Oriental +scholars competent to appraise its substantial +merit, suffers from its incompleteness. Only +the first volume was published, for death overtook +the author before he could put into +final shape the materials he had collected for the +full development of his theories. As the second +volume would have traced the connection between +the primitive religion of the Arab branches of the +Semitic stock (including Israel) and the Hebrew +religion as we have it in the earlier books of the Old +Testament, the absence of this finished statement +is a loss to science. Changes had passed upon +his views since he wrote the incriminated articles, +and he said to me (I think about 1888) that he +would no longer undertake any clerical duties. +He had a sensitive conscience, and held that no +clergyman ought to use language in the pulpit +which did not express his personal convictions.</p> +<p>What struck one most in Robertson Smith’s +writings was the easy command wherewith he +handled his materials. His generalisations were +based on an endlessly patient and careful study of +details, a study in which he never lost sight of +guiding principles. With perfect lucidity and an +unstrained natural vigour, there was a sense of +abounding and overflowing knowledge which inspired +confidence in the reader, making him feel +he was in the hands of a master. On all that +pertained to the languages and literature of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_322' name='page_322'></a>322</span> +Arabic branch of the Semitic races, ancient and +modern (for he did not claim to be an Assyriologist), +his knowledge was accurate no less than +comprehensive. Full of deference to the great +scholars—no one spoke with a warmer admiration +of Nöldeke, Wellhausen, and Lagarde than he did—he +was a stringent critic of unscientific work in +the sphere of history and physics as well as in +that of philology, quick to expose the uncritical +assumptions or loose hypotheses of less careful +though more pretentious students. He used to +say that when he had disposed of the <i>Encyclopædia +Britannica</i>, he might undertake a “Dictionary of +European Impostors.” Oriental lore was only +one of many subjects in which he might have +achieved distinction. His mathematical talents +were remarkable, and during two sessions he +taught with conspicuous success the class of +Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh +as assistant professor. He had a competent +acquaintance with not a few other practical +arts, including navigation, and once, when the +compasses of the vessel on which he was sailing +in the Red Sea got out of order, he proved to be +the person on board most competent to set them +right. In metaphysics and theology, in ancient +history and many departments of modern history, +he was thoroughly at home. Few, indeed, were +the subjects that came up in the course of conversation +on which he was not able to throw light, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_323' name='page_323'></a>323</span> +for the range of his acquirements was not more +striking than the swiftness and precision with +which he brought knowledge to bear wherever +it was wanted.</p> +<p>There was hardly a line of practical life in +which he might not have attained a brilliant +success. But the passion for knowledge made +him prefer the life of a scholar, and seemed to +have quenched any desire even for literary fame.</p> +<p>Learning is commonly thought of as a weight +to be carried, which makes men dull, heavy, or +pedantic. With Robertson Smith the effect seemed +to be exactly the opposite. Because he knew so +much, he was interested in everything, and threw +himself with a joyous freshness and keenness into +talk alike upon the most serious and the lightest +topics. He was combative, apt to traverse a proposition +when first advanced, even though he might +come round to it afterwards; and a discussion +with him taxed the defensive acumen of his +companions. Having once spent five weeks +alone with him in a villa at Alassio on the +Riviera, I observed to him when we parted +that we had had (as the Americans say) “a +lovely time” together, and that there was not +an observation I had made during those weeks +which he had not contested. He laughed +and did not contest that observation. Yet this +tendency, while it made his society more stimulating, +did not make it less agreeable, because +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_324' name='page_324'></a>324</span> +he never seemed to seek to overthrow an +adversary, but only to get at the truth of the +case, and his manner, though positive, had about +it nothing either acrid or conceited. One could +imagine no keener intellectual pleasure than his +company afforded, for there was, along with an +exuberant wealth of thought and knowledge, an +intensity and ardour which lit up every subject +which it touched. I once invited him and John +Richard Green (the historian) to meet at dinner. +They took to one another at once, nor was it easy +to say which lamp burned the brighter. Smith +had wider and more accurate learning, and stronger +logical power, but Green was just as swift, just as +fertile, just as ingenious. In stature Smith, like +Green, was small, almost diminutive; his dark +brown eyes bright and keen; his speech rapid; +his laugh ready and merry, for he had a quick +sense of humour and a power of enjoying things +as they came. The type of intellect suggested +a Teutonic Scot of the Lowlands, but in appearance +and temperament he was rather a Scottish +Celt of the Highlands, with a fire and a gaiety, +an abounding vivacity and vitality, which made +him a conspicuous figure wherever he lived, in +Aberdeen, in Edinburgh, in Cambridge. Even +by his walk, with its quick, irregular roll, one could +single him out at a distance in the street.</p> +<p>When a man is attractive personally, he is +all the more attractive for being unlike other +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_325' name='page_325'></a>325</span> +men, and he often becomes the centre of a +group. This was the case with Smith. His +numerous friends were so much interested by +him that when they met their talk was largely +of him, and many friendships were based on +a common knowledge of this one person. Indeed, +the geniality, elevation, and simplicity of +his character gave him a quite unusual hold on +those who had come to know him well. Few +men, leading an equally quiet and studious life, +have inspired so much regard and affection in so +large a number of persons; few teachers have had +an equal power of stimulating and attracting their +pupils. He loved teaching hardly less than he +loved the investigation of truth, and he was the +most faithful and sympathetic of friends, one +who was felt to be unique while he lived and +irreplaceable when he had departed.</p> +<p>I have spoken of the courage he had shown +in confronting his antagonists in the ecclesiastical +courts. That courage did not fail him in the +severer trials of his last illness. The nature of +the disease of which he died was disclosed to +him by his physician in September 1892, while +an international Congress of Orientalists, in which +he presided over the Semitic section, was holding +its meetings. A festival dinner was being given +in honour of the Congress the same afternoon. +When the physician had spoken, Smith simply +remarked, “This means the death my brother +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_326' name='page_326'></a>326</span> +died” (one of his brothers had been struck by +the same malady a few years before). He went +straight to the dinner, and was throughout the +evening the gayest and brightest of the guests.</p> +<p>Fancy sometimes indulges herself in imagining +what part the eminent men one has known would +have played had their lot been cast in some other +age. So I have fancied that Archbishop Tait +(described in an earlier chapter) ought to have +been Primate of England under Edward the +Sixth or Elizabeth. He would have guided the +course of reform more prudently and more firmly +than Cranmer did; he would have shown a broader +spirit than did Parker or Whitgift. So Cardinal +Manning, had he lived in the seventeenth century, +might haply have become General of the Jesuit +Order, and enjoyed the secret control of the politics +of the Catholic world. So Robertson Smith, had +he been born in the great age of the mediæval +universities, might, like the bold dialectician of +whom Dante speaks, have “syllogised invidious +truths”<a name='FNanchor_0042' id='FNanchor_0042'></a><a href='#Footnote_0042' class='fnanchor'>[50]</a> in the University of Paris; or had Fortune +placed him two centuries later among the scholars +of the Italian Renaissance in its glorious prime, +the fame of his learning might have filled half +Europe.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_327' name='page_327'></a>327</span> +<a name='HENRY_SIDGWICK' id='HENRY_SIDGWICK'></a> +<h2>HENRY SIDGWICK</h2> +</div> +<p>Henry Sidgwick was born at Skipton, in Yorkshire, +where his father was headmaster of the +ancient grammar school of the town, on 31st +May 1838.<a name='FNanchor_0043' id='FNanchor_0043'></a><a href='#Footnote_0043' class='fnanchor'>[51]</a> The family belonged to Yorkshire. +He was a precocious boy, and used to delight his +brothers and sister by the fertility of his imagination +in inventing games and stories. Educated +at Rugby School under Goulburn (afterwards +Dean of Norwich), he was sent at an unusually +early age to Trinity College, Cambridge. His +brilliant University career was crowned by the +first place in the classical tripos and by a first +class in the mathematical tripos, and he was +speedily elected a Fellow of Trinity. Intellectual +curiosity and an interest in the problems +of theology presently drew him to Germany, +where he worked at Hebrew and Arabic under +Ewald at Göttingen, as well as with other +eminent teachers. After hesitating for a time +whether to devote himself to Oriental studies +or to classical scholarship, he was drawn back to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_328' name='page_328'></a>328</span> +philosophy by his desire to investigate questions +bearing on natural theology, and finally settled +down to the pursuit of what are called in Cambridge +the moral sciences—metaphysics, ethics, and +psychology; becoming first a College Lecturer +and then (in 1875) a University Prælector in +these subjects. In 1869 he resigned his fellowship, +feeling that he could no longer consider +himself a “<i>bona fide</i> member of the Church of +England,” that being the condition then attached +by law to the holding of fellowships in the +Colleges at Cambridge. This step caused surprise, +for the test was deemed a very vague and light +one, having been recently substituted for a more +stringent requirement, and there had been many +holders of fellowships who were at least as little +entitled to call themselves <i>bona fide</i> members +of the Established Church as he was. But, +as was afterwards said of him by Mrs. Cross +(George Eliot), Sidgwick was expected by his +intimate friends to conform to standards higher +than average men prescribe for their own conduct. +Taken in conjunction with the fact that +several English Dissenters and Scottish Presbyterians +had won the distinction of a Senior +Wranglership and been debarred from fellowships, +though they were in theological opinion more +orthodox than some nominal members of the +Established Church who were holding fellowships, +Sidgwick’s conscientious act made a great impression +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_329' name='page_329'></a>329</span> +in Cambridge and did much to hasten +that total abolition of tests in the Universities +which was effected by statute in 1871; for in +England concrete instances of hardship and injustice +are more powerful incitements to reform +than the strongest abstract arguments, and Sidgwick +was already so eminent and so respected +a figure that all Cambridge felt the absurdity of +excluding such a man from its honours and emoluments. +In 1883 he was appointed Professor of +Moral Philosophy, and continued to hold that post +till three months before his death in 1900, when +failing health determined him to resign it.</p> +<p>His life was the still and tranquil life of the +thinker, teacher, and writer, varied by no events +more exciting than those controversies over +reforms in the studies and organisation of the +University in which his sense of public duty +frequently led him to bear a part.</p> +<p>These I pass over, but there is one branch of +his active work to which special reference ought +to be made, viz. the part he took in promoting the +University education of women. In or about the +year 1868 he joined with the late Miss Anne +Jane Clough (sister of the poet Arthur Clough) +and a few other friends in establishing a course +of lectures and a hall of residence for women +at Cambridge, which grew into the institution +called Newnham College. It and Girton College, +founded by other friends of the same cause +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_330' name='page_330'></a>330</span> +about the same time, were the first two institutions +in England which provided for women, +together with residential accommodation, a complete +University training equivalent and similar +to that provided by the two ancient English +universities for men. The teaching was mainly +given by the University professors and lecturers, +the curriculum was the same as the University +prescribed, and the women students, though not +legally admitted to the University, were examined +by the University examiners at the same +time as the other students. Henry Sidgwick +was, from the foundation of Newnham onwards, +the moving spirit and the guiding hand among +its University friends, the spirit which inspired +the policy and the hand which piloted the +fortunes of the College. Its growth to its present +dimensions, and its usefulness, not only directly, +but through the example it has set, have been +largely due to his assiduous care and temperate +wisdom. He had married (in 1876) Miss Eleanor +Mildred Balfour, and when she accepted the principalship +of Newnham after Miss Clough’s death, in +1889, he and she transferred their residence to +the College, and lived thenceforward at it. The +England of our time has seen no movement of +opinion more remarkable or more beneficial than +that which has recognised the claims of women +to the highest kind of education, and secured a +substantial, if still incomplete, provision therefor. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_331' name='page_331'></a>331</span> +The change has come so quietly and unobtrusively +that few people realise how great it +is. Few, indeed, remember what things were +forty years ago, as few realise when waste lands +have been stubbed and drained and tilled what +they were like in their former state. No one did +more than Sidgwick to bring about this change. +Besides his work for Newnham, he took a lead +in all the movements that have been made to +obtain for women a fuller admission to University +privileges, and well deserved the gratitude of +Englishwomen for his unceasing efforts on their +behalf.</p> +<p>The obscure problems of psychology had a +great attraction for him, and he spent much time +in investigating them, being one of the founders, +and remaining all through his later life a leading +and guiding member, of the Society for Psychical +Research, which has for the last twenty years +cultivated this field with an industry and ability +which have deserved larger harvests than have +yet been reaped. Two remarkable men, both +devoted friends of his, worked with him, Edmund +Gurney and Frederic Myers the poet, the latter +of whom survived him a few months only. It +was characteristic of Sidgwick that he never committed +himself to any of the bold and possibly +over-sanguine anticipations formed by some of +the other members of the Society, while yet he +never was deterred by failure, or by the discovery +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_332' name='page_332'></a>332</span> +of deceptions, sometimes elaborate and long sustained, +from pursuing inquiries which seemed to +him to have an ultimate promise of valuable +results. The phenomena, he would say, may be +true or false; anyhow they deserve investigation. +The mere fact that so many persons believe them +to be genuine is a problem fit to be investigated. +If they are false, it will be a service to have +proved them so. If they contain some truth, +it is truth of a kind so absolutely new as to be +worth much effort and long effort to reach it. In +any case, science ought to take the subject out of +the hands of charlatans.</p> +<p>The main business of his life, however, was +teaching and writing. Three books stand out as +those by which he will be best remembered—his +<i>Methods of Ethics</i>, his <i>Principles of Political +Economy</i>, and his <i>Elements of Politics</i>. All three +have won the admiration of those who are experts +in the subjects to which they respectively relate, +and they continue to be widely read in universities +both in Britain and in America. All +three bear alike the peculiar impress of his mind.</p> +<p>It was a mind of singular subtlety, fertility, +and ingenuity, which applied to every topic an +extremely minute and patient analysis. Never +satisfied with the obvious view of a question, +it seemed unable to acquiesce in any broad and +sweeping statement. It discovered objections to +every accepted doctrine, exceptions to every rule. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_333' name='page_333'></a>333</span> +It perceived minute distinctions and qualifications +which had escaped the notice of previous writers. +These qualities made Sidgwick’s books somewhat +difficult reading for a beginner, who was apt to +ask what, after all, was the conclusion to which he +had been led by an author who showed him the +subject in various lights, and added not a few minor +propositions to that which had seemed to be the +governing one. But the student who had already +some knowledge of the topic, who, though he +apprehended its main principles, had not followed +them out in detail or perceived the difficulties in +applying them, gained immensely by having so +many fresh points presented to him, so many +fallacies lurking in currently accepted notions +detected, so many conditions indicated which +might qualify the amplitude of a general proposition. +The method of discussion was stimulating. +Sometimes it reminded one of the Socratic +method as it appears in Plato, but more frequently +it was the method of Aristotle, who +discusses a subject first from one side, then from +another, throws out a number of remarks, not +always reconcilable, but always suggestive, regarding +it, and finally arrives at a view which he +delivers as being probably the best, but one +which must be taken subject to the remarks +previously made. The reader often feels in +Sidgwick’s treatment of a subject as he often +feels in Aristotle’s, that he would like to be left +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_334' name='page_334'></a>334</span> +with something more definite and positive, something +that can be easily delivered to learners as +an established truth. He desires a bolder and +broader sweep of the brush. But he also feels +how much he is benefited by the process of +sifting and analysing to which every conception +or dogma is subjected, and he perceives that +he is more able to handle it afterwards in his +own way when his attention has been called to +all these distinctions and qualifications or antinomies +which would have escaped any vision less +keen than his author’s. For those who, in an age +prone to hasty reading and careless thinking, are +disposed to underrate the difficulties of economic +and political questions, and to walk in a vain +conceit of knowledge because they have picked +up some large generalisations, no better discipline +can be prescribed than to follow patiently such +a treatment as Sidgwick gives; nor can any +reader fail to profit from the candour and the +love of truth which illumine his discussion of a +subject.</p> +<p>The love of truth and the sense of duty guided +his life as well as his pen. Though always +warmly interested in politics, he was of all the +persons I have known the least disposed to be +warped by partisanship, for he examined each +political issue as it arose on its own merits, apart +from predilections for either party or for the +views of his nearest friends. We used to wonder +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_335' name='page_335'></a>335</span> +how such splendid impartiality would have stood a +practical test such as that of the House of Commons. +His loyalty to civic duty was so strong as +on one occasion to bring him, in the middle of +his vacation, all the way from Davos, in the +easternmost corner of Switzerland, to Cambridge, +solely that he might record his vote at a parliamentary +election, although the result of the election +was already virtually certain.</p> +<p>Sidgwick’s attitude toward the Benthamite +system of Utilitarianism illustrates the cautiously +discriminative habit of mind I have sought to +describe. If he had been required to call himself +by any name, he would not have refused that +of Utilitarian, just as in mental philosophy he +leaned to the type of thought represented by the +two Mills rather than to the Kantian idealism of +his friend and school contemporary, the Oxford +professor T. H. Green. But the system of +Utility takes in his hands a form so much more +refined and delicate than was given to it by +Bentham and James Mill, and is expounded with +so many qualifications unknown to them, that it +has become a very different thing, and is scarcely, +if at all, assailable by the arguments which moralists +of the idealistic type have brought against +the older doctrine. Something similar may be +said of his treatment of bimetallism in his book +on political economy. While assenting to some of +the general propositions on which the bimetallic +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_336' name='page_336'></a>336</span> +theory rests, he points out so many difficulties in +the application of that theory to the actual conditions +of currency that his assent cannot be cited +as a deliverance in favour of trying to turn theory +into practice. He told me in 1896 that he held +the political and other practical objections to an +attempt to establish a bimetallic system to be virtually +insuperable. When he treats of free trade, he +is no less guarded and discriminating. He points +out various circumstances or conditions under +which a protective tariff may become, at least +for a time, justifiable, but never abandons the +free trade principle as being generally true and +sound, a principle not to be departed from +save for strong reasons of a local or temporary +kind. His general economic position is equally +removed from the “high and dry” school of +Ricardo on the one hand, and from the “Katheder-Sozialisten” +and the modern “sentimental” school +on the other. In all his books one notes a tendency +to discover what can be said for the view +which is in popular disfavour, even often for +that which he does not himself adopt, and to +set forth all the objections to the view which +is to receive his ultimate adhesion. There is a +danger with such a method of losing breadth and +force of effect. One is ready to cry, “Do lapse +for a moment into dogmatism.” Yet it ought to be +added that Sidgwick’s subtlety is always restrained +by practical good sense, as well as by the desire to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_337' name='page_337'></a>337</span> +reconcile opposite views. His arguments, though +they often turn on minute distinctions, are not +bits of fine-drawn ingenuity, but have weight and +substance in them.<a name='FNanchor_0044' id='FNanchor_0044'></a><a href='#Footnote_0044' class='fnanchor'>[52]</a></p> +<p>One book of his which has not yet (December +1902) been published, but which I have had the +privilege of reading in proof, displays his constructive +power in another light. It is a course +of lectures on the development of political institutions +in Europe from early times down to our +own. Here, as he is dealing with concrete matter, +the treatment is more broad, and the line of +exposition and argument more easy to follow, than +in the treatises already referred to. It is a masterly +piece of work, and reveals a wider range of +historical knowledge and a more complete mastery +of historical method than had been shown in his +earlier books, or indeed than some of his friends +had known him to possess.</p> +<p>The tendency to analysis rather than to construction, +the abstention from the deliverance of +doctrines easy to comprehend and repeat, which +belong to his writings on ethics and economics, +do not impair the worth of his literary criticisms. +In this field his fine perception and discriminative +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_338' name='page_338'></a>338</span> +taste had full scope. He was an incessant reader, +especially of poetry and novels, with a retentive +memory for poetry, as well as a finely modulated +and expressive voice in reciting it. His literary +judgments had less of a creative quality, if the +expression be permissible, than Matthew Arnold’s, +but are not otherwise inferior to those of that +brilliant though sometimes slightly prejudiced +critic. No one of his contemporaries has surpassed +Sidgwick in catholicity and reasonableness, +in the power of delicate appreciation, or in an +exquisite precision of expression. His essay on +Arthur Hugh Clough, prefixed to the latest edition +of Clough’s collected poems, is a good specimen +of this side of his talent. Clough was one of +his favourites, and has indeed been called the +pet poet of University men. Sidgwick’s literary +essays, which appeared occasionally in magazines, +were few, but they well deserve to be collected and +republished, for this age of ours, though largely +occupied in talking about literature, has produced +comparatively little criticism of the first order.</p> +<p>Sidgwick did not write swiftly or easily, because +he weighed carefully everything he wrote. +But his mind was alert and nimble in the highest +degree. Thus he was an admirable talker, seeing +in a moment the point of an argument, seizing on +distinctions which others had failed to perceive, +suggesting new aspects from which a question +might be regarded, and enlivening every topic +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_339' name='page_339'></a>339</span> +by a keen yet sweet and kindly wit. Wit, +seldom allowed to have play in his books, +was one of the characteristics which made his +company charming. Its effect was heightened +by a hesitation in his speech which often +forced him to pause before the critical word +or phrase of the sentence had been reached. +When that word or phrase came, it was sure +to be the right one. Though fond of arguing, +he was so candid and fair, admitting all that +there was in his opponent’s case, and obviously +trying to see the point from his opponent’s side, +that nobody felt annoyed at having come off +second best, while everybody who cared for good +talk went away feeling not only that he knew +more about the matter than he did before, but +that he had enjoyed an intellectual pleasure of a +rare and high kind. The keenness of his penetration +was not formidable, because it was joined +to an indulgent judgment: the ceaseless activity +of his intellect was softened rather than reduced +by the gaiety of his manner. His talk was conversation, +not discourse, for though he naturally +became the centre of nearly every company in +which he found himself, he took no more than +his share. It was like the sparkling of a brook +whose ripples seem to give out sunshine.</p> +<p>Though Sidgwick’s writings are a mine of +careful and suggestive thinking, he was even +more remarkable than his books. Though his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_340' name='page_340'></a>340</span> +conversation was delightful, the impression of its +fertility and its wit was the least part of the +impression which his personality produced. An +eminent man is known to the world at large by +what he gives them in the way of instruction or +of pleasure. A man is prized and remembered +by his friends for what he was in the intercourse +of life. Few men of our time have influenced +so wide or so devoted a circle of friends as did +Henry Sidgwick; few could respond to the calls +of friendship with a like sympathy or wisdom. +His advice was frequently asked in delicate +questions of conduct, and he was humorously +reminded that, by his own capacity as well as +by the title of his chair, he was a professor of +casuistry. His stores of knowledge and helpful +criticism were always at the service of his pupils +or his fellow-workers.</p> +<p>From his earliest college days he had been +just, well-balanced, conscientious alike in the pursuit +of truth and in the regulation of his own life, +appearing to have neither prejudices nor enmities, +and when he had to convey censure, choosing the +least cutting words in which to convey it. Yet +in earlier years there had been in him a touch +of austerity, a certain remoteness or air of detachment, +which confined to a very few persons +the knowledge of his highest qualities. As he +grew older his purity lost its coldness, his keenness +of discernment mellowed into a sweet and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_341' name='page_341'></a>341</span> +persuasive wisdom. A life excellently conducted, +a life which is the expression of fine qualities, and +in which the acts done are in harmony with the +thoughts and words of the man, is itself a beautiful +product, whether of untutored nature or of +thought and experience turning every faculty to +the best account. In the modern world the two +types of excellence which we are chiefly bidden +to admire are that of the active philanthropist +and that of the saint. The ancient world produced +and admired another type, to which some +of its noblest characters conformed, and which, in +its softer and more benignant aspect, Sidgwick +presented. In his indifference to wealth and +fame and the other familiar objects of human +desire, in the almost ascetic simplicity of his daily +life, in his pursuit of none but the purest pleasures, +in his habit of subjecting all impulses to the law +of reason, the will braced to patience, the soul +brought into harmony with the divinely appointed +order, he seemed to reproduce one of those philosophers +of antiquity who formed a lofty conception +of Nature and sought to live in conformity +with her precepts. But the gravity of a Stoic +was relieved by the humour and vivacity which +belonged to his nature, and the severity of a Stoic +was softened by the tenderness and sympathy +which seemed to grow and expand with every +year. In Cambridge, where, though the society +is a large one, all the teachers become personally +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_342' name='page_342'></a>342</span> +known to one another, and the students have +opportunities of familiar intercourse with the +teachers, affection as well as admiration gathered +round him. His thoughts quickened and his +example inspired generation after generation of +young men passing through the University out +into the life of England, as a light set high upon +the bank beams on the waves of a river gliding +swiftly to the sea.</p> +<p>It was a life of single-minded devotion to truth +and friendship, a life serene and gentle, free alike +from vanity and from ambition, bearing without +complaint the ill-health which sometimes checked +his labours, viewing with calm fortitude those +problems of man’s life on which his mind was +always fixed, untroubled in the presence of death.</p> +<table summary=''><tr><td> +<p class='cg'>Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas<br /> +Quique metus omnes et inexorabile fatum<br /> +Subiecit pedibus strepitumque Acherontis avari.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<p>When his friends heard of his departure there +rose to mind the words in which the closing scene of +the life of Socrates is described by the greatest of +his disciples, and we thought that among all those +we had known there was none of whom we could +more truly say that in him the spirit of philosophy +had its perfect work in justice, in goodness, and +in wisdom.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_343' name='page_343'></a>343</span> +<a name='EDWARD_ERNEST_BOWEN53' id='EDWARD_ERNEST_BOWEN53'></a> +<h2>EDWARD ERNEST BOWEN<a name="FNanchor_53" id="FNanchor_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor2">[53]</a></h2> +</div> +<p>Ever since the publication of Stanley’s Life of +Dr. Arnold that eminent headmaster has been +taken as the model of a great teacher and ruler +of boys, the man who, while stimulating the intelligence +of his pupils, was even more concerned +to discipline and mould their moral natures. +Arnold has become the type of what Carlyle +might have called “The Hero as Schoolmaster.” +Though there have been many able men at the +head of large schools since his time, including +three who afterwards rose to be Archbishops of +Canterbury, as well as a good many who have +become bishops, his fame remains unrivalled, and +the type created by his career, or rather perhaps by +his biographer’s account of it, still holds the field. +Moreover, during the sixty years that have passed +since Arnold’s death scarcely a word has been +said regarding any other masters than the head. +During those years the English universities have +sent into the great schools a large proportion of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_344' name='page_344'></a>344</span> +their most capable graduates as assistant teachers; +and some of the strongest men among these +graduates have never, from various causes, and +often because they preferred to remain laymen, +been raised to the headships of the schools. +Every one knows that a school depends for its +wellbeing and success more largely on the assistants +taken together than it does on the headmaster. +Most people also know that individual +assistant masters are not unfrequently better +scholars, better teachers, and more influential +with the boys than is their official superior. Yet +the assistant masters have remained unhonoured +and unsung in the general chorus of praise of the +great schools which has been resounding over +England for nearly two generations.</p> +<p>Edward Bowen was all his life an assistant +master, and never cared to be anything else. As +he had determined not to take orders in the Church +of England, he was virtually debarred from many +of the chief headmasterships, which are, some few +of them by law, many more by custom, confined +to Anglican clergymen. But even when other +headships to which this condition was not attached +were known to be practically open to his acceptance, +were, indeed, in one or two instances almost +tendered to him, he refused to become a candidate, +preferring his own simple and easy way of life +to the pomp and circumstance which convention +requires a headmaster to maintain. This +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_345' name='page_345'></a>345</span> +abstention, however, did not prevent his eminence +from becoming known to those who had opportunities +of judging. In his later years he would, +I think, have been generally recognised by the +teaching profession as the most brilliant, and in +his own peculiar line the most successful, man +among the schoolmasters of Britain.</p> +<p>He was born on 30th March 1836, of an Irish +family (originally from Wales) holding property +in the county of Mayo. His father was a clergyman +of the Church of England; his mother, +who survived him a few months (dying at the +age of ninety-four) and whom he tended with +watchful care during her years of widowhood, +was partly of Irish, partly of French extraction. +Like his more famous but perhaps not more +remarkable elder brother, Charles Bowen, who +became Lord Bowen, and is remembered as +one of the most acute and subtle judges as +well as one of the most winning personalities +of our time, he had a gaiety, wit, and versatility +which suggested the presence of Celtic blood. +He was educated at Blackheath School, and +afterwards at King’s College in London, whence +he proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge. +In 1860, after a career at the University, distinguished +both in the way of honours and in +respect of the reputation he won among his +contemporaries, he became a master at Harrow, +and thenceforth remained there, leading an +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_346' name='page_346'></a>346</span> +uneventful and externally a monotonous life, +but one full of unceasing and untiring activity +in play and work. He died on Easter Monday +1901.</p> +<p>Nothing could be less like the traditional +Arnoldine methods of teaching and ruling boys +than Bowen’s method was. The note of those +methods was what used to be called moral +earnestness. Arnold was grave and serious, +distant and awe-inspiring, except perhaps to a +few specially favoured pupils. Bowen was light, +cheerful, vivacious, humorous, familiar, and, above +all things, ingenious and full of variety. His +leading principles were two—that the boy must +at all hazards be interested in the lessons and +that he should be at ease with the teacher.</p> +<p>A Harrow boy once said to his master, +“I don’t know how it is, sir, but if Mr. Bowen +takes a lesson he makes you work twice as hard +as other masters, but you like it twice as much +and you learn far more.” He was the most +unexpected man in conversation that could be +imagined, always giving a new turn to talk by +saying something that seemed remote from the +matter in hand until he presently showed the +connection. So his teaching kept the boys +alert, because its variety was inexhaustible. He +seemed to think that it did not greatly matter +what the lesson was so long as the pupil could be +got to enjoy it. The rules of the school and the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_347' name='page_347'></a>347</span> +requirements of the examinations for which boys +had to be prepared would not have permitted +him to try to any great extent the experiment +of varying subjects to suit individual tastes; but +he was fond of giving lessons in topics outside +the regular course, on astronomy for instance, of +which he had acquired a fair knowledge, and on +recent military history, which he knew wonderfully +well, better probably than any man in England outside +the military profession. When the so-called +“modern side” was established at Harrow, in 1869, +he became head of it, having taken this post, not +from any want of classical taste and learning, +for he was an admirable scholar, and to the +end of his life wrote charming Latin verses, but +because he felt that this line of teaching needed +to be developed in a school which had been formerly +almost wholly classical. For grammatical +minutiæ, for learning rules by heart, and indeed +for the old style of grammar-teaching generally, +he had an unconcealed contempt. He thought it +unkind and wasteful to let a boy go on puzzling +over difficulties of language in an author, and +permitted, under restrictions, the use of English +translations, or (as boys call them) “cribs.” +Teaching was in his view a special gift of +the individual, which depended on the aptitude +for getting hold of the pupil’s mind, and +enlisting his interest in the subject. He +had accordingly no faith in the doctrine that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_348' name='page_348'></a>348</span> +teaching is a science which can be systematically +studied, or an art in which the apprentice ought to +be systematically trained. When he was summoned +as a witness before the Secondary Education +Commission in 1894 he adhered, under cross-examination, +to this view (so far as it affected +schools like Harrow or Eton), refusing to be +moved by the arguments of those among the +Commissioners who cited the practice of Germany, +where Pädagogik, as they call it, is elaborately +taught in the universities. “I am unable,” he said, +“to conceive any machinery by which the art of +teaching can be given practically to masters. That +art is so much a matter of personal power and experience, +and of various social and moral gifts, +that I cannot conceive a good person made a good +master by merely seeing a class of boys taught, +unless he was allowed to take a real and serious +part in it himself, unless he became a teacher himself. +I can understand that at a primary school you +can learn by going in and hearing a good teacher at +work; but the teaching of a class of older boys is +so different, and has so much of the social element +in it, and it may vary so much, that I should +despair of teaching a young man how to take a +class unless he was a long time with me.... A +master at a large public school is chiefly a moral +and social force; a master is this to a much less +extent at a primary school or in the ordinary day-schools, +the grammar-schools of the country. To +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_349' name='page_349'></a>349</span> +deal with boys when you have them completely +under your control for the whole of every day is +an altogether different thing, and requires different +virtues in the teacher from those that are required +in the case of day-schools.”</p> +<p>Bowen may possibly have been mistaken, even +as regards the teachers in the great public boarding +schools. His view seems to overlook or +disregard that large class of persons who have no +marked natural aptitude for teaching, but are capable +of being, by special instruction and supervised +practice, kneaded and moulded into better teachers +than they would otherwise have grown to be. He +felt so strongly that no one ought to teach without +having a real gift and fondness for teaching that +he thought such difference as training could make +insignificant in comparison with the inborn talent. +Perhaps he generalised too boldly from himself, +for he had an enjoyment of his work, and a conscientiousness +in always putting the very best of +himself into it—how much was conscientiousness +and how much was enjoyment, no one could tell—as +well as a quickness and vivacity which no +study of methods could have improved. As one +of his most eminent colleagues,<a name='FNanchor_0045' id='FNanchor_0045'></a><a href='#Footnote_0045' class='fnanchor'>[54]</a> who was also his +life-long friend, observes: “The humdrum and +routine which must form so large a part of a +teacher’s life were never humdrum or routine to +him, for he put the whole of his abounding +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_350' name='page_350'></a>350</span> +energies into his work, and round its driest details +there played and flickered, as with a lambent +flame, his joyous spirit, finding expression now +perhaps in a striking parallel, now in a startling +paradox, now in a touch of humour, and once +again in a note of pathos.”</p> +<p>The personal influence he exerted on the boys +who lived in his House was quite as remarkable +as his “form-teaching.” Stoicism and honour +were the qualities it was mainly directed to form. +Every boy was expected to show manliness and +endurance, and to utter no complaint. Where +physical health was concerned he was indulgent; +his House was the first which gave the boys meat +at breakfast in addition to tea with bread and +butter. But otherwise the discipline was Spartan, +though not more Spartan than that he prescribed +to himself, and the House was trained to scorn the +slightest approach to luxury. Arm-chairs were +forbidden except to sixth-form boys. A pupil +relates that when Bowen found he was in the habit +of taking two hot baths a week the transgression +was reproved with the words: “Oh boy, that’s +like the later Romans, boy.” His maxims were: +“Take sweet and bitter as sweet and bitter come” +and “Always play the game.” He never preached +to the boys or lectured them; and if he had to +convey a reproof, conveyed it in a single sentence. +But he dwelt upon honour as the foundation of +character, and made every boy feel that he was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_351' name='page_351'></a>351</span> +expected to reach the highest standard of truthfulness, +courage, and duty to the little community +of the House, or the cricket eleven, or the football +team.</p> +<p>Some have begun to think that in English +schools and universities too much time is given to +athletic sports, and that they absorb too largely +the thoughts and interests of the English youth. +Bowen, however, attached the utmost value to +games as a training in character. He used to +descant upon the qualities of discipline, good-fellowship, +good-humour, mutual help, and postponement +of self which they are calculated to +foster. Though some of his friends thought that +his own intense and unabated fondness for these +games—for he played cricket and football up to +the end of his life—might have biassed his judgment, +they could not deny that the games ought +to develop the qualities aforesaid.</p> +<p>“Consider the habit of being in public, the forbearance, +the subordination of the one to the many, +the exercise of judgment, the sense of personal +dignity. Think again of the organising faculty that +our games develop. Where can you get command +and obedience, choice with responsibility, criticism +with discipline, in any degree remotely approaching +that in which our social games supply them? +Think of the partly moral, partly physical side of it, +temper, of course, dignity, courtesy.... When the +match has really begun, there is education, there +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_352' name='page_352'></a>352</span> +is enlargement of horizon, self sinks, the common +good is the only good, the bodily faculties exhilarate +in functional development, and the make-believe +ambition is glorified into a sort of ideality. +Here is boyhood at its best, or very nearly at its +best. <i>Sursum crura!...</i> When you have a lot +of human beings, in highest social union and +perfect organic action, developing the law of their +race and falling in unconsciously with its best +inherited traditions of brotherhood and common +action, you are not far from getting a glimpse of +one side of the highest good. There lives more +soul in honest play, believe me, than in half the +hymn-books.”</p> +<p>These words, taken from a half-serious essay on +Games written for a private society, give some part +of Bowen’s views. The whole essay is well worth +reading.<a name='FNanchor_0046' id='FNanchor_0046'></a><a href='#Footnote_0046' class='fnanchor'>[55]</a> Its arguments do not, however, quite +settle the matter. The playing of games may have, +and indeed ought to have, the excellent results +Bowen claimed for it, and yet it may be doubted +whether the experience of life shows that boys so +brought up do in fact turn out substantially more +good-humoured, unselfish, and fit for the commerce +of the world than others who have lacked this training. +And the further question remains whether the +games are worth their costly candle. That they +occupy a good deal of time at school and at college +is not necessarily an evil, seeing that the time left +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_353' name='page_353'></a>353</span> +for lessons or study is sufficient if well spent. +The real drawback incident to the excessive +devotion games inspire in our days is that they +leave little room in the boy’s or collegian’s mind +either for interest in his studies or for the love +of nature. They fill his thoughts, they divert +his ambition into channels of no permanent value +to his mind or life; they continue to absorb his +interest and form a large part of his reading long +after he has left school or college. Nevertheless, +be these things as they may, the opinion +of a man so able and so experienced as Bowen +was, deserves to be recorded; and his success in +endearing himself to and guiding his boys was +doubtless partly due to the use he made of their +liking for games.</p> +<p>He was never married, so the school became +the sole devotion of his life, and he bequeathed to +it the bulk of his property, directing an area of +land which he had purchased on the top of the +Hill to be always kept as an open space for the +benefit of boys and masters.</p> +<p>It need hardly be said that he loved boys as +he loved teaching. He took them with him in +the holidays on walking tours. He kept up correspondence +with many of his pupils after they +left Harrow, and advised them as occasion rose. +To many of them he remained through life the +model whom they desired to imitate. But he +was very chary of the exercise of influence. “A +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_354' name='page_354'></a>354</span> +boy’s character,” he once wrote, “grows like the +Temple of old, without sound of mallet and +trowel. What we can do is to arrange matters +so as to give Virtue her best chance. We can +make the right choice sometimes a little easier, +we can prevent tendencies from blossoming into +acts, and render pitfalls visible. How much indirectly +and unconsciously we can do, none but +the recording angel knows. ‘You can and you +should,’ said Chiffers,<a name='FNanchor_0047' id='FNanchor_0047'></a><a href='#Footnote_0047' class='fnanchor'>[56]</a> ‘go straight to the heart of +every individual boy.’ Well, a fellow-creature’s +mind is a sacred thing. You may enter into that +arcanum once a year, shoeless. And in the effort +to control the spirit of a pupil, to make one’s own +approval his test and mould him by the stress of +our own presence, in the ambition to do this, the +craving for moral power and visible guiding, the +subtle pride of effective agency, lie some of the +chief temptations of a schoolmaster’s work.”</p> +<p>Such ways and methods as I have endeavoured +to describe are less easy to imitate than those +which belong to the Arnoldine type of schoolmaster. +In Bowen’s gaiety, in his vivacity, in the +humour which interpenetrated everything he said +or did, there was something individual. Teachers +who do not possess a like vivacity, versatility, and +humour cannot hope to apply with like success +the method of familiarity and sympathy. Not +indeed that Bowen stood altogether alone in his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_355' name='page_355'></a>355</span> +use of that method. There were others among +his contemporaries who shared his view, and whose +practice was not dissimilar. He was, however, the +earliest and most brilliant exponent of the view, +so his career may be said to open a new line, and +to mark a new departure in the teacher’s art.</p> +<p>I have mentioned his walking tours. He +was a pedestrian of extraordinary force, rather +tall, but spare and light, swift of foot, and tireless +in his activity. As an undergraduate he +had walked from Cambridge to Oxford, nearly +ninety miles, in twenty-four hours, scarcely halting. +At one time or another he had traversed +on foot all the coast-line and great part of the +inland regions of England. He was an accomplished +Alpine climber. His passion for exercise +of body as well as of mind was so salient a +feature in his character that his friends wondered +how he would be able to support old age. He +was spared the trial, for he was gay and joyous as +ever on the last morning of his life, and he died +in a moment, while mounting his bicycle after a +long ascent, among the lonely forests of Burgundy, +then bursting into leaf under an April sun.</p> +<p>His interest in politics provided him with +a short and strenuous interlude of public action, +which varied the even tenor of his life at Harrow. +At the general election of 1880 he stood as a +candidate for the little borough of Hertford (which +has since been merged in the county) against +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_356' name='page_356'></a>356</span> +Mr. Arthur Balfour, now (1902) First Lord of the +Treasury in England. The pro-Turkish policy +of Lord Beaconsfield, followed by the Afghan +War of 1878, had roused many Liberals who +usually took little part in political action. Bowen +felt the impulse to denounce the conduct of the +Ministry, and went into the contest with his usual +airy suddenness. He had little prospect of success +at such a place, for, like many of the so-called +Academic Liberals of those days, he made the +mistake of standing for a small semi-rural constituency, +overshadowed by a neighbouring magnate, +instead of for a large town, where both his +opinions and his oratory would have been better +appreciated. However, he enjoyed the contest +thoroughly, amusing himself as well as the electors +by his lively and sometimes impassioned speeches, +and he looked back to it as a pleasant episode in +his usually smooth and placid life. He was all his +life a strong Liberal <i>vieille roche</i>, a lover of freedom +and equality as well as of economy in public +finance, a Free Trader, an individualist, an enemy +of all wars and all aggressions, and in later years +growingly indignant at the rapid increase of +military and naval expenditure. He was also, +like the Liberals of 1850-60 in general, a sympathiser +with oppressed nationalities, though this +feeling did not carry him the length of accepting +the policy of Home Rule for Ireland, as +to which he had grave doubts, yet doubts not +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_357' name='page_357'></a>357</span> +quite so serious as to involve his separation from +the Liberal party. Twice after 1880 he was on +the point of becoming a candidate for a seat in +the House of Commons, but whether his love for +Harrow would have suffered him to remain in +Parliament had he entered it may be doubted. One +could not even tell whether he was really disappointed +that his political aspirations remained unfulfilled. +Had he given himself to parliamentary life, +his readiness, ingenuity, and wit would have soon +made him valued by his own side, while his sincerity +and engaging manners would have commended +him to both sides alike. His delivery was always +too rapid, and his voice not powerful, yet these +defects would have been forgotten in the interest +which so peculiar a figure must have aroused.</p> +<p>His peace principles contrasted oddly with +his passion for military history, a passion which +prompted many vacation journeys to battlefields +all over Europe, from Salamanca to Austerlitz. +He had followed the campaigns of Napoleon +through Piedmont and Lombardy, through Germany +and Austria, as well as those of Wellington +in Spain and Southern France.<a name='FNanchor_0048' id='FNanchor_0048'></a><a href='#Footnote_0048' class='fnanchor'>[57]</a> This taste is +not uncommon in men of peace. Freeman had +it; J. R. Green and S. R. Gardiner had it; and +the historical works of Sir George Trevelyan +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_358' name='page_358'></a>358</span> +and Dr. Thomas Hodgkin prove that it lives in +those genial breasts also. It was a pleasure to +be led over a battlefield by Bowen, for he had +a good eye for ground, he knew the movements +of the armies down to the smallest detail, and he +could explain with perfect lucidity the positions of +the combatants and the tactical moves in the game.</p> +<p>Twice only did he come across actual fighting, +once at Düppel in 1864, during the Schleswig-Holstein +war, and again in Paris during the siege +of the Communards by the forces that obeyed +Thiers and the Assembly sitting at Versailles. +He maintained that the Commune had been unfairly +judged by Englishmen, and wrote a singularly +interesting description of what he saw while +risking his life in the beleaguered city. There +was in him a great spirit of adventure, though the +circumstances of his life gave it little scope.</p> +<p>Travel was one of his chief pleasures, but it +was, if possible, a still greater pleasure to his +fellow-travellers, for he was the most agreeable +of companions, fertile in suggestion, candid in +discussion, swift in decision. He cared nothing +for luxury and very little for comfort; he was +absolutely unselfish and imperturbably good-humoured; +he could get enjoyment out of the +smallest incidents of travel, and his curiosity to +see the surface of the earth as well as the cities +of men was inexhaustible. He loved the unexpected, +and if one had written proposing an +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_359' name='page_359'></a>359</span> +expedition to explore Tibet, he would have +telegraphed back, “Start to-night: do we meet +Charing Cross or Victoria?”</p> +<p>I have dwelt on Bowen’s gifts and methods +as a teacher, because teaching was the joy and +the business of his life, and because he showed +a new way in which boys might be stimulated +and guided. But he was a great deal besides +a teacher, just as his brother Charles was a +great deal besides a lawyer. Both had talents +for literature of a very high order. Charles +published a verse translation of Virgil’s <i>Eclogues</i> +and the first six books of the <i>Æneid</i>, full of +ingenuity and refinement, as well as of fine poetic +taste. Edward’s vein expressed itself in the +writing of songs. His school songs, composed +for the Harrow boys, became immensely popular +with them, and their use at school celebrations +of various kinds has passed from Harrow to +the other great schools of England, even +to some of the larger girls’ schools. The +songs are unique in their fanciful ingenuity and +humorous extravagance, full of a boyish joy in +life, in the exertion of physical strength, in the +mimic strife of games, yet with an occasional +touch of sadness, like the shadow of a passing +cloud as it falls on the cricket field over which +the shouts of the players are ringing. The metres +are various: all show rhythmical skill, and in all +the verse has a swing which makes it singularly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_360' name='page_360'></a>360</span> +effective when sung by a mass of voices. Most +of the songs are dedicated to cricket or football, +but a few are serious, and two or three of these +have a beauty of thought and perfection of form +which make the reader ask why a poetic gift so +true and so delicate should have been rarely used. +These songs were the work of his middle or later +years, and he never wrote except when the impulse +came upon him. The stream ran pure but +it ran seldom. In early days he had been for a +while, like many other brilliant young University +men of his time, a contributor to the <i>Saturday +Review</i>. (There surely never was a journal which +enlisted so much and such varied literary talent +as the <i>Saturday</i> did between 1855 and 1863.) +Bowen’s articles were, like his elder brother’s, +extremely witty. In later life he could seldom +be induced to write, having fallen out of the habit, +and being, indeed, too busy to carry on any large +piece of work; but the occasional papers on educational +subjects he produced showed no decline in +his vivacity or in the abundance of his humour. +Those who knew the range and the resources +of his mind sometimes regretted that he would do +nothing to let the world know them. But he +was, to a degree most unusual among men of real +power, absolutely indifferent, not only to fame, but +to opportunities for exercising power or influence.</p> +<p>The stoicism which he sought to form in his +pupils was inculcated by his own example. It +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_361' name='page_361'></a>361</span> +was a genial and cheerful stoicism, which checked +neither his affection for them nor his brightness +in society, and which permitted him to draw as +much enjoyment from small things as most +people can from great ones. But if he had +the gaiety of an Irishman, he had a double portion +of English reserve. He never gave expression +in words to his emotions. He never seemed +either elated or depressed. He never lost his +temper and never seemed to be curbing it. His +tastes and way of life were simple to the verge of +austerity; nor did he appear to desire anything +more than what he had obtained.</p> +<p>It is natural—possibly foolish, yet almost +inevitable—that those who perceive in a friend +the presence of rare and brilliant gifts should +desire that his gifts should not only be turned +to full account for the world’s benefit, but +should become so known and appreciated as +to make others admire and value what they +admire and value. When such a man prefers to +live his life in his own way, and do the plain +duties that lie near him, with no thought of +anything further, they feel, though they may try +to repress, a kind of disappointment, as though +greatness or virtue had missed its mark because +known to few besides themselves. Yet there is +a sense in which that friend is most our own who +has least belonged to the world, who has least +cared for what the world has to offer, who has +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_362' name='page_362'></a>362</span> +chosen the simplest and purest pleasures, who +has rendered the service that his way of life +required with no longing for any wider theatre +or any applause to be there won. Is there indeed +anything more beautiful than a life of quiet self-sufficing +yet beneficent serenity, such as the +ancient philosophers inculcated, a life which is +now more rarely than ever led by men of shining +gifts, because the inducements to bring such gifts +into the dusty thoroughfares of the world have +grown more numerous? Bowen had the best +equipment for a philosopher. He knew the things +that gave him pleasure, and sought no others. He +knew what he could do well. He followed his +own bent. His desires were few, and he could +gratify them all. He had made life exactly what +he wished it to be. Intensely as he enjoyed +travel, he never uttered a note of regret when the +beginning of a Harrow school term stopped a +journey at its most interesting point, so dearly +did he love his boys. What more can we desire +for our friends than this—that in remembering +them there should be nothing to regret, that all +who came under their influence should feel themselves +for ever thereafter the better for that influence, +that a happy and peaceful life should be +crowned by a sudden and painless death?</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_363' name='page_363'></a>363</span> +<a name='EDWIN_LAWRENCE_GODKIN' id='EDWIN_LAWRENCE_GODKIN'></a> +<h2>EDWIN LAWRENCE GODKIN</h2> +</div> +<p>As with the progress of science new arts emerge +and new occupations and trades are created, so +with the progress of society professions previously +unknown arise, evolve new types of +intellectual excellence, and supply a new theatre +for the display of peculiar and exceptional gifts. +Such a profession, such a type, and the type +which is perhaps most specially characteristic of +our times, is that of the Editor. It scarcely +existed before the French Revolution, and is, as +now fully developed, a product of the last eighty +years. Various are its forms. There is the +Business Editor, who runs his newspaper as a +great commercial undertaking, and may neither +care for politics nor attach himself to any political +party. America still recollects the familiar +example set by James Gordon Bennett, the +founder of the <i>New York Herald</i>. There is +the Selective Editor, who may never pen a line, +but shows his skill in gathering an able staff +round him, and in allotting to each of them the +work he can do best. Such an one was John +Douglas Cook, a man of slender cultivation +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_364' name='page_364'></a>364</span> +and few intellectual interests, but still remembered +in England by those who forty years +ago knew the staff of the <i>Saturday Review</i>, +then in its brilliant prime, as possessed of an +extraordinary instinct for the topics which caught +the public taste, and for the persons capable of +handling those topics. John T. Delane, of the +<i>Times</i>, had the same gift, with talents and +knowledge far surpassing Cook’s. A third and +usually more interesting form is found in the +Editor who is himself an able writer, and who +imparts his own individuality to the journal he +directs. Such an one was Horace Greeley, +who, in the days before the War of Secession, +made the <i>New York Tribune</i> a power in +America. Such another, of finer natural quality, +was Michael Katkoff, who in his short career +did much to create and to develop the spirit +of nationality and imperialism in Russia thirty +years ago.</p> +<p>It was to this third form of the editorial profession +that Mr. Godkin belonged. He is the +most remarkable example of it that has appeared +in our time—perhaps, indeed, in any time since +the profession rose to importance; and all the +more remarkable because he was never, like +Greeley or Katkoff, the exponent of any widespread +sentiment or potent movement, but was +frequently in opposition to the feeling for the +moment dominant.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_365' name='page_365'></a>365</span></div> +<p>Edwin Lawrence Godkin, the son of a Protestant +clergyman and author, was born in the +county of Wicklow, in Ireland, in 1831. He +was educated at Queen’s College, Belfast, read +for a short time for the English bar, but drifted +into journalism by accepting the post of correspondent +to the London <i>Daily News</i> during the +Crimean War in 1853-54. The horror of war which +he retained through his life was due to the glimpse +of it he had in the Crimea. Soon afterwards he +went to America, was admitted to the bar in New +York, but never practised, spent some months in +travelling through the Southern States on horseback, +learning thereby what slavery was, and +what its economic and social consequences, was +for two or three years a writer on the <i>New York +Times</i>, and ultimately, in 1865, established in +New York a weekly journal called the <i>Nation</i>. +This he continued to edit, writing most of it +himself, till 1881, when he accepted the editorship +of the <i>New York Evening Post</i>, an old and +respectable paper, but with no very large circulation. +The <i>Nation</i> continued to appear, but became +practically a weekly edition of the <i>Evening +Post</i>, or rather, as some one said, the <i>Evening +Post</i> became a daily edition of the <i>Nation</i>, for +the tone and spirit that had characterised the +<i>Nation</i> now pervaded the <i>Post</i>. In 1900 failing +health compelled him to retire from active work, +and in May 1902 he died in England. Journalism +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_366' name='page_366'></a>366</span> +left him little leisure for any other kind of literary +production; but he wrote in early life a short +history of Hungary; and a number of articles +which he had in later years contributed to the +<i>Nation</i> or to magazines were collected and published +in three volumes between 1895 and 1900. +They are clear and wise articles, specially instructive +where they deal with the most recent +aspects of democracy. But as they convey a less +than adequate impression of the peculiar qualities +which established his fame, I pass on to the work +by which he will be remembered, his work as a +weekly and daily public writer.</p> +<p>He was well equipped for this career by +considerable experience of the world, by large +reading, for though not a learned man, he had +assimilated a great deal of knowledge on economical +and historical subjects, and by a stock +of positive principles which he saw clearly and +held coherently. In philosophy and economics +he was a Utilitarian of the school of J. S. +Mill, and in politics what used to be called a +philosophical Radical, a Radical of the less +extreme type, free from sentiment and from +prejudices, but equally free from any desire to +destroy for the sake of destroying. Like the +other Utilitarians of those days, he was a +moderate optimist, expecting the world to grow +better steadily, though not swiftly; and he went +to America in the belief that he should there find +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_367' name='page_367'></a>367</span> +more progress secured, and more of further progress +in prospect, than any European country +could show. It was the land of promise, in +which all the forces making for good on which +the school of Mill relied were to be found at +work, hampered only by the presence of slavery. +I note this fact, because it shows that the pessimism +of Mr. Godkin’s later years was not due to a +naturally querulous or despondent temperament.</p> +<p>So too was his mind admirably fitted for the +career he had chosen. It was logical, penetrating, +systematic, yet it was also quick and +nimble. His views were definite, not to say +dogmatic, and as they were confidently held, +so too they were confidently expressed. He +never struck a doubtful note. He never slurred +over a difficulty, nor sought, when he knew +himself ignorant, to cover up his ignorance. +Imagination was kept well in hand, for his constant +aim was to get at and deal with the vital +facts of every case. If he was not original in the +way of thinking out doctrines distinctively his +own, nor in respect of any exuberance of ideas +bubbling up in the course of discussion, there was +fertility as well as freshness in his application of +principles to current questions, and in the illustrations +by which he enforced his arguments.</p> +<p>As his thinking was exact, so his style was +clear-cut and trenchant. Even when he was +writing most swiftly, it never sank below a high +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_368' name='page_368'></a>368</span> +level of form and finish. Every word had its +use and every sentence told. There was no +doubt about his meaning, and just as little about +the strength of his convictions. He had a gift +for terse vivacious paragraphs commenting on +some event of the day or summing up the effect of +a speech or a debate. The touch was equally +light and firm. But if the manner was brisk, the +matter was solid: you admired the keenness of +the insight and the weight of the judgment just +as much as the brightness of the style. Much +of the brightness lay in the humour. That is a +plant which blossoms so much more profusely on +Transatlantic soil that English readers of the +<i>Nation</i> had usually a start of surprise when told +that this most humorous of American journalists +was not an American at all but a European, +and indeed a European who never became +thoroughly Americanised. It was humour of +a pungent and sarcastic quality, usually directed +to the detection of tricks or the exposure of +shams, but it was eminently mirth-provoking and +never malicious. Frequently it was ironical, and +the irony sometimes so fine as to be mistaken +for seriousness.</p> +<p>The <i>Nation</i> was from its very first numbers +so full of force, keenness, and knowledge, and so +unusually well written, that it made its way rapidly +among the educated classes of the Eastern States. +It soon became a power, but a power of a new +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_369' name='page_369'></a>369</span> +kind. Mr. Godkin wanted most of the talents +or interests of the ordinary journalist. He +gave no thought to the organisation of the +paper as a business undertaking. He scarcely +heeded circulation, either when his livelihood +depended upon the <i>Nation</i> of which he was the +chief owner, or when he was associated with +others in the ownership of the <i>Evening Post</i>. +He refused to allow any news he disapproved, +including all scandal and all society gossip, to +appear. He was prepared at any moment to +incur unpopularity from his subscribers, or even +to offend one half of his advertisers. He took +no pains to get news before other journals, and +cared nothing for those “beats” and “scoops” in +which the soul of the normal newspaper man +finds a legitimate source of pride. He was not +there, he would have said, to please either advertisers +or subscribers, but to tell the American +people the truths they needed to hear, and if +those truths were distasteful, so much the more +needful was it to proclaim them. He was absolutely +independent not only of all personal but +of all party ties. A public man was never +either praised or suffered to escape censure because +he was a private acquaintance. He once +told me that the being obliged to censure those +with whom he stood in personal relations was +the least agreeable feature of his profession. +Whether an act was done by the Republicans +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_370' name='page_370'></a>370</span> +or by the Democrats made no difference to his +judgment, or to the severity with which his +judgment was expressed. His distrust of Mr. +James G. Blaine had led him to support Mr. +Cleveland at the election of 1884, and he continued +to give a general approval to the latter +statesman during both his presidential terms. But +when Mr. Cleveland’s Venezuelan message with +its menaces to England appeared in December +1895, Mr. Godkin vehemently denounced it, as +indeed he had frequently before blamed particular +acts of the Cleveland administrations. He sometimes +voted for the Republicans, sometimes for +the Democrats, according to the merits of the +transitory issue or the particular candidate, but +after 1884 no one could have called him either a +Republican or a Democrat.</p> +<p>Independence of party is less rare among +American than among European newspapers; +but courage such as Godkin’s is rare everywhere. +The editor of a century ago had in most +countries to fear press censorship, or the law of +political libel, or the frowns of the great. The +modern editor, delivered from these risks, is +exposed to the more insidious temptations of +financial influence, of social pressure, of the +fear of injuring the business interests of the +paper, which are now sometimes enormous. +Godkin’s conscientiousness and pride made him +equally indifferent to influence and to threats. As +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_371' name='page_371'></a>371</span> +some one said, you might as well have tried to +frighten the east wind. Clear, prompt, and self-confident, +judging everything by a high standard +of honour and public spirit, he distributed censure +with no regard either to the official position +or to the party affiliations of politicians. The +“Weekly Day of Judgment” was the title +bestowed upon the <i>Nation</i> by Charles Dudley +Warner, who himself admired it. As Godkin +expected—or at least demanded—righteousness +from every one, he was more a terror to evildoers +than a praise to them that do well, and +the fact that, having no private ends to serve, +he thought only of truth and the public interest, +made him all the more stringent. Because +he was, and found it easy to be, fearless and independent, +he scarcely allowed enough for the +timidity of others, and sometimes chastised the +weak as sternly as the wicked. An editor who +smites all the self-seekers and all the time-servers +whom he thinks worth smiting, is sure to become +a target for many arrows. But as Godkin +was an equally caustic critic of the sentimental +vagaries or economic heresies of well-meaning +men or sections of opinion, he incurred hostility +from quarters where the desire for honest administration +and the purity of public life was hardly +less strong than in the pages of the <i>Nation</i> itself. +Though he took no personal part in politics, never +appeared on platforms nor in any way put himself +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_372' name='page_372'></a>372</span> +forward, his paper was so markedly himself that +people talked of it as him. It was not “the +<i>Nation</i> says” or “the <i>Post</i> says,” but “Godkin +says.” Even his foreign birth was charged +against him—a rare charge in a country so +tolerant and catholic as the United States, where +every office except that of President is open to +newcomers as freely as to the native born.</p> +<p>He was called “un-American,” and I have +heard men who admired and read the <i>Nation</i> +nevertheless complain that they did not want +“to be taught by a European how to run this +Republic.” True it is that he did not see things +or write about them quite as an American would +have done. But was this altogether a misfortune? +The Italian cities of the Middle Ages used to call +in a man of character and mark from some other +place and make him Podestá just because he stood +outside the family ties and the factions of the +city. Godkin’s foreign education gave him detachment +and perspective. It never reduced his +ardour to see administration and public life in +America made worthy of the greatness of the +American people.</p> +<p>No journal could have maintained its circulation +and extended its influence in the face of so +much hostility except by commanding merits. +The merits of the <i>Nation</i> were incontestable. +It was the best weekly not only in America +but in the world. The editorials were models +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_373' name='page_373'></a>373</span> +of style. The book reviews, many of them +in earlier days also written by Godkin himself, +were finished in point of form, and, when not +his own, came from the ablest specialist hands +in the country. The “current notes” of progress +in such subjects as geography, natural history, +and archæology were instructive and accurate. +So it was that people had to read the <i>Nation</i> +whether they liked it or not. It could not be +ignored. It was a necessity even where it was a +terror.</p> +<p>Yet neither the force of his reasoning nor +the brilliance of his style would have secured +Godkin’s influence but for two other elements of +strength he possessed. One was the universal +belief in his disinterestedness and sincerity. +He was often charged with prejudice or bitterness, +but never with any sinister motive; enemies +no less than friends respected him. The +other was his humour. An austere moralist +who is brimful of fun is rare in any country. +Relishing humour more than does any other +people, the Americans could not be seriously +angry with a man who gave them so abundant a +feast.</p> +<p>To trace the course he took in the politics of +the United States since 1860 would almost be +to outline the history of forty years, for there +was no great issue in the discussion of which +he did not bear a part. He was a strong +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_374' name='page_374'></a>374</span> +supporter of the Northern cause during the War +of Secession, and by his letters to the London +<i>Daily News</i> did something to enlighten English +readers. When the problems of reconstruction +emerged after the war, he suggested lines of +action more moderate than those followed by +the Republican leaders, and during many subsequent +years denounced the “carpet-baggers,” and +advocated the policy of restoring self-government +to the Southern States and withdrawing +Federal troops. Incensed at the corruption of +some of the men who surrounded President +Grant during his first term, he opposed Grant’s +re-election, as did nearly all the reformers of +those days. By this time he had begun to attack +the “spoils system,” and to demand a reform of +the civil service, and he had also become engaged +in that campaign against the Tammany organisation +in New York City which he maintained +with unabated energy till the end of his editorial +career.<a name='FNanchor_0049' id='FNanchor_0049'></a><a href='#Footnote_0049' class='fnanchor'>[58]</a> In 1884 he led the opposition to the +candidacy of Mr. Blaine for President, and it was +mainly the persistency with which the <i>Evening +Post</i> set forth the accusations brought against +that statesman that secured his defeat in New +York State, and therewith his defeat in the +election. It was on this occasion that the nickname +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_375' name='page_375'></a>375</span> +of Mugwump<a name='FNanchor_0050' id='FNanchor_0050'></a><a href='#Footnote_0050' class='fnanchor'>[59]</a> was first applied to Mr. +Godkin by the ablest of his antagonists in the +press, Mr. Dana of the <i>New York Sun</i>, a title +before long extended to the Independents whom +the <i>Post</i> led, and who constituted, during the +next ten or twelve years, a section of opinion +important, if not by its numbers, yet by the +intellectual and moral weight of the men who +composed it. When currency questions became +prominent, Mr. Godkin was a strong opponent +of bimetallism and of “silverism” in all its +forms, and a not less strenuous opponent of all +socialistic theories and movements. It need +hardly be added that he had always been an +upholder of the principles of Free Trade. Like +a sound Cobdenite, he was an advocate of +peace, and disliked territorial extension. He +opposed President Grant’s scheme for the acquisition +of San Domingo, as he afterwards opposed +the annexation of Hawaii. His close study of +Irish history, and his old faith in the principle of +nationality, had made him a strenuous advocate of +Home Rule for Ireland. But no one was farther +than he from sharing the feelings of the American +Irish towards England. He condemned the +threats addressed in 1895 to Great Britain over +the Venezuela question; and glad as he was to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_376' name='page_376'></a>376</span> +see that question settled by England’s acceptance +of an arbitration which she had previously +denied the right of the United States to +demand, he held that England must beware of +yielding too readily to pressure from the United +States, because such compliance would encourage +that aggressive spirit in the latter whose consequences +for both countries he feared. Never, +perhaps, did he incur so much obloquy as in +defending, almost single-handed, the British position +in the Venezuelan affair. The attacks made +all over the country on the <i>Evening Post</i> were, +he used to say, like storms of hail lashing against +his windows. At the very end of his career, he +resisted the war with Spain and the annexation +of the Philippine Islands, deeming the acquisition +of trans-Oceanic territories, inhabited by +inferior races, a dangerous new departure, opposed +to the traditions of the Fathers of the Republic, +and inconsistent with the principles on which the +Republic was founded. No public writer has left +a more consistent record.</p> +<p>In private life Mr. Godkin was a faithful +friend and a charming companion, genial as well +as witty, considerate of others, and liked no less +than admired by his staff on the <i>Evening Post</i>, +free from cynicism, and more indulgent in his +views of human nature than might have been +gathered from his public utterances. He never +despaired of democratic government, yet his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_377' name='page_377'></a>377</span> +spirits had been damped by the faint fulfilment +of those hopes for the progress of free nations, +and especially of the United States, which +had illumined his youth. The slow advance +of economic truths, the evils produced by +the increase of wealth, the growth of what he +called “chromo-civilisation,” the indifference of +the rich and educated to politics, the want of +nerve among politicians, the excitability of the +masses, the tenacity with which corruption and +misgovernment held their ground, in spite of +repeated exposures, in cities like New York, +Philadelphia, and Chicago—all these things had +so sunk into his soul that it became hard to induce +him to look at the other side, and to appreciate +the splendid recuperative forces which are +at work in America. Thus his friends were +driven to that melancholy form of comfort which +consists in pointing out that other countries are +no better. They argued that England in particular, +to which he had continued to look as the +home of political morality and enlightened State +wisdom, was suffering from evils, not indeed the +same as those which in his judgment afflicted +America, but equally serious. They bade him +remember that moral progress is not continuous, +but subject to ebbs of reaction, and that America +is a country of which one should never despair, +because in it evils have often before worked out +their cure. He did regretfully own, after his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_378' name='page_378'></a>378</span> +latest visits to Europe, that England had sadly +declined from the England of his earlier days, +and he admitted that the clouds under which his +own path had latterly lain might after a time be +scattered by a burst of sunshine; but his hopes for +the near future of America were not brightened by +these reflections. Sometimes he seemed to feel—though +of his own work he never spoke—as +though he had laboured in vain for forty years.</p> +<p>If he so thought, he did his work far less than +justice. It had told powerfully upon the United +States, and that in more than one way. Though +the circulation of the <i>Nation</i> was never large, it +was read by the two classes which in America have +most to do with forming political and economic +opinion—I mean editors and University teachers. +(The Universities and Colleges, be it remembered, +are far more numerous, relatively to the population, +in America than in England, and a more +important factor in the thought of the country.) +From the editors and the professors Mr. Godkin’s +views filtered down into the educated class generally, +and affected its opinion. He instructed and +stimulated the men who instructed and stimulated +the rest of the people. To those young men +in particular who thought about public affairs and +were preparing themselves to serve their country, +his articles were an inspiration. The great hope +for American democracy to-day lies in the growing +zeal and the ripened intelligence with which the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_379' name='page_379'></a>379</span> +generation now come to manhood has begun to +throw itself into public work. Many influences +have contributed to this result, and Mr. Godkin’s +has been among the most potent.</p> +<p>Nor was his example less beneficial to the +profession of journalism. There has always +been a profusion of talent in the American press, +talent more alert and versatile than is to be found +in the press of any European country. But in +1865 there were three things which the United +States lacked. Literary criticism did not maintain +a high standard, nor duly distinguish thorough from +flashy or superficial performances. Party spirit was +so strong and so pervasive that journalists were +content to denounce or to extol, and seldom subjected +the character of men or measures to a +searching and impartial examination. There was +too much sentimentalism in politics, with too little +reference of current questions to underlying principles, +too little effort to get down to what Americans +call the “hard pan” of facts. In all these +respects the last forty years have witnessed prodigious +advances; and, so far as the press is +concerned—for much has been due to the Universities +and to the growth of a literary class—Mr. +Godkin’s writings largely contributed to the +progress made. His finished criticism, his exact +method, his incisive handling of economic problems, +his complete detachment from party, helped +to form a new school of journalists, as the example +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_380' name='page_380'></a>380</span> +he set of a serious and lofty conception of an editor’s +duties helped to add dignity to the position. He +had not that disposition to enthrone the press +which made a great English newspaper once claim +for itself that it discharged in the modern world the +functions of the mediæval Church. But he brought +to his work as an anonymous writer a sense of responsibility +and a zeal for the welfare of his country +which no minister of State could have surpassed.</p> +<p>His friends may sometimes have wished that +he had more fully recognised the worth of sentiment +as a motive power in politics, that he had +more frequently tried to persuade as well as to convince, +that he had given more credit for partial +instalments of honest service and for a virtue less +than perfect, that he had dealt more leniently +with the faults of the good and the follies of the +wise. Defects in these respects were the almost +inevitable defects of his admirable qualities, of +his passion for truth, his hatred of wrong and +injustice, his clear vision, his indomitable spirit.</p> +<p>The lesson of his editorial career is a lesson +not for America only. Among the dangers that +beset democratic communities, none are greater +than the efforts of wealth to control, not only +electors and legislators, but also the organs of +public opinion, and the disposition of statesmen +and journalists to defer to and flatter the majority, +adopting the sentiment dominant at the moment, +and telling the people that its voice is the voice +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_381' name='page_381'></a>381</span> +of God. Mr. Godkin was not only inaccessible +to the lures of wealth—the same may happily be +still said of many of his craft-brethren—he was +just as little accessible to the fear of popular +displeasure. Nothing more incensed him than +to see a statesman or an editor with his “ear to +the ground” (to use an American phrase), seeking +to catch the sound of the coming crowd. To +him, the less popular a view was, so much the +more did it need to be well weighed and, if +approved, to be strenuously and incessantly +preached. Democracies will always have demagogues +ready to feed their vanity and stir their +passions and exaggerate the feeling of the +moment. What they need is men who will swim +against the stream, will tell them their faults, will +urge an argument all the more forcibly because it +is unwelcome. Such an one was Edwin Godkin. +Since the death of Abraham Lincoln, America +has been generally more influenced by her writers, +preachers, and thinkers than by her statesmen. +In the list of those who have during the last forty +years influenced her for good and helped by their +pens to make her history, a list illustrated by such +names as those of R. W. Emerson and Phillips +Brooks and James Russell Lowell, his name +will find its place and receive its well-earned +meed of honour.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_382' name='page_382'></a>382</span> +<a name='LORD_ACTON' id='LORD_ACTON'></a> +<h2>LORD ACTON</h2> +</div> +<p>When Lord Acton died on 19th June 1902, at +Tegern See in Bavaria, England lost the most truly +cosmopolitan of her children, and Europe lost one +who was, by universal consent, in the foremost rank +of her men of learning. He belonged to an old +Roman Catholic family of Shropshire, a branch +of which had gone to Southern Italy, where his +grandfather, General Acton, had been chief +minister of the King of Naples in the great +war, at the time when the Bourbon dynasty +maintained itself in Sicily by the help of +the British fleet, while all Italy lay under the +heel of Napoleon. His father, Sir Ferdinand +Acton, married a German lady, heiress of the +ancient and famous house of Dalberg, one of the +great families of the middle Rhineland; so John +Edward Emerich Dalberg-Acton was born half a +German, and connected by blood with the highest +aristocracy of Germany. He was educated at +Oscott, one of the two chief Roman Catholic +colleges of England, under Dr. Wiseman, afterwards +Archbishop of Westminster and Cardinal; +but the most powerful influence on the development +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_383' name='page_383'></a>383</span> +of his mind and principles came from +that glory of Catholic learning, a beautiful +soul as well as a capacious intellect, Dr. von +Döllinger, with whom Acton studied during some +years at Munich. He sat for a short time in +the House of Commons as member for Carlow +(1859); and was afterwards elected for Bridgnorth +(1865), but lost his seat (which he had +gained by one vote only) on a scrutiny. In +those days it was not easy for a Roman Catholic +to find an English constituency, so in 1869 Mr. +Gladstone procured his elevation to the peerage. +He made a successful speech in the House +of Lords in 1893, but took no prominent part in +parliamentary life in either House, feeling himself +too much of a student, and looking at current +questions from a point of view unlike that of +English politicians. Neither as a philosopher, +nor as a historian, nor as a product of German +training, could he find either Lords or Commons +a congenial audience. When he was asked soon +after he entered Parliament why he did not speak, +he answered that he agreed with nobody and nobody +agreed with him. But since he regarded politics as +history in the course of making under his eyes, he +continued to be all his life keenly interested in +public affairs, watching and judging every move +in the game. Mr. Gladstone, whose trusted +friend he had been for many years, was believed +to have on one occasion wished to place him in an +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_384' name='page_384'></a>384</span> +important office; but political exigencies made +this impossible, and the only public post he ever +held was that of Lord-in-Waiting in the Ministry +of 1892. In this capacity he was brought into +frequent contact with Queen Victoria, who felt +the warmest respect and admiration for him. He +was one of the very few persons surrounding her +who was familiar with most of the courts of Continental +Europe, and could discuss with her from +direct knowledge the men who figured in those +courts. At Windsor he spent in the library of +the Castle all the time during which he was not +required to be in actual attendance on the Queen, +a singular phenomenon among Lords-in-Waiting.</p> +<p>Unlike most English Roman Catholics, he was +a strong Liberal, a Liberal of that orthodox type, +individualist, free-trade, and peace-loving, which +prevailed from 1846 till 1885. He was also a +convinced Home Ruler, and had, indeed, adopted +the principle of Home Rule for Ireland long +before Mr. Gladstone himself was converted to it. +His faith in that principle rested on the value he +attached to self-government as a means of training +and developing the political aptitudes of a +people, and to the recognition of national sentiment, +which he held to be, like other natural forces, +useful when guided but formidable when repressed. +So too his Liberalism was based on the love of +freedom for its own sake, joined to the conviction +that freedom is the best foundation for the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_385' name='page_385'></a>385</span> +stability of a constitution and the happiness of +a people. Reliance on the power of freedom +was, he used to say, one of the broadest of all the +lessons he had learned from history. He applied +it in ecclesiastical as well as in political affairs. +At the time of the Vatican Council of 1870 he +was, though a layman, prominent among those +who constituted the opposition maintained by the +Liberal section of the Roman Catholic Church +to the affirmation of the dogma of papal infallibility. +His full and accurate knowledge of ecclesiastical +history was placed at the disposal of the +prelates, such as Archbishop Dupanloup, Bishop +Strossmayer, and Archbishop Conolly (of Halifax, +Nova Scotia), who combated the Ultramontane +party in the animated and protracted debates +which illumined that Œcumenical Council. One, +at least, of the treatises, and many of the letters +in the press which the Council called forth were +written either by him or from materials which he +supplied, and he was recognised by the Ultramontanes, +and in particular by Archbishop Manning, +as being, along with Döllinger, the most +formidable of their opponents behind the scenes. +As every one knows, the Infallibilists triumphed, +and the schism which led to the formation of the +Old Catholic Church in Germany and Switzerland +was the result. Döllinger was excommunicated; +but against Lord Acton no action was +taken, and he remained all his life a faithful +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_386' name='page_386'></a>386</span> +member of the Roman communion, while adhering +to the views he had advocated in 1870.</p> +<p>With this close hold upon practical life and +this constant interest in the politics of the world, +especially of England and the United States, no +one could be less like that cloistered student who +is commonly taken as the typical man of learning. +But Lord Acton was a miracle of learning. Of +the sciences of nature and their practical applications +in the arts he had indeed no more knowledge +than any cultivated man of the world is +expected to possess. But of all the so-called +“human subjects” his mastery was unequalled. +Learning was the business of his life. He was +gifted with a singularly tenacious memory. His +industry was untiring. Wherever he was—in +London, at Cannes in winter, at Tegern See in +summer, at Windsor or Osborne with the Queen, +latterly (till his health failed) at Cambridge during +the University terms—he never worked less +than eight hours a day. Yet, even after making +every allowance for his memory and his industry, +his friends stood amazed at the range and exactness +of his knowledge. It was as various as it was +profound, and much of it bore on recondite matters +which few men study to-day. Though less minute +where it touched the ancient and the early mediæval +world than as respected more recent times, +it might be said to cover the whole field of history, +both civil and ecclesiastical, and became wonderfully +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_387' name='page_387'></a>387</span> +full and exact when it reached the Renaissance and +Reformation periods. It included not only the +older theology, but modern Biblical criticism. It +included metaphysics; and not only metaphysics in +the more special sense, but the abstract side of +economics and that philosophy of law on which +the Germans set so much store. Most of the +prominent figures who have during the last +half-century led the march of inquiry in these +subjects, men like Ranke and Fustel de +Coulanges in history, Wilhelm Roscher in +economic science, Adolf Harnack in theology, +were his personal friends, and he could meet +them as an equal on their own ground. On +one occasion I had invited to meet him at dinner +the late Dr. (afterwards Bishop) Creighton, who +was then writing his <i>History of the Popes</i>, and the +late Professor Robertson Smith, the most eminent +Hebrew and Arabic scholar in Britain. The conversation +turned first upon the times of Pope Leo +the Tenth, and then upon recent controversies +regarding the dates of the books of the Old +Testament, and it soon appeared that Lord +Acton knew as much about the former as Dr. +Creighton, and as much about the latter as +Robertson Smith. The constitutional history of +the United States is a topic far removed from +those philosophical and ecclesiastical or theological +lines of inquiry to which most of his time had +been given; yet he knew it more thoroughly than +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_388' name='page_388'></a>388</span> +any other living European, at least in England +and France, for of the Germans I will not venture +to speak, and he continued to read most of the +books of importance dealing with it which from +time to time were published. So, indeed, he +kept abreast of nearly all the literature of possible +utility bearing on history (especially ecclesiastical +history) and political theory that appeared in +Europe or America, reading much which his less +diligent or less eager friends thought scarcely +worthy of his perusal. And it need hardly be +said that his friends found him an invaluable guide +to the literature of any subject. In the sphere +of history more especially, one might safely +assume that a book which he did not know was +not worth knowing, while he was often able to +indicate, as being the right book to consult, some +work of which the person who consulted him, +albeit not unversed in the subject, had never +heard. He had at one time four libraries, the +largest at his family seat, Aldenham in Shropshire, +others at Tegern See, at Cannes, and in +London; and he could usually tell in which of +these the particular book he named was to be +found. Unlike most men who value their +libraries, he was fond of lending books, and +would sometimes put a friend to shame by asking +some weeks afterwards what the latter thought +of the volumes he had almost forced on the +borrower, and which the borrower had not found +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_389' name='page_389'></a>389</span> +time to read. After saying this, I need scarcely +add that he was not a book collector in the usual +sense of the word. He did not care for rare +editions, and still less did he care about bindings.</p> +<p>His Aldenham library was itself a monument +of learning and industry.<a name='FNanchor_0051' id='FNanchor_0051'></a><a href='#Footnote_0051' class='fnanchor'>[60]</a> In forming it he sought +to bring together the books needed for tracing +and elucidating the growth of formative ideas +and of institutions in the sphere of ecclesiastical +and civil polity, and to attain this he made it +include not only all the best treatises handling +these large and complex subjects, but a mass of +original records bearing as well on the local +histories of the cities and provinces of such +countries as Italy and France as on the general +history of the great European States and of the +Church. This magnificent design he accomplished +by his own efforts before he was forty. What was +still more surprising, he had found time to use the +books. Nearly all of them show by notes pencilled +or marks placed in them that he had read some +part of them, and knew (so far as was needed for +his purpose) their contents.</p> +<p>Vast as his stores of knowledge were, they +were opened only to his few intimate friends. +It was not merely that he, as Tennyson said of +Edmund Lushington, “bore all that weight of +learning lightly, like a flower.” No one could +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_390' name='page_390'></a>390</span> +have known in general society that he had any +weight of learning to bear. He seemed to be +merely a cultivated and agreeable man of the +world, interested in letters and politics, but disposed +rather to listen than to talk. He was +sometimes enigmatic and “not incapable of casting +a pearl of irony in the way of those who would +mistake it for pebbly fact.”<a name='FNanchor_0052' id='FNanchor_0052'></a><a href='#Footnote_0052' class='fnanchor'>[61]</a> A great capacity +for cynicism remained a capacity only, because +joined to a greater reverence for virtue. In a +large company he seldom put forth the fulness +of his powers; it was in familiar converse +with persons whose tastes resembled his own +that the extraordinary finesse and polish of his +mind revealed themselves. His critical taste was +not only delicate, but exacting; his judgments +leaned to the side of severity. No one applied +a more stringent moral standard to the conduct +of men in public affairs, whether to-day or in +past ages. He insisted upon this, in his inaugural +lecture at Cambridge, as the historian’s first duty. +“It is,” said he, “the office of historical science to +maintain morality as the sole impartial criterion +of men and things.” When he came to estimate +the value of literary work he seemed no less +hard to satisfy. His ideal, both as respected +thoroughness in substance and finish in form, +was impossibly high, and he noted every failure +to reach it. No one appreciated merit more +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_391' name='page_391'></a>391</span> +cordially. No one spoke with warmer admiration +of such distinguished historians and theologians +as the men whom I have just named. But the +precision of his thinking and the fastidiousness +of his taste gave more than a tinge of austerity +to his judgment. His opinions were peculiarly +instructive and illuminative to Englishmen, because +he was only half an Englishman in blood, +less than half an Englishman in his training and +mental habits. He was as much at home in Paris +or Berlin or Rome as he was in London, speaking +the four great languages with almost equal +facility, and knowing the men who in each of these +capitals were best worth knowing. He viewed +our insular literature and politics with the detachment +not only of a Roman Catholic among +Protestants, of a pupil of Döllinger and Roscher +among Oxford and Cambridge men, but also of +a citizen of the world, whose mastery of history +and philosophy had given him an unusually wide +outlook over mankind at large.</p> +<p>His interest in the great things, so far from +turning him away from the small things, seemed +to quicken his sense of their significance. It was +a noteworthy feature of his view of history that +he should have held that the explanation of most +of what has passed in the light is to be found in +what has passed in the dark. He was always +hunting for the key to secret chambers, preferring +to believe that the grand staircase is only for show, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_392' name='page_392'></a>392</span> +and meant to impose upon the multitude, while the +real action goes on in hidden passages behind. No +one knew so much of the gossip of the past; no +one was more intensely curious about the gossip +of the present, though in his hands it ceased +to be gossip and became unwritten history. One +was sometimes disposed to wonder whether he did +not think too much about the backstairs. But he +had seen a great deal of history in the making.</p> +<p>The passion for acquiring knowledge which +his German education had fostered ended by +becoming a snare to him, because it checked his +productive powers. Not that learning burdened +him, or clogged the soaring pinions of his mind. +He was master of all he knew. But acquisition +absorbed so much of his time that little was left +for literary composition. (Döllinger saw the +danger, for he observed that if Acton did not +write a great book before he reached the age +of forty, he would never do so.) It made him +think that he could not write on a subject till +he had read everything, or nearly everything, +that others had written about it. It developed +the habit of making extracts from the books he +read, a habit which took the form of accumulating +small slips of paper on which these +extracts were written in his exquisitely neat and +regular hand, the slips being arranged in cardboard +boxes according to their subjects. He +had hundreds of these boxes; and though much +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_393' name='page_393'></a>393</span> +of their contents must no doubt be valuable, the +time spent in distilling and bottling the essence +of the books whence they came, might have been +better spent in giving to the world the ideas +which they had helped to evoke in his own mind. +If one may take the quotations appended to +his inaugural lecture as a sample of those he +had collected, many of them were not exceptionally +valuable, and did little more than show +how the same idea, perhaps no recondite one, +might be expressed in different words by different +persons. When one read some article he had +written, garnished and even overloaded with +citations, one often felt that his own part was +better, both in substance and in form, than the +passages which he had culled from his predecessors. +It becomes daily more than ever true +that the secret of historical composition is to +know what to neglect, since in our time it has +become impossible to exhaust the literature of +most subjects, and, as respects the last two +centuries, to exhaust even the original authorities. +Yet how shall one know what to neglect without +at least a glance of inspection? Acton was unwilling +to neglect anything; and his ardour for completeness +drew him into a policy fit only for one +who could expect to live three lives of mortal men.</p> +<p>The love of knowledge grew upon him till +it became a passion of the intellect, a thirst like +the thirst for water in a parching desert. What +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_394' name='page_394'></a>394</span> +he sought to know was not facts only, but facts +in their relations to principles, facts so disposed +and fitly joined together as to become the causeway +over which the road to truth shall pass. +For this purpose events were in his view not +more important than the thoughts of men, because +discursive and creative thought was to him the +ruling factor in history. Hence books must be +known—books of philosophic creation, books of +philosophic reflection, no less than those which +record what has happened. The danger of this +conception is that everything men have said or +written, as well as everything they have done, +becomes a possibly significant fact; and thus the +search for truth becomes endless because the +materials are inexhaustible.</p> +<p>He expressed in striking words, prefixed to +a list of books suggested for a young man’s +perusal, his view of the aim of a course of +historical reading. It is “to give force and +fulness and clearness and sincerity and independence +and elevation and generosity and serenity +to his mind, that he may know the method and +law of the process by which error is conquered +and truth is won, discerning knowledge from +probability and prejudice from belief, that he +may learn to master what he rejects as fully as +what he adopts, that he may understand the +origin as well as the strength and vitality of +systems and the better motive of men who are +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_395' name='page_395'></a>395</span> +wrong ... and to steel him against the charm +of literary beauty and talent.”<a name='FNanchor_0053' id='FNanchor_0053'></a><a href='#Footnote_0053' class='fnanchor'>[62]</a></p> +<p>Neither his passion for facts nor his appreciation +of style and form made him decline to the +right hand or to the left from the true position +of a historian. He set little store upon what is +called literary excellence, and would often reply, +when questioned as to the merits of some book +bearing an eminent name, “You need not read +it: it adds nothing to what we knew.” He valued +facts only so far as they went to establish a principle +or explained the course of events. It was really +not so much in the range of his knowledge as in +the profundity and precision of his thought that +his greatness lay.</p> +<p>His somewhat overstrained conscientiousness, +coupled with the practically unattainable ideal of +finish and form which he set before himself, made +him less and less disposed to literary production. +No man of first-rate powers has in our time left +so little by which posterity may judge those +powers. In his early life, when for a time he +edited the <i>Home and Foreign Review</i>, and when +he was connected with the <i>Rambler</i> and the +<i>North British Review</i>, he wrote frequently; and +even between 1868 and 1890 he contributed +to the press some few historical essays and a +number of anonymous letters. But the aversion +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_396' name='page_396'></a>396</span> +to creative work seemed to grow on him. About +1890 he so far yielded to the urgency of a few +friends as to promise to reissue a number of his +essays in a volume, but, after rewriting and polishing +these essays during several years, he abandoned +the scheme altogether. In 1882 he had +already drawn out a plan for a comprehensive +history of Liberty. But this plan also he +dropped, because the more he read with a view +to undertaking it the more he wished to read, +and the vaster did the enterprise seem to loom up +before him. With him, as with many men who +cherish high literary ideals, the Better proved +to be the enemy of the Good.</p> +<p>Twenty years ago, late at night, in his library +at Cannes, he expounded to me his view of how +such a history of Liberty might be written, and +in what wise it might be made the central thread +of all history. He spoke for six or seven minutes +only; but he spoke like a man inspired, seeming +as if, from some mountain summit high in air, he +saw beneath him the far-winding path of human +progress from dim Cimmerian shores of prehistoric +shadow into the fuller yet broken and +fitful light of the modern time. The eloquence +was splendid, but greater than the eloquence was +the penetrating vision which discerned through +all events and in all ages the play of those moral +forces, now creating, now destroying, always +transmuting, which had moulded and remoulded +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_397' name='page_397'></a>397</span> +institutions, and had given to the human spirit +its ceaselessly-changing forms of energy. It was +as if the whole landscape of history had been +suddenly lit up by a burst of sunlight. I have +never heard from any other lips any discourse like +this, nor from his did I ever hear the like again.</p> +<p>His style suffered in his later days from +the abundance of the interspersed citations, and +from the overfulness and subtlety of the thought, +which occasionally led to obscurity. But when +he handled a topic in which learning was not +required, his style was clear, pointed and incisive, +sometimes epigrammatic. Several years ago he +wrote in a monthly magazine a short article upon +a biography of one of his contemporaries which +showed how admirable a master he was of polished +diction and penetrating analysis, and made one +wish that he had more frequently consented to +dash off light work in a quick unstudied way.</p> +<p>To the work of a University professor he came +too late to acquire the art of fluent and forcible +oral discourse, nor was the character of his mind, +with its striving after a flawless exactitude of +statement, altogether fitted for the function of +presenting broad summaries of facts to a youthful +audience. His predecessor in the Cambridge +chair of history, Sir John Seeley, with less knowledge, +less subtlety, and less originality, had in +larger measure the gift of oral exposition and +the power of putting points, whether by speech +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_398' name='page_398'></a>398</span> +or by writing, in a clear and telling way. No one, +indeed, since Macaulay has been a better point-putter +than Seeley was. But Acton’s lectures +(read from MS.) were models of lucid and stately +narrative informed by fulness of thought; and +they were so delivered as to express the feeling +which each event had evoked in his own mind. +That sternness of character which revealed itself +in his judgments of men and books never affected +his relations to his pupils. Precious as his time +was, he gave it generously, encouraging them +to come to him for help and counsel. They +were awed by the majesty of his learning. Said +one of them to me, “When Lord Acton answers +a question put to him, I feel as if I were looking +at a pyramid. I see the point of it clear +and sharp, but I see also the vast subjacent +mass of solid knowledge.” They perceived, +moreover, that to him History and Philosophy +were not two things but one, and perceived that +of History as well as of divine Philosophy it may +be said that she too is “charming, and musical as +is Apollo’s lute.” Thus the impression produced in +the University by the amplitude of Lord Acton’s +views, by the range of his learning, by the liberality +of his spirit and his unfailing devotion to +truth and to truth alone, was deep and fruitful.</p> +<p>When they wished that he had given to the world +more of his wisdom, his friends did not undervalue +a life which was in itself a rare and exquisite +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_399' name='page_399'></a>399</span> +product of favouring nature and unwearied diligence. +They only regretted that the influence of +his ideas, of his methods, and of his spirit, had +not been more widely diffused in an enduring +form. It was as when a plant unknown elsewhere +grows on some remote isle where ships seldom +touch. Few see the beauty of the flower, and +here death came before the seed could be gathered +to be scattered in receptive soil.</p> +<p>To most men Lord Acton seemed reserved as +well as remote, presenting a smooth and shining +surface beneath which it was hard to penetrate. +He avoided publicity and popularity with the +tranquil dignity of one for whom the world of +knowledge and speculation was more than sufficient. +But he was a loyal friend, affectionate to +his intimates, gracious in his manners, blameless +in all the relations of life. Comparatively few +of his countrymen knew his name, and those who +did thought of him chiefly as the confidant of Mr. +Gladstone, and as the most remarkable instance +of a sincere and steadfast Roman Catholic who +was a Liberal alike in politics and in theology. +But those who had been admitted to his friendship +recognised him as one of the finest intelligences +of his generation, an unsurpassed, +and indeed a scarcely rivalled, master of every +subject which he touched.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_400' name='page_400'></a>400</span> +<a name='WILLIAM_EWART_GLADSTONE' id='WILLIAM_EWART_GLADSTONE'></a> +<h2>WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE</h2> +</div> +<p>Of no man who has lived in our times is it so +hard to speak in a concise and summary fashion +as of Mr. Gladstone. For fifty years he was so +closely associated with the public affairs of his +country that the record of his parliamentary life +is virtually an outline of English political history +during those years. His activity spread itself out +over many fields. He was the author of several +learned and thoughtful books, and of a multitude +of articles upon all sorts of subjects. He showed +himself as eagerly interested in matters of classical +scholarship and Christian doctrine and ecclesiastical +history as in questions of national finance +and foreign policy. No account of him could be +complete without reviewing his actions and +estimating the results of his work in all these +directions.</p> +<p>But the difficulty of describing and judging +him goes deeper. His was a singularly complex +nature, whose threads it was hard to unravel. +His individuality was extremely strong. All that +he said or did bore its impress. Yet it was an +individuality so far from being self-consistent +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_401' name='page_401'></a>401</span> +as sometimes to seem a bundle of opposite +qualities capriciously united in a single person. +He might with equal truth have been called, and +he was in fact called, a conservative and a revolutionary. +He was dangerously impulsive, and had +frequently to suffer for his impulsiveness; yet +he was also not merely prudent and cautious, +but so astute as to have been accused of craft +and dissimulation. So great was his respect +for tradition that he clung to views regarding +the authorship of the Homeric poems and +the date of the books of the Old Testament +which nearly all competent specialists +have now rejected. So bold was he in practical +matters that he carried through sweeping +changes in the British constitution, changed the +course of English policy in the nearer East, +overthrew an established church in one part of +the United Kingdom, and committed himself +in principle to the overthrow of two other +established churches in other parts. He came +near to being a Roman Catholic in his religious +opinions, yet was for the last twenty years +of his life the trusted leader of the English +Protestant Nonconformists and the Scottish +Presbyterians. No one who knew him intimately +doubted his conscientious sincerity and earnestness, +yet four-fifths of the English upper classes +were in his later years wont to regard him as a +self-interested schemer who would sacrifice his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_402' name='page_402'></a>402</span> +country to his ambition. Though he loved +general principles, and often soared out of the +sight of his audience when discussing them, he +generally ended by deciding upon points of detail +the question at issue. He was at different times +of his life the defender and the assailant of the +same institutions, yet scarcely seemed inconsistent +in doing opposite things, because his +methods and his arguments preserved the same +type and colour throughout. Those who had +at the beginning of his career discerned in him +the capacity for such diversities and contradictions +would probably have predicted that they +must wreck it by making his purposes fluctuating +and his course erratic. Such a prediction might +have proved true of any one with less firmness of +will and less intensity of temper. It was the +persistent heat and vehemence of his character, +the sustained passion which he threw into the +pursuit of the object on which he was for the +moment bent, that fused these dissimilar qualities +and made them appear to contribute to and +increase the total force which he exerted.</p> +<p>The circumstances of Mr. Gladstone’s political +career help to explain, or, at any rate, will furnish +occasion for the attempt to explain, this complexity +and variety of character. But before I +come to his manhood it is convenient to advert +to three conditions whose influence on him was +profound—the first his Scottish blood, the second +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_403' name='page_403'></a>403</span> +his Oxford education, the third his apprenticeship +to public life under Sir Robert Peel.</p> +<p>Theories of character based on race differences +are dangerous, because they are as hard to +test as they are easy to form. Still, we all +know that there are specific qualities and tendencies +usually found in the minds of men of +certain stocks, just as there are peculiarities in +their faces or in their speech. Mr. Gladstone +was born and brought up in Liverpool, and +always retained a touch of Lancashire accent. +But, as he was fond of saying, every drop of +blood in his veins was Scotch. His father’s +family belonged to the Scottish Lowlands, and +came from the neighbourhood of Biggar, in the +Upper Ward of Lanarkshire, where the ruined +walls of Gledstanes<a name='FNanchor_0054' id='FNanchor_0054'></a><a href='#Footnote_0054' class='fnanchor'>[63]</a>—“the kite’s rock”—may +still be seen. His mother was of Highland extraction, +by name Robertson, from Dingwall, in +Ross-shire. Thus he was not only a Scot, but a +Scot with a strong infusion of the Celtic element, +the element whence the Scotch derive most of +what distinguishes them from the northern English. +The Scot is more excitable, more easily +brought to a glow of passion, more apt to be +eagerly absorbed in one thing at a time. He +is also more fond of exerting his intellect on +abstractions. It is not merely that the taste for +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_404' name='page_404'></a>404</span> +metaphysical theology is commoner in Scotland +than in England, but that the Scotch have a +stronger relish for general principles. They +like to set out by ascertaining and defining such +principles, and then to pursue a series of logical +deductions from them. They are, therefore, +bolder reasoners than the English, less content +to remain in the region of concrete facts, more +prone to throw themselves into the construction +of a body of speculative doctrine. The +Englishman is apt to plume himself on being +right in spite of logic; the Scotchman likes +to think that it is through logic he has reached +his results, and that he can by logic defend +them. These are qualities which Mr. Gladstone +drew from his Scottish blood. He had a keen +enjoyment of the processes of dialectic. He +loved to get hold of an abstract principle and to +derive all sorts of conclusions from it. He was +wont to begin the discussion of a question by +laying down two or three sweeping propositions +covering the subject as a whole, and would then +proceed to draw from these others which he +could apply to the particular matter in hand. +His well-stored memory and boundless ingenuity +made the discovery of such general propositions +so easy a task that a method in itself agreeable +sometimes appeared to be carried to excess. He +frequently arrived at conclusions which the judgment +of the common-sense auditor did not +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_405' name='page_405'></a>405</span> +approve, because, although they seemed to have +been legitimately deduced from the general +principles just enunciated, they were somehow +at variance with the plain teaching of the facts. +At such moments one felt that the man who +was fascinating but perplexing Englishmen by +his subtlety was not himself an Englishman +in mental quality, but had the love for abstractions +and refinements and dialectical analysis +which characterises the Scotch intellect. He +had also a large measure of that warmth and +vehemence, called in the sixteenth century the +<i>perfervidum ingenium Scotorum</i>, which belong to +the Scottish temperament, and particularly to the +Celtic Scot. He kindled quickly, and when +kindled, he shot forth a strong and brilliant flame. +To any one with less power of self-control such +intensity of emotion as he frequently showed +would have been dangerous; nor did this excitability +fail, even with him, to prompt words +and acts which a cooler judgment would have +disapproved. But it gave that spontaneity which +was one of the charms of his nature; it produced +that impression of profound earnestness and of +resistless force which raised him out of the rank +of ordinary statesmen. The rush of emotion +swelling fast and full seemed to turn the whole +stream of intellectual effort into whatever channel +lay at the moment nearest.</p> +<p>With these Scottish qualities, Mr. Gladstone +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_406' name='page_406'></a>406</span> +was brought up at school and college (Eton and +Christ Church) among Englishmen, and received +at Oxford, then lately awakened from a long +torpor, a bias and tendency which never thereafter +ceased to affect him. The so-called +“Oxford Movement,” which afterwards obtained +the name of Tractarianism and carried Newman +and Manning, together with other less famous +leaders, on to Rome, had not yet, in 1831, when +Mr. Gladstone obtained his degree with double +first-class honours, taken visible shape, or +become, so to speak, conscious of its own purposes. +But its doctrinal views, its peculiar vein +of religious sentiment, its respect for antiquity +and tradition, its proneness to casuistry, its taste +for symbolism, were already in the air as influences +working on the more susceptible of the +younger minds. On Mr. Gladstone they told +with full force. He became, and never ceased +to be, not merely a High-churchman, but what +may be called an Anglo-Catholic, in his theology, +deferential not only to ecclesiastical tradition, +but to the living voice of the Visible Church, +revering the priesthood as the recipients (if +duly ordained) of a special grace and peculiar +powers, attaching great importance to the sacraments, +feeling himself nearer to the Church of +Rome, despite what he deemed her corruptions, +than to any of the non-Episcopal Protestant +churches. Henceforth his interests in life were +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_407' name='page_407'></a>407</span> +as much ecclesiastical as political. For a time +he desired to be ordained a clergyman. Had +this wish, abandoned in deference to his father’s +advice, been carried out, he must eventually have +become a leading figure in the Church of England +and have sensibly affected her recent history. +The later stages in his career drew him away +from the main current of political opinion within +that church. He who had been the strongest +advocate of the principle of the State establishment +of religion came to be the chief actor in +the disestablishment of the Protestant Episcopal +Church in Ireland, and a supporter of the policy +of disestablishment in Scotland and in Wales. +But the colour which these Oxford years gave +to his mind and thoughts was never effaced. +While they widened the range of his interests +and deepened his moral earnestness, they at the +same time confirmed his natural bent toward +over-subtle distinctions and fine-drawn reasonings, +and put him out of sympathy not only with the +attitude of the average Englishman, who is essentially +a Protestant—that is to say, averse to sacerdotalism, +and suspicious of any other religious +authority than that of the Bible and the individual +conscience—but also with two of the +strongest influences of our time, the influence +of the sciences of nature, and the influence of +historical criticism. Mr. Gladstone, though too +wise to rail at science, as many religious men +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_408' name='page_408'></a>408</span> +did till within the last few years, could never +quite reconcile himself either to the conclusions +of geology and zoology regarding the history of +the physical world and the creatures which inhabit +it, or to modern methods of critical inquiry +as applied to Scripture and to ancient literature +generally. The training which Oxford then +gave, stimulating as it was, and free from the +modern error of over-specialisation, was defective +in omitting the experimental sciences, and in +laying undue stress upon the study of language. +A proneness to dwell on verbal distinctions and +to trust overmuch to the analysis of terms as a +means of reaching the truth of things is noticeable +in many eminent Oxford writers of that and +the next succeeding generation—some of them, +like the illustrious F. D. Maurice, far removed +from Cardinal Newman and Mr. Gladstone in +theological opinion.</p> +<p>When, bringing with him a brilliant University +reputation, he entered the House of Commons at +the age of twenty-three, Sir Robert Peel was +leading the Tory party with an authority and +ability rarely surpassed in the annals of parliament. +Within two years the young man was +admitted into the short-lived Tory ministry of +1834, and soon proved himself a promising +lieutenant of the experienced chief. Peel was an +eminently wary man, alive to the necessity of +watching the signs of the times, of studying and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_409' name='page_409'></a>409</span> +interpreting the changeful phases of public +opinion. Yet he always kept his own counsel. +Even when he perceived that the policy he +had hitherto followed would need to be modified, +Peel continued to use guarded language and did +not publicly commit himself to change till it +was plain that the fitting moment had arrived. +He was, moreover, a master of detail, slow to +propound a plan until he had seen how its outlines +were to be filled up by appropriate devices +for carrying it out in practice. These qualities +and habits of the minister profoundly affected +his disciple. They became part of the texture of +Mr. Gladstone’s political character, and in his +case, as in that of Peel, they sometimes brought +censure upon him, as having locked up too long +within his breast views or purposes which he +thought it unwise to disclose till effect could be +forthwith given to them. Such reserve, such a +guarded attitude and tenderness for existing +institutions, may have been not altogether natural +to Mr. Gladstone’s mind, but due partly to the +influence of Peel, partly to the tendency to +hold by tradition and the established order +which reverence for Christian antiquity and faith +in the dogmatic teachings of the Church had +planted deep in his soul. The contrast between +Mr. Gladstone’s caution and respect for facts on +the one hand, and his reforming fervour on the +other, like the contrast which ultimately appeared +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_410' name='page_410'></a>410</span> +between his sacerdotal tendencies and his political +liberalism, contributed to make his character +perplexing and to expose his conduct to the +charge of inconsistency. Inconsistent, in the +proper sense of the word, he was not, much +less changeable. He was really, in his fundamental +convictions and the main habits of his +mind, one of the most tenacious and persistent +of men. But there were always at work in him +two tendencies. One was the speculative desire +to probe everything to the bottom, to try it +by the light of general principles and logic, and +when it failed to stand this test, to reject it. +The other was the sense of the complexity of +existing social and political arrangements, and of +the risk of disturbing any one part of them until +the time had arrived for resettling other parts +also. Every statesman feels both these sides to +every concrete question of reform. No one has +set them forth more cogently, and in particular +no one has more earnestly dwelt on the necessity +for the latter side, than the most profound +thinker among British statesmen, Edmund Burke. +When Mr. Gladstone stated either side with his +incomparable force, people forgot that there was +another side which would be no less vividly present +to him at some other moment. He was not only, +like all successful parliamentarians, necessarily +something of an opportunist, though perhaps less +so than his master, but was moved by emotion +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_411' name='page_411'></a>411</span> +more than most statesmen, and certainly more +than Peel. The relative strength with which +the need for drastic reform or the need for watchful +conservatism, as the case might be, presented +itself to his mind depended largely upon the +weight which his emotions cast into one or +other scale, and this emotional element made it +difficult to forecast his course. Thus his action +in public life was the result of influences differing +widely in their origin, influences, moreover, which +could be duly appreciated only by those who knew +him intimately.</p> +<p>Whoever has followed his political career has +been struck by the sharp divergence of the views +entertained by his fellow-countrymen about one +who had been for so long a period under their +observation. That he was possessed of boundless +energy and brilliant eloquence all agreed. +But agreement went no further. One section of +the nation accused him of sophistry, of unwisdom, +of a want of patriotism, of a lust for power. The +other section not only repelled these charges, +but admired in him a conscientiousness and a +moral enthusiasm such as no political leader had +shown for centuries. When the qualities of his +mind and the aptitudes for politics which he +showed have been briefly examined, it will be +fitting to return to these divergent views of his +character, and endeavour to discover which of +them contains the larger measure of truth. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_412' name='page_412'></a>412</span> +Meantime let it suffice to say that among the +reasons that led men to misjudge him, this union +in one person of opposite qualities was the chief. +He was rather two men than one. Passionate +and impulsive on the emotional side of his nature, +he was cautious and conservative on the intellectual. +Few understood the conjunction; still +fewer saw how much of what was perplexing in +his conduct it explained.</p> +<p>Mr. Gladstone sat for sixty-three years (1833-1895) +in Parliament, was for twenty-eight years +(1866-1894) the leader of his party, and was four +times Prime Minister. He began as a high +Tory, remained about fifteen years in that camp, +was then led by the split between Peel and the +Protectionists to take up an intermediate position, +and finally was forced to cast in his lot with the +Liberals, for in England, as in America, third +parties seldom endure. No parliamentary career +in English annals is comparable to his for its +length and variety; and of those who saw its +close in the House of Commons, there was only +one man, Mr. Villiers (who died in January 1898), +who could remember its beginning. Mr. Gladstone +had been opposed in 1833 to men who might +have been his grandfathers; he was opposed in +1894 to men who might have been his grandchildren. +It is no part of my design to describe +or comment on the events of such a life. All that +can be done here is to indicate the more salient +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_413' name='page_413'></a>413</span> +characteristics which a study of his career as a +statesman and a parliamentarian sets before us.</p> +<p>The most remarkable of these characteristics +was the openness, freshness, and eagerness of +mind which he preserved down to the end of +his life. Most men form few new opinions +after thirty-five, just as they form few new +intimacies. Intellectual curiosity may remain +even after fifty, but its range narrows as a man +abandons the hope of attaining any thorough +knowledge of subjects other than those which +make the main business of his life. It is impossible +to follow the progress of all the new ideas +that are set afloat in the world, impossible to +be always examining the foundations of one’s +political or religious beliefs. Repeated disappointments +and disillusionments make a man +expect less from changes the older he grows; +while indolence deters him from entering upon +new enterprises. None of these causes seemed +to affect Mr. Gladstone. He was as much +excited over a new book (such as Cardinal +Manning’s Life) at eighty-four as when at +fourteen he insisted on compelling little Arthur +Stanley (afterwards Dean of Westminster, and +then aged nine) forthwith to procure and study +Gray’s poems, which he had just perused himself. +His reading covered almost the whole field +of literature, except physical and mathematical +science. While frequently declaring that he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_414' name='page_414'></a>414</span> +must confine his political thinking and leadership +to a few subjects, he was so observant +of current events that the course of talk +brought up scarcely any topic in which he did +not seem to know what was the latest thing that +had been said or done. Neither the lassitude +nor the prejudices that usually accompany old age +prevented him from giving a fair consideration to +any new doctrines. But though his intellect was +restlessly at work, and though his curiosity disposed +him to relish novelties, except in theology, +that bottom rock in his mind of caution and reserve, +which has already been referred to, made +him refuse to part with old views even when he +was beginning to accept new ones. He allowed +both to “lie on the table” together, and while +declaring himself open to conviction, felt it +safer to speak and act on the old lines till the +process of conviction had been completed. It +took fourteen years, from 1846 to 1860, to carry +him from the Conservative into the Liberal camp. +It took five stormy years to bring him round to +Irish Home Rule, though his mind was constantly +occupied with the subject from 1880 to 1885, +and those who watched him closely saw that +the process had advanced a long way even in +1882. And as regards ecclesiastical establishments, +having written a book in 1838 as a warm +advocate of State churches, it was not till 1867 +that he adopted the policy of disestablishment +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_415' name='page_415'></a>415</span> +for Ireland, not till 1890 that he declared himself +ready to apply that policy in Wales and Scotland +also.</p> +<p>Both these qualities—his disposition to revise +his opinions in the light of new arguments and +changing conditions, and the silence he maintained +till the process of revision had been +completed—exposed him to misconstruction. +Commonplace men, unwont to give serious +scrutiny to their opinions, ascribed his changes +to self-interest, or at best regarded them as the +index of an unstable purpose. Dull men could +not understand why he should have forborne to +set forth all that was passing in his mind, and saw +little difference between reticence and dishonesty. +In so far as they shook public confidence, these +characteristics injured him in his statesman’s +work. Yet the loss was outweighed by the gain. +In a country where opinion is active and changeful, +where the economic conditions that legislation +has to deal with are in a state of perpetual flux, +where the balance of power between the upper, +the middle, and the poorer classes has been swiftly +altering during the last seventy years, no statesman +can continue to serve the public if he adheres +obstinately to the doctrines with which he started +in life. He must—unless, of course, he stands +aloof in permanent isolation—either subordinate +his own views to the general sentiment of his +party, and be driven to advocate courses he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_416' name='page_416'></a>416</span> +secretly mislikes, or else, holding himself ready +to quit his party, if need be, must be willing +to learn from events, and to reconsider his +opinions in the light of emergent tendencies +and insistent facts. Mr. Gladstone’s pride as +well as his conscience forbade the former alternative; +it was fortunate that the tireless activity +of his intellect made the latter natural to him. +He was accustomed to say that the capital fault +of his earlier days had been his failure adequately +to recognise the worth and power of liberty, and +the tendency which things have to work out for +good when left to themselves. The application +of this principle gave room for many developments, +and many developments there were. He +may have shown less than was needed of that +prescience which is, after integrity and courage, +the highest gift of a statesman, but which can +seldom be expected from an English minister, +too engrossed to find time for the patient reflection +from which alone sound forecasts can +issue. But he had the next best quality, that +of remaining accessible to new ideas and learning +from the events which passed under his eyes.</p> +<p>With this openness and flexibility of mind +there went a not less remarkable ingenuity +and resourcefulness. Fertile in expedients, he +was still more fertile in reasonings by which +to recommend the expedients. The gift had +its dangers, for he was apt to be carried away +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_417' name='page_417'></a>417</span> +by the dexterity of his own dialectic, and to +think that a scheme must be sound in whose +support he could muster a formidable array +of arguments. He never seemed at a loss, in +public or in private, for a criticism, or for an +answer to the criticisms of others. If his power +of adapting his own mind to the minds of those +whom he had to convince had been equal to the +skill and swiftness with which he accumulated a +mass of matter persuasive to those who looked +at things in his own way, no one would have +exercised so complete a control over the political +opinion of his time. But his intellect +lacked this power of adaptation. It moved on +lines of its own, which were often misconceived, +even by those who sought to follow him loyally. +Thus, as already observed, he was blamed for +two opposite faults. Some, pointing to the fact +that he had frequently altered his views, denounced +him as a demagogue profuse of promises, +ready to propose whatever he thought +likely to catch the people’s ear. Others complained +that there was no knowing where to +have him; that he had an erratic mind, whose +currents ran underground and came to the +surface in unexpected places; that he did not +consult his party, but followed his own impulses; +that his guidance was unsafe because +his decisions were unpredictable. Much of +the suspicion with which he was regarded, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_418' name='page_418'></a>418</span> +especially after 1885, arose from this view of +his character.</p> +<p>It was an unfair view, yet nearer to the truth +than that which charged him with seeking to flatter +and follow the people. No great popular leader +had in him less of the demagogue. He saw, +of course, that a statesman cannot oppose the +general will beyond a certain point, and may +have to humour it in small things that he may +direct it in great ones. He was obliged, as +others have been, to take up and settle questions +he deemed unimportant because they were +troubling the body politic. Now and then, in +his later days, he so far yielded to his party +advisers as to express his approval of proposals +in which his own interest was slight. But he +was ever a leader, not a follower, and erred +rather in not keeping his finger closely and +constantly upon the pulse of public opinion. In +this point, at least, one may discover in him a +likeness to Disraeli. Slow as he was in maturing +his opinions, Mr. Gladstone was liable to forget +that the minds of his followers might not be +moving along with his own, and hence his +decisions sometimes took his party as well as +the nation by surprise. But he was too self-absorbed, +too eagerly interested in the ideas that +suited his own cast of thought, to be able to +watch and gauge the tendencies of the multitude. +The three most remarkable instances in which +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_419' name='page_419'></a>419</span> +his new departures startled the world were his +declarations against the Irish Church establishment +in 1867, against the Turks and the traditional +English policy of supporting them in 1876, +and in favour of Irish Home Rule in 1886, and +in none of these did any popular demand suggest +his pronouncement. It was the masses who took +their view from him, not he who took a mandate +from the masses. In each of these cases he may, +perhaps, be blamed for not having sooner perceived, +or at any rate for not having sooner announced, +the need for a change of policy. But it was very +characteristic of him not to give the full strength +of his mind to a question till he felt that it pressed +for a solution. Those who listened to his private +talk were scarcely more struck by the range of +his vision than by his unwillingness to commit +himself on matters whose decision he could +postpone. Reticence and caution were sometimes +carried too far, not merely because they +exposed him to misconstruction, but because +they withheld from his party the guidance it +needed. This was true in the three instances +just mentioned; and in the last of them it is +possible that earlier and fuller communications +might have averted the separation of some of +his former colleagues. Nor did he always +rightly divine the popular mind. His proposal +(in 1874) to extinguish the income-tax +fell completely flat, because the nation was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_420' name='page_420'></a>420</span> +becoming indifferent to that economy in public +expenditure which both parties had in the days +of Peel and Lord John Russell vied in demanding. +Cherishing his old financial ideals, Mr. Gladstone +had not marked the change. So he failed to +perceive how much the credit of his party was +suffering (after 1871) from the belief of large +sections of the people, that he was indifferent +to the interests of England outside England. +Perhaps, knowing the charge of indifference to +be groundless, he underrated the effect which the +iteration of it produced: perhaps his pride would +not let him stoop to dissipate it.</p> +<p>Though the power of reading the signs of +the times and swaying the mind of the nation +may be now more essential to an English +statesman than the skill which manages a legislature +or holds together a cabinet, that skill +counts for much, and must continue to do so +while the House of Commons remains the +governing authority of the country. A man +can hardly reach high place, and certainly cannot +retain high place, without possessing this +kind of art. Mr. Gladstone was at one time +thought to want it. In 1864, when Lord Palmerston’s +end was approaching, and Mr. Gladstone +had shown himself the strongest man among +the Liberal ministers in the House of Commons, +people speculated about the succession +to the headship of the party; and the wiseacres +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_421' name='page_421'></a>421</span> +of the day were never tired of repeating +that Mr. Gladstone could not possibly lead the +House of Commons. He wanted tact, they said, +he was too excitable, too impulsive, too much +absorbed in his own ideas, too unversed in the +arts by which individuals are conciliated. But +when, after twenty-five years of his unquestioned +reign, the time for his own departure drew nigh, +men asked how the Liberal party in the House +of Commons would ever hold together after it +had lost a leader of such consummate capacity. +The Whig critics of 1864 had grown so accustomed +to Palmerston’s way of handling the House +as to forget that a man might succeed by quite +different methods, and that defects, serious in +themselves, may be outweighed by transcendent +merits.</p> +<p>Mr. Gladstone had the defects ascribed to +him. His impulsiveness sometimes betrayed +him into declarations which a cooler reflection +would have dissuaded. The second reading +of the Irish Home Rule Bill of 1886 might +possibly have been carried had he not been +goaded by his opponents into words which +were construed as recalling or modifying the +concessions he had announced at a meeting +of the Liberal party held just before. More +than once precious time was wasted because antagonists, +knowing his excitable temper, brought +on discussions with the sole object of annoying +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_422' name='page_422'></a>422</span> +him and drawing from him some hasty deliverance. +Nor was he an adept, like Disraeli and Disraeli’s +famous Canadian imitator, Sir John A. +Macdonald, in the management of individuals. +His aversion for the meaner side of human +nature made him refuse to play upon it. Many +of the pursuits, and most of the pleasures, +which attract ordinary men had no interest for +him, so that much of the common ground on +which men meet was closed to him. He was, +moreover, too constantly engrossed by the subjects +he loved, and by enterprises which specially +appealed to him, to have leisure for the lighter +but often vitally important devices of political +strategy. I remember hearing, soon after 1870, +how Mr. Delane, then editor of the <i>Times</i>, had +been invited to meet the Prime Minister at a +moment when the support of that newspaper +would have been specially valuable to the Liberal +Government. Instead of using the opportunity +in the way that had been intended, Mr. Gladstone +dilated during the whole time of dinner upon +the approaching exhaustion of the English coal-beds, +to the surprise of the company and the unconcealed +annoyance of the powerful guest. It +was the subject then uppermost in his mind, and +he either forgot, or disdained, to conciliate Mr. +Delane. Good nature as well as good sense +made him avoid giving offence by personal reflections +in debate, and he usually suffered fools +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_423' name='page_423'></a>423</span> +if not, like St. Paul’s converts, gladly, yet +patiently.<a name='FNanchor_0055' id='FNanchor_0055'></a><a href='#Footnote_0055' class='fnanchor'>[64]</a> In the House of Commons he was +entirely free from airs, and, indeed, from any +assumption of superiority. The youngest member +might accost him in the lobby and be listened +to with perfect courtesy. But he had a bad +memory for faces, seldom addressed any one +outside the circle of his personal friends, and +more than once made enemies by omitting +to notice and show attention to recruits who, +having been eminent in their own towns, expected +to be made much of when they entered Parliament. +Having himself plenty of pride and comparatively +little vanity, he never realised the extent to which, +and the cheapness with which, men can be captured +and used through their vanity. Adherents were +sometimes turned into dangerous foes because +his preoccupation with graver matters dimmed his +sense of what may be done to win support by the +minor arts, such as an invitation to dinner or even a +seasonable compliment. And his mind, flexible as +it was in seizing new points of view and devising +expedients to meet new circumstances, did not +easily enter into the characters of other men. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_424' name='page_424'></a>424</span> +Ideas and causes interested him more than did +personal traits; his sympathy was keener and +stronger for the sufferings of nations or masses +of men than with the fortunes of an individual +man. With all his accessibility and kindliness, +he was at bottom chary of real friendship, +while the circle of his intimates became constantly +smaller with advancing years. So it befell that +though his popularity among the general body +of his adherents went on increasing, and the +admiration of his parliamentary followers remained +undiminished, he had in the House of Commons +few personal friends who linked him to the party +at large, and rendered to him those confidential +services which count for much in keeping all +sections in hearty accord and enabling the commander +to gauge the sentiment of his troops.</p> +<p>Of parliamentary strategy in that larger sense, +which covers familiarity with parliamentary forms +and usages, care and judgment in arranging the +business of the House, the power of seizing a +parliamentary situation and knowing how to +deal with it, the art of guiding a debate and +choosing the right moment for reserve and for +openness, for a dignified retreat, for a watchful +defence, for a sudden rattling charge upon the +enemy—of all this no one had a fuller mastery. +His recollection of precedents was unrivalled, for +it began in 1833 with the first reformed Parliament, +and it seemed as fresh for those remote +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_425' name='page_425'></a>425</span> +days as for last month. He enjoyed combat for +its own sake, not so much from inborn pugnacity, +for he was not disputatious in ordinary +conversation, as because it called out his fighting +force and stimulated his whole nature. “I am +never nervous in reply,” he once said, “though I +am sometimes nervous in opening a debate.” No +one could be more tactful or adroit when a crisis +arrived whose gravity he had foreseen. In the +summer of 1881 the House of Lords made some +amendments to the Irish Land Bill which were +deemed ruinous to the working of the measure, +and therewith to the prospects of the pacification +of Ireland. A conflict was expected which might +have strained the fabric of the constitution. The +excitement which quickly arose in Parliament +spread to the nation. Mr. Gladstone alone +remained calm and confident. He devised a +series of compromises, which he advocated in conciliatory +speeches. He so played his game that +by a few minor concessions he secured nearly all +the points he cared for, and, while sparing the +dignity of the Lords, steered his bill triumphantly +out of the breakers which had threatened to +engulf it. Very different was his ordinary demeanour +in debate when he was off his guard. +His face and gestures while he sat in the House +of Commons listening to an opponent would +express all the emotions that crossed his mind. +He would follow every sentence as a hawk follows +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_426' name='page_426'></a>426</span> +the movements of a small bird, would sometimes +contradict half aloud, sometimes turn to +his next neighbour to vent his displeasure at the +groundless allegations or fallacious arguments he +was listening to, till at last, like a hunting leopard +loosed from the leash, he would spring to his +feet and deliver a passionate reply. His warmth +would often be in excess of what the occasion +required, and quite disproportioned to the importance +of his antagonist. It was in fact the +unimportance of the occasion that made him thus +yield to his feeling. As soon as he saw that +bad weather was coming, and careful seamanship +wanted, his coolness returned, his language +became measured, while passion, though it might +increase the force of his oratory, never made him +deviate a hand’s breadth from the course he +had chosen. The Celtic heat subsided, and the +shrewd self-control of the Lowland Scot regained +command.</p> +<p>It was by oratory that Mr. Gladstone rose to +fame and power, as, indeed, by it most English +statesmen have risen, save those to whom wealth +and rank and family connections used to give a +sort of presumptive claim to high office, like the +Cavendishes and the Russells, the Bentincks and +the Cecils. And for many years, during which Mr. +Gladstone was suspected as a statesman because, +while he had ceased to be a Tory, he had not fully +become a Liberal, his eloquence was the main, one +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_427' name='page_427'></a>427</span> +might almost say the sole, source of his influence. +Oratory was a power in English politics even a +century and a half ago, as the career of the +elder Pitt shows. During the last seventy years, +years which have seen the power of rank and +family connections decline, it has, although +less cultivated as a fine art, continued to be +almost essential to the highest success, and it +still brings a man quickly to the front, though it +will not keep him there should he prove to want +the other branches of statesmanlike capacity.</p> +<p>The permanent reputation of an orator depends +upon two things, the witness of contemporaries +to the impression produced upon them, and the +written or printed record of his speeches. Few +are the famous speakers who would be famous +if they were tried by this latter test alone, and +Mr. Gladstone was not one of them. It is only +by a rare combination of gifts that one who +speaks with so much force and brilliance as +to charm his listeners is also able to deliver +thoughts so valuable in words so choice that +posterity will read them as literature. Some +of the ancient orators did this; but we seldom +know how far those of their speeches which +have been preserved are the speeches which +they actually delivered. Among moderns, a few +French preachers, Edmund Burke, Macaulay, and +Daniel Webster are perhaps the only speakers +whose discourses have passed into classics and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_428' name='page_428'></a>428</span> +find new generations of readers.<a name='FNanchor_0056' id='FNanchor_0056'></a><a href='#Footnote_0056' class='fnanchor'>[65]</a> Twenty years +hence Mr. Gladstone’s will not be read, except, of +course, by historians. Indeed, they ceased to be +read even in his lifetime. They are too long, +too diffuse, too minute in their handling of details, +too elaborately qualified in their enunciation of +general principles. They contain few epigrams +and few of those weighty thoughts put into telling +phrases which the Greeks called <span class='greek' title='gnômai'>γνῶμαι</span>. The +style, in short, is not sufficiently rich or polished +to give an enduring interest to matter whose +practical importance has vanished. The same +oblivion has overtaken all but a few of the +best speeches (or parts of speeches) of Grattan, +Sheridan, Pitt, Fox, Erskine, Canning, Plunket, +Brougham, Peel, Bright. It may, indeed, be +said—and the examples of Burke and Macaulay +show that this is no paradox—that the speakers +whom posterity most enjoys are rarely those who +most affected the audiences that listened to them.<a name='FNanchor_0057' id='FNanchor_0057'></a><a href='#Footnote_0057' class='fnanchor'>[66]</a></p> +<p>If, on the other hand, Mr. Gladstone be judged +by the impression he made on his own time, his +place will be high in the front rank. His speeches +were neither so concisely telling as Mr. Bright’s +nor so finished in diction; but no other man +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_429' name='page_429'></a>429</span> +among his contemporaries—neither Lord Derby +nor Mr. Lowe, nor Lord Beaconsfield nor Lord +Cairns, nor Bishop Wilberforce nor Bishop Magee—taken +all round, could be ranked beside him. +And he rose superior to Mr. Bright himself in +readiness, in variety of knowledge, in persuasive +ingenuity. Mr. Bright spoke seldom and required +time for preparation. Admirable in the breadth +and force with which he set forth his own position, +or denounced that of his adversaries, he was +not equally qualified for instructing nor equally +apt at persuading. Mr. Gladstone could both +instruct and persuade, could stimulate his friends +and demolish his opponents, and could do all +these things at an hour’s notice, so vast and well +ordered was the arsenal of his mind. Pitt was +superb in an expository or argumentative speech, +but his stately periods lacked variety. Fox, incomparable +in reply, was hesitating and confused +when he had to state his case in cold blood. +Mr. Gladstone showed as much fire in winding +up a debate as skill in opening it.</p> +<p>His oratory had, indeed, two faults. It wanted +concentration, and it wanted definition. There +were too many words, and the conclusion was +sometimes left vague because the arguments had +been too nicely balanced. I once heard Mr. +Cobden say: “I always listen to Mr. Gladstone +with pleasure and admiration, but I sometimes +have to ask myself, when he has sat down, ‘What +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_430' name='page_430'></a>430</span> +after all was it that he meant, and what practical +course does he recommend?’” These faults +were balanced by conspicuous merits. There +was a lively imagination, which enabled him +to relieve even dull matter by pleasing figures, +together with a large command of quotations +and illustrations. There were powers of sarcasm, +powers, however, which he rarely used, preferring +the summer lightning of banter to the +thunderbolts of invective. There was admirable +lucidity and accuracy in exposition. There was +art in the disposition and marshalling of his +arguments, and finally—a gift now almost lost +in England—there was a delightful variety and +grace of appropriate gesture. But above and +beyond everything else which enthralled the +listener, there stood out four qualities. Two of +them were merits of substance—inventiveness and +elevation; two were merits of delivery—force in +the manner, expressive modulation in the voice.</p> +<p>No one showed such swift resourcefulness in +debate. His readiness, not only at catching a +point, but at making the most of it on a moment’s +notice, was amazing. Some one would lean over +the back of the bench he sat on and show a +paper or whisper a sentence to him. Apprehending +the bearings at a glance, he would take +the bare fact and so shape and develop it, like +a potter moulding a bowl on the wheel out of +a lump of clay, that it grew into a cogent +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_431' name='page_431'></a>431</span> +argument or a happy illustration under the eye of +the audience, and seemed all the more telling +because it had not been originally a part of his +case. Even in the last three years of his parliamentary +life, when his sight had so failed that he +read nothing, printed or written, except what it +was absolutely necessary to read, and when his +deafness had so increased that he did not hear +half of what was said in debate, it was sufficient for +a colleague to say into the better ear a few +words explaining how the matter at issue stood, +and he would rise to his feet and extemporise +a long and ingenious argument, or retreat with +dexterous grace from a position which the course +of the discussion or the private warning of the +Whips had shown to be untenable. Never was +he seen at a loss either to meet a new point +raised by an adversary or to make the best of +an unexpected incident. Sometimes he would +amuse himself by drawing a cheer or a contradiction +from his opponents, and would then suddenly +turn round and use this hasty expression of their +opinion as the basis for a fresh argument of his +own. Loving conflict, he loved debate, and, +so far from being confused or worried by the +strain conflict put upon him, his physical health +was strengthened and his faculties were roused +to higher efficiency by having to prepare and +deliver a great speech. He had the rare faculty +of thinking ahead while he was speaking, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_432' name='page_432'></a>432</span> +could, while pouring forth a stream of glittering +sentences, be at the same time (as one saw by +watching his eye) composing an argument to be +delivered five or ten minutes later. Once, at a +very critical moment, when he was defending a +great measure against the amendment—moved +by a nominal supporter of his own—which proved +fatal to it, a friend suddenly reminded him of +an incident in the career of the mover which might +be effectively used against him. When Mr. Gladstone +sat down after delivering an impassioned +speech, in the course of which he had several +times approached and then sheered off from the +incident, he turned round to the friend and said, +“I was thinking all the time I was speaking +whether I could properly use against —— what +you told me, but concluded, on the whole, that +it would be too hard on him.”</p> +<p>The weakness of his eloquence sprang from its +supersubtlety and superabundance. He was prone +to fine distinctions. He multiplied arguments when +it would have been better to rely upon two or +three of the strongest. And he was sometimes +so intent on refuting the particular adversaries +opposed to him, and persuading the particular +audience before him, that he forgot to address +his reasonings to the public beyond the House, +and make them equally applicable and equally +convincing to the readers of next morning.</p> +<p>As dignity is one of the rarest qualities in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_433' name='page_433'></a>433</span> +literature, so elevation is one of the rarest in +oratory. It is a quality easier to feel than to +analyse. One may call it a power of ennobling +ordinary things by showing their relation to great +things, by pouring high emotions round them, +by bringing the worthier motives of human +conduct to bear upon them, by touching them +with the light of poetry. Ambitious writers and +speakers strain after effects of this kind; but +they are effects which study and straining +cannot ensure. Vainly do most men flap their +wings in the effort to soar; if they succeed +in rising from the ground it is because some +unusually strong burst of feeling makes them +for the moment better than themselves. In +Mr. Gladstone the capacity for feeling was at +all times so strong, and the susceptibility of the +imagination so keen, that he soared without +effort. His vision seemed to take in the whole +landscape. The points actually in question +might be small, but the principles involved were +to him far-reaching. The contests of to-day +were ennobled by the effect they might have in +a still distant future. There are rhetoricians +skilful in playing by words and manner on every +chord of human nature, rhetoricians who move +you, and may even carry you away for the +moment, but whose sincerity is doubted, because +the sense of spontaneity is lacking. Mr. Gladstone +was not of these. He never seemed to be +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_434' name='page_434'></a>434</span> +forcing an effect or assuming a sentiment. To +listen to him was to feel convinced of his own +conviction and to be warmed by the warmth with +which he expressed it. Nor was this due to the +perfection of his rhetorical art. He really did +feel what he expressed. Sometimes, of course, +like all statesmen, he had to maintain a cause +whose weakness he perceived, as, for instance, +when it became necessary to defend the blunder +of a colleague, or a decision reached by some +Cabinet compromise which his own judgment +disapproved. But even in such cases he did +not simulate feeling, but reserved his earnestness +for those parts of the case on which it could be +honestly expended. As this was generally true +of the imaginative and emotional side of his eloquence, +so was it especially true of his unequalled +power of lifting a subject from the level on which +other speakers had treated it into the purer air +of permanent principle, perhaps even of moral +sublimity.</p> +<p>The dignity and spontaneity which marked the +substance of his speeches was no less conspicuous +in their delivery. Nothing could be more easy and +graceful than his manner on ordinary occasions, +nothing more grave and stately than it became +when he was making a ceremonial reference +to some public event or bestowing a meed of +praise on the departed. His expository discourses, +such as those with which he introduced +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_435' name='page_435'></a>435</span> +a complicated bill or unfolded a financial statement, +were models of their kind, not only for +lucidity, but for the pleasant smoothness, never +lapsing into monotony, with which the stream +of speech flowed from his lips. The task was +performed so well that people thought it an +easy task till they saw how inferior were the +performances of two subsequent chancellors of +the exchequer so able in their respective +ways as Sir Stafford Northcote and Mr. Lowe. +But when an occasion arrived which quickened +men’s pulses in the House of Commons, a place +where feeling rises as suddenly as do the waves +of a Highland loch when a squall comes rushing +down the glen, the vehemence of his feeling +found expression in the fire of his eye and the +resistless strength of his words. His utterance +did not grow swifter, nor did the key of his +voice rise, as passion raises and sharpens the +voice in most men. But the measured force with +which every sentence was launched, like a shell +hurtling through the air, the concentrated intensity +of his look, as he defied antagonists in +front and swept his glance over the ranks of his +supporters around and behind him, had a startling +and thrilling power which no other Englishman +could exert, and which no Englishman had +exerted since the days of Pitt and Fox. The +whole proud, bold, ardent nature of the man +seemed to flash out, and one almost forgot what +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_436' name='page_436'></a>436</span> +the lips said in admiration of the towering +personality.</p> +<p>People who read next day the report in the +newspapers of a speech delivered on such an +occasion could not comprehend the impression +it had made on the listeners. “What was there +in it so to stir you?” they asked. They had not +seen the glance and the gestures; they had not +heard the vibrating voice rise to an organ peal +of triumph or sink to a whisper of entreaty. Mr. +Gladstone’s voice was naturally rich and resonant. +It was a fine singing voice, and a pleasant voice +to listen to in conversation, not the less pleasant +for having a slight trace of Liverpool accent +clinging to it. But what struck one in listening +to his speeches was not so much the quality of +the vocal chords as the skill with which they were +managed. He had a gift of sympathetic expression, +of throwing his feeling into his voice, +and using its modulations to accompany and convey +every shade of meaning, like that which a +great composer exerts when he puts music to a +poem, or a great executant when he renders at +once the composer’s and the poet’s thought. And +just as accomplished singers or violinists enjoy +the practice of their art, so he rejoiced, perhaps +unconsciously, yet intensely, in putting forth this +faculty of expression; as appeared, indeed, from +the fact that whenever his voice failed him +(which sometimes befell in later years) his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_437' name='page_437'></a>437</span> +words came less easily, and even the chariot of +his argument seemed to drive heavily. That +the voice should so seldom have failed was +wonderful. When he had passed his seventy-fifth +year, it became sensibly inferior in volume +and depth of tone. But its variety and delicacy +remained. In April 1886, he being then seventy-seven, +it held out during a speech of nearly +four hours in length. In February 1890 it +enabled him to deliver with extraordinary effect +an eminently solemn and pathetic appeal. In +March 1894 those who listened to it the last time +it was heard in Parliament—they were comparatively +few, for the secret of his impending +resignation had been well kept—recognised in it +all the old charm. The most striking instance I +recall of the power it could exert is to be found +in a speech made in 1883, during one of the +tiresome debates occasioned by the refusal of +the Opposition and of some timorous Liberals +to allow Mr. Bradlaugh to be sworn as a member +of the House of Commons. This speech produced +on those who heard it an impression +which its perusal to-day fails to explain. That +impression was chiefly due to the grave and +reverent tone in which he delivered some +sentences stating the view that it is not our +belief in the bare existence of a Deity, but the +realising of him as being a Providence ruling +the world, that has moral value and significance +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_438' name='page_438'></a>438</span> +for us. And it was due in particular to the solemn +dignity with which he declaimed six lines of +Lucretius, setting forth the Epicurean view that +the gods do not concern themselves with human +affairs. There were perhaps not twenty men +in the House of Commons who could follow the +sense of the lines so as to appreciate their bearing +on his argument. But these sonorous hexameters—hexameters +that seemed to have lived on +through nineteen centuries to find their application +from the lips of an orator to-day—the +sense of remoteness in the strange language and +the far-off heathen origin, the deep and moving +note in the speaker’s voice, thrilled the imagination +of the audience and held it spellbound, lifting +for a moment the whole subject of debate +into a region far above party conflicts. Spoken +by any one else, the passage culminating in +these Lucretian lines might have produced +little effect. It was the voice and manner, +above all the voice, with its marvellous modulations, +that made the speech majestic.</p> +<p>Yet one must not forget to add that with him, +as with some other famous statesmen, the impression +made by a speech was in a measure due +to the admiring curiosity and wonder which his +personality inspired. He was so much the most +interesting human being in the House of Commons +that, when he withdrew, many members +said that the place had lost half its attraction for +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_439' name='page_439'></a>439</span> +them, and that the chamber looked empty because +he was not in it. Plenty of able men remained. +But even the ablest seemed ordinary when compared +with the figure that had vanished, a figure +in whom were combined, as in no other man of +his time, an unrivalled experience, an extraordinary +activity and versatility of intellect, a fervid imagination, +and an indomitable will.</p> +<p>Though Mr. Gladstone’s oratory was a main +source of his power, both in Parliament and over +the people, the effort of detractors to represent +him as a mere rhetorician will seem absurd +to the historian who reviews his whole career. +The rhetorician adorns and popularises the ideas +which have originated with others; he advocates +policies which others have devised; he follows +and expresses the sentiments which already prevail +in his party. Mr. Gladstone was himself a +source of new ideas and new policies; he evoked +new sentiments or turned old sentiments into +new channels. Neither was he, as some alleged, +primarily a destroyer. His conservative instincts +were strong; he cherished ancient custom. +When it became necessary to clear away an +institution he sought to put something else in +its place. He was a constructive statesman not +less conspicuously than were Pitt, Canning, and +Peel. Whether he was a philosophic statesman, +basing his action on large views obtained by +thought and study, philosophic in the sense in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_440' name='page_440'></a>440</span> +which we apply the epithet to Pericles, Machiavelli, +Turgot, Burke, Jefferson, Hamilton, Stein—if +one class can be made to include persons +otherwise so dissimilar—may perhaps be doubted. +There are few instances in history of men who +have been great thinkers and also great legislators +or administrators, because the two kinds of +capacity almost exclude one another. As experts +declare that a man who should try to operate on +the Stock Exchange in reliance upon a profound +knowledge of the inner springs of European +politics and the financial resources of the great +States, would ruin himself before his perfectly +correct calculations had time to come true, so a +practical statesman, though he cannot know too +much, or look too far ahead, must beware of trusting +his own forecasts, must remember that he +has to deal with the next few months or years, +and to persuade persons who cannot be expected +to share or even to understand his views of the +future. The habit of meditating on underlying +truths, the tendency to play the long game, are +almost certain to spoil a man for dealing effectively +with the present. He will not be a sufficiently +vigilant observer; he will be out of sympathy +with the notions of the average man; his arguments +will go over the head of his audience. +No English prime minister has looked at politics +with the eye of a philosopher. But Mr. Gladstone, +if hardly to be called a thinker, showed +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_441' name='page_441'></a>441</span> +higher constructive power than any one else +has done since Peel. Were the memory of his +oratorical triumphs to pass completely away, he +would deserve to be remembered in respect of +the mark he left upon the British statute-book and +of the changes he wrought both in the constitution +of his country and in her European policy.</p> +<p>Three groups of measures stand out as monuments +of his skill and energy. The first of these +three includes the financial reforms embodied in +a series of fourteen budgets between the years +1853 and 1882, the most famous of which were +the budgets of 1853 and 1860. In the former he +continued the work begun by Peel by reducing +and simplifying the customs duties. Deficiencies +in revenue were supplied by the enactment of +less oppressive imposts, and particularly by resettling +the income-tax, and by the introduction +of a succession duty on real estate. The preparation +and passing of this very technical and +intricate Succession Duty Act was a most +laborious enterprise, of which Mr. Gladstone +used to speak as the severest mental strain he +had ever undergone:</p> +<table summary=''><tr><td> +<p class='cg'><span class='greek' title='Kartistên dê tên ge machên phato dymenai andrôn'>καρτίστην δὴ τήν γε μάχην φάτο δύμεναι ἀνδρῶν.</span><a name='FNanchor_0058' id='FNanchor_0058'></a><a href='#Footnote_0058' class='fnanchor'>[67]</a></p> +</td></tr></table> +<p>The budget of 1860, among other changes, +abolished the paper duty, a boon to the press +which was resisted by the House of Lords. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_442' name='page_442'></a>442</span> +They threw out the measure, but in the following +year Mr. Gladstone forced them to submit. +His achievements in the field of finance equal, if +they do not surpass, those of Peel, and are not +tarnished, as in the case of Pitt, by the recollection +of a burden of debts incurred. To no +minister can be ascribed so large a share in +promoting the commercial and industrial prosperity +of modern England, and in the reduction +of her national debt to the figure at which it +stood when it began to rise again in 1900.</p> +<p>The second group includes the parliamentary +reform bills of 1866 and 1884 and the Redistribution +Bill of 1885. The first of these was defeated +in the House of Commons, but it led to the +passing next year, by Mr. Disraeli, of a more +sweeping measure. Taken together, these statutes +have turned Britain into a democratic country, +changing the character of her government almost +as profoundly as did the Reform Act of 1832.</p> +<p>The third group consists of a series of Irish +measures, beginning with the Church Disestablishment +Act of 1869, and including the Land +Act of 1870, the University Education Bill of +1873 (defeated in the House of Commons), the +Land Act of 1881, and the Home Rule bills of +1886 and 1893. All these were in a special +manner Mr. Gladstone’s handiwork, prepared as +well as brought in and advocated by him. All +were highly complicated, and of one, the Land +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_443' name='page_443'></a>443</span> +Act of 1881, which it took three months to carry +through the House of Commons, it was said +that so great was its intricacy that only three +men understood it—Mr. Gladstone himself, his +Attorney-General for Ireland, and Mr. T. M. +Healy. In preparing a bill no man could be +more painstaking. He settled and laid down the +principles himself; and when he came to work them +out with the draughtsman and the officials who had +special knowledge of the subject, he insisted on +knowing what their effect would be in every +particular. Indeed, he loved work for its own +sake, in this respect unlike Mr. Bright, who once +said to me with a smile, when asked as to his +methods of working, that he had never done any +work all his life. The value of this mastery of +details was seen when a bill came to be debated +in Committee. It was impossible to catch Mr. +Gladstone tripping on a point of fact, or unprepared +with a reply to the arguments of an +opponent. He seemed to revel in the toil of +mastering a tangle of technical details.</p> +<p>It is long since England, in this respect not +favoured by her parliamentary system, has produced +a great foreign minister, nor has that title +been claimed for Mr. Gladstone. But he showed +on several occasions both his independence of +tradition and his faith in broad principles as fit to +be applied in international relations; and his +action in that field, though felt only at intervals, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_444' name='page_444'></a>444</span> +has left abiding results in European history. In +1851, he being then still a Tory, his pamphlet +denouncing the cruelties of the Bourbon government +of Naples, and the sympathy he subsequently +avowed with the national movement in +Italy, gave that movement a new standing in +Europe by powerfully recommending it to English +opinion. In 1870 the prompt action of his ministry +in arranging a treaty for the neutrality of Belgium +on the outbreak of the war between France and +Germany, averted the risk that Belgium might +be drawn into the strife. In 1871, by concluding +the treaty of Washington, which provided for the +settlement by arbitration of the <i>Alabama</i> claims, +he not only set a precedent full of promise for +the future, but delivered England from what +would have been, in case of her being at war with +any European power, a danger fatal to her ocean +commerce. And, in 1876, his onslaught upon the +Turks, after the Bulgarian massacres, roused an +intense feeling in England, turning the current of +opinion so decisively that Disraeli’s ministry were +forced to leave the Sultan to his fate, and thus +became a cause of the ultimate deliverance of +Bulgaria, Eastern Rumelia, Bosnia, and Thessaly +from Mussulman tyranny. Few English statesmen +have equally earned the gratitude of the +oppressed.</p> +<p>Nothing lay nearer to his heart than the protection +of the Christians of the East. His sense +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_445' name='page_445'></a>445</span> +of personal duty to them was partly due to the +feeling that the Crimean War had prolonged the +rule of the Turk, and had thus imposed a special +responsibility on Britain, and on the members +of Lord Aberdeen’s cabinet which drifted into +that war. Twenty years after the agitation of +1876, and when he had finally retired from +Parliament and political life, the massacres perpetrated +by the Sultan on his Armenian subjects +brought him once more into the field, and +his last speech in public (delivered at Liverpool +in the autumn of 1896) was a powerful argument +in favour of British intervention to rescue the +Eastern Christians. In the following spring he +followed this up by a pamphlet on behalf of the +freedom of Crete. In neither of these two cases +did success crown his efforts, for the Government, +commanding a large majority in Parliament, +pursued the course upon which it had already +entered. Poignant regrets were expressed +that Mr. Gladstone was no longer able to take +effective action in the cause of humanity; yet +it was a consolation to be assured that age and +infirmity had not dulled his sympathies with +that cause.</p> +<p>That he was right in 1876-78 in the view he +took of the line of conduct England should adopt +towards the Turks has been now virtually +admitted even by his opponents. That he was +also right in 1896, when urging action to protect +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_446' name='page_446'></a>446</span> +the Eastern Christians, will probably be admitted +ten years hence, when the facts of the case and +the nature of the opportunity that existed for +taking prompt action without the risk of a +European war have become better known. In +both cases it was not merely religious sympathy, +but also a far-sighted view of policy that governed +his judgment. He held that the faults of Turkish +rule are incurable, and that the Powers of Western +and Central Europe ought to aim at protecting +the subject nationalities and by degrees extending +self-government to them, so that they may +grow into states, and in time be able to restore +prosperity to regions ruined by long misgovernment, +while constituting an effective barrier to +the advance of Russia. The jealousies of the +Powers throw obstacles in the way of this policy, +but it is a safe policy for England, and offers the +best hope for the peoples of the East.</p> +<p>The facts just noted prove that he possessed +and exerted a capacity for initiative in foreign as +well as in domestic affairs. In the Neapolitan case, +in the <i>Alabama</i> case, in the Bulgarian case, he +acted from his own convictions, with no previous +suggestion of encouragement from his party; and +in the last-mentioned instance he took a course +which did not at the moment promise any political +gain, and which seemed to the English political +world so novel and even startling that no ordinary +statesman would have ventured on it.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_447' name='page_447'></a>447</span></div> +<p>His courage was indeed one of the most +striking parts of the man.<a name='FNanchor_0059' id='FNanchor_0059'></a><a href='#Footnote_0059' class='fnanchor'>[68]</a> It was not the rashness +of an impetuous nature, for, impetuous as +he was when stirred by some sudden excitement, +he showed an Ulyssean caution whenever he took a +deliberate survey of the conditions that surrounded +him. It was the proud self-confidence of a strong +character, which was willing to risk fame and +fortune in pursuing a course it had once resolved +upon; a character which had faith in its own +conclusions, and in the success of a cause consecrated +by principle; a character which obstacles +did not affright, but rather roused to a higher +combative energy. Few English statesmen have +done anything so bold as was Mr. Gladstone’s +declaration for Irish Home Rule in 1886. He +took not only his political power but the fame +and credit of his whole past life in his hand when +he set out on this new journey at seventy-seven +years of age; for it was quite possible that the +great bulk of his party might refuse to follow +him, and he be left exposed to derision as the +chief of an insignificant group. As it happened, +the bulk of the party did follow him, though +many of the most influential refused to do so. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_448' name='page_448'></a>448</span> +But neither he nor any one else could have foretold +this when his intentions were first announced.</p> +<p>We may now, before passing away from the +public side of Mr. Gladstone’s career, return +for a moment to the opposite views of his +character which were indicated some pages back. +He was accused of sophistry, of unwisdom, of +want of patriotism, of lust for power. Though it +is difficult to sift these charges without discussing +the conduct which gave rise to them, a task impossible +here, each of them must be briefly examined.</p> +<p>The first charge is the most plausible. His ingenuity +in discovering arguments and stating fine +verbal distinctions, his subtlety in discriminating +between views or courses apparently similar, were +excessive, and invited misconstruction. He had a +tendency to persuade himself, quite unconsciously, +that the course he desired to take was a course +which the public interest required. His acuteness +soon found reasons for that course; the warmth +of his emotions enforced the reasons. It was a +dangerous tendency, but it does not impeach his +honesty of purpose, for the influence which his +predilections unconsciously exerted upon his +judgment appeared also in his theological and +literary inquiries. I can recall no instance in +which he wilfully misstated a fact, or simulated a +feeling, or used an argument which he knew to be +unsound. He did not, as does the sophist, attempt +“to make the worse appear the better reason.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_449' name='page_449'></a>449</span></div> +<p>His wisdom will be differently judged by +those who condemn or approve the chief acts of +his policy. But it deserves to be noted that all +the legislation he passed, even the measures +which, like the Irish Church Disestablishment +Bill, exposed him to angry attacks at the time, +have now been approved by the all but unanimous +judgment of Englishmen.<a name='FNanchor_0060' id='FNanchor_0060'></a><a href='#Footnote_0060' class='fnanchor'>[69]</a> The same +may be said of two acts which brought much +invective upon him—his settlement of the +<i>Alabama</i> claims, one of the wisest strokes of +foreign policy ever accomplished by a British +minister, and his protest against a support of the +Turks in and after 1876. I pass by Irish Home +Rule, because the wisdom of the course he took +must be tested by results that are yet unborn, +as I pass by his Egyptian policy in 1882-85, +because it cannot be fairly judged till the facts +have been fully made public. He may be open +to blame for his participation in the Crimean War, +for his mistaken view of the American Civil War, +for his neglect of the Transvaal question when +he took office in 1880, and for his omission during +his earlier career to recognise the gravity of Irish +disaffection and to study its causes. I have heard +him lament that he had not twenty years earlier +given the same attention to that abiding source of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_450' name='page_450'></a>450</span> +the difficulties of England which he gave from 1866 +onwards. If in these instances he erred, it must be +remembered that he erred in company with nine-tenths +of British statesmen in both political parties.</p> +<p>Their admiration did not prevent his friends +from noting tendencies which sometimes led him +to miscalculate the forces he had to deal with. +Being, like the younger Pitt, extremely sanguine, +he was prone to underrate difficulties. Hopefulness +is a splendid quality. It is both the child +and the parent of faith. Without it neither Mr. +Pitt nor Mr. Gladstone could have done what they +did. But it disposes its possessor not sufficiently +to allow for the dulness or the prejudice of others. +So too the intensity of Mr. Gladstone’s own feeling +made him fail to realise how many of his fellow-countrymen +did not know of, or were not shocked +by, acts of cruelty and injustice which had roused +his indignation. If his hatred of ostentation +suffered him to perceive that a nation, however +well assured of the reality of its power +and influence in the world, may also desire that +this power and influence should be asserted and +proclaimed to other nations, he refused to humour +that desire. He had a contempt for what is +called “playing to the gallery,” with a deep sense +of the danger of stimulating the passions which +lead to aggression and war. To national honour, +as he conceived it, national righteousness was vital. +His spirit was that of Lowell’s lines—</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_451' name='page_451'></a>451</span></div> +<table summary=''><tr><td> +<p class='cg'>I love my country so as only they<br /> +Who love a mother fit to die for may.<br /> +I love her old renown, her ancient fame:<br /> +What better proof than that I loathe her shame?</p> +</td></tr></table> +<p>It was this attitude that brought on him the +charge of wanting patriotism, a charge first, I think, +insinuated at the time of the <i>Alabama</i> arbitration, +renewed when in 1876 he was accused of befriending +Russia and neglecting “British interests,” and +sedulously repeated thereafter, although in those +two instances the result had proved him right. +There was this much to give a kind of colour to +the charge, that he had scrupulously, perhaps too +scrupulously, refrained from extolling the material +power of England, preferring to insist upon her +responsibilities; that he was known to regret the +constant increase of naval and military expenditure, +and that he had several times taken a course +which honour and prudence seemed to him to +recommend, but which had offended the patriots +of the music-halls. But it was an unjust charge, +for no man had a warmer pride in England, a +higher sense of her greatness and her mission.</p> +<p>Was he too fond of power? Like other +strong men, he enjoyed it.<a name='FNanchor_0061' id='FNanchor_0061'></a><a href='#Footnote_0061' class='fnanchor'>[70]</a> That to secure it +he ever either adopted or renounced an opinion, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_452' name='page_452'></a>452</span> +those who understood and watched the workings +of his mind could not believe. He was not only +too conscientious, but too proud to forego any of +his convictions, and there were not a few occasions +when he took a course which considerations of +personal interest would have forbidden. He did +not love office, feeling himself happier without its +cares, and when he accepted it did so, I think, in +the belief that there was work to be done which +it was laid upon him individually to do. His +changes sprang naturally from the development of +his own ideas or (as in the case of his Irish policy) +from the teaching of facts. He sometimes so far +yielded to his colleagues as to sanction steps which +he thought not the best, and may in this have +sometimes erred; yet compromises are unavoidable, +for no Cabinet could be kept together if its +members did not now and then, in matters not +essential, yield to one another. When all the facts +of his life come to be known, instances may be disclosed +in which he was the victim of his own casuistry +or of his deference to Peel’s maxim that a +minister should not avow a change of view until +the time has come to give effect to it. But it will +also be made clear that he strove to obey his conscience, +that he acted with an ever-present sense +of his responsibility to the Almighty, and that he +was animated by an unselfish enthusiasm for +humanity, enlightenment, and freedom.</p> +<p>Whether he was a good judge of men was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_453' name='page_453'></a>453</span> +a question much discussed among his friends. +With all his astuteness, he was in some ways +curiously simple; with all his caution, he was by +nature unsuspicious, disposed to treat all men as +honest till they gave him strong reasons for thinking +otherwise. Those who professed sympathy +with his views and aims sometimes succeeded in +inspiring more confidence than they deserved. +But where this perturbing influence was absent +he showed plenty of insight, and would pass +shrewd judgments on the politicians around him, +permitting neither their behaviour towards himself +nor his opinion of their moral character to +affect his estimate of their talents. In making +appointments in the Civil Service, or in the +Established Church, he rose to a far higher +standard of public duty than Palmerston or +Disraeli had reached or cared to reach, taking +great pains to find the fittest men, and giving +little weight to political considerations.<a name='FNanchor_0062' id='FNanchor_0062'></a><a href='#Footnote_0062' class='fnanchor'>[71]</a></p> +<p>His public demeanour, and especially his +excitability and vehemence of speech, made +people attribute to him an overbearing disposition +and an irritable temper. In private one did +not find these faults. Masterful he certainly +was, both in speech and in action. His ardent +manner, the intensity of his look, the dialectical +vigour with which he pressed an argument, were +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_454' name='page_454'></a>454</span> +apt to awe people who knew him but slightly, +and make them abandon resistance. A gifted +though somewhat erratic politician of long bygone +days told me how he once fared when he had risen +in the House of Commons to censure some act of +his leader. “I had not gone on three minutes +when Gladstone turned round and gazed at me +so that I had to sit down in the middle of a +sentence. I could not help it. There was no +standing his eye.” But he neither meant nor +wished to beat down his opponents by mere +authority. One who knew him as few people +did observed to me, “When you are arguing +with Mr. Gladstone, you must never let him +think he has convinced you unless you are really +convinced. Persist in repeating your view, and +if you are unable to cope with him in skill of +fence, say bluntly that for all his ingenuity and +authority you think he is wrong, and you retain +your own opinion. If he respects you as a man +who knows something of the subject, he will be +impressed by your opinion, and it will afterwards +have due weight with him.” In his own Cabinet +he was willing to listen patiently to everybody’s +views, and, indeed, in the judgment of some of +his colleagues, was not, at least in his later +years, sufficiently strenuous in asserting and +holding to his own. It is no secret that some +of the most important decisions of the ministry +of 1880-85 were taken against his judgment, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_455' name='page_455'></a>455</span> +though, when they had been adopted, he was, of +course, bound to defend them in Parliament as if +they had received his individual approval. Nor, +though tenacious, did he bear malice against those +who had baffled him. He would exert his full +force to get his own way, but if he could not +get it, accepted the position with good temper.<a name='FNanchor_0063' id='FNanchor_0063'></a><a href='#Footnote_0063' class='fnanchor'>[72]</a> +He was too proud to be vindictive, too completely +master of himself to be betrayed into +angry words. Impatient he might sometimes +be under a nervous strain, but never rude or +rough. It was less easy to determine whether +he was overmindful of injuries, but those who +had watched him most closely held that mere +opposition or even insult did not leave a permanent +sting, and that the only thing he could +not forget or forgive was faithlessness. Himself +a model of loyalty to his colleagues, he followed +his favourite poet in consigning the <i>traditori</i> +to the lowest pit, although, like all statesmen, +he often found himself obliged to work with +those whom he distrusted.</p> +<p>He was less sensitive than Peel, as appeared +from his attitude toward his two chief opponents. +Disraeli’s attacks did not seem to gall him, +perhaps because, although he recognised the +ability and admired the courage of his adversary, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_456' name='page_456'></a>456</span> +he did not respect Disraeli’s character, remembering +his behaviour to Peel, and thinking him +habitually untruthful. Yet he never attacked +Disraeli personally. There was another of his +opponents of whom he entertained a specially +unfavourable opinion, but no one could have +told from his speeches what that opinion was. +Against Lord Salisbury, his chief antagonist +from 1881 onwards, he showed no resentment, +though Lord Salisbury had more than once +spoken discourteously of him. In 1890 he remarked +to me <i>apropos</i> of some attack, “I have +never felt angry at what Salisbury has said about +me. His mother was very kind to me when I +was quite a young man, and I remember Salisbury +as a little fellow in a red frock rolling about +on the ottoman.”</p> +<p>That his temper was naturally hot, no one +who looked at him could doubt. But he had it +in such tight control, and it was so free from +anything acrid or malignant, that it had become +a good temper, worthy of a fine nature. However +vehement his expressions, they did not wound +or humiliate, and those younger men who had to +deal with him were not afraid of a sharp answer or +an impatient repulse. He was cast in too large +a mould to have the pettiness of ruffled vanity +or to abuse his predominance by treating any +one as an inferior. His manners were the +manners of the old time, easy but stately. Like +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_457' name='page_457'></a>457</span> +his oratory, they were in what Matthew Arnold +used to call the grand style; and the contrast in +this respect between him and some of those +who crossed swords with him in literary or +theological controversy was apparent. His intellectual +generosity was a part of the same +largeness of nature. He cordially acknowledged +his indebtedness to those who helped him in +any piece of work, received their suggestions +candidly, even when opposed to his own preconceived +notions, did not hesitate to confess a +mistake. Those who know the abundance of +their resources, and have conquered fame, can +doubtless afford to be generous. Julius Cæsar +was, and George Washington, and so, in a +different sphere, were Isaac Newton and Charles +Darwin. But the instances to the contrary are +so numerous that one may say of magnanimity +that it is among the rarest as well as the finest +ornaments of character.</p> +<p>The essential dignity of Mr. Gladstone’s nature +was never better seen than during the last few +years of his life, after he had finally retired +(in 1894) from public life. He indulged in no +vain regrets, nor was there any foundation for +the rumours, so often circulated, that he thought +of re-entering the arena of strife. He spoke +with no bitterness of those who had opposed, +and sometimes foiled, him in the past. He +gave vent to no criticisms of those who from +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_458' name='page_458'></a>458</span> +time to time filled the place that had been +his in the government of the country or the +leadership of his party. Although his opinion +on current questions was frequently solicited, he +scarcely ever allowed it to be known, lest it +should embarrass his successors in the leadership +of the party, and never himself addressed the +nation, except (as already mentioned) on behalf +of what he deemed a sacred cause, altogether +above party—the discharge by Britain of her +duty to the victims of the Turk. As soon as an +operation for cataract had enabled him to resume +his habit of working for seven hours a day, he +devoted himself with his old ardour to the preparation +of an edition of Bishop Butler’s works, +resumed his multifarious reading, planned (as he +told me in 1896) a treatise on the Olympian religion, +and filled up the interstices of his working-time +with studies on Homer which he had been +previously unable to complete. No trace of the +moroseness of old age appeared in his manners or +his conversation, nor did he, though profoundly +grieved at some of the events which he witnessed, +and owning himself disappointed at the slow advance +made by a cause dear to him, appear less +hopeful than in earlier days of the general progress +of the world, or less confident in the beneficent +power of freedom to promote the happiness +of his country. The stately simplicity which had +always charmed those who saw him in private, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_459' name='page_459'></a>459</span> +seemed more beautiful than ever in this quiet +evening of a long and sultry day. His intellectual +powers were unimpaired, his thirst for knowledge +undiminished. But a placid stillness had +fallen upon him and his household; and in seeing +the tide of his life begin slowly to ebb, one +thought of the lines of his illustrious contemporary +and friend:—</p> +<table summary=''><tr><td> +<p class='cg'><span class='indent6'> </span>Such a tide as moving seems asleep,<br /> +<span class='indent10'> </span>Too full for sound and foam,<br /> +When that which drew from out the boundless deep<br /> +<span class='indent10'> </span>Turns again home.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<p>Adding to his grace of manner a memory +of extraordinary strength and quickness and an +amazing vivacity and variety of mental force, any +one can understand how fascinating Mr. Gladstone +was in society. He enjoyed it to the last, +talking as earnestly and joyously at eighty-seven as +he had done at twenty on every topic that came +up, and exerting himself with equal zest whether +his interlocutor was an archbishop or a youthful +curate. Though his party used to think that he +overvalued the political influence of the great +families, allotting them rather more than their share +of honours and appointments, no one was personally +more free from that taint of snobbishness +which is frequently charged upon Englishmen. +He gave the best he had to everybody alike, +paying to men of learning and letters a respect +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_460' name='page_460'></a>460</span> +which in England they seldom receive from the +magnates who lead society. And although he +was scrupulously observant of the rules of precedence +and conventions of social life, it was +easy to see that neither rank nor wealth had +that importance in his eyes which the latter +nowadays commands. Dispensing titles and +decorations with a liberal hand, his pride always +refused such so-called honours for himself.</p> +<p>It was often said of him that he lacked +humour; but this was only so far true that he +was apt to throw into small matters more force +and moral earnestness than were needed, and to +honour with a refutation opponents whom a +little light sarcasm would have better reduced +to their insignificance.<a name='FNanchor_0064' id='FNanchor_0064'></a><a href='#Footnote_0064' class='fnanchor'>[73]</a> In private he was wont +both to tell and to enjoy good stories; while +in Parliament, though his tone was generally +earnest, he could display such effective powers +of banter and ridicule as to make people +wonder why they were so rarely put forth. +Much of what passes in London for humour +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_461' name='page_461'></a>461</span> +is mere cynicism, and he hated cynicism so +heartily as to dislike even humour when it +had a cynical flavour. Wit he enjoyed, but +did not produce. The turn of his mind was +not to brevity, point, and condensation. He +sometimes struck off a telling phrase, but seldom +polished an epigram. His conversation was +luminous rather than sparkling; you were +interested and instructed while you listened, +but it was not so much the phrases as the +general effect that dwelt in your memory. +An acute observer once said to me that Mr. +Gladstone showed in argument a knack of hitting +the nail not quite on the head. The criticism +was so far just that he was less certain to go +straight to the vital issue in a controversy than +one expected from his force and keenness.</p> +<p>After the death of Thomas Carlyle he was +probably the best talker in London, and a talker +in one respect more agreeable than either Carlyle +or Macaulay, inasmuch as he was no less ready +to listen than to speak, and never wearied the +dinner-table by a monologue. His simplicity, +his spontaneity, his geniality and courtesy, as well +as the fund of knowledge and of personal recollections +at his command, made him so popular +in society that his opponents used to say it was +dangerous to meet him, because one might be +forced to leave off hating him. He was, perhaps, +too prone to go on talking upon the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_462' name='page_462'></a>462</span> +subject which filled his mind at the moment; +nor was it easy to divert his attention to something +else which others might deem more important.<a name='FNanchor_0065' id='FNanchor_0065'></a><a href='#Footnote_0065' class='fnanchor'>[74]</a> +Those who stayed with him in the +same country house sometimes complained that +the perpetual display of force and eagerness +tired them, as one tires of watching the rush +of Niagara. His guests, however, did not feel +this, for his own home life was quiet and smooth. +He read and wrote a good many hours daily, but +never sat up late, almost always slept soundly, +never seemed oppressed or driven to strain +his strength. With all his impetuosity, he +was regular, systematic, and deliberate in his +habits and ways of doing business. A swift +reader and a surprisingly swift writer, he was +always occupied, and was skilful in using even +the scraps and fragments of his time. No pressure +of work made him fussy, nor could any one +remember to have seen him in a hurry.</p> +<p>The best proof of his swiftness, industry, and +skill in economising time is supplied by the +quantity of his literary work, which, considering +the abstruse nature of the subjects to which +much of it is related, would have been creditable +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_463' name='page_463'></a>463</span> +to the diligence of a German professor +sitting alone in his study. The merits of the +work have been disputed. Mankind are slow to +credit the same person with eminence in various +fields. When they read the prose of a great +poet, they try it by severer tests than would be +applied to other writers. When a painter has +won credit by his landscapes or his cattle pieces, +he is seldom encouraged to venture into other +lines. So Mr. Gladstone’s reputation as an +orator stood in his own light when he appeared +as an author. He was read by thousands +who would not have looked at the article +or book had it borne some other name; but he +was judged by the standard, not of his finest +printed speeches, for his speeches were seldom +models of composition, but rather by the impression +which his finest speeches made on those +who heard them. Since his warmest admirers +could not claim for him as a writer of prose any +such pre-eminence as belonged to him as a +speaker, it followed that his written work was +not duly appreciated. Had he been a writer and +nothing else, he would have been eminent and +powerful by his pen.</p> +<p>He might, however, have failed to secure a place +in the front rank. His style was forcible, copious, +rich with various knowledge, warm with the +ardour of his temperament. But it suffered from +an inborn tendency to exuberance which the long +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_464' name='page_464'></a>464</span> +practice of oratory had confirmed. It was diffuse, +apt to pursue a topic into details, when these might +have been left to the reader’s own reflection. It +was redundant, employing more words than were +needed to convey the substance. It was unchastened, +indulging too freely in tropes and +metaphors, in quotations and adapted phrases +even when the quotation added nothing to the +sense, but was suggested merely by some association +in his own mind. Thus it seldom reached +a high level of purity and grace, and though one +might excuse the faults as natural to the work +of a swift and busy man, they were sufficient +to reduce the pleasure to be derived from the +form and dress of his thoughts. Nevertheless +there are not a few passages of rare merit, +both in the books and in the articles, among +which may be cited (not as exceptionally good, +but as typical of his strong points) the striking +picture of his own youthful feeling toward +the Church of England contained in the <i>Chapter +of Autobiography</i>, and the refined criticism of +<i>Robert Elsmere</i>, published in 1888. Almost +the last thing he wrote, a pamphlet on the +Greek and Cretan question, published in the +spring of 1897, has the force and cogency of his +best days. Two things were never wanting to +him: vigour of expression and an admirable +command of appropriate words.</p> +<p>His writings fall into three classes: political, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_465' name='page_465'></a>465</span> +theological, and literary—the last chiefly consisting +of his books and articles upon Homer +and the Homeric question. All the political +writings, except the books on <i>The State in its +Relations to the Church</i> and <i>Church Principles +considered in their Results</i>, belong to the class +of occasional literature, being pamphlets or +articles produced with a view to some current +crisis or controversy. They are valuable +chiefly as proceeding from one who bore a +leading part in the affairs they relate to, and +as embodying vividly the opinions and aspirations +of the moment, less frequently in respect +of permanent lessons of political wisdom, such +as one finds in Machiavelli or Tocqueville or +Edmund Burke. Like Pitt and Peel, Mr. Gladstone +had a mind which, whatever its original +tendencies, had come to be rather practical than +meditative. He was fond of generalisations and +principles, but they were always directly related +to the questions that came before him in actual +politics; and the number of weighty maxims or +illuminative suggestions to be found in his writings +and speeches is small in proportion to the +sustained vigour they display. Even Disraeli, +though his views were often fanciful and his +epigrams often forced, gives us more frequently +a brilliant (if only half true) historical <i>aperçu</i>, or +throws a flash of light into some corner of human +character. Of the theological essays, which are +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_466' name='page_466'></a>466</span> +mainly apologetic and concerned with the authenticity +and authority of Scripture, it is enough to +say that they were the work of an accomplished +amateur, who had been too busy to follow the progress +of critical inquiry. His Homeric treatises, +the most elaborate piece of work that proceeded +from Mr. Gladstone’s pen, are in one sense worthless, +in another sense admirable. Those parts of +them which deal with early Greek mythology, +genealogy, and religion, and, in a less degree, the +theories about Homeric geography and the use +of Homeric epithets, have been condemned by +the unanimous voice of scholars as fantastic. +The premises are assumed without sufficient investigation, +while the reasonings are fine-drawn +and flimsy. Extraordinary ingenuity is shown +in piling up a lofty fabric, but the foundation is +of sand, and the edifice has hardly a solid wall +or beam in it. A conjecture is treated as a fact; +then an inference, possible but not certain, is +drawn from this conjecture; a second possible +inference is based upon the first; and we are +made to forget that the probability of this second +is at most only half the probability of the first. +So the process goes on; and when the superstructure +is complete, the reader is provoked +to perceive how much dialectical skill has been +wasted upon a series of hypotheses which a breath +of common-sense criticism dissipates. If one is +asked to explain the weakness in this particular +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_467' name='page_467'></a>467</span> +department of a mind otherwise so strong, the +answer would seem to be that the element of +fancifulness in Mr. Gladstone’s intellect, and his +tendency to mistake mere argumentation for +verification, were checked in practical politics by +constant intercourse with friends and colleagues +as well as by the need of convincing visible +audiences, while in theological or historical inquiries +his ingenuity roamed with fatal freedom +over wide plains where no obstacles checked +its course. Something may also be due to the +fact that his philosophical and historical education +was received at a time when the modern +critical spirit and the canons it recognises had +scarcely begun to assert themselves at Oxford. +Similar defects may be discerned in other eminent +writers of his own and the preceding generation +of Oxford men, defects from which persons of +inferior power in later days might be free. In +some of these writers, and particularly in Cardinal +Newman, the contrast between dialectical acumen, +coupled with surpassing rhetorical skill, and the +vitiation of the argument by a want of the critical +faculty, is scarcely less striking; and the example +of that illustrious man suggests that the dominance +of the theological view of literary and +historical problems, a dominance evident in Mr. +Gladstone, counts for something in producing the +phenomenon.</p> +<p>With these defects, Mr. Gladstone’s Homeric +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_468' name='page_468'></a>468</span> +work had the merit of being based on a full +and thorough knowledge of the Homeric text. +He had seen, at a time when few people in +England had seen it, that the Homeric poems +are an historical source of the highest value, a +treasure-house of data for the study of early +Greek life and thought, an authority all the more +trustworthy because an unconscious authority, +addressing not posterity but contemporaries. +This mastery of the matter contained in the +poems enabled him to present valuable pictures +of the political and social life of Homeric Greece, +while the interspersed literary criticisms are often +subtle and suggestive, erring, when they do err, +chiefly through the over-earnestness of his mind. +He often takes the poet too seriously; reading +an ethical purpose into descriptive or dramatic +touches which are merely descriptive or dramatic. +Passages whose moral tendency offends him are +reprobated as later insertions with a naïveté which +forgets the character of a primitive age. But he +has for his author not only that sympathy which is +the best basis for criticism, but a justness of poetic +taste which the learned and painstaking German +commentator frequently wants. That Mr. Gladstone +was a sound scholar in that narrower sense of +the word which denotes a grammatical and literary +command of Greek and Latin, goes without saying. +Men of his generation kept a closer hold +upon the ancient classics than we do to-day; and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_469' name='page_469'></a>469</span> +his habit of reading Greek for the sake of his +Homeric studies, and Latin for the sake of his +theological, made this familiarity more than +usually thorough. Like most Etonians, he loved +and knew the poets by preference. Dante was +his favourite poet, perhaps because Dante is the +most theological and ethical of the great poets, +and because the tongue and the memories of Italy +had a peculiar attraction for him. He used to say +that he found Dante’s thought incomparably inspiring, +but hard to follow, it was so high and so +abstract. Theology claimed a place beside poetry; +history came next, though he did not study it +systematically. It seemed odd that he was sometimes +at fault in the constitutional antiquities of +England; but this subject was, until the day of +Dr. Stubbs, pre-eminently a Whig subject, and +Mr. Gladstone never was a Whig, never learned +to think upon the lines of the great Whigs of +former days. His historical knowledge was not +exceptionally wide, but it was generally accurate +in matters of fact, however fanciful he might be +in reasoning from the facts, however wild his +conjectures in the prehistoric region. In metaphysics +strictly so called his reading did not go +far beyond those companions of his youth, Aristotle +and Bishop Butler; and philosophical speculation +interested him only so far as it bore on +Christian doctrine. Keen as was his interest +in theology and in history, it is not certain that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_470' name='page_470'></a>470</span> +he would have produced work of permanent +value in either sphere even had his life been +wholly devoted to study. His mind seemed to +need to be steadied, his ingenuity restrained, +by having to deal with concrete matter for a +practical end. Neither, in spite of his eminence +as a financier and an advocate of free +trade, did he show much taste for economic +studies. On practical topics, such as the working +of protective tariffs, the abuse of charitable +endowments, the development of fruit-culture in +England, the duty of liberal giving by the rich, +the utility of thrift among the poor, his remarks +were full of point, clearness, and good sense, but +he seldom launched out into the wider sea of +economic theory. He took a first-class in mathematics +at Oxford, at the same time as his first +in classics, but did not pursue the subject in +later life. Regarding the sciences of experiment +and observation, he seemed to feel as little +curiosity as any educated man who notes the +enormous part they play in the modern world +can feel. Sayings of his have been quoted which +show that he imperfectly comprehended the character +of the evidence they rely upon and of the +methods they employ. On one occasion he +horrified a dinner-table of younger friends by +refusing to accept some of the most certain conclusions +of modern geology. No doubt he belonged, +as Lord Derby (the Prime Minister) once said of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_471' name='page_471'></a>471</span> +himself, to a pre-scientific age. Perhaps he was +unconsciously biassed by the notion that such +sciences as geology and biology, for instance, were +being used by some students to sap the foundations +of revealed religion. But I can recall +no sign of disposition to dissuade free inquiry +either into those among the sciences of nature +which have been supposed to touch theology, or +into the date, authorship, and authority of the +books of the Bible. He had faith not only in his +creed, but in God as a God of truth, and in the +power of research to elicit truth.</p> +<p>General propositions are dangerous, yet it +seems safe to observe that great men have +seldom been obscurantists or persecutors. Either +the sympathy with intellectual effort which is +natural to a powerful intellect, or the sense that +free inquiry, though it may be checked by repression +for a certain time or within a certain +area, will ultimately have its course, dissuades +them from that attempt to dam up the stream of +thought which smaller minds regard as the obvious +expedient for saving souls or institutions.</p> +<p>It ought to be added, for this was a remarkable +feature of his character, that he had the deepest +reverence for the great poets and philosophers, +placing the career of the statesman on a far lower +plane than that of those who rule the world by +their thoughts enshrined in literature. He expressed +in a striking letter to Tennyson’s eldest son +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_472' name='page_472'></a>472</span> +his sense of the immense superiority of the poet’s +life and work. Once, in the lobby of the House +of Commons, seeing his countenance saddened by +the troubles of Ireland, I told him, in order to +divert his thoughts, how some one had recently +discovered that Dante had in his last years been +appointed at Ravenna to a lectureship which +raised him above the pinch of want. Mr. Gladstone’s +face lit up at once, and he said, “How +strange it is to think that these great souls whose +words are a beacon-light to all the generations +that have come after them, should have had +cares and anxieties to vex them in their daily +life, just like the rest of us common mortals.” +The phrase reminded me that a few days before +I had heard Mr. Darwin, in dwelling upon the +pleasure a visit paid by Mr. Gladstone had +given him, say, “And he talked just as if he had +been an ordinary person like one of ourselves.” +The two great men were alike unconscious of +their greatness.</p> +<p>It was an unspeakable benefit to Mr. Gladstone +that his love of letters and learning enabled him +to find in the pursuit of knowledge a relief from +anxieties and a solace under disappointments. +Without some such relief his fiery and restless +spirit would have worn itself out. He lived two +lives—the life of the statesman and the life of the +student, and passed swiftly from the one to the +other, dismissing when he sat down to his books +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_473' name='page_473'></a>473</span> +all the cares of politics. But he led a third +life also, the secret life of the soul. Religion +was of all things that which had the strongest +hold upon his thoughts and feelings. Nothing +but his father’s opposition prevented him from +becoming a clergyman when he quitted the University. +Never thereafter did he cease to take +the warmest interest in everything that affected +the Christian Church. He lost his seat for Oxford +University by the votes of the country clergy, +who formed the bulk of the constituency. He incurred +the displeasure of four-fifths of the Anglican +communion by disestablishing the Protestant +Episcopal Church in Ireland, and from 1868 to the +end of his life found nearly all the clerical force +of the English establishment arrayed against him, +while his warmest support came from the Nonconformists +of England and the Presbyterians of +Scotland. Yet nothing affected his devotion to +the Church in which he had been brought up, nor +to the body of Anglo-Catholic doctrine he had +imbibed as an undergraduate. After an attack +of influenza which had left him very weak in the +spring of 1891, he endangered his life by attending +a meeting on behalf of the Colonial Bishoprics +Fund, for which he had spoken fifty years before. +His theological opinions tinged his views upon +political subjects. They filled him with dislike of +the legalisation of marriage with a deceased wife’s +sister; they made him a vehement opponent of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_474' name='page_474'></a>474</span> +the bill which established the English Divorce +Court in 1857, and a watchfully hostile critic of +all divorce legislation in America afterwards. +Some of his friends traced to the same cause his +less than adequate appreciation of German literature +(though he admired Goethe and Schiller) and +even his political coldness towards Prussia and +afterwards towards the German Empire. He +could not forget that Germany had been the +fountain of rationalism, while German Evangelical +Protestantism was more schismatic and farther +removed from the mediæval Catholic Church than +it pleased him to deem the Church of England to +be. He had an exceedingly high sense of the +duty of purity of life and of the sanctity of +domestic relations, and his rigid ideas of decorum +inspired so much awe that it used to be said to a +person who had told an anecdote with ever so +slight a tinge of impropriety, “How many thousands +of pounds would you take to tell that to +Gladstone?” When living in the country, it was +his practice to attend daily morning service in +the parish church, and on Sunday to read in +church the lessons for the day; and he rarely, if +ever, transgressed his rule against Sunday labour. +Religious feeling, coupled with a system of firm +dogmatic beliefs, was the mainspring of his life, a +guiding light in perplexities, a source of strength +in adverse fortune, a consolation in sorrow, a +beacon of hope beyond the failures and disappointments +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_475' name='page_475'></a>475</span> +of this present world. He did not +make what is commonly called a profession of +religion, and talked little about it in general +society, although always ready to plunge into a +magazine controversy when Christianity was +assailed. But those who knew him best knew +that he was always referring current questions to, +and trying his own conduct by, a religious +standard. He believed in the efficacy of prayer, +and sought through prayer for strength and for +direction in the affairs of state. He was a remarkable +example of the coexistence together +with a Christian virtue of a quality which +Catholic theologians treat as a mortal sin. He +was an exceedingly proud man, yet an exceedingly +humble Christian. With a high regard for +his own dignity and a sensitiveness to any imputation +on his honour, he was deeply conscious of +his imperfections in the eye of God, realising the +weakness and sinfulness of human nature with +a mediæval intensity. The language of self-depreciation +he was wont to use, sometimes +deemed unreal, expressed his genuine sense of +the contrast between the religious ideal he set +up and his own attainment. And the tolerance +which he extended to those who attacked him +or who had (as he thought) behaved ill in public +life was largely due to this pervading sense of the +frailty of human character, and of the inextricable +mixture in conduct of good and bad motives. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_476' name='page_476'></a>476</span> +“It is always best to take the charitable view,” +he once observed when I had quoted to him the +saying of Dean Church that Mark Pattison had +painted himself too black in his autobiography—“always +best,” adding, with grim emphasis, +“especially in politics.”</p> +<p>In this indulgent view, more evident in his +later years, and the more remarkable because +his expressions were often too vehement, there +was nothing of the cynical “man of the world” +acceptance of a low standard as the only possible +standard, for his moral earnestness was as fervent +at eighty-eight as it had been at thirty, and he +retained a simplicity and an unwillingness to suspect +sinister motives, singular in one who had +seen so much. Although accessible and frank in +the ordinary converse of society, he was in reality +a reserved man; not shy, stiff, and externally +cold, like Peel, nor always standing on a pedestal +of dignity, like the younger Pitt, but revealing +his deepest thoughts only to a few intimate +friends, and treating others with a courteous +kindliness which, though it put them at their +ease, did not encourage them to approach nearer. +Thus, while he was admired by the mass of his +followers, and beloved by the small inner group +of family friends, the majority of his colleagues, +official subordinates, and political or ecclesiastical +associates, would have hesitated to give him any of +friendship’s confidences. Though quick to mark +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_477' name='page_477'></a>477</span> +and acknowledge good service, or to offer to a junior +an opportunity of distinction, many deemed him +too much occupied with his own thoughts to +show interest in his disciples, or to bestow those +counsels which a young man prizes from his +chief. But for the warmth of his devotion to a +few early friends and the reverence he paid to +their memory, a reverence touchingly shown in +the article on Arthur Hallam which he published +near the end of his own life, sixty-five years after +Hallam’s death, there might have seemed to be +a measure of truth in the judgment that he cared +less for men than for ideas and causes. Those, +however, who marked the pang which the departure +to the Roman Church of his friend Hope +Scott caused him, those who in later days noted +the enthusiasm with which he would speak of +Lord Althorp, his opponent, and of Lord Aberdeen, +his chief, dwelling upon the truthfulness and +uprightness of the former and the amiability of +the latter, knew that the impression of detachment +he gave wronged the sensibility of his own +heart. Of how few who have lived for more than +sixty years in the full sight of their countrymen, +and have been as party leaders exposed to angry +and sometimes spiteful criticism, can it be said +that there stands on record against them no +malignant word and no vindictive act! This +was due not perhaps entirely to natural sweetness +of disposition, but rather to self-control +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_478' name='page_478'></a>478</span> +and to a certain largeness of soul which would +not condescend to anything mean or petty. +Pride, though it may be a sin, is to most of us a +useful, to some an indispensable, buttress of virtue. +Nor should it be forgotten that the perfectly happy +life which he led at home, cared for in everything +by a devoted wife, kept far from him those domestic +troubles which have soured the temper and embittered +the judgments of not a few famous men. +Reviewing his whole career, and summing up the +concurrent impressions and recollections of those +who knew him best, this dignity is the feature +which dwells most in the mind, as the outline of +some majestic Alp thrills one from afar when all +the lesser beauties of glen and wood, of crag and +glacier, have faded in the distance. As elevation +was the note of his oratory, so was magnanimity +the note of his character.</p> +<p>The Greek maxim that no one can be called +happy till his life is closed must, in the case of +statesmen, be extended to warn us from the +attempt to fix a man’s place in history till a +generation has arisen to whom he is a mere +name, not a familiar figure to be loved or +hated. Few reputations made in politics so far +retain their lustre that curiosity continues to +play round the person when those who can remember +him living have departed. Dante has +in immortal stanzas contrasted the fame of Provenzano +Salvani that sounded through all Tuscany +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_479' name='page_479'></a>479</span> +while he lived with the faint whispers of his name +heard in his own Siena forty years after his death.<a name='FNanchor_0066' id='FNanchor_0066'></a><a href='#Footnote_0066' class='fnanchor'>[75]</a> +So out of all the men who have held a foremost +place in English public life in the nineteenth +century there are but six or seven—Pitt, Fox, +Wellington, Peel, Disraeli, possibly Canning, or +O’Connell, or Melbourne—whose names are to-day +upon our lips. The great poet or the great +artist lives as long as his books or his pictures; +the statesman, like the singer or the actor, +begins to be forgotten so soon as his voice is +still, unless he has so dominated the men of +his own time, and made himself a part of his +country’s history, that his personal character +is indissolubly linked to the events the course +of which he helped to determine. Tried by +this test, Mr. Gladstone’s fame seems destined +to endure. His eloquence will soon become +merely a tradition, for his printed speeches do not +preserve its charm. If some of his books continue +to be read, it will be rather because they are his +than in respect of any permanent contribution they +have made to knowledge. The wisdom of his +policy, foreign and domestic, will have to be judged, +not only by the consequences we see, but also by +other consequences still hidden in the future. +Yet among his acts there are some with which +history cannot fail to concern herself, and which +will keep fresh the memory of their author’s +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_480' name='page_480'></a>480</span> +energy and courage. Whoever follows the annals +of England during the memorable years from 1843 +to 1894 will meet his name on almost every page, +will feel how great must have been the force of an +intellect that could so interpenetrate the story of +its time, and will seek to know something of +the dauntless figure that rose always conspicuous +above the struggling throng.</p> +<p>There is a passage in the <i>Odyssey</i> where the +seer Theoclymenus says, in describing a vision +of death: “The sun has perished out of heaven.” +To Englishmen, Mr. Gladstone had been like a +sun which, sinking slowly, had grown larger as he +sank, and filled the sky with radiance even while +he trembled on the verge of the horizon. There +were men of ability and men of renown, but there +was no one comparable to him in fame and power +and honour. When he departed the light seemed +to have died out of the sky.</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<p style='font-family:sans-serif; margin-top:1.4em;'>Footnotes</p> +<div class='footnote'> +<a name='Footnote_1' id='Footnote_1'></a><a href='#FNanchor_1'><span class='label'>[1]</span></a> +<p>No “authorised” life of Lord Beaconsfield, nor indeed any life commensurate +with the part he played in English politics, has yet appeared.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0001' id='Footnote_0001'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0001'><span class='label'>[2]</span></a> +<p>Disraeli’s family claimed to be of Spanish origin, but had come from +Italy to England shortly before 1748.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0002' id='Footnote_0002'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0002'><span class='label'>[3]</span></a> +<p>There are few legal allusions in his novels, fewer in proportion than +in Shakespeare’s plays, but an ingenious travesty of the English use of +legal fictions may be found in the <i>Voyage of Captain Popanilla</i>, a satire +on the English constitution and government. Popanilla, who is to be +tried for treason, is, to his astonishment, indicted for killing a camelopard.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0003' id='Footnote_0003'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0003'><span class='label'>[4]</span></a> +<p>That historical interest he did feel deeply. One might almost say +of him that he was a Christian because he was a Jew, for Christianity was +to him the proper development of the ancient religion of Israel. “The +Jews,” he observes in the <i>Life of Lord George Bentinck</i>, “represent the +Semitic principle, all that is most spiritual in our nature.... It is deplorable +that several millions of Jews still persist in believing only a part of +their religion.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0004' id='Footnote_0004'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0004'><span class='label'>[5]</span></a> +<p>Though it has been maintained that in the Dark and Middle Ages a +considerable number of Gentiles found their way into Jewish communities +and became Judaised.</p> +<p>The high average of intellectual power among the Jews need not be +attributed to purity of race; it is sufficiently explained by their history. +Nor is it clear that where two of the more advanced races are mixed by +intermarriage, the product is inferior to either of the parent stocks. On +the contrary, such a mixture, <i>e.g.</i> of Teutonic and Slavonic blood, or of +Celtic and Teutonic, gives a result at least equal in capacity to either of +the pure-blooded races which have been so commingled.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0005' id='Footnote_0005'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0005'><span class='label'>[6]</span></a> +<p>He had an intellectual arrogance, which made him dislike what +may be called the Radical conception of human equality. In the <i>Life +of Lord George Bentinck</i> he remarks, “The Jews are a living and the +most striking evidence of the falsity of that pernicious doctrine of modern +times, the natural equality of man.... All the tendencies of the Jewish +race are conservative. Their bias is to religion, property, and natural +aristocracy.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0006' id='Footnote_0006'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0006'><span class='label'>[7]</span></a> +<p>On one occasion he went so far as to deny that he had asked Peel for +office, relying on the fact that the letter which contained the request was +marked “private,” so that Peel could not use it to disprove his statement +(<i>Letters of Sir Robert Peel</i>, by C. S. Parker, vol. ii. p. 486; vol. +iii. pp. 347, 348).</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0007' id='Footnote_0007'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0007'><span class='label'>[8]</span></a> +<p>See Sir S. Northcote’s report of a conversation with Disraeli in his +last years (<i>Life of Sir Stafford Northcote</i>, vol. ii.).</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0008' id='Footnote_0008'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0008'><span class='label'>[9]</span></a> +<p>In the <i>Life of Lord George Bentinck</i> (written shortly after Peel’s +death), Disraeli, after dilating upon the loyalty which the Tory aristocracy +had displayed towards Peel, observes, “An aristocracy hesitates before it +yields its confidence, but it never does so grudgingly.... In political +connections the social feeling mingles with the principle of honour which +governs gentlemen.... Such a following is usually cordial and faithful. +An aristocracy is rather apt to exaggerate the qualities and magnify the +importance of a plebeian leader.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0009' id='Footnote_0009'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0009'><span class='label'>[10]</span></a> +<p>When he did set himself to examine the condition of the people, the +diagnosis, if not always correct, was always suggestive, <i>e.g.</i> the account of +the manufacturing districts given in <i>Sybil, or the Two Nations</i>.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0010' id='Footnote_0010'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0010'><span class='label'>[11]</span></a> +<p>“The old Jew, that is the man.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0011' id='Footnote_0011'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0011'><span class='label'>[12]</span></a> +<p>In the <i>Life of Lord George Bentinck</i>.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0012' id='Footnote_0012'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0012'><span class='label'>[13]</span></a> +<p><span class='greek' title='Oiô pepnusthai, toi de skiai aïssousin'>Οἴῳ πεπνῦσθαι, τοὶ δὲ σκιαὶ ἀίσσουσιν</span> (<i>Od.</i> x. 495). Used of Tiresias, +in the world of disembodied spirits.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0013' id='Footnote_0013'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0013'><span class='label'>[14]</span></a> +<p>To defend Disraeli by arguing that his policy had not a fair chance +because his colleagues did not allow him to carry it through is to admit +another error not less grave, for the path he took was one on which no +minister ought to have entered unless satisfied that the Cabinet and the +country would let him follow it to the end.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0014' id='Footnote_0014'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0014'><span class='label'>[15]</span></a> +<p><i>Inf.</i> vii. 77.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'> +<a name='Footnote_16' id='Footnote_16'></a><a href='#FNanchor_16'><span class='label'>[16]</span></a> +<p>A <i>Life of Dean Stanley</i>, in two volumes, begun by Theodore +Walrond, continued by Dean Bradley, and completed by Mr. R. E. +Prothero, appeared in 1893.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0015' id='Footnote_0015'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0015'><span class='label'>[17]</span></a> +<p>When J. S. Mill was a candidate for Westminster in 1868, Stanley +published a letter announcing his support, partly out of personal respect +for Mill, partly because it gave him an opportunity of expressing an +opinion on the Irish Church question, and of reprobating the charge of +atheism which had been brought against Mill.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0016' id='Footnote_0016'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0016'><span class='label'>[18]</span></a> +<p>As I have referred to the American Civil War, it is worth adding +that there were no places in England where the varying fortunes of that +tremendous struggle were followed with a more intense interest than in +Oxford and Cambridge, and none in which so large a proportion of the +educated class sympathised with the cause of the North. Mr. Goldwin +Smith led the section which took that view, and which included three-fourths +of the best talent in Oxford. Among the younger men Green was +the most conspicuous for his ardour on behalf of the principles of human +equality and freedom. He followed and watched every move in the +military game. No Massachusetts Abolitionist welcomed the fall of +Vicksburg with a keener joy. He used to say that the whole future of +humanity was involved in the triumph of the Federal arms.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'> +<a name='Footnote_19' id='Footnote_19'></a><a href='#FNanchor_19'><span class='label'>[19]</span></a> +<p>An admirable life of Archbishop Tait by his son-in-law, Dr. R. T. +Davidson (now Archbishop of Canterbury), and Canon Benham appeared +in 1891.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0017' id='Footnote_0017'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0017'><span class='label'>[20]</span></a> +<p>They thought his public action scarcely consistent with the language +he had used to Temple in private.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'> +<a name='Footnote_21' id='Footnote_21'></a><a href='#FNanchor_21'><span class='label'>[21]</span></a> +<p>Trollope’s autobiography, published in 1883, is a good specimen of +self-portraiture, candid, straightforward, and healthy, and leaves an +agreeable impression of the writer. Dr. Richard Garnett has written well +of him in the <i>Dictionary of National Biography</i>.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'> +<a name='Footnote_22' id='Footnote_22'></a><a href='#FNanchor_22'><span class='label'>[22]</span></a> +<p>This sketch was written in 1883. A volume of Green’s Letters, with +a short connecting biography by Sir Leslie Stephen, was published in +1901. The letters are extremely good reading, the biography faithful and +graceful.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0018' id='Footnote_0018'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0018'><span class='label'>[23]</span></a> +<p>Sir George Young and I were the other members.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0019' id='Footnote_0019'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0019'><span class='label'>[24]</span></a> +<p>At one time, however, he learnt a little geology from his friend +Professor Dawkins, perceiving its bearings on history.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0020' id='Footnote_0020'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0020'><span class='label'>[25]</span></a> +<p>2 Sam. xvi. 23.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0021' id='Footnote_0021'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0021'><span class='label'>[26]</span></a> +<p><i>Odyss.</i> viii. 274: “And upon the anvil-stand he set the mighty +anvil; and he forged the links that could be neither broken nor loosed, so +that they should stay firm in their place.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0022' id='Footnote_0022'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0022'><span class='label'>[27]</span></a> +<p>Lord Justice James said of his colleague that he had only one +defect as a judge: “He was too anxious to convince counsel that they +were wrong, when he thought their contention unsound, seeming to +forget that counsel are paid not to be convinced.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0023' id='Footnote_0023'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0023'><span class='label'>[28]</span></a> +<p>No biography of Lord Cairns has (so far as I know) appeared—a +singular fact, considering the brilliancy of his career, and considering the +tendency which now prevails to bestow this kind of honour on many +persons of the second or even the third rank. One reason may be that +Cairns, great though he was, never won personal popularity even with his +own political party or among his contemporaries at the bar, and was to the +general public no more than a famous name.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0024' id='Footnote_0024'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0024'><span class='label'>[29]</span></a> +<p>The reign of King Richard the First.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0025' id='Footnote_0025'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0025'><span class='label'>[30]</span></a> +<p>Two Lives of Dr. Fraser have been published, one (in 1887) by +the late Judge Hughes, the other, which gives a fuller impression of his +personal character, by the Rev. J. W. Diggle (1891).</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0026' id='Footnote_0026'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0026'><span class='label'>[31]</span></a> +<p>He was a good judge of horses, and had in his youth been fond of +hunting.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0027' id='Footnote_0027'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0027'><span class='label'>[32]</span></a> +<p>A clergyman of his diocese had once, under the greatest provocation, +knocked down a person who had insulted him, and the bishop wrote +him a letter of reproof pointing out (among other things) that, exposed as +the Church of England was to much criticism on all hands, her ministers +ought to be very careful in their demeanour. The offender replied by +saying, “I must regretfully admit that being grossly insulted, and forgetting +in the heat of the moment the critical position of the Church of +England, I did knock the man down, etc.” Fraser, delighted with this +turning of the tables on himself, told me the anecdote with great glee, and +invited the clergyman to stay with him not long afterwards.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0028' id='Footnote_0028'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0028'><span class='label'>[33]</span></a> +<p>He was himself aware that this caused displeasure. In his latest +Charge, delivered some months before his death, he said: “I am +charged, amongst other grievous sins, with that of thinking not unkindly, +and speaking not unfavourably, of Dissenters. I don’t profess to love +dissent, but I have received innumerable kindnesses from Dissenters. +Why should I abuse them? Why should I call them hard names? +Remembering how Nonconformity was made—no doubt sometimes by +self-will and pride and prejudice and ignorance, but far more often by the +Church’s supineness, neglect, and intolerance in days long since gone by, +of which we have not yet paid the full penalty—though, as I have said, +I love not the thing, I cannot speak harshly of it.”</p> +<p>That a defence was needed may seem strange to those who do not +know England.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'> +<a name='Footnote_34' id='Footnote_34'></a><a href='#FNanchor_34'><span class='label'>[34]</span></a> +<p>A <i>Life of Lord Iddesleigh</i>, written by Mr. Andrew Lang, presents +Northcote’s character and career with fairness and discrimination.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0029' id='Footnote_0029'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0029'><span class='label'>[35]</span></a> +<p>The <i>Life of Parnell</i>, by Mr. R. Barry O’Brien, has taken rank among +the best biographies of the last half-century.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0030' id='Footnote_0030'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0030'><span class='label'>[36]</span></a> +<p>An anecdote was told at the time that when he found himself in the +prison yard at Kilmainham, he said, in a sort of soliloquy, “I shall live +yet to dance upon those two old men’s graves.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'> +<a name='Footnote_37' id='Footnote_37'></a><a href='#FNanchor_37'><span class='label'>[37]</span></a> +<p>An excellent Life of Freeman has been written by his friend Mr. +W. R. W. Stephens, afterwards Dean of Winchester, whose death while +these pages were passing through the press has caused the deepest regret +to all who had the opportunity of knowing his literary gifts and his +lovable character.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0031' id='Footnote_0031'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0031'><span class='label'>[38]</span></a> +<p>The scholars of Trinity were then (1843) all High Churchmen, +and never dined in hall on Fridays. Fourteen years later there was not a +single High Churchman among them. Ten or fifteen years afterwards +Anglo-Catholic sentiment was again strong. Freeman said that his revulsion +against Tractarianism began from a conversation with one of his +fellow-scholars, who had remarked that it was a pity there had been a +flaw in the consecration of some Swedish bishops in the sixteenth century, +for this had imperilled the salvation of all Swedes since that time. He +was startled, and began to reconsider his position.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0032' id='Footnote_0032'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0032'><span class='label'>[39]</span></a> +<p>Having had about the same time a brush with George Anthony +Denison (Archdeacon of Taunton), and a less friendly passage of arms with +James Anthony Froude, he wrote to me in 1870: “I am greater than +Cicero, who was smiter of one Antonius. I venture to think that I have +whopped the whole <i>Gens Antonia</i>—first Anthony pure and simple, which +is Trollope; secondly, James Anthony, whom I believe myself to have +smitten, as Cnut did Eadric swiðe rihtlice, in the matter of St. Hugh; +thirdly, George Anthony, with whom I fought again last Tuesday, carrying +at our Education Board a resolution in favour of Forster’s bill.” Trollope +and he became warm friends. Froude he heartily disliked, not, I think, +on any personal grounds, but because he thought Froude indifferent to +truth, and was incensed by the defence of Henry VIII.’s crimes.</p> +<p>It may be added that Freeman, much as he detested Henry VIII., used +to observe that Henry had a sort of legal conscience, because he always +wished his murders to be done by Act of Parliament, and that the earlier +and better part of Henry’s reign ought not to be forgotten. He was fond of +quoting the euphemism with which an old Oxford professor of ecclesiastical +history concluded his account of the sovereign whom, in respect of his relation +to the Church of England, it seemed proper to handle gently: “The +later years of this great monarch were clouded by domestic troubles.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0033' id='Footnote_0033'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0033'><span class='label'>[40]</span></a> +<p>“The heart makes the theologian.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'> +<a name='Footnote_41' id='Footnote_41'></a><a href='#FNanchor_41'><span class='label'>[41]</span></a> +<p>A carefully written life of Lord Sherbrooke (in two volumes) by Mr. +Patchett Martin was published in 1896. The most interesting part of +it is the short fragment of autobiography with which it begins, and which +carries the story down to Lowe’s arrival in Australia.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0034' id='Footnote_0034'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0034'><span class='label'>[42]</span></a> +<p>In his autobiography he writes, “With a quiet temper and a real +wish to please, I have been obliged all my life to submit to an amount of +unpopularity which I really did not deserve, and to feel myself condemned +for what were really physical rather than moral deficiencies.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0035' id='Footnote_0035'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0035'><span class='label'>[43]</span></a> +<p>There was an anecdote current in the University of Oxford down to +my time that when Lowe was examining in the examination which the +statutes call “Responsions,” the dons “Little-go,” and the undergraduates +“Smalls,” a friend coming in while the <i>viva voce</i> was in progress, asked +him how he was getting on. “Excellently,” said Lowe; “five men +plucked already, and the sixth very shaky.” Another tale, not likely to +have been invented, relates that when he and several members of the +then Liberal Ministry were staying in Dublin with the Lord Lieutenant, +and had taken an excursion into the Wicklow hills, they found themselves +one afternoon obliged to wait for half an hour at a railway station. To +pass the time, Lowe forthwith engaged in a dispute about the charge with +the car-drivers who had brought them, a dispute which soon became hot +and noisy, to the delight of Lowe, but to the horror of the old Lord +Chancellor, who was one of the party.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0036' id='Footnote_0036'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0036'><span class='label'>[44]</span></a> +<p><i>Essays on Reform</i>, published in 1867.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0037' id='Footnote_0037'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0037'><span class='label'>[45]</span></a> +<p>The then borough qualification, which Mr. Gladstone’s Bill proposed +to reduce to £7.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0038' id='Footnote_0038'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0038'><span class='label'>[46]</span></a> +<p>Mr. Gladstone said to me in 1897 that the extension of the suffrage +had, in his judgment, improved the quality of legislation, making it more +regardful of the interests of the body of the people, but had not improved +the quality of the House of Commons.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0039' id='Footnote_0039'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0039'><span class='label'>[47]</span></a> +<p>Sir H. S. Maine’s <i>Quarterly Review</i> articles, published in a volume +under the title of <i>Popular Government</i>, come nearest to being a literary +presentation of the case against democracy, but they are, with all their +ingenuity and grace of style, so provokingly vague and loosely expressed +that there can seldom be found in them a proposition with which one can +agree, or from which one can differ. E. de Laveleye’s well-known book +is not much more substantial, but instruction may (as respects France) +be found in the late Edmond Schérer’s <i>De la Démocratie</i>, and (as respects +England and the United States) in M. Ostrogorski’s recent book, <i>Democracy +and the Organisation of Political Parties</i>.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0040' id='Footnote_0040'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0040'><span class='label'>[48]</span></a> +<p>No life of Robertson Smith has yet been written, but it is hoped that +one may be prepared by his intimate friend, Mr. J. Sutherland Black. A +portrait of him (by his friend Sir George Reid, late President of the Royal +Scottish Academy) hangs in the library of Christ’s College, Cambridge, to +which Smith’s collection of Oriental books was presented by his friends, +and another has been placed in the Divinity College of the United Free +Presbyterian Church at Aberdeen. A memorial window has been set up +in the chapel of the University of Aberdeen, where he won his first distinctions. +I have to thank my friend Mr. Black for some suggestions he +has kindly made after perusing this sketch.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0041' id='Footnote_0041'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0041'><span class='label'>[49]</span></a> +<p>There was an aged Jewish scholar who came now and then to +Cambridge in those days, and who, as sometimes happens, disliked +other scholars labouring in the same field. He was (so it used to be said) +one of the few who knew exactly how the word which we write Jehovah +or Iahve ought to be pronounced, and it was believed that he had +solemnly cursed Wright, Smith, and a third Semitic scholar in the Sacred +Name. All three died soon afterwards.</p> +<p>What would have been thought of this in the Middle Ages!</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0042' id='Footnote_0042'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0042'><span class='label'>[50]</span></a> +<p><i>Parad.</i> x. 136, of Sigier, “Sillogizzó invidiosi veri.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0043' id='Footnote_0043'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0043'><span class='label'>[51]</span></a> +<p>It is hoped that a life of Sidgwick, together with a selection from +his letters, may before long be published.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0044' id='Footnote_0044'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0044'><span class='label'>[52]</span></a> +<p>It was his aim to avoid as much as possible technical terms or phrases +whose meaning was not plain to the average reader. An anecdote was +current that once when, in conducting a university examination, he was +perusing the papers of a candidate who had darkened the subject by the +use of extreme Hegelian phraseology, he turned to his co-examiner and +said, “I can see that this is nonsense, but is it the right kind of nonsense?”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'> +<a name='Footnote_53' id='Footnote_53'></a><a href='#FNanchor_53'><span class='label'>[53]</span></a> +<p>Since this sketch was written a very interesting <i>Life of Edward +Bowen</i> by his nephew (the Hon. and Rev. W. E. Bowen) has appeared. +Some of his (too few) essays and a collection of his school-songs are +appended to it.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0045' id='Footnote_0045'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0045'><span class='label'>[54]</span></a> +<p>Mr. R. Bosworth Smith.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0046' id='Footnote_0046'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0046'><span class='label'>[55]</span></a> +<p>It is printed in the <i>Life</i>.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0047' id='Footnote_0047'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0047'><span class='label'>[56]</span></a> +<p>“Chiffers” is the typical would-be imitator of Arnold.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0048' id='Footnote_0048'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0048'><span class='label'>[57]</span></a> +<p>He remarked once that he had so nearly exhausted the battlefields +of the past that he must begin to devote himself to the battlefields of the +future.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0049' id='Footnote_0049'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0049'><span class='label'>[58]</span></a> +<p>The Tammany leaders had him repeatedly arrested, usually on +Sunday mornings (that being the day on which it was least easy to find +bail) for alleged criminal libels upon them. These prosecutions, threatened +in the hope of intimidating him, never went further.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0050' id='Footnote_0050'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0050'><span class='label'>[59]</span></a> +<p>A Mugwump is in the Algonquin tongue an aged chief or wise man, +and the name was meant to ridicule the <i>ex cathedra</i> manner ascribed to +the <i>Evening Post</i>.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0051' id='Footnote_0051'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0051'><span class='label'>[60]</span></a> +<p>This library, bought by Mr. Andrew Carnegie, was presented by him +to Mr. John Morley, and by the latter to the University of Cambridge.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0052' id='Footnote_0052'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0052'><span class='label'>[61]</span></a> +<p>The phrase is Professor Maitland’s.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0053' id='Footnote_0053'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0053'><span class='label'>[62]</span></a> +<p>I owe this quotation to a letter of Sir M. E. Grant Duff’s published +soon after Lord Acton’s death.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0054' id='Footnote_0054'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0054'><span class='label'>[63]</span></a> +<p>“Gled” is a kite or hawk. The name was Gladstones till Mr. +Gladstone’s father dropped the final s.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0055' id='Footnote_0055'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0055'><span class='label'>[64]</span></a> +<p>One of his most intimate friends has, I think, said that “he never +knew what it was to be bored.” Fortunate, indeed, would he have been +had this been so; but that one who had watched him long and closely +should make the statement shows how gently bores fared at his hands.</p> +<p>I recollect his once remarking on the capacity for boring possessed by +a gentleman who had been introduced and had talked for some fifteen +minutes to him; but his own manner through the conversation had betrayed +no impatience.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0056' id='Footnote_0056'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0056'><span class='label'>[65]</span></a> +<p>Sermons belong to a somewhat different category, else I should have +to add the discourses of a few great preachers, such as Robert Hall, J. H. +Newman, Phillips Brooks.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0057' id='Footnote_0057'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0057'><span class='label'>[66]</span></a> +<p>Though one of Macaulay’s speeches (that against the exclusion of the +Master of the Rolls from the House of Commons) had the rare honour of +turning votes.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0058' id='Footnote_0058'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0058'><span class='label'>[67]</span></a> +<p>“He said that this was the hardest battle of men he had entered,” +<i>Iliad</i> vi. 185.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0059' id='Footnote_0059'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0059'><span class='label'>[68]</span></a> +<p>His physical courage was no less evident than his moral. For two +or three years his life was threatened, and policemen were told off to +guard him wherever he went. He disliked this protection so much +(though the Home Office thought it necessary) that he used to escape from +the House of Commons by a little-frequented exit, give the policemen the +slip, and stroll home to his residence along the Thames Embankment in +the small hours of the morning. Fear was not in his nature.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0060' id='Footnote_0060'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0060'><span class='label'>[69]</span></a> +<p>The late Protestant Episcopal Primate of Ireland said that Disestablishment +had proved a blessing to his Church; and this would seem +to be now the general view of Irish Protestants.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0061' id='Footnote_0061'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0061'><span class='label'>[70]</span></a> +<p>His abdication of leadership in 1875 was meant to be final, though +when the urgency of Eastern affairs had drawn him back into strife, the +old ardour revived, and he resumed the place of Prime Minister in 1880. +It has been often said that he would have done better to retire from public +life in 1880, or in 1885, yet the most striking proofs both of his courage +and of his physical energy were given in the latest part of his career.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0062' id='Footnote_0062'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0062'><span class='label'>[71]</span></a> +<p>For instance, he recommended Dr. Stubbs for a bishopric and Sir +John Holker for a lord justiceship, knowing both of them to be Tories.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0063' id='Footnote_0063'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0063'><span class='label'>[72]</span></a> +<p>His respect and regard for Mr. Bright were entirely unaffected by the +fact that Mr. Bright’s opposition to the Home Rule Bill of 1886 had been +the chief cause of its defeat.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0064' id='Footnote_0064'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0064'><span class='label'>[73]</span></a> +<p>Usually over-anxious to vindicate his own consistency, he showed on +one occasion a capacity for recognising the humorous side of a position +into which he had been brought. In a debate which arose in 1891 +frequent references had been made to a former speech in which he had +pronounced a highly-coloured panegyric upon the Church of England in +Wales, the disestablishment of which he had subsequently become willing +to support. He replied, “Many references have been made to a former +speech of mine on this subject, and I am not prepared to deny that in that +speech, when closely scrutinised, there may appear to be present some +element of exaggeration.” The House dissolved in laughter, and no +further reference was made to the old speech.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0065' id='Footnote_0065'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0065'><span class='label'>[74]</span></a> +<p>His Oxford contemporary and friend, the late Mr. Milnes Gaskell, told +me that when Mr. Gladstone was undergoing his <i>viva voce</i> examination for +his degree, the examiner, satisfied with the candidate’s answers on a particular +matter, said, “And now, Mr. Gladstone, we will leave that part +of the subject.” “No,” replied the examinee, “we will, if you please, not +leave it yet.” Whereupon he proceeded to pour forth a further flood of +knowledge and disquisition.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0066' id='Footnote_0066'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0066'><span class='label'>[75]</span></a> +<p><i>Purgat.</i> xi. 100-126.</p> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_481' name='page_481'></a>481</span> +<a name='INDEX' id='INDEX'></a> +<h2>INDEX</h2> +</div> +<div style='font-size:0.9em;'> +<p class='lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">Acton, John Edward Emerich Dalberg, Lord—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_382'>382–84</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>characteristics of, <a href='#page_399'>399</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>critical taste of, <a href='#page_390'>390</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>family of, <a href='#page_382'>382</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>history, view of, <a href='#page_391'>391–92</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>view of study of, <a href='#page_394'>394–95</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>learning of, <a href='#page_386'>386–89</a>, <a href='#page_392'>392</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>liberty, history of, projected by, <a href='#page_395'>395–96</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>libraries of, <a href='#page_388'>388–89</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0051'>note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>political opinions of, <a href='#page_384'>384</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>style of, <a href='#page_396'>396–97</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>thoroughness of, <a href='#page_390'>390</a>, <a href='#page_393'>393–95</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>University work of, <a href='#page_397'>397–98</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>writings of, <a href='#page_395'>395</a><br /> +<br /> +American Civil War, <a href='#page_55'>55</a>, <a href='#page_57'>57</a>, <a href='#page_90'>90</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0016'>note</a>. <i>See also</i> <a href='#Index_United_States'>United States</a><br /> +<br /> +Arnold, Dr., <a href='#page_343'>343</a>, <a href='#page_346'>346</a><br /> +<br /> +Austen, Jane, <a href='#page_127'>127</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em"><a name='Index_Beaconsfield' id='Index_Beaconsfield'></a>Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli, Lord—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Cairns valued by, <a href='#page_186'>186–87</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_3'>3–16</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>characteristics of—<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>ambition, <a href='#page_21'>21–22</a>, <a href='#page_26'>26</a>, <a href='#page_30'>30–31</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span><i>bonhomie</i>, <a href='#page_32'>32</a>, <a href='#page_34'>34</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>courage, <a href='#page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#page_25'>25–26</a>, <a href='#page_65'>65</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>cynicism, <a href='#page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#page_40'>40–41</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>debating power, <a href='#page_47'>47</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>intellectual congruity, <a href='#page_35'>35–38</a>, <a href='#page_42'>42</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>loyalty, <a href='#page_33'>33</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>self-confidence, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#page_26'>26</a>, <a href='#page_50'>50</a>, <a href='#page_65'>65</a>, <a href='#page_224'>224</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>tactical adroitness, <a href='#page_48'>48–50</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>tenacity, <a href='#page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#page_23'>23–24</a>, <a href='#page_60'>60</a>, <a href='#page_65'>65</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Eastern policy of, <a href='#page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#page_275'>275–76</a>, <a href='#page_300'>300</a>, <a href='#page_356'>356</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>education of, <a href='#page_39'>39</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>epigrammatic phrases of, <a href='#page_41'>41–42</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>estimates regarding, <a href='#page_1'>1–2</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>foreign, <a href='#page_54'>54</a>, <a href='#page_58'>58</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>family of, <a href='#page_3'>3</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Gladstone compared with, <a href='#page_418'>418</a>, <a href='#page_429'>429</a>, <a href='#page_465'>465</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>contrasted with, <a href='#page_422'>422</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>Gladstone’s attitude towards, <a href='#page_455'>455–56</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>influence of, <a href='#page_66'>66–68</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>literary works of, <a href='#page_4'>4–5</a>, <a href='#page_18'>18–19</a>, <a href='#page_29'>29</a>, <a href='#page_31'>31–33</a>, <a href='#page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#page_41'>41</a>, <a href='#page_43'>43–45</a>, <a href='#Footnote_0009'>52 note</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>quoted, <a href='#Footnote_0003'>21 note</a>, <a href='#Footnote_0005'>25 note</a>, <a href='#page_41'>41</a>, <a href='#Footnote_0008'>50 note</a>, <a href='#page_55'>55</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Lowe and, <a href='#page_34'>34</a>, <a href='#page_302'>302</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Northcote appreciated by, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#page_218'>218</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>political views of, <a href='#page_6'>6–8</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>foreign policy of (<i>see also above</i>, Eastern policy), <a href='#page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#page_56'>56</a>, <a href='#page_59'>59</a>, <a href='#page_67'>67</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Stanley and, <a href='#page_81'>81</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>suffrage extension, policy of, <a href='#page_305'>305–306</a>, <a href='#page_309'>309–10</a>, <a href='#page_442'>442</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>otherwise mentioned, <a href='#page_107'>107</a>, <a href='#page_171'>171</a>, <a href='#page_220'>220</a><br /> +<br /> +Bentinck, Lord George, <a href='#page_9'>9</a><br /> +<br /> +Bishops—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>change in type of, <a href='#page_196'>196–98</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>House of Lords, presence in, <a href='#page_112'>112</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>industry of, <a href='#page_199'>199</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>influence of, <a href='#page_100'>100–101</a>, <a href='#page_103'>103</a><br /> +<br /> +Bismarck, Prince, <a href='#page_54'>54</a><br /> +<br /> +Black, J. Sutherland, <a href='#Footnote_0040'>311 note</a><br /> +<br /> +Bowen, Edward Ernest—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>biography of, <a href='#Footnote_53'>343 note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_345'>345–46</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>characteristics of, <a href='#page_360'>360–62</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>death of, <a href='#page_355'>355</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>games, attitude towards, <a href='#page_351'>351–52</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>influence of, <a href='#page_350'>350</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>views regarding, <a href='#page_353'>353–54</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>military history, fondness for, <a href='#page_357'>357–58</a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_482' name='page_482'></a>482</span><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>political interests of, <a href='#page_355'>355–57</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>school songs of, <a href='#Footnote_53'>343 note</a>, <a href='#page_359'>359–360</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>teaching methods of, <a href='#page_346'>346–47</a>, <a href='#page_349'>349–350</a>, <a href='#page_354'>354–55</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>training of teachers, views on, <a href='#page_348'>348</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>travel, fondness for, <a href='#page_358'>358</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>walking tours of, <a href='#page_355'>355</a><br /> +<br /> +Bowen, Lord, <a href='#page_345'>345</a>, <a href='#page_359'>359</a><br /> +<br /> +Bright, John, <a href='#page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#page_98'>98</a>, <a href='#page_304'>304</a>, <a href='#page_428'>428–29</a>, <a href='#page_443'>443</a>, <a href='#Footnote_0063'>455 note</a><br /> +<br /> +Bradlaugh, Mr., <a href='#page_437'>437</a><br /> +<br /> +Brooke, Rev. Stopford, quoted, <a href='#page_135'>135–137</a><br /> +<br /> +Brooks, Dr. Phillips, <a href='#page_209'>209</a>, <a href='#page_381'>381</a><br /> +<br /> +Brougham, Lord, <a href='#page_64'>64</a>, <a href='#page_428'>428</a><br /> +<br /> +Browning, Robert, <a href='#page_39'>39</a>, <a href='#page_126'>126</a><br /> +<br /> +Burke, Edmund, <a href='#page_410'>410</a>, <a href='#page_427'>427–28</a>, <a href='#page_440'>440</a><br /> +<br /> +Burney, Miss, <a href='#page_127'>127</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">Cairns, Hugh M’Calmont, Earl—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>American Civil War, attitude towards, <a href='#page_57'>57</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_184'>184–86</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>characteristics of, <a href='#page_184'>184</a>, <a href='#page_188'>188–91</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Disraeli compared with, <a href='#page_47'>47</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Gladstone compared with, <a href='#page_429'>429</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Jessel compared with, <a href='#page_180'>180</a>, <a href='#page_193'>193</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>judicial gifts of, <a href='#page_192'>192–93</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>legal manner of, <a href='#page_191'>191–92</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Mellish and, <a href='#page_176'>176–78</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>parliamentary reform opposed by, <a href='#page_307'>307</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>political partisanship of, <a href='#page_187'>187</a>, <a href='#page_194'>194–195</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>religious views and interests of, <a href='#page_185'>185–86</a>, <a href='#page_193'>193–94</a><br /> +<br /> +Cambridge—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Jewish scholar at, <a href='#Footnote_0041'>319 note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Sidgwick at, <a href='#page_327'>327</a> <i>seq.</i><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Smith, W. R., at, <a href='#page_319'>319</a><br /> +<br /> +Canterbury,<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>importance of See of, <a href='#page_101'>101–105</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>qualifications of archbishops of, <a href='#page_105'>105–107</a><br /> +<br /> +Carlyle, Thomas, <a href='#page_40'>40</a>, <a href='#page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#page_92'>92</a>, <a href='#page_126'>126</a>, <a href='#page_277'>277</a>, <a href='#page_461'>461</a><br /> +<br /> +Celtic temperament, <a href='#page_403'>403</a>, <a href='#page_405'>405</a><br /> +<br /> +Chancery Bar, <a href='#page_170'>170</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>famous trio at, <a href='#page_191'>191</a><br /> +<br /> +Chancery Courts, <a href='#page_181'>181–82</a><br /> +<br /> +Charity Organisation Society, <a href='#page_133'>133</a><br /> +<br /> +Church, Dean, <a href='#page_251'>251–52</a><br /> +<br /> +<a name='Index_Church' id='Index_Church'></a>Church—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Anglican—<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>disestablishment of, <a href='#page_114'>114–15</a>, <a href='#page_141'>141</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>possibilities before, <a href='#page_209'>209–10</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>Stanley’s view of, <a href='#page_78'>78–79</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>Tractarian movement in, <a href='#page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Footnote_0031'>264 note</a>, <a href='#page_406'>406</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Roman Catholic—<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>adaptability of, <a href='#page_259'>259</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>Infallibilist claims of, <a href='#page_256'>256</a>, <a href='#page_385'>385</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>modern research, attitude towards, <a href='#page_317'>317</a><br /> +<br /> +Clark, George T., quoted, <a href='#page_266'>266–67</a><br /> +<br /> +Clough, Miss A. J., <a href='#page_329'>329</a><br /> +<br /> +Clough, Arthur Hugh, <a href='#page_338'>338</a><br /> +<br /> +Cobden, Mr., quoted, <a href='#page_429'>429–30</a><br /> +<br /> +Collins, Wilkie, <a href='#page_116'>116</a><br /> +<br /> +Copleston, Dr. (Bishop of Llandaff), <a href='#page_197'>197</a><br /> +<br /> +Creighton, Bishop, <a href='#page_289'>289</a>, <a href='#page_387'>387</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">Dalgairns, <a href='#page_251'>251</a><br /> +<br /> +Dante, <a href='#page_468'>468–69</a>, <a href='#page_471'>471</a><br /> +<br /> +Darwin, Charles, <a href='#page_457'>457</a>, <a href='#page_471'>471–72</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>De la Démocratie</i>, Schérer’s, cited, <a href='#Footnote_0039'>309 note</a><br /> +<br /> +Delane, Mr., <a href='#page_422'>422</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Democracy and the Organisation of Political Parties</i>,<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>Ostrogorski’s, cited, <a href='#Footnote_0039'>309 note</a><br /> +<br /> +Denison, Archdeacon, <a href='#page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#Footnote_0032'>271 note</a><br /> +<br /> +Derby, Lord, <a href='#page_10'>10</a>, <a href='#page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#page_47'>47</a>, <a href='#page_57'>57</a>, <a href='#page_198'>198</a>, <a href='#page_429'>429</a>, <a href='#page_470'>470</a><br /> +<br /> +Dickens, Charles, <a href='#page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#page_127'>127</a><br /> +<br /> +Disraeli. <i>See</i> <a href='#Index_Beaconsfield'>Beaconsfield</a><br /> +<br /> +Dissenters. <i>See</i> <a href='#Index_Nonconformists'>Nonconformists</a><br /> +<br /> +Döllinger, Dr. von, <a href='#page_383'>383</a>, <a href='#page_385'>385</a>, <a href='#page_392'>392</a><br /> +<br /> +Dupanloup, Archbishop, <a href='#page_209'>209</a>, <a href='#page_385'>385</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">Eastern Question (1876), <a href='#page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#page_275'>275–276</a>, <a href='#page_300'>300</a>, <a href='#page_356'>356</a>, <a href='#page_419'>419</a><br /> +<br /> +Editors,<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>types of, <a href='#page_363'>363–64</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>temptations of, <a href='#page_370'>370</a>, <a href='#page_380'>380–81</a><br /> +<br /> +Eliot, George, <a href='#page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#page_328'>328</a><br /> +<br /> +Equity Courts, <a href='#page_170'>170</a>, <a href='#page_173'>173</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Essays and Reviews</i>, <a href='#page_113'>113</a>, <a href='#page_317'>317</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Essays on Reform</i>, cited, <a href='#page_307'>307</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0036'>note</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Evening Post, The</i>, <a href='#page_365'>365</a>, <a href='#page_374'>374–76</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">Forster, W. E., <a href='#page_234'>234</a>, <a href='#page_239'>239</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0030'>note</a><br /> +<br /> +Fox, Charles James, <a href='#page_428'>428–29</a>, <a href='#page_435'>435</a><br /> +<br /> +France, novelists of, <a href='#page_129'>129</a><br /> +<br /> +Franchise extension. <i>See</i> <a href='#Index_Suffrage'>Suffrage</a><br /> +<br /> +Fraser, James, Bishop of Manchester—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>biographies of, <a href='#Footnote_0025'>196 note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_196'>196</a>, <a href='#page_200'>200–201</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>characteristics of, <a href='#page_204'>204–205</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>energy of, <a href='#page_202'>202</a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_483' name='page_483'></a>483</span><br /> +Fraser, James, Bishop of Manchester—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>influence of, <a href='#page_206'>206</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>new Episcopal type created by, <a href='#page_196'>196</a>, <a href='#page_210'>210</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>personality of, <a href='#page_203'>203–204</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>popularity of, <a href='#page_202'>202</a>, <a href='#page_206'>206</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>ritualist illegalities, attitude towards, <a href='#page_208'>208</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>science, attitude towards, <a href='#page_207'>207</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>views of, <a href='#page_206'>206–207</a><br /> +<br /> +Freeman, Edward Augustus—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>biography of, <a href='#Footnote_37'>262 note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_262'>262–63</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>friendships of, <a href='#page_290'>290</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Green influenced by, <a href='#page_137'>137</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>historical work,<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>merits of, <a href='#page_276'>276–84</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>style of, <a href='#page_286'>286–87</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>humour of, <a href='#page_287'>287</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>interests of, <a href='#page_264'>264–67</a>, <a href='#page_271'>271–72</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>kindliness of, <a href='#page_278'>278</a>, <a href='#page_291'>291</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>literary preferences of, <a href='#page_269'>269–70</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>methodical ways of, <a href='#page_285'>285</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>military history, fondness for, <a href='#page_357'>357</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Oxford work of, <a href='#page_287'>287–89</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>political views of, <a href='#page_272'>272–75</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>simplicity and directness of, <a href='#page_270'>270–71</a>, <a href='#page_275'>275</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Trollope and, <a href='#page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#page_271'>271</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0032'>note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>works of, <a href='#page_267'>267</a>, <a href='#page_284'>284–86</a>, <a href='#page_291'>291–92</a><br /> +<br /> +Froude, J. A., <a href='#Footnote_0032'>271 note</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">Gardiner, S. R., <a href='#page_357'>357</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>quoted, <a href='#page_274'>274</a><br /> +<br /> +Gibbon, <a href='#page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#page_169'>169</a>, <a href='#page_281'>281</a>, <a href='#page_284'>284</a><br /> +<br /> +Gladstone, William Ewart—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Acton, Lord, relations with, <a href='#page_383'>383</a>, <a href='#page_399'>399</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span><i>Alabama</i> claims, action regarding, <a href='#page_444'>444</a>, <a href='#page_446'>446</a>, <a href='#page_449'>449</a>, <a href='#page_451'>451</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>American Civil War, attitude towards, <a href='#page_57'>57</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_412'>412</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>characteristics of—<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>breadth and keenness of interests, <a href='#page_400'>400</a>, <a href='#page_413'>413</a>, <a href='#page_459'>459</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>caution, <a href='#page_409'>409</a>, <a href='#page_414'>414</a>, <a href='#page_419'>419</a>, <a href='#page_447'>447</a>, <a href='#page_453'>453</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>complexity of nature, <a href='#page_400'>400</a>, <a href='#page_409'>409–410</a>, <a href='#page_412'>412</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>conservatism, <a href='#page_401'>401</a>, <a href='#page_439'>439</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>constructive power, <a href='#page_439'>439–41</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>conversational powers, <a href='#page_461'>461</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>courage, <a href='#page_447'>447</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0059'>note</a>, <a href='#Footnote_0061'>451 note</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>courtesy, <a href='#page_423'>423</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0055'>note</a>, <a href='#page_455'>455–456</a>, <a href='#page_461'>461</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>dignity, <a href='#page_457'>457</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>emotional excitability, <a href='#page_405'>405</a>, <a href='#page_410'>410–411</a>, <a href='#page_433'>433–34</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>humour, <a href='#page_460'>460</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>impulsiveness, <a href='#page_401'>401</a>, <a href='#page_405'>405</a>, <a href='#page_421'>421</a>, <a href='#page_447'>447</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>independence, <a href='#page_418'>418–19</a>, <a href='#page_450'>450</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>ingenuity, <a href='#page_404'>404</a>, <a href='#page_416'>416–17</a>, <a href='#page_430'>430–31</a>, <a href='#page_466'>466</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>insight into character, <a href='#page_453'>453</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>intensity, <a href='#page_402'>402</a>, <a href='#page_405'>405</a>, <a href='#page_426'>426</a>, <a href='#page_435'>435</a>, <a href='#page_450'>450</a>, <a href='#page_453'>453</a>, <a href='#page_460'>460</a>, <a href='#page_462'>462</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>loyalty, <a href='#page_455'>455</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>magnanimity, <a href='#page_457'>457</a>, <a href='#page_477'>477</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>memory, <a href='#page_404'>404</a>, <a href='#page_424'>424</a>, <a href='#page_459'>459</a><br /> +<span class='indent6'> </span>for faces, <a href='#page_423'>423</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>open-mindedness, <a href='#page_416'>416</a>, <a href='#page_452'>452</a>, <a href='#page_454'>454</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>oratory, <a href='#page_411'>411</a>, <a href='#page_426'>426–39</a>, <a href='#page_463'>463</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>over-subtlety, <a href='#page_407'>407</a>, <a href='#page_432'>432</a>, <a href='#page_448'>448</a>, <a href='#page_452'>452</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>patriotism, <a href='#page_450'>450–51</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>pride, <a href='#page_416'>416</a>, <a href='#page_420'>420</a>, <a href='#page_423'>423</a>, <a href='#page_452'>452</a>, <a href='#page_455'>455</a>, <a href='#page_474'>474</a>, <a href='#page_477'>477</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>religious disposition, <a href='#page_472'>472–75</a><br /> +<span class='indent6'> </span>views, <a href='#page_401'>401</a>, <a href='#page_406'>406–407</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>reserve:<br /> +<span class='indent6'> </span>political, <a href='#page_409'>409</a>, <a href='#page_414'>414–15</a>, <a href='#page_419'>419</a>, <a href='#page_452'>452</a><br /> +<span class='indent6'> </span>personal, <a href='#page_424'>424</a>, <a href='#page_475'>475–476</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>Scottish temperament, <a href='#page_403'>403–405</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>self-confidence, <a href='#page_224'>224</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>simplicity, <a href='#page_453'>453</a>, <a href='#page_458'>458</a>, <a href='#page_461'>461</a>, <a href='#page_475'>475</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>sincerity, <a href='#page_401'>401</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>temper, <a href='#page_455'>455–56</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>tranquillity, <a href='#page_462'>462</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>voice, <a href='#page_430'>430</a>, <a href='#page_436'>436–38</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Disraeli and, <a href='#page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#page_33'>33</a>, <a href='#page_35'>35</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>estimates of, <a href='#page_411'>411</a>, <a href='#page_417'>417</a>, <a href='#page_448'>448</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>continental, <a href='#page_444'>444</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>family of, <a href='#page_403'>403</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>foreign affairs, attitude towards, <a href='#page_443'>443–46</a>, <a href='#page_458'>458</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Freeman’s appointment by, <a href='#page_263'>263</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>High Church appointments of, <a href='#page_198'>198</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>home life of, <a href='#page_462'>462</a>, <a href='#page_474'>474</a>, <a href='#page_477'>477</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Home Rule Bill of (1886), <a href='#page_272'>272</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Homeric studies and views of, <a href='#page_401'>401</a>, <a href='#page_465'>465–68</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>hostility to, <a href='#page_304'>304</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>literary activities of, <a href='#page_401'>401</a>, <a href='#page_458'>458</a>, <a href='#page_462'>462–68</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Lowe compared with, <a href='#page_293'>293</a>, <a href='#page_299'>299</a>, <a href='#page_429'>429</a>, <a href='#page_435'>435</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>Lowe’s antagonism to, <a href='#page_295'>295</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>Lowe in Cabinet of, <a href='#page_299'>299</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>mistakes of, <a href='#page_449'>449</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Northcote and, <a href='#page_212'>212</a>, <a href='#page_216'>216</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Oxford training of, <a href='#page_406'>406–408</a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_484' name='page_484'></a>484</span><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>parliamentary abilities of, <a href='#page_420'>420–21</a>, <a href='#page_424'>424–26</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Parnell’s resentment against, <a href='#page_239'>239–240</a>, <a href='#page_247'>247</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Peel’s influence on, <a href='#page_10'>10</a>, <a href='#page_409'>409</a>, <a href='#page_452'>452</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>poetry, attitude towards, <a href='#page_471'>471</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>quoted, <a href='#page_56'>56</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Reform Bill of, <a href='#page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#page_442'>442</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>scholarship of, <a href='#page_468'>468</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>science, attitude towards, <a href='#page_407'>407–408</a>, <a href='#page_470'>470</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>suffrage qualifications, proposed reduction of, <a href='#Footnote_0037'>308 note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>theological views of, tinging political, <a href='#page_473'>473</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>otherwise mentioned, <a href='#page_67'>67</a>, <a href='#page_113'>113</a>, <a href='#page_179'>179</a>, <a href='#page_187'>187</a>, <a href='#page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#page_260'>260</a><br /> +<br /> +Godkin, Edwin Lawrence—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_365'>365–66</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>courage of, <a href='#page_370'>370–71</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>geniality of, <a href='#page_376'>376</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>humour of, <a href='#page_368'>368–73</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>independence of, <a href='#page_364'>364</a>, <a href='#page_369'>369</a>, <a href='#page_381'>381</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>influence of, <a href='#page_378'>378–80</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>sincerity of, <a href='#page_367'>367</a>, <a href='#page_373'>373</a>, <a href='#page_380'>380</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>style of, <a href='#page_367'>367–68</a>, <a href='#page_373'>373</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Tammany, attitude towards, <a href='#page_374'>374</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0049'>note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>views of, <a href='#page_366'>366–67</a>, <a href='#page_370'>370</a>, <a href='#page_374'>374–76</a><br /> +<br /> +Green, John Richard—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>biography of, <a href='#Footnote_22'>131 note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_131'>131–34</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>conversation of, <a href='#page_165'>165–66</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>eloquence of, <a href='#page_166'>166</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>gifts and qualities of, <a href='#page_146'>146</a>, <a href='#page_151'>151–52</a>, <a href='#page_154'>154</a>, <a href='#page_160'>160–62</a>, <a href='#page_164'>164–67</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>ill-health of, <a href='#page_138'>138</a>, <a href='#page_141'>141–46</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>interests of, <a href='#page_151'>151</a>, <a href='#page_154'>154–57</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>letters of, <a href='#Footnote_22'>131 note</a>, <a href='#page_152'>152–53</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>literary work of—<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span><i>Saturday Review</i> articles, <a href='#page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#page_135'>135–37</a>, <a href='#page_153'>153</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>historical, <a href='#page_138'>138–39</a>, <a href='#page_142'>142–45</a>, <a href='#page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#page_158'>158–60</a>, <a href='#page_163'>163–64</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>characteristics of, <a href='#page_139'>139–40</a>, <a href='#page_150'>150</a>, <a href='#page_152'>152–53</a>, <a href='#page_157'>157–65</a>, <a href='#page_167'>167–69</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>military history, fondness for, <a href='#page_357'>357</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>political activity of, <a href='#page_140'>140–41</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>views of, <a href='#page_134'>134</a><br /> +<br /> +Green, Prof. Thomas Hill—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_85'>85</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>characteristics of, <a href='#page_86'>86–91</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>civic activities of, <a href='#page_98'>98</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>influence of, <a href='#page_95'>95–97</a>, <a href='#page_99'>99</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>literary works of, <a href='#page_92'>92–94</a>, <a href='#page_98'>98</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>political keenness of, <a href='#page_95'>95</a>, <a href='#page_97'>97</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>views of, <a href='#page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#page_335'>335</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>otherwise mentioned, <a href='#page_265'>265</a>, <a href='#page_268'>268</a>, <a href='#page_278'>278</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">Hardy, Gathorne, <a href='#page_213'>213</a><br /> +<br /> +Hardy, Thomas, <a href='#page_116'>116</a><br /> +<br /> +Healy, T. M., <a href='#page_443'>443</a><br /> +<br /> +Henry VIII., <a href='#Footnote_0032'>271 note</a><br /> +<br /> +Herodotus, <a href='#page_149'>149–51</a><br /> +<br /> +Historians—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>qualifications of, <a href='#page_146'>146–48</a>, <a href='#page_156'>156</a>, <a href='#page_277'>277</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>two classes of, <a href='#page_149'>149</a><br /> +<br /> +History, Freeman’s view of, <a href='#page_268'>268</a>, <a href='#page_274'>274</a><br /> +<br /> +Hodgkin, Dr. Thomas, <a href='#page_357'>357</a><br /> +<br /> +Holker, Sir John, <a href='#Footnote_0062'>453 note</a><br /> +<br /> +<a name='Index_House_of_Commons' id='Index_House_of_Commons'></a>House of Commons—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>character of, <a href='#page_48'>48</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>erroneous sketches of, <a href='#page_121'>121</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>lawyers in, <a href='#page_172'>172</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>leadership of, <a href='#page_217'>217</a>, <a href='#page_424'>424</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>occasional detachment of, from popular sentiment, <a href='#page_51'>51</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>power of, declining, <a href='#page_308'>308–309</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>rhetoric unpopular with, <a href='#page_296'>296</a><br /> +<br /> +Huxley, <a href='#page_207'>207</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">Iddesleigh. <i>See</i> <a href='#Index_Northcote'>Northcote</a><br /> +<br /> +Ireland—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Anglo-Irish Protestants, <a href='#page_229'>229–30</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Church disestablishment in, <a href='#page_113'>113</a>, <a href='#page_187'>187</a>, <a href='#page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#page_407'>407</a>, <a href='#page_419'>419</a>, <a href='#page_442'>442</a>, <a href='#page_449'>449</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0060'>note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Disraeli’s attitude towards, <a href='#page_56'>56–57</a>, <a href='#page_67'>67</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Green, J. R., views of, regarding, <a href='#page_141'>141</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Home Rule, views regarding, of<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>Acton, <a href='#page_384'>384</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>Bowen, <a href='#page_356'>356</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>Bright, <a href='#Footnote_0063'>455 note</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>Freeman, <a href='#page_272'>272</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>Gladstone, <a href='#page_272'>272</a>, <a href='#page_414'>414</a>, <a href='#page_447'>447</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>Godkin, <a href='#page_375'>375</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Land Bill of 1881, <a href='#page_425'>425</a>, <a href='#page_442'>442–43</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">James, Henry, <a href='#page_129'>129</a><br /> +<br /> +Jessel, Sir George—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Cairns compared with, <a href='#page_180'>180</a>, <a href='#page_193'>193</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_171'>171</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>judicial methods of, <a href='#page_174'>174–75</a>, <a href='#page_179'>179–181</a>, <a href='#page_194'>194</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>mental powers of, <a href='#page_173'>173</a>, <a href='#page_181'>181–82</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>parliamentary manner of, <a href='#page_172'>172</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>quickness of, <a href='#page_173'>173</a>, <a href='#page_176'>176</a>, <a href='#page_183'>183</a>, <a href='#page_193'>193</a><br /> +<br /> +Jews—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>bigotry towards, <a href='#page_183'>183</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Cambridge scholar, anecdote of, <a href='#Footnote_0041'>319 note</a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_485' name='page_485'></a>485</span><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>concentration, power of, possessed by, <a href='#page_23'>23</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0004'>note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>conservatism of, <a href='#Footnote_0005'>25 note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>detachment of, <a href='#page_19'>19–20</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>distinctions gained by, <a href='#page_171'>171</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>practicality of, <a href='#page_182'>182</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>satirical powers of, <a href='#page_45'>45</a><br /> +<br /> +Jowett, <a href='#page_113'>113</a>, <a href='#page_150'>150</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">Kelvin, Lord, <a href='#page_184'>184</a><br /> +<br /> +Kipling, Rudyard, <a href='#page_129'>129</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">Lawrence, Lord, <a href='#page_184'>184</a><br /> +<br /> +Lightfoot, Bishop, <a href='#page_199'>199–200</a>, <a href='#page_209'>209</a>, <a href='#page_290'>290</a><br /> +<br /> +Louis Napoleon, <a href='#page_55'>55</a>, <a href='#page_64'>64</a>, <a href='#page_98'>98</a><br /> +<br /> +<a name='Index_Lowe_Robert' id='Index_Lowe_Robert'></a>Lowe, Robert—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>biography of, <a href='#Footnote_41'>293 note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Cairns compared with, <a href='#page_188'>188</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_293'>293–95</a>, <a href='#page_299'>299–300</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>characteristics of, <a href='#page_301'>301–304</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Disraeli and, <a href='#page_34'>34</a>, <a href='#page_302'>302</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>eclipse of fame of, <a href='#page_293'>293</a>, <a href='#page_300'>300</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>educational work of, <a href='#page_294'>294–95</a>, <a href='#page_304'>304–305</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Gladstone compared with, <a href='#page_293'>293</a>, <a href='#page_299'>299</a>, <a href='#page_429'>429</a>, <a href='#page_435'>435</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>antagonism to Gladstone, <a href='#page_295'>295</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>in Gladstone’s Cabinet, <a href='#page_299'>299</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Oxford, at, <a href='#Footnote_0035'>301 note <span class='super'>2</span></a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>rhetorical power of, <a href='#page_296'>296–97</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>shortsightedness of, <a href='#page_300'>300–301</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Utilitarianism of, <a href='#page_304'>304</a><br /> +<br /> +Lyndhurst, Lord, <a href='#page_29'>29</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">Macaulay, <a href='#page_139'>139</a>, <a href='#page_169'>169</a>, <a href='#page_270'>270</a>, <a href='#page_274'>274</a>, <a href='#page_281'>281</a>, <a href='#page_427'>427</a>, <a href='#page_428'>428</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0057'>note <span class='super'>2</span></a><br /> +<br /> +Macdonald, Sir John A., <a href='#page_422'>422</a><br /> +<br /> +Maclennan, John F., <a href='#page_320'>320</a><br /> +<br /> +Magee, Archbishop, <a href='#page_112'>112</a>, <a href='#page_199'>199</a>, <a href='#page_429'>429</a><br /> +<br /> +Manning, Cardinal Henry Edward—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>biography of, <a href='#page_260'>260–61</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_250'>250–51</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>characteristics of, <a href='#page_251'>251–54</a>, <a href='#page_261'>261</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>conversions effected by, <a href='#page_255'>255</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Infallibilist cause, work for, <a href='#page_256'>256</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>interests and sympathies of, <a href='#page_257'>257–61</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>speeches of, <a href='#page_255'>255</a><br /> +<br /> +Maurice, F. D., <a href='#page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#page_408'>408</a><br /> +<br /> +Mellish, Lord Justice, <a href='#page_176'>176–79</a><br /> +<br /> +Meredith, George, <a href='#page_116'>116</a>, <a href='#page_122'>122</a><br /> +<br /> +Mill, John Stuart, <a href='#page_61'>61</a>, <a href='#Footnote_0015'>78 note</a>, <a href='#page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#page_304'>304</a><br /> +<br /> +Monk, Bishop, <a href='#page_197'>197</a><br /> +<br /> +Mugwumps, <a href='#page_375'>375</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0050'>note</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">Napoleon Bonaparte, <a href='#page_238'>238</a><br /> +<br /> +Napoleon, Louis, <a href='#page_55'>55</a>, <a href='#page_64'>64</a>, <a href='#page_98'>98</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Nation, The</i>, <a href='#page_365'>365</a>, <a href='#page_368'>368</a>, <a href='#page_371'>371–73</a>, <a href='#page_378'>378</a><br /> +<br /> +Newman, Cardinal, <a href='#page_251'>251–52</a>, <a href='#Footnote_0056'>428 note <span class='super'>1</span></a>, <a href='#page_467'>467</a><br /> +<br /> +Newnham College, Cambridge, <a href='#page_329'>329–330</a><br /> +<br /> +<a name='Index_Nonconformists' id='Index_Nonconformists'></a>Nonconformists—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Disraeli’s dislike of, <a href='#page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#page_52'>52</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Education Act (1870) resented by, <a href='#page_15'>15</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Fraser’s attitude towards, <a href='#page_202'>202</a>, <a href='#page_206'>206–208</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0028'>note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Gladstone trusted by, <a href='#page_401'>401</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Green’s dislike of, <a href='#page_134'>134</a><br /> +<br /> +<a name='Index_Northcote' id='Index_Northcote'></a>Northcote, Sir Stafford (Lord Iddesleigh)—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>biography of, <a href='#Footnote_34'>211 note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_212'>212–13</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>characteristics of, <a href='#page_213'>213</a>, <a href='#page_222'>222–23</a>, <a href='#page_225'>225–26</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Gladstone compared with, <a href='#page_435'>435</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>parliamentary abilities of, <a href='#page_214'>214–16</a>, <a href='#page_218'>218</a><br /> +<br /> +Novels, types of, <a href='#page_122'>122</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">O’Connell, Daniel, <a href='#page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#page_248'>248</a><br /> +<br /> +Oliphant, Mrs., <a href='#page_116'>116</a><br /> +<br /> +Oratory—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>elevation in, <a href='#page_433'>433</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>reputation for, nature of, <a href='#page_427'>427</a><br /> +<br /> +Oxford—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Green, T. H., on municipal council of, <a href='#page_98'>98–99</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Thackeray’s candidature for, <a href='#page_120'>120</a><br /> +<br /> +Oxford University—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Tractarian movement in, <a href='#page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Footnote_0031'>264 note</a>, <a href='#page_406'>406</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>training at, characteristics of, <a href='#page_408'>408</a>, <a href='#page_467'>467</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em"><a name='Index_Palmer_Roundell' id='Index_Palmer_Roundell'></a>Palmer, Roundell (Lord Selborne), <a href='#page_176'>176</a>, <a href='#page_191'>191–92</a>, <a href='#page_294'>294</a><br /> +<br /> +Palmerston, Lord, <a href='#page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#page_49'>49</a>, <a href='#page_57'>57</a>, <a href='#page_98'>98</a>, <a href='#page_294'>294</a><br /> +<br /> +Parliament. <i>See</i> <a href='#Index_House_of_Commons'>House of Commons</a><br /> +<br /> +Parnell, Charles Stewart—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>biography of, <a href='#Footnote_0029'>227 note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_228'>228–29</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>family of, <a href='#page_227'>227</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>leadership, aptness for, <a href='#page_248'>248</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>moral courage of, <a href='#page_239'>239</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>parliamentary tactics of, <a href='#page_218'>218–19</a>, <a href='#page_244'>244</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>knowledge of procedure, <a href='#page_242'>242–43</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>passion and self-control of, <a href='#page_240'>240</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Phœnix Park murders, demeanour after, <a href='#page_236'>236</a>, <a href='#page_238'>238</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Pigott affair, attitude towards, <a href='#page_239'>239</a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_486' name='page_486'></a>486</span><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>practicality of, <a href='#page_230'>230–33</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>pride of, <a href='#page_233'>233</a>, <a href='#page_235'>235–38</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>self-confidence of, <a href='#page_224'>224</a>, <a href='#page_236'>236</a>, <a href='#page_238'>238</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>speeches of, <a href='#page_241'>241–42</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>unscrupulousness of, <a href='#page_237'>237–38</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>unsympathetic manner of, <a href='#page_190'>190</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>views of, <a href='#page_245'>245–46</a><br /> +<br /> +Peel, Sir Robert—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>caution of, <a href='#page_408'>408–409</a>, <a href='#page_452'>452</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>death of, <a href='#page_10'>10</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Disraeli’s conduct towards, <a href='#page_28'>28</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0006'>note</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>his view of, <a href='#page_55'>55</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>financial policy of, <a href='#page_441'>441–42</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Gladstone compared with, <a href='#page_411'>411</a>, <a href='#page_439'>439</a>, <a href='#page_455'>455</a>, <a href='#page_475'>475</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>separation of, from Conservatives, <a href='#page_9'>9</a>, <a href='#page_61'>61</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>speeches of, <a href='#page_428'>428</a><br /> +<br /> +Pitt, William, <a href='#page_429'>429</a>, <a href='#page_435'>435</a>, <a href='#page_439'>439</a>, <a href='#page_442'>442</a>, <a href='#page_476'>476</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Popular Government</i>, Sir H. Maine’s, cited, <a href='#Footnote_0039'>309 note</a><br /> +<br /> +Psychical Research Society, <a href='#page_331'>331–32</a><br /> +<br /> +Pusey, Dr., cited, <a href='#page_80'>80</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">Rhodes, Cecil, <a href='#page_246'>246</a><br /> +<br /> +Rolt, Lord Justice, <a href='#page_191'>191–92</a><br /> +<br /> +Roman Catholic Church. <i>See under</i> <a href='#Index_Church'>Church</a><br /> +<br /> +Russell, Lord, <a href='#page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#page_57'>57</a>, <a href='#page_295'>295</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">Salisbury, Lord, <a href='#page_186'>186</a>, <a href='#page_247'>247</a>, <a href='#page_295'>295</a>, <a href='#page_456'>456</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Saturday Review</i>—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Bowen’s contributions to, <a href='#page_360'>360</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Freeman’s contributions to, <a href='#page_285'>285</a><br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>dissociation from, <a href='#page_275'>275</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Green’s contributions to, <a href='#page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#page_135'>135–137</a>, <a href='#page_153'>153</a><br /> +<br /> +Schoolmasters, types of, <a href='#page_343'>343</a>, <a href='#page_346'>346</a><br /> +<br /> +Schools Inquiry Commission, <a href='#page_200'>200–201</a><br /> +<br /> +Scott, Sir Walter, <a href='#page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#page_125'>125</a><br /> +<br /> +Scottish temperament and characteristics, <a href='#page_315'>315</a>, <a href='#page_403'>403–405</a><br /> +<br /> +Selborne, Lord. <i>See</i> <a href='#Index_Palmer_Roundell'>Palmer, Roundell</a><br /> +<br /> +Sherbrooke, Viscount. <i>See</i> <a href='#Index_Lowe_Robert'>Lowe, Robert</a><br /> +<br /> +Sidgwick, Henry—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_327'>327–29</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>characteristics of, <a href='#page_338'>338–42</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>impartiality of, <a href='#page_334'>334</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>literary preferences of, <a href='#page_338'>338</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>psychical research, interest in, <a href='#page_331'>331–332</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>views of, philosophical and political, <a href='#page_335'>335–37</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>women’s education promoted by, <a href='#page_329'>329</a><br /> +<br /> +Sidgwick, Henry—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>works of, <a href='#page_332'>332–34</a>, <a href='#page_338'>338</a><br /> +<br /> +Skene, Mr., cited, <a href='#page_158'>158</a><br /> +<br /> +Smith, Professor Goldwin, <a href='#page_76'>76</a>, <a href='#page_281'>281</a><br /> +<br /> +Smith, R. Bosworth, quoted, <a href='#page_349'>349–50</a><br /> +<br /> +Smith, Prof. Robertson—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Acton, Lord, and, <a href='#page_387'>387</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_311'>311–12</a>, <a href='#page_315'>315</a>, <a href='#page_318'>318–320</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>characteristics of, <a href='#page_323'>323–25</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>ecclesiastical trial of, <a href='#page_313'>313–16</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span><i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i>, work on, <a href='#page_312'>312–14</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>versatility of, <a href='#page_322'>322</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>works of, <a href='#page_320'>320–21</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>characteristics of, <a href='#page_321'>321</a><br /> +<br /> +Stanley, Very Rev. Arthur Penrhyn—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_70'>70</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>characteristics of, <a href='#page_71'>71</a>, <a href='#page_73'>73</a>, <a href='#page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#page_82'>82–84</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>debating power of, <a href='#page_77'>77</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Disraeli and, <a href='#page_81'>81</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>family of, <a href='#page_69'>69–70</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Green influenced by, <a href='#page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#page_137'>137</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>literary work of, <a href='#page_71'>71–74</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>politics of, <a href='#page_78'>78</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>sermons of, <a href='#page_76'>76–77</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>theological position of, <a href='#page_80'>80–81</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Tait, attitude towards, <a href='#page_113'>113</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>otherwise mentioned, <a href='#page_164'>164–65</a>, <a href='#page_205'>205–206</a><br /> +<br /> +Statesmanship, necessary qualifications for, <a href='#page_46'>46</a><br /> +<br /> +Stevenson, R. L., <a href='#page_129'>129</a><br /> +<br /> +Stubbs, Bishop, <a href='#page_138'>138</a>, <a href='#page_160'>160</a>, <a href='#page_289'>289–90</a>, <a href='#Footnote_0062'>453 note</a><br /> +<br /> +<a name='Index_Suffrage' id='Index_Suffrage'></a>Suffrage extension—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Disraeli’s view of, <a href='#page_52'>52</a>, <a href='#page_57'>57–58</a>, <a href='#page_67'>67–68</a>, <a href='#page_310'>310</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Lowe’s opposition to, <a href='#page_295'>295–98</a>, <a href='#page_305'>305–306</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>results of, <a href='#page_306'>306–309</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">Tait, Archibald Campbell, Archbishop of Canterbury—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>biography of, cited, <a href='#Footnote_19'>100 note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>career of, <a href='#page_107'>107</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>characteristics of, <a href='#page_108'>108–12</a>, <a href='#page_209'>209</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Green appointed librarian by, <a href='#page_133'>133–134</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>influence of, <a href='#page_110'>110–12</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Irish Church Disestablishment Bill, attitude towards, <a href='#page_187'>187</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>policy of, <a href='#page_112'>112</a>, <a href='#page_114'>114</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>views of, <a href='#page_110'>110</a><br /> +<br /> +Temple, Archbishop, <a href='#page_113'>113</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0017'>note</a>, <a href='#page_199'>199</a><br /> +<br /> +Tennyson, <a href='#page_39'>39</a>, <a href='#page_459'>459</a><br /> +<br /> +Thackeray, W. M., <a href='#page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#page_123'>123–25</a><br /> + +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_487' name='page_487'></a>487</span><br /> +Thirlwall, Bishop, <a href='#page_112'>112</a><br /> +<br /> +Thucydides, <a href='#page_149'>149–50</a><br /> +<br /> +Tone, Wolfe, <a href='#page_229'>229</a>, <a href='#page_248'>248</a><br /> +<br /> +Tory party—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>nature of, <a href='#page_218'>218</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>(1848-1865), <a href='#page_60'>60–62</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>suffrage extension profitable to, <a href='#page_52'>52</a>, <a href='#page_57'>57–58</a>, <a href='#page_67'>67</a>, <a href='#page_310'>310</a><br /> +<br /> +Tractarian movement, <a href='#page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Footnote_0031'>264 note</a>, <a href='#page_406'>406</a><br /> +<br /> +Trollope, Anthony—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>biographies of, cited, <a href='#Footnote_21'>116 note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Freeman and, <a href='#page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#page_271'>271</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0032'>note</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>literary position of, <a href='#page_116'>116–18</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>personality of, <a href='#page_118'>118</a>, <a href='#page_126'>126</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>political activity of, <a href='#page_120'>120</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>travels of, <a href='#page_121'>121–22</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>works of, <a href='#page_117'>117–20</a>, <a href='#page_128'>128</a>;<br /> +<span class='indent4'> </span>characteristics of, <a href='#page_122'>122–30</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em"><a name='Index_United_States' id='Index_United_States'></a>United States—<br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Acton’s knowledge of history of, <a href='#page_387'>387</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Freeman’s visit to, <a href='#page_268'>268</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>journalism in, <a href='#page_379'>379</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Presbyterianism in, <a href='#page_317'>317</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>religion and politics dissociated in, <a href='#page_100'>100</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>Trollope’s account of, <a href='#page_122'>122</a><br /> +<span class='indent2'> </span>University influence in, <a href='#page_378'>378</a></p> +<p class='padtop lalign' style="margin-left:0.5em">Westbury, Lord, <a href='#page_303'>303</a><br /> +<br /> +Whiggism, <a href='#page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#page_63'>63</a>, <a href='#page_298'>298</a>, <a href='#page_469'>469</a><br /> +<br /> +Wilberforce, Bishop Samuel, <a href='#page_111'>111–12</a>, <a href='#page_198'>198</a>, <a href='#page_254'>254</a>, <a href='#page_429'>429</a><br /> +<br /> +Women, education of, <a href='#page_329'>329–31</a><br /> +<br /> +Wordsworth, <a href='#page_301'>301</a><br /> +<br /> +Wright, William, <a href='#page_319'>319</a> and <a href='#Footnote_0041'>note</a>, <a href='#page_320'>320</a></p> +</div> +<p class='center' style='margin:4em auto;'>THE END</p> +<p class='center' style='margin:auto 4em'><i>Printed by</i> <span class='smcap'>R. & R. Clark, Limited</span>, <i>Edinburgh</i>.</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div class="trnote"> +<p><b>Transcriber’s Note:</b></p> +<p style='margin-left:1.0em'>The authors’ archaic and variable spelling and hyphenation are preserved.</p> +<p style='margin-left:1.0em'>The authors’ punctuation styles are preserved.</p> +<p style='margin-left:1.0em'>Footnotes have been collected and placed at the end of this HTML version.</p> +<p style='margin-left:1.0em'>Any missing page numbers in this HTML version refer to blank or un-numbered pages in the original.</p> +<p style='margin-left:1.0em'>Typographical errors were corrected, and these are +<ins class="trchange" title="Was 'hgihligthed'">highlighted</ins>.</p> +<p style='margin-left:1.0em'>Passages in Greek show transliterations with mouse-hover popups, e.g., <span class='greek' title='gnômai'>γνῶμαι</span></p> +<p><b>Transcriber’s Changes:</b></p> +<p style='margin-left:1.0em'><a href='#TC_1'>Page 218</a>: Was ’opportunies’ (in granting or refusing <b>opportunities</b> for discussing topics he would prefer to have not discussed at all.)</p> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDIES IN CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 31677-h.txt or 31677-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/6/7/31677">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/6/7/31677</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/31677-h/images/i002.png b/31677-h/images/i002.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7c0892f --- /dev/null +++ b/31677-h/images/i002.png diff --git a/31677.txt b/31677.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..77d8f46 --- /dev/null +++ b/31677.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12044 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Studies in Contemporary Biography, by James +Bryce, Viscount Bryce + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Studies in Contemporary Biography + + +Author: James Bryce, Viscount Bryce + + + +Release Date: March 17, 2010 [eBook #31677] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDIES IN CONTEMPORARY +BIOGRAPHY*** + + +E-text prepared by David Clarke, Dan Horwood, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page +images generously made available by Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/toronto) + + + +Note: Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/Canadian Libaries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/r8548972200brycuoft + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). + + Text transcribed from Greek is enclosed by plus signs + (+Greek transliteration+). + + + + + +STUDIES IN CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY + +by + +JAMES BRYCE + +Author of +'The Holy Roman Empire,' 'The American Commonwealth', etc. + + + + + + + +London +Macmillan and Co., Limited +New York: The Macmillan Company +1903 + +All rights reserved + +Copyright in the United States of America 1903 + + + + + To + + CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT + President of Harvard University + + IN COMMEMORATION OF A LONG AND VALUED FRIENDSHIP + + + + +PREFACE + + +The first and the last of these Studies relate to persons whose fame +has gone out into all lands, and about whom so much remains to be said +that one who has reflected on their careers need not offer an apology +for saying something. Of the other eighteen sketches, some deal with +eminent men whose names are still familiar, but whose personalities +have begun to fade from the minds of the present generation. The rest +treat of persons who came less before the public, but whose brilliant +gifts and solid services to the world make them equally deserve to be +remembered with honour. Having been privileged to enjoy their +friendship, I have felt it a duty to do what a friend can to present a +faithful record of their excellence which may help to keep their +memory fresh and green. + +These Studies are, however, not to be regarded as biographies, even +in miniature. My aim has rather been to analyse the character and +powers of each of the persons described, and, as far as possible, to +convey the impression which each made in the daily converse of life. +All of them, except Lord Beaconsfield, were personally, and most of +them intimately, known to me. + +In the six Studies which treat of politicians I have sought to set +aside political predilections, and have refrained from expressing +political opinions, though it has now and then been necessary to point +out instances in which the subsequent course of events has shown the +action of Lord Beaconsfield, Mr. Lowe, and Mr. Gladstone to have been +right or wrong (as the case may be) in the action they respectively +took. + +The sketches of T. H. Green, E. A. Freeman, and J. R. Green were +originally written for English magazines, and most of the other +Studies have been published in the United States. All of those that +had already appeared in print have been enlarged and revised, some +indeed virtually rewritten. I have to thank the proprietors of the +_English Historical Review_, the _Contemporary Review_, and the _New +York Nation_, as also the Century Company of New York, for their +permission to use so much of the matter of the volume as had appeared +(in its original form) in the organs belonging to them respectively. + +_March 6, 1903._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + Page + I. Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield 1804-1881 1 + II. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Dean of + Westminster 1815-1881 69 + III. Thomas Hill Green 1836-1882 85 + IV. Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of + Canterbury 1811-1882 100 + V. Anthony Trollope 1815-1882 116 + VI. John Richard Green 1837-1883 131 + VII. Sir George Jessel 1824-1883 170 + VIII. Hugh M'Calmont Cairns, Earl + Cairns 1819-1885 184 + IX. James Fraser, Bishop of Manchester 1818-1885 196 + X. Stafford Henry Northcote, Earl of + Iddesleigh 1818-1887 211 + XI. Charles Stewart Parnell 1846-1891 227 + XII. Henry Edward Manning, Archbishop and + Cardinal 1808-1892 250 + XIII. Edward Augustus Freeman 1823-1892 262 + XIV. Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke 1811-1892 293 + XV. William Robertson Smith 1846-1894 311 + XVI. Henry Sidgwick 1838-1900 327 + XVII. Edward Ernest Bowen 1836-1901 343 + XVIII. Edwin Lawrence Godkin 1831-1902 363 + XIX. John Emerich Dalberg-Acton, Lord Acton 1834-1902 382 + XX. William Ewart Gladstone 1809-1898 400 + + + + +BENJAMIN DISRAELI, EARL OF BEACONSFIELD[1] + + +When Lord Beaconsfield died in 1881 we all wondered what people would +think of him fifty years thereafter. Divided as our own judgments +were, we asked whether he would still seem a problem. Would opposite +views regarding his aims, his ideas, the sources of his power, still +divide the learned, and perplex the ordinary reader? Would men +complain that history cannot be good for much when, with the abundant +materials at her disposal, she had not framed a consistent theory of +one who played so great a part in so ample a theatre? People called +him a riddle; and he certainly affected a sphinx-like attitude. Would +the riddle be easier then than it was for us, from among whom the man +had even now departed? + +When he died, there were many in England who revered him as a profound +thinker and a lofty character, animated by sincere patriotism. +Others, probably as numerous, held him for no better than a cynical +charlatan, bent through life on his own advancement, who permitted no +sense of public duty, and very little human compassion, to stand in +the way of his insatiate ambition. The rest did not know what to +think. They felt in him the presence of power; they felt also +something repellent. They could not understand how a man who seemed +hard and unscrupulous could win so much attachment and command so much +obedience. + +Since Disraeli departed nearly one-half of those fifty years has +passed away. Few are living who can claim to have been his personal +friends, none who were personal enemies. No living statesman professes +to be his political disciple. The time has come when one may discuss +his character and estimate his career without being suspected of doing +so with a party bias or from a party motive. Doubtless those who +condemn and those who defend or excuse some momentous parts of his +conduct, such as, for instance, his policy in the East and in +Afghanistan from 1876 to 1879, will differ in their judgment of his +wisdom and foresight. If this be a difficulty, it is an unavoidable +one, and may never quite disappear. There were in the days of Augustus +some who blamed that sagacious ruler for seeking to check the +expansion of the Roman Empire. There were in the days of King Henry +the Second some who censured and others who praised him for issuing +the Constitutions of Clarendon. Both questions still remain open to +argument; and the conclusion any one forms must affect in some measure +his judgment of each monarch's statesmanship. So differences of +opinion about particular parts of Disraeli's long career need not +prevent us from dispassionately inquiring what were the causes that +enabled him to attain so striking a success, and what is the place +which posterity is likely to assign to him among the rulers of +England. + +First, a few words about the salient events of his life, not by way of +writing a biography, but to explain what follows. + +He was born in London, in 1804. His father, Isaac Disraeli, was a +literary man of cultivated taste and independent means, who wrote a +good many books, the best known of which is his _Curiosities of +Literature_, a rambling work, full of entertaining matter. He belonged +to that division of the Jewish race which is called the Sephardim, and +traces itself to Spain and Portugal;[2] but he had ceased to frequent +the synagogue--had, in fact, broken with his co-religionists. Isaac +had access to good society, so that the boy saw eminent and polished +men from his early years, and, before he had reached manhood, began +to make his way in drawing-rooms where he met the wittiest and +best-known people of the day. He was articled to a firm of attorneys +in London in 1821, but after two or three years quitted a sphere for +which his peculiar gifts were ill suited.[3] Samuel Rogers, the poet, +took a fancy to him, and had him baptized at the age of thirteen. As +he grew up, he was often to be seen with Count d'Orsay and Lady +Blessington, well-known figures who fluttered on the confines of +fashion and Bohemia. It is worth remarking that he never went either +to a public school or to a university. In England it has become the +fashion to assume that nearly all the persons who have shone in public +life have been educated in one of the great public schools, and that +they owe to its training their power of dealing with men and +assemblies. Such a superstition is sufficiently refuted by the +examples of men like Pitt, Macaulay, Bishop Wilberforce, Disraeli, +Cobden, Bright, and Cecil Rhodes, not to add instances drawn from +Ireland and Scotland, where till very recently there have been no +public schools in the current English sense. + +Disraeli first appeared before the public in 1826, when he published +_Vivian Grey_, an amazing book to be the production of a youth of +twenty-two. Other novels--_The Young Duke_, _Venetia_, _Contarini +Fleming_, _Henrietta Temple_--maintained without greatly increasing +his reputation between 1831 and 1837. Then came two political stories, +_Coningsby_ and _Sybil_, in 1844 and 1845, followed by _Tancred_ in +1847, and the _Life of Lord George Bentinck_ in 1852; with a long +interval of silence, till, in 1870, he produced _Lothair_, in 1880 +_Endymion_. Besides these he published in 1839 the tragedy of +_Alarcos_, and in 1835 the more ambitious _Revolutionary Epick_, +neither of which had much success. In 1828-31 he took a journey +through the East, visiting Constantinople, Syria, and Egypt, and it +was then, no doubt, in lands peculiarly interesting to a man of his +race, that he conceived those ideas about the East and its mysterious +influences which figure largely in some of his stories, notably in +_Tancred_, and which in 1878 had no small share in shaping his policy +and that of England. Meanwhile, he had not forgotten the political +aspirations which we see in _Vivian Grey_. In 1832, just before the +passing of the Reform Bill, he appeared as candidate for the petty +borough of High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, and was defeated by a +majority of twenty-three to twelve, so few were the voters in many +boroughs of those days. After the Bill had enlarged the constituency, +he tried his luck twice again, in 1833 and 1835, both times +unsuccessfully, and came before two other boroughs also, Taunton and +Marylebone, though in the latter case no contest took place. Such +activity in a youth with little backing from friends and comparatively +slender means marked him already as a man of spirit and ambition. His +next attempt was more lucky. At the general election of 1837 he was +returned for Maidstone. + +His political professions during this period have been keenly +canvassed; nor is it easy to form a fair judgment on them. In 1832 he +had sought and obtained recommendations from Joseph Hume and Daniel +O'Connell, and people had therefore set him down as a Radical. +Although, however, his professions of political faith included dogmas +which, like triennial parliaments, the ballot, and the imposition of a +new land-tax, were part of the so-called "Radical" platform, still +there was a vague and fanciful note in his utterances, and an +aversion to the conventional Whig way of putting things, which showed +that he was not a thorough-going adherent of any of the then existing +political parties, but was trying to strike out a new line and +attract men by the promise of something fresher and bolder than the +recognised schools offered. In 1834 his hostility to Whiggism was +becoming more pronounced, and a tenderness for some Tory doctrines +more discernible. Finally, in 1835, he appeared as an avowed Tory, +accepting the regular creed of the party, and declaring himself a +follower of Sir Robert Peel, but still putting forward a number of +views peculiar to himself, which he thereafter developed not only +in his speeches but in his novels. _Coningsby_ and _Sybil_ were +meant to be a kind of manifesto of the "Young England" party--a party +which can hardly be said to have existed outside his own mind, though +a small knot of aristocratic youths who caught up and repeated his +phrases seemed to form a nucleus for it. + +The fair conclusion from his deliverances during these early years is +that he was at first much more of a Liberal than a Tory, yet with +ideas distinctively his own which made him appear in a manner +independent of both parties. The old party lines might seem to have +been almost effaced by the struggle over the Reform Bill; and it was +natural for a bold and inventive mind to imagine a new departure, and +put forward a programme in which a sort of Radicalism was mingled with +doctrines of a different type. But when it became clear after a time +that the old political divisions still subsisted, and that such a +distinctive position as he had conceived could not be maintained, he +then, having to choose between one or other of the two recognised +parties, chose the Tories, dropping some tenets he had previously +advocated which were inconsistent with their creed, but retaining +much of his peculiar way of looking at political questions. How far +the change which passed over him was a natural development, how far +due to mere calculations of interest, there is little use discussing: +perhaps he did not quite know himself. Looking back, we of to-day +might be inclined to think that he received more blame for it than he +deserved, but contemporary observers generally set it down to a want +of principle. In one thing, however, he was consistent then, and +remained consistent ever after--his hearty hatred of the Whigs. There +was something in the dryness and coldness of the great Whig families, +their stiff constitutionalism, their belief in political economy, +perhaps also their occasional toyings with the Nonconformists (always +an object of dislike to Disraeli), which roused all the antagonisms of +his nature, personal and Oriental. + +When he entered the House of Commons he was already well known to +fashionable London, partly by his striking face and his powers of +conversation, partly by the eccentricities of his dress--he loved +bright-coloured waistcoats, and decked himself with rings,--partly by +his novels, whose satirical pungency had made a noise in society. He +had also become, owing to his apparent change of front, the object of +angry criticism. A quarrel with Daniel O'Connell, in the course of +which he challenged the great Irishman to fight a duel, each party +having described the other with a freedom of language bordering on +scurrility, made him, for a time, the talk of the political world. +Thus there was more curiosity evoked by his first speech than usually +awaits a new member. It was unsuccessful, not from want of ability, +but because its tone did not suit the temper of the House of Commons, +and because a hostile section of the audience sought to disconcert him +by their laughter. Undeterred by this ridicule, he continued to speak, +though in a less ambitious and less artificial vein, till after a few +years he had become one of the most conspicuous unofficial members. At +first no one had eulogised Peel more warmly, but after a time he edged +away from the minister, whether repelled by his coldness, which showed +that in that quarter no promotion was to be expected, or shrewdly +perceiving that Peel was taking a line which would ultimately separate +him from the bulk of the Conservative party. This happened in 1846, +when Peel, convinced that the import duties on corn were economically +unsound, proposed their abolition. Disraeli, who, since 1843, had +taken repeated opportunities of firing stray shots at the powerful +Prime Minister, now bore a foremost part not only in attacking him, +but in organising the Protectionist party, and prompting its leader, +Lord George Bentinck. In embracing free trade, Peel carried with him +his own personal friends and disciples, men like Gladstone, Sidney +Herbert, Lord Lincoln, Sir James Graham, Cardwell, and a good many +others, the intellectual _elite_ of the Tory party. The more numerous +section who clung to Protection had numbers, wealth, respectability, +cohesion, but brains and tongues were scarce. An adroit tactician and +incisive speaker was of priceless value to them. Such a man they found +in Disraeli, while he gained, sooner than he had expected, an +opportunity of playing a leading part in the eyes of Parliament and +the country. In the end of 1848, Lord George Bentinck, who, though a +man of natural force and capable of industry when he pleased, had been +to some extent Disraeli's mouthpiece, died, leaving his prompter +indisputably the keenest intellect in the Tory-Protectionist party. In +1850, Peel, who might possibly have in time brought the bulk of that +party back to its allegiance to him, was killed by a fall from his +horse. The Peelites drifted more and more towards Liberalism, so that +when Lord Derby, who, in 1851, had been commissioned as head of the +Tory party to form a ministry, invited them to join him, they refused +to do so, imagining him to be still in favour of the corn duties, and +resenting the behaviour of the Protectionist section to their own +master. Being thus unable to find one of them to lead his followers in +the House of Commons, Lord Derby turned in 1852 to Disraeli, giving +him, with the leadership, the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer. +The appointment was thought a strange one, because Disraeli brought to +it absolutely no knowledge of finance and no official experience. He +had never been so much as an Under-Secretary. The Tories themselves +murmured that one whom they regarded as an adventurer should be raised +to so high a place. After a few months Lord Derby's ministry fell, +defeated on the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget, which had been +vehemently attacked by Mr. Gladstone. This was the beginning of that +protracted duel between him and Mr. Disraeli which lasted down till +the end of the latter's life. + +For the following fourteen years Disraeli's occupation was that of a +leader of Opposition, varied by one brief interval of office in +1858-59. His party was in a permanent minority, so that nothing was +left for its chief but to fight with skill, courage, and resolution a +series of losing battles. This he did with admirable tenacity of +purpose. Once or twice in every session he used to rally his forces +for a general engagement, and though always defeated, he never +suffered himself to be dispirited by defeat. During the rest of the +time he was keenly watchful, exposing all the mistakes in domestic +affairs of the successive Liberal Governments, and when complications +arose in foreign politics, always professing, and generally +manifesting, a patriotic desire not to embarrass the Executive, lest +national interests should suffer. Through all these years he had to +struggle, not only with a hostile majority in office, but also with +disaffection among his own followers. Many of the landed aristocracy +could not bring themselves to acquiesce in the leadership of a new +man, of foreign origin, whose career had been erratic, and whose ideas +they found it hard to assimilate. Ascribing their long exclusion from +power to his presence, they more than once conspired to dethrone him. +In 1861 these plots were thickest, and Disraeli was for a time left +almost alone. But as it happened, there never arose in the House of +Commons any one on the Conservative side possessing gifts of speech +and of strategy comparable to those which in him had been matured and +polished by long experience, while he had the address to acquire an +ascendency over the mind of Lord Derby, still the titular head of the +party, who, being a man of straightforward character, high social +position, and brilliant oratorical talent, was therewithal somewhat +lazy and superficial, and therefore disposed to lean on his lieutenant +in the Lower House, and to borrow from him those astute schemes of +policy which Disraeli was fertile in devising. Thus, through Lord +Derby's support, and by his own imperturbable confidence, he +frustrated all the plots of the malcontent Tories. New men came up +who had not witnessed his earlier escapades, but knew him only as the +bold and skilful leader of their party in the House of Commons. He +made himself personally agreeable to them, encouraged them in their +first efforts, diffused his ideas among them, stimulated the local +organisation of the party, and held out hopes of great things to be +done when fortune should at last revisit the Tory banner. + +While Lord Palmerston lived, these exertions seemed to bear little +fruit. That minister had, in his later years, settled down into a sort +of practical Toryism, and both parties acquiesced in his rule. But, on +his death, the scene changed. Lord Russell and Mr. Gladstone brought +forward a Reform Bill strong enough to evoke the latent Conservative +feeling of a House of Commons which, though showing a nominally +Liberal majority, had been chosen under Palmerstonian auspices. The +defeat of the Bill, due to the defection of the more timorous Whigs, +was followed by the resignation of Lord Russell's Ministry. Lord Derby +and Mr. Disraeli came into power, and, next year, carried a Reform +Bill which, as it was finally shaped in its passage through the House, +really went further than Lord Russell's had done, enfranchising a much +larger number of the working classes in boroughs. To have carried this +Bill remains the greatest of Disraeli's triumphs. He had to push it +gently through a hostile House of Commons by wheedling a section of +the Liberal majority, against the appeals of their legitimate leader. +He had also to persuade his own followers to support a measure which +they had all their lives been condemning, and which was, or in their +view ought to have been, more dangerous to the Constitution than the +one which they and the recalcitrant Whigs had thrown out in the +preceding year. He had, as he happily and audaciously expressed it, to +educate his party into doing the very thing which they (though +certainly not he himself) had cordially and consistently denounced. + +The process was scarcely complete when the retirement of Lord Derby, +whose health had given way, opened Disraeli's path to the post of +first Minister of the Crown. He dissolved Parliament, expecting to +receive a majority from the gratitude of the working class whom his +Act had admitted to the suffrage. To his own surprise, and to the +boundless disgust of the Tories, a Liberal House of Commons was again +returned, which drove him and his friends once more into the cold +shade of Opposition. He was now sixty-four years of age, had suffered +an unexpected and mortifying discomfiture, and had no longer the great +name of Lord Derby to cover him. Disaffected voices were again heard +among his own party, while the Liberals, reinstalled in power, were +led by the rival whose unequalled popularity in the country made him +for the time omnipotent. Still Mr. Disraeli was not disheartened. He +fought the battle of apparently hopeless resistance with his old tact, +wariness, and tenacity, losing no occasion for any criticism that +could damage the measures--strong and large measures--which Mr. +Gladstone's Government brought forward. + +Before long the tide turned. The Dissenters resented the Education Act +of 1870. A reaction in favour of Conservatism set in, which grew so +fast that, in 1874, the general election gave, for the first time +since 1846, a decided Conservative majority. Mr. Disraeli became again +Prime Minister, and now a Prime Minister no longer on sufferance, but +with the absolute command of a dominant party, rising so much above +the rest of the Cabinet as to appear the sole author of its policy. In +1876, feeling the weight of age, he transferred himself to the House +of Lords as Earl of Beaconsfield. The policy he followed (from 1876 +till 1880) in the troubles which arose in the Turkish East out of the +insurrection in Herzegovina and the massacres in Bulgaria, as well as +that subsequently pursued in Afghanistan and in South Africa, while it +received the enthusiastic approval of the soldiers, the stockbrokers, +and the richer classes generally, raised no less vehement opposition +in other sections of the nation, and especially in those two which, +when heartily united and excited, have usually been masters of +England--the Protestant Nonconformists and the upper part of the +working class. An election fought with unusual heat left him in so +decided a minority that he resigned office in April 1880, without +waiting for an adverse vote in Parliament. When the result had become +clear he observed, "They," meaning his friends, "will come in again, +but I shall not." A year later he died. + +Here is a wonderful career, not less wonderful to those who live in +the midst of English politics and society than it appears to observers +in other countries. A man with few external advantages, not even that +of education at a university, where useful friendships are formed, +with grave positive disadvantages in his Jewish extraction and the +vagaries of his first years of public life, presses forward, step by +step, through slights and disappointments which retard but never +dishearten him, assumes as of right the leadership of a party--the +aristocratic party, the party in those days peculiarly suspicious of +new men and poor men,--wins a reputation for sagacity which makes his +early errors forgotten, becomes in old age the favourite of a court, +the master of a great country, one of the three or four arbiters of +Europe. There is here more than one problem to solve, or, at least, a +problem with more than one aspect. What was the true character of the +man who had sustained such a part? Did he hold any principles, or was +he merely playing with them as counters? By what gifts or arts did he +win such a success? Was there really a mystery beneath the wizard's +robe which he delighted to wrap around him? And how, being so unlike +the Englishmen among whom his lot was cast, did he so fascinate and +rule them? + +Imagine a man of strong will and brilliant intellectual powers, +belonging to an ancient and persecuted race, who finds himself born +in a foreign country, amid a people for whose ideas and habits he +has no sympathy and scant respect. Suppose him proud, ambitious, +self-confident--too ambitious to rest content in a private station, +so self-confident as to believe that he can win whatever he aspires +to. To achieve success, he must bend his pride, must use the language +and humour the prejudices of those he has to deal with; while his +pride avenges itself by silent scorn or thinly disguised irony. +Accustomed to observe things from without, he discerns the weak +points of all political parties, the hollowness of institutions and +watchwords, the instability of popular passion. If his imagination be +more susceptible than his emotions, his intellect more active than +his conscience, the isolation in which he stands and the superior +insight it affords him may render him cold, calculating, self-centred. +The sentiment of personal honour may remain, because his pride will +support it; and he will be tenacious of the ideas which he has +struck out, because they are his own. But for ordinary principles of +conduct he may have small regard, because he has not grown up +under the conventional morality of the time and nation, but has +looked on it merely as a phenomenon to be recognised and reckoned +with, because he has noted how much there is in it of unreality or +pharisaism--how far it sometimes is from representing or expressing +either the higher judgments of philosophy or the higher precepts of +religion. Realising and perhaps exaggerating the power of his own +intelligence, he will secretly revolve schemes of ambition wherein +genius, uncontrolled by fears or by conscience, makes all things bend +to its purposes, till the scruples and hesitations of common humanity +seem to him only parts of men's cowardice or stupidity. What +success he will win when he comes to carry out such schemes in +practice will largely depend on the circumstances in which he finds +himself, as well as on his gift for judging of them. He may become a +Napoleon. He may fall in a premature collision with forces which +want of sympathy has prevented him from estimating. + +In some of his novels, and most fully in the first of them, Mr. +Disraeli sketched a character and foreshadowed a career not altogether +unlike that which has just been indicated. It would be unfair to treat +as autobiographical, though some of his critics have done so, the +picture of Vivian Grey. What that singular book shows is that, at an +age when his contemporaries were lads at college, absorbed in cricket +matches or Latin verse-making, Disraeli had already meditated +profoundly on the conditions and methods of worldly success, had +rejected the allurements of pleasure and the attractions of +literature, as well as the ideal life of philosophy, had conceived of +a character isolated, ambitious, intense, resolute, untrammelled by +scruples, who moulds men to his purposes by the sheer force of his +intellect, humouring their foibles, using their weaknesses, and luring +them into his chosen path by the bait of self-interest. + +To lay stress on the fact that Mr. Disraeli was of Hebrew birth is +not, though some of his political antagonists stooped so to use it, to +cast any reproach upon him: it is only to note a fact of the utmost +importance for a proper comprehension of his position. The Jews were +at the beginning of the nineteenth century still foreigners in +England, not only on account of their religion, with its mass of +ancient rites and usages, but also because they were filled with the +memory of centuries of persecution, and perceived that in some parts +of Europe the old spirit of hatred had not died out. The antiquity of +their race, their sense of its long-suffering and isolation, their +pride in the intellectual achievements of those ancestors whose blood, +not largely mixed with that of any other race, flows in their veins, +lead the stronger or more reflective spirits to revenge themselves by +a kind of scorn upon the upstart Western peoples among whom their lot +is cast. The mockery one finds in Heinrich Heine could not have come +from a Teuton. Even while imitating, as the wealthier of them have +latterly begun to imitate, the manners and luxury of those nominal +Christians among whom they live, they retain their feeling of +detachment, and are apt to regard with a coldly observant curiosity +the beliefs, prejudices, enthusiasms of the nations of Europe. The +same passionate intensity which makes the grandeur of the ancient +Hebrew literature still lives among them, though often narrowed by +ages of oppression, and gives them the peculiar effectiveness that +comes from turning all the powers of the mind, imaginative as well as +reasoning, into a single channel, be that channel what it may. They +produce, in proportion to their numbers, an unusually large number of +able and successful men, as any one may prove by recounting the +eminent Jews of the last seventy years. This success has most often +been won in practical life, in commerce, or at the bar, or in the +press (which over the European continent they so largely control); yet +often also in the higher walks of literature or science, less +frequently in art, most frequently in music. + +Mr. Disraeli had three of these characteristics of his race in +full measure--detachment, intensity, the passion for material success. +Nature gave him a resolute will, a keen and precociously active +intellect, a vehement individuality; that is to say, a consciousness +of his own powers, and a determination to make them recognised by +his fellows. In some men, the passion to succeed is clogged by the +fear of failure; in others, the sense of their greatness is +self-sufficing and indisposes them to effort. But with him ambition +spurred self-confidence, and self-confidence justified ambition. He +grew up in a cultivated home, familiar not only with books but with +the brightest and most polished men and women of the day, whose +conversation sharpened his wits almost from childhood. No religious +influences worked upon him, for his father had ceased to be a Jew in +faith without becoming even nominally a Christian, and there is little +in his writings to show that he had ever felt anything more than +an imaginative, or what may be called an historical, interest in +religion.[4] Thus his development was purely intellectual. The society +he moved in was a society of men and women of the world--witty, +superficial in its interests, without seriousness or reverence. He +felt himself no Englishman, and watched English life and politics as a +student of natural history might watch the habits of bees or ants. +English society was then, and perhaps is still, more complex, more +full of inconsistencies, of contrasts between theory and practice, +between appearances and realities, than that of any other country. +Nowhere so much limitation of view among the fashionable, so much +pharisaism among the respectable, so much vulgarity among the rich, +mixed with so much real earnestness, benevolence, and good sense; +nowhere, therefore, so much to seem merely ridiculous to one who +looked at it from without, wanting the sympathy which comes from the +love of mankind, or even from the love of one's country. It was +natural for a young man with Disraeli's gifts to mock at what he +saw. But he would not sit still in mere contempt. The thirst for +power and fame gave him no rest. He must gain what he saw every one +around him struggling for. He must triumph over these people whose +follies amused him; and the sense that he perceived and could use +their follies would add zest to his triumph. He might have been a +great satirist; he resolved to become a great statesman. For such a +career, his Hebrew detachment gave him some eminent advantages. It +enabled him to take a cooler and more scientific view of the social +and political phenomena he had to deal with. He was not led astray +by party cries. He did not share vulgar prejudices. He calculated +the forces at work as an engineer calculates the strength of his +materials, the strain they have to bear from the wind, and the weights +they must support. And what he had to plan was not the success of a +cause, which might depend on a thousand things out of his ken, but his +own success, a simpler matter. + +A still greater source of strength lay in his Hebrew intensity. It +would have pleased him, so full of pride in the pure blood of his +race,[5] to attribute to that purity the singular power of concentration +which the Jews undoubtedly possess. They have the faculty of throwing +the whole stress of their natures into the pursuit of one object, +fixing their eyes on it alone, sacrificing to it other desires, +clinging to it even when it seems unattainable. Disraeli was only +twenty-eight when he made his first attempt to enter the House of +Commons. Four repulses did not discourage him, though his means were +but scanty to support such contests; and the fifth time he +succeeded. When his first speech in Parliament had been received with +laughter, and politicians were congratulating themselves that this +adventurer had found his level, he calmly told them that he had +always ended by succeeding in whatever he attempted, and that he +would succeed in this too. He received no help from his own side, who +regarded him with suspicion, but forced himself into prominence, and at +last to leadership, by his complete superiority to rebuffs. Through +the long years in which he had to make head against a majority in the +House of Commons, he never seemed disheartened by his repeated +defeats, never relaxed the vigilance with which he watched his +adversaries, never indulged himself (though he was physically +indolent and often in poor health) by staying away from Parliament, +even when business was slack; never missed an opportunity for exposing +a blunder of his adversaries, or commending the good service of one of +his own followers. The same curious tenacity was apparent in his +ideas. Before he was twenty-two years of age he had, under the +inspiration of Bolingbroke, excogitated a theory of the Constitution of +England, of the way England should be governed at home and her +policy directed abroad, from which he hardly swerved through all his +later life. Often as he was accused of inconsistency, he probably +believed himself to be, and in a sense he was, substantially faithful, +I will not say to the same doctrines, but to the same notions or +tendencies; and one could discover from the phrases he employed how +he fancied himself to be really following out these old notions, even +when his conduct seemed opposed to the traditions of his party.[6] The +weakness of intense minds is their tendency to narrowness, and this +weakness was in so far his that, while always ready for new +expedients, he was not accessible to new ideas. Indeed, the old ideas +were too much a part of himself, stamped with his own individuality, to +be forsaken or even varied. He did not love knowledge, nor enjoy +speculation for its own sake; he valued views as they pleased his +imagination or as they carried practical results with them; and having +framed his theory once for all and worked steadily upon its lines, he +was not the man to admit that it had been defective, and to set +himself in later life to repair it. His pride was involved in proving +it correct by applying it. + +With this resolute concentration of purpose there went an undaunted +courage--a quality less rare among English statesmen, but eminently +laudable in him, because for great part of his career he had no family +or party connections to back him up, but was obliged to face the world +with nothing but his own self-confidence. So far from seeking to +conceal his Jewish origin, he displayed his pride in it, and refused +all support to the efforts which the Tory party made to maintain the +exclusion of Jews from Parliament. Nobody showed more self-possession +and (except on two or three occasions) more perfect self-command in +the hot strife of Parliament than this suspected stranger. His +opponents learnt to fear one who never feared for himself; his +followers knew that their chief would not fail them in the hour of +danger. His very face and bearing had in them an impassive calmness +which magnetised those who watched him. He liked to surround himself +with mystery, to pose as remote, majestic, self-centred, to appear +above the need of a confidant. He would sit for hours on his bench in +the House of Commons, listening with eyes half-shut to furious +assaults on himself and his policy, not showing by the movement of a +muscle that he had felt a wound; and when he rose to reply would +discharge his sarcasms with an air of easy coolness. That this +indifference was sometimes simulated appeared by the resentment he +showed afterwards. + +Ambition such as his could not afford to be scrupulous, nor have his +admirers ever claimed conscientiousness as one of his merits. One who +sets power and fame before him as the main ends to be pursued may no +doubt be restrained by pride from the use of such means as are +obviously low and dishonourable. Other questionable means he may +reject because he knows that the opinion of those whose good-will and +good word he must secure would condemn them. But he will not be likely +to allow kindliness or compassion to stand in his way; nor will he be +very regardful of truth. To a statesman, who must necessarily have +many facts in his knowledge, or many plans in his mind, which the +interests of his colleagues, or of his party, or of the nation, forbid +him to reveal, the temptation to put questioners on a false scent, and +to seem to agree where he really dissents, is at all times a strong +one. An honest man may sometimes be betrayed into yielding to it; and +those who know how difficult are the cases of conscience that arise +will not deal harshly with a possibly misleading silence, or even with +the evasion of an embarrassing inquiry, where a real public interest +can be pleaded, for the existence of such a public interest, if it +does not justify, may palliate omissions to make a full disclosure of +the facts. All things considered, the standard of truthfulness among +English public men has (of course with some conspicuous exceptions) +been a high one. Of that standard Disraeli fell short. People did not +take his word for a thing as they would have taken the word of the +Duke of Wellington, or Lord Althorp, or Lord Derby, or Lord Russell, +or even of that not very rigid moralist, Lord Palmerston. Instances of +his lapses were not wanting as late as 1877. His behaviour toward Sir +Robert Peel, whom he plied with every dart of sarcasm, after having +shortly before lavished praises on him, and sought office under him, +has often been commented on.[7] Disraeli was himself (as those who +knew him have often stated) accustomed to justify it by observing that +he was then an insignificant personage, to whom it was supremely +important to attract public notice and make a political position; that +the opportunity of attacking the powerful Prime Minister, at a moment +when their altered attitude towards the Corn Laws had exposed the +Ministry to the suspicions of their own party, was too good to be +lost; and that he was therefore obliged to assail Peel, though he had +himself no particular attachment to the Corn Laws, and believed Peel +to have been a _bona-fide_ convert. It was therefore no personal +resentment against one who had slighted him, but merely the exigencies +of his own career, that drove him to this course, whose fortunate +result proved the soundness of his calculations. + +This defence will not surprise any one who is familiar with Disraeli's +earlier novels. These stories are as far as possible from being +immoral; that is to say, there is nothing in them unbecoming or +corrupting. Friendship, patriotism, love, are all recognised as +powerful and worthy motives of conduct. That which is wanting is the +sense of right and wrong. His personages have for certain purposes the +conventional sense of honour, though seldom a fine sense, but they do +not ask whether such and such a course is conformable to principle. +They move in a world which is polished, agreeable, dignified, averse +to baseness and vulgarity, but in which conscience and religion +scarcely seem to exist. The men live for pleasure or fame, the women +for pleasure or love. + +Some allowance must, of course, be made for the circumstances of +Disraeli's position and early training. He was brought up neither a +Jew nor a Christian. The elder people who took him by the hand when he +entered life, people like Samuel Rogers and Lady Blessington, were not +the people to give lessons in morality. Lord Lyndhurst, the first of +his powerful political friends, and the man whose example most +affected him, was, with all his splendid gifts, conspicuously wanting +in political principle. Add to this the isolation in which the young +man found himself, standing outside the common stream of English life, +not sharing its sentiments, perceiving the hollowness of much that +passed for virtue and patriotism, and it is easy to understand how he +should have been as perfect a cynic at twenty-five as their experience +of the world makes many at sixty. If he had loved truth or mankind, he +might have quickly worked through his youthful cynicism. But pride and +ambition, the pride of race and the pride of genius, left no room for +these sentiments. Nor was his cynicism the fruit merely of a keen and +sceptical intelligence. It came from a cold heart. + +The pursuit of fame and power, to which he gave all his efforts, is +presented in his writings as the only alternative ideal to a life of +pleasure; and he probably regarded those who pursued some other as +either fools or weaklings. Early in his political life he said one +night to Mr. Bright (from whom I heard the anecdote), as they took +their umbrellas in the cloak-room of the House of Commons: "After all, +what is it that brings you and me here? Fame! This is the true arena. +I might have occupied a literary throne; but I have renounced it for +this career." The external pomps and trappings of life, titles, +stately houses and far-spreading parks, all those gauds and vanities +with which sumptuous wealth surrounds itself, had throughout his life +a singular fascination for him. He liked to mock at them in his +novels, but they fascinated him none the less. One can understand how +they might fire the imagination of an ambitious youth who saw them +from a distance--might even retain their charm for one who was just +struggling into the society which possessed them, and who desired to +feel himself the equal of the possessors. It is stranger that, when he +had harnessed the English aristocracy to his chariot, and was driving +them where he pleased, he should have continued to admire such things. +So, however, it was. There was even in him a vein of inordinate +deference to rank and wealth which would in a less eminent person have +been called snobbishness. In his will he directs that his estate of +Hughenden Manor, in Buckinghamshire, shall pass under an entail as +strict as he could devise, that the person who succeeds to it shall +always bear the name of Disraeli. His ambition is the common, not to +say vulgar, ambition of the English _parvenu_, to found a "county +family." In his story of _Endymion_, published a few months before his +death, the hero, starting from small beginnings, ends by becoming +prime minister: this is the crown of his career, the noblest triumph +an Englishman can achieve. It might have been thought that one who had +been through it all, who had realised the dreams of his boyhood, who +had every opportunity of learning what power and fame come to, would +have liked to set forth some other conception of the end of human +life, or would not have told the world so naively of his self-content +at having attained the aim he had worked for. With most men the flower +they have plucked withers. It might have been expected that one who +was in other things an ironical cynic would at least have sought to +seem disillusionised. + +To say that Disraeli's heart was somewhat cold is by no means to say +that he was heartless. He was one of those strong natures who +permit neither persons nor principles to stand in their way. His +doctrine was that politics had nothing to do with sentiment; so those +who appealed to him on grounds of humanity appealed in vain. No act +of his life ever so much offended English opinion as the airy +fashion in which he tossed aside the news of the Bulgarian massacre of +1876. It incensed sections who were strong enough, when thoroughly +roused, to bring about his fall. But he was far from being unkindly. +He knew how to attach men to him by friendly deeds as well as +friendly words. He seldom missed an opportunity of saying something +pleasant and cheering to a _debutant_ in Parliament, whether of his +own party or the opposite. He was not selfish in little things; was +always ready to consider the comfort and convenience of those who +surrounded him. Age and success, so far from making him morose or +supercilious, softened the asperities of his character and developed +the affectionate side of it. His last novel, published a few months +before his death, contains more human kindliness, a fuller +recognition of the worth of friendship and the beauty of sisterly +and conjugal love, than do the writings of his earlier manhood. +What it wants in intellectual power it makes up for in a mellower and +more tender tone. Of loyalty to his political friends he was a +model, and nothing did more to secure his command of the party than +its sense that his professional honour, so to speak, could be +implicitly relied upon. To his wife, a warm-hearted woman older than +himself, and inferior to him in education, he was uniformly +affectionate and indeed devoted. The first use he made of his +power as Prime Minister was to procure for her the title of +viscountess. Being once asked point blank by a lady what he thought +of his life-long opponent, Mr. Gladstone answered that two things +had always struck him as very admirable in Lord Beaconsfield's +character--his perfect loyalty to his wife, and his perfect +loyalty to his own race. A story used to be told how, in Disraeli's +earlier days, when his political position was still far from +assured, he and his wife happened to be the guests of the chief of +the party, and that chief so far forgot good manners as to quiz Mrs. +Disraeli at the dinner-table. Next morning Disraeli, whose visit +was to have lasted for some days longer, announced that he must +leave immediately. The host besought him to stay, and made all +possible apologies. But Disraeli was inexorable, and carried off his +wife forthwith. To literary men, whatever their opinions, he was +ready to give a helping hand, representing himself as one of their +profession. In paying compliments he was singularly expert, and few +used the art so well to win friends and disarm enemies. He knew +how to please Englishmen, and especially the young, by showing +interest in their tastes and pleasures, and, without being what +would be called genial, was never wanting in _bonhomie_. In +society he was a perfect man of the world--told his anecdote apropos, +wound up a discussion by some epigrammatic phrase, talked to the +guest next him, if he thought that guest's position made him worth +talking to, as he would to an old acquaintance. But he had few +intimates; nor did his apparent frankness unveil his real thoughts. + +He was not of those who complicate political opposition with private +hatreds. Looking on politics as a game, he liked, when he took off his +armour, to feel himself on friendly terms with his antagonists, and +often seemed surprised to find that they remembered as personal +affronts the blows which he had dealt in the tournament. Two or three +years before his death, a friend asked him whether there was in London +any one with whom he would not shake hands. Reflecting for a moment, +he answered, "Only one," and named Robert Lowe, who had said hard +things of him, and to whom, when Lowe was on one occasion in his +power, he had behaved with cruelty. Yet his resentments could smoulder +long. In _Lothair_ he attacked, under a thin disguise, a distinguished +man of letters who had criticised his conduct years before. In +_Endymion_ he gratified what was evidently an ancient grudge by a +spiteful presentation of Thackeray, as he had indulged his more bitter +dislike of John Wilson Croker by portraying that politician in +_Coningsby_ under the name of Nicholas Rigby. For the greatest of his +adversaries he felt, there is reason to believe, genuine admiration, +mingled with inability to comprehend a nature so unlike his own. No +passage in the striking speech which that adversary pronounced, one +might almost say, over Lord Beaconsfield's grave--a speech which may +possibly go down to posterity with its subject--was more impressive +than the sentence in which he declared that he had the best reason to +believe that, in their constant warfare, Lord Beaconsfield had not +been actuated by any personal hostility. Brave men, if they can +respect, seldom dislike, a formidable antagonist. + +His mental powers were singularly well suited to the rest of his +character--were, so to speak, all of a piece with it. One sometimes +sees intellects which are out of keeping with the active or emotional +parts of the man. One sees persons whose thought is vigorous, clear, +comprehensive, while their conduct is timid; or a comparatively +narrow intelligence joined to an enterprising spirit; or a sober, +reflective, sceptical turn of mind yoked to an ardent and impulsive +temperament. What we call the follies of the wise often spring from +some such source. Not so with him. His intelligence had the same +boldness, intensity, concentration, directness, which we discover in +the rest of the man. It was just the right instrument, not perhaps for +the normal career of a normal Englishman seeking political success, +but for the particular kind of work Disraeli had planned to do; and +this inner harmony was one of the chief causes of his success, as the +want of it has caused the failure of so many gifted natures. + +The range of his mind was not wide. All its products were like one +another. No one of them gives the impression that Disraeli could, had +he so wished, have succeeded in a wholly diverse line. It was a +peculiar mind: there is even more variety in minds than in faces. It +was not logical or discursive, liking to mass and arrange stores of +knowledge, and draw inferences from them, nor was it judicial, with a +turn for weighing reasons and reaching a decision which recognises all +the facts and is not confused by their seeming contradictions. Neither +was it analytically subtle. It reached its conclusions by a process of +intuition or divination in which there was an imaginative as well as a +reflective element. It might almost have been called an artist's mind, +capable of deep meditation, but meditating in an imaginative way, not +so much on facts as on its own views of facts, on the pictures which +its own creative faculty had called up. The meditation became dreamy, +but the dreaminess was corrected by an exceedingly keen and quick +power of observation, not the scientific observation of the +philosopher, but rather the enjoying observation of the artist who +sees how he can use the characteristic details which he notes, or the +observation of the forensic advocate (an artist, too, in his way) who +perceives how they can be fitted into the presentation of his case. +There are, of course, other qualities in Disraeli's work. As a +statesman he was obliged to learn how to state facts, to argue, to +dissect an opponent's arguments. But the characteristic note, both of +his speeches and of his writings, is the combination of a few large +ideas, clear, perhaps, to himself, but generally expressed with +grandiose vagueness, and often quite out of relation to the facts as +other people saw them, with a turn for acutely fastening upon small +incidents or personal traits. In his speeches he used his command of +sonorous phrases and lively illustrations, sometimes to support the +views he was advancing, but more frequently to conceal the weakness of +those views; that is, to make up for the absence of such solid +arguments as were likely to move his hearers. Everybody is now and +then conscious of holding with assured conviction theories which he +would find it hard to prove to a given audience, partly because it is +too much trouble to trace out the process by which they were reached, +partly because uninstructed listeners could not be made to feel the +full cogency of the considerations on which his own mind relies. +Disraeli was usually in this condition with regard to his political +and social doctrines. He believed them, but as he had not reached them +by logic, he was not prepared to use logic to establish them; so he +picked up some plausible illustration, or attacked the opposite +doctrine and its supporters with a fire of raillery or invective. This +non-ratiocinative quality of his thinking was a source both of +strength and of weakness--of weakness, because he could not prove his +propositions; of strength, because, stated as he stated them, it was +not less hard to disprove them. That mark of a superior mind, that it +must have a theory, was never wanting. Some one said of him that he +was "the ruins of a thinker." He could not rest content, like many +among his followers, with a prejudice, a dogma delivered by tradition, +a stolid suspicion unamenable to argument. He would not acquiesce in +negation. He must have a theory, a positive theory, to show not only +that his antagonist's view was erroneous, but that he had himself a +more excellent way. These theories generally had in them a measure of +truth and value for any one who could analyse them; but as this was +exactly what the rank and file of the party could not do, they got +into sad confusion when they tried to talk his language. + +He could hardly be called a well-read man, nor were his intellectual +interests numerous. His education had consisted mainly in promiscuous +reading during boyhood and early youth. There are worse kinds of +education for an active intelligence than to let it have the run of a +large library. The wild browsings of youth, when curiosity is strong +as hunger, stir the mind and give the memory some of the best food it +ever gets. The weak point of such a method is that it does not teach +accuracy nor the art of systematic study. In middle life natural +indolence and his political occupations had kept Disraeli from filling +up the gaps in his knowledge, while, in conversation, what he liked +best was persiflage. He was, however, tolerably familiar with the +ancient classics, and with modern English and French literature; +enjoyed Quintilian and Lucian, preferred Sophocles to Aeschylus and +(apparently) Horace to Virgil, despised Browning, considered Tennyson +the best of contemporary poets, but "not a poet of a high order."[8] +Physical science seems never to have attracted him. Political economy +he hated and mocked at almost as heartily as did Carlyle. People have +measured his knowledge of history and geography by observing that he +placed the Crucifixion in the lifetime of Augustus, and thought, down +till 1878, when he had to make a speech about Afghanistan, that the +Andes were the highest mountains in the world. But geography is a +subject which a man of affairs does not think of reading up in later +life: he is content if he can get information when he needs it. There +are some bits of metaphysics and some historical allusions scattered +over his novels, but these are mostly slight or superficial. He amused +himself and the public by now and then propounding doctrines on +agricultural matters, but would not appear to have mastered either +husbandry or any other economical or commercial subject. Such things +were not in his way. He had been so little in office as not to have +been forced to apply himself to them, while the tide of pure +intellectual curiosity had long since ebbed. + +For so-called "sports" he had little taste. He liked to go mooning in +a meditative way round his fields and copses, and he certainly enjoyed +Nature; but there seems to be no solid evidence that the primrose was +his favourite flower. In his fondness for particular words and phrases +there was a touch of his artistic quality, and a touch also of the +cynical view that words are the counters with which the wise play +their game. There is a passage in _Contarini Fleming_ (a story into +which he has put a good deal of himself) where this is set out. +Contarini tells his father that he left college "because they taught +me only words, and I wished to learn ideas." His father answers, "Few +ideas are correct ones, and what are correct, no one can ascertain; +but with words we govern men." + +He went on acting on this belief in the power of words till he +became the victim of his own phrases, just as people who talk +cynically for effect grow sometimes into real cynics. When he had +invented a phrase which happily expressed the aspect he wished his +view, or some part of his policy, to bear, he came to believe in +the phrase, and to think that the facts were altered by the colour +the phrase put upon them. During the contest for the extension of +the parliamentary franchise, he declared himself "in favour of +popular privileges, but opposed to democratic rights." When he was +accused of having assented, at the Congress of Berlin, to the +dismemberment of the Turkish Empire, he said that what had been done +was "not dismemberment, but consolidation." No statesman of recent +times has given currency to so many quasi-epigrammatic expressions: +"organised hypocrisy," "England dislikes coalitions," "plundering and +blundering," "peace with honour," "_imperium et libertas_," "a +scientific frontier," "I am on the side of the angels," are a few, +not perhaps the best, though the best remembered, of the many which +issued from his fertile mint. This turn for epigram, not common in +England, sometimes led him into scrapes which would have damaged a man +of less imperturbable coolness. No one else could have ventured to +say, when he had induced the Tories to pass a Reform Bill stronger +than the one they had rejected from the Liberals in the preceding +year, that it had been his mission "to educate his party." Some of +his opponents professed to be shocked by such audacity, and many +old Tories privily gnashed their teeth. But the country received the +dictum in the spirit in which it was spoken. "It was Disraeli all +over." + +If his intellect was not of wide range, it was within its range a +weapon of the finest flexibility and temper. It was ingenious, ready, +incisive. It detected in a moment the weak point, if not of an +argument, yet of an attitude or of a character. Its imaginative +quality made it often picturesque, sometimes even impressive. Disraeli +had the artist's delight in a situation for its own sake, and what +people censured as insincerity or frivolity was frequently only the +zest which he felt in posing, not so much because there was anything +to be gained, as because he realised his aptitude for improvising a +new part in the drama which he always felt himself to be playing. The +humour of the situation was too good to be wasted. Perhaps this love +of merry mischief may have had something to do with his tendency to +confer honours on those whom the world thought least deserving. + +His books are not only a valuable revelation of his mind, but have +more literary merit than critics have commonly allowed to them, +perhaps because we are apt, when a man excels in one walk, to deem +him to have failed in any other wherein he does not reach the same +level. The novels foam over with cleverness; indeed, _Vivian Grey_, +with all its youthful faults, gives as great an impression of +intellectual brilliance as does anything Disraeli ever wrote or spoke. +Their easy fertility makes them seem to be only, so to speak, a few +sketches out of a large portfolio. There is some variety in the +subjects--_Contarini Fleming_ and _Tancred_ are more romantic than the +others, _Sybil_ and _Coningsby_ more political--as well as in the +merits of the stories. The two latest, _Lothair_ and _Endymion_, +works of his old age, are markedly inferior in spirit and invention; +but the general features are the same in all--a lively fancy, a knack +of hitting characters off in a few lines and of catching the +superficial aspects of society, a brisk narrative, a sprightly +dialogue, a keen insight into the selfishness of men and the vanities +of women, with flashes of wit lighting up the whole stage. It is +always a stage. The brilliance is never open-air sunshine. There is +scarcely one of the characters whom we feel we might have met and +known. Heroes and heroines are theatrical figures; their pathos +rings false, their love, though described as passionate, does not +spring from the inner recesses of the soul. The studies of men of +the world, and particularly of heartless ones, are the most +life-like; yet, even here, any one who wants to feel the difference +between the great painter and the clever sketcher need only +compare Thackeray's Marquis of Steyne with Disraeli's Marquis of +Monmouth, both of them suggested by the same original. There is +little intensity, little dramatic power in these stories, as also in +his play of _Alarcos_; and if we read them with pleasure it is not +for the sake either of plot or of character, but because they contain +so many sparkling witticisms and reflections, setting in a strong +light, yet not always an unkindly light, the seamy side of politics +and human nature. The slovenliness of their style, which is often +pompous, but seldom pure, makes them appear to have been written +hastily. But Disraeli seems to have taken the composition of them +(except, perhaps, the two latest) quite seriously. When he wrote the +earlier tales, he meant to achieve literary greatness; while the +middle ones, especially _Coningsby_ and _Sybil_, were designed as +political manifestoes. The less they have a purpose or profess to +be serious, the better they are; and the most vivacious of all are +two classical burlesques, written at a time when that kind of +composition had not yet become common--_Ixion in Heaven_ and _The +Infernal Marriage_--little pieces of funning worthy of Thackeray, I +had almost said of Voltaire. They recall, perhaps they were +suggested by, similar pieces of Lucian's. Is Semitic genius specially +rich in this mocking vein? Lucian was a Syrian from Samosata, +probably a Semite; Heinrich Heine was a Semite; James Russell +Lowell used to insist, though he produced little evidence for his +belief, that Voltaire was a Semite. + +Whether Disraeli could ever have taken high rank as a novelist if he +had thrown himself completely into the profession may be doubted, +for his defects were such as pains and practice would hardly have +lessened. That he had still less the imagination needed by a poet, his +_Revolutionary Epick_, conceived on the plains of Troy, and meant +to make a fourth to the _Iliad_, the _Aeneid_, and the _Divina +Commedia_, is enough to show. The literary vocation he was best +fitted for was that of a journalist or pamphleteer; and in this he +might have won unrivalled success. His dash, his verve, his +brilliancy of illustration, his scorching satire, would have made +the fortune of any newspaper, and carried dismay into the enemy's +ranks. + +In inquiring how far the gifts I have sought to describe qualified +Disraeli for practical statesmanship, it is well to distinguish the +different kinds of capacity which an English politician needs to +attain the highest place. They may be said to be four. He must be a +debater. He must be a parliamentary tactician. He must understand the +country. He must understand Europe. This last is, indeed, not always +necessary; there have been moments when England, leaving Europe to +itself, may look to her own affairs only; but when the sky grows +stormy over Europe, the want of knowledge which English statesmen +sometimes evince may bode disaster. + +An orator, in the highest sense of the word, Disraeli never was. He +lacked ease and fluency. He had not Pitt's turn for the lucid +exposition of complicated facts, nor for the conduct of a close +argument. The sustained and fiery declamation of Fox was equally +beyond his range. And least of all had he that truest index of +eloquence, the power of touching the emotions. He could not make his +hearers weep. But he could make them laugh; he could put them in +good-humour with themselves; he could dazzle them with rhetoric; he +could pour upon an opponent streams of ridicule more effective than +the hottest indignation. When he sought to be profound or solemn, he +was usually heavy and laboured--the sublimity often false, the diction +often stilted. For wealth of thought or splendour of language his +speeches will not bear to be compared--I will not say with those of +Burke (on whom he sometimes tried to model himself), but with those of +three or four of his own contemporaries. Even within his own party, +Lord Derby, Lord Ellenborough, and Lord Cairns in their several ways +surpassed him. There is not one of his longer and more finished +harangues which can be read with interest from beginning to end. But +there is hardly any among them which does not contain some striking +passage, some image or epigram, or burst of sarcasm, which must have +been exceedingly effective when delivered. It is partly upon these +isolated passages, especially the sarcastic ones (though the +witticisms were sometimes borrowed), and still more upon the aptness +of the speech to the circumstances under which it was made, that his +parliamentary fame rests. If he was not a great orator he was a superb +debater, who watched with the utmost care the temper of the audience, +and said just what was needed at the moment to disconcert an opponent +or to put heart into his friends. His repartees were often happy, and +must sometimes have been unpremeditated. As he had not the ardent +temperament of the born orator, so neither had he the external +advantages which count for much before large assemblies. His voice was +not remarkable either for range or for quality. His manner was +somewhat stiff, his gestures few, his countenance inexpressive. Yet +his delivery was not wanting in skill, and often added point, by its +cool unconcern, to a stinging epigram. + +What he lacked in eloquence he made up for by tactical adroitness. No +more consummate parliamentary strategist has been seen in England. He +had studied the House of Commons till he knew it as a player knows his +instrument--studied it collectively, for it has a collective +character, and studied the men who compose it: their worse rather than +their better side, their prejudices, their foibles, their vanities, +their ambitions, their jealousies, above all, that curious corporate +pride which they have, and which makes them resent any approach to +dictation. He could play on every one of these strings, and yet so as +to conceal his skill; and he so economised himself as to make them +always wish to hear him. He knew how in a body of men obliged to +listen to talk, and most of it tedious talk, about matters in +themselves mostly uninteresting, the desire for a little amusement +becomes almost a passion; and he humoured this desire so far as +occasionally to err by excess of banter and flippancy. Almost always +respectful to the House, he had a happy knack of appearing to follow +rather than to lead, and when he made an official statement it was +with the air of one who was taking them into his confidence. Much of +this he may have learned from observing Lord Palmerston; but the art +came more naturally to that statesman, who was an Englishman all +through, than to a man of Mr. Disraeli's origin, who looked on +Englishmen from outside, and never felt himself, so to speak, +responsible for their habits or ideas. + +As leader of his party in Opposition, he was at once daring and +cautious. He never feared to give battle, even when he expected +defeat, if he deemed it necessary, with a view to the future, that the +judgment of his party should have been pronounced in a formal way. On +the other hand, he was wary of committing himself to a policy of blind +or obstinate resistance. When he perceived that the time had come to +yield, he knew how to yield with a good grace, so as both to support a +character for reasonableness and to obtain valuable concessions as the +price of peace. If difficulties arose with foreign countries he +claimed full liberty of criticising the conduct of the Ministry, but +ostentatiously abstained from obstructing or thwarting their acts, +declaring that England must always present a united front to the +foreigner, whatever penalties she might afterwards visit on those who +had mismanaged her concerns. As regards the inner discipline of his +party, he had enormous difficulties to surmount in the jealousy which +many Tories felt for him as a new man, a man whom they could not +understand and only partially trusted.[9] Conspiracies were repeatedly +formed against him; malcontents attacked him in the press, and +sometimes even in Parliament. These he seldom noticed, maintaining a +cool and self-confident demeanour which disheartened the plotters, and +discharging the duties of his post with steady assiduity. He was +always on the look-out for young men of promise, drew them towards +him, encouraged them to help him in parliamentary sharp-shooting, and +fostered in every way the spirit of party. The bad side of that spirit +was seen when he came into office, for then every post in the public +service was bestowed either by mere favouritism or on party grounds; +and men who had been loyal to him were rewarded by places or titles to +which they had no other claim. But the unity and martial fervour of +the Tory party was raised to the highest point. Nor was Disraeli +himself personally unpopular with his parliamentary opponents, even +when he was most hotly attacked on the platform and in the press. + +To know England and watch the shifting currents of its opinion is a +very different matter from knowing the House of Commons. Indeed, the +two kinds of knowledge are in a measure incompatible. Men who enter +Parliament soon begin to forget that it is not, in the last resort, +Parliament that governs, but the people. Absorbed in the daily +contests of their Chamber, they over-estimate the importance of those +contests. They come to think that Parliament is in fact what it is in +theory, a microcosm of the nation, and that opinion inside is sure to +reflect the opinion outside. When they are in a minority they are +depressed; when they are in a majority they fancy that all is well, +forgetting their masters out-of-doors. This tendency is aggravated by +the fact that the English Parliament meets in the capital, where the +rich and luxurious congregate and give their tone to society. The +House of Commons, though many of its members belong to the middle +class by origin, belongs practically to the upper class by sympathy, +and is prone to believe that what it hears every evening at dinners or +receptions is what the country is thinking. A member of the House of +Commons is, therefore, ill-placed for feeling the pulse of the nation, +and in order to do so must know what is being said over the country, +and must frequently visit or communicate with his constituents. If +this difficulty is experienced by an ordinary private member, it is +greater for a minister whose time is filled by official duties, or for +a leader of Opposition, who has to be constantly thinking of his +tactics in the House. In Disraeli's case there was a keenness of +observation and discernment far beyond the common. But he was under +the disadvantages of not being really an Englishman, and of having +never lived among the people.[10] The detachment I have already +referred to tended to weaken his power of judging popular sentiment, +and appraising at their true value the various tendencies that sway +and divide a nation so complex as the English. Early in life he had +formed theories about the relations of the different classes of +English society--nobility, gentry, capitalists, workmen, peasantry, +and the middle classes--theories which were far from containing the +whole truth; and he adhered to them even when the changes of half a +century had made them less true. He had a great aversion, not to say +contempt, for Puritanism, and for the Dissenters among whom it chiefly +holds its ground, and pleased himself with the notion that the +extension of the suffrage which he carried in 1867 had destroyed their +political power. The Conservative victory at the election of 1874 +confirmed him in this belief, and made him also think that the working +classes were ready to follow the lead of the rich. He perceived that +the Liberal ministry of 1868-74 had offended certain influential +sections by appearing too demiss or too unenterprising in foreign +affairs, and fancied that the bulk of the nation would be dazzled by a +warlike mien, and an active, even aggressive, foreign policy. Such a +policy was congenial to his own ideas, and to the society that +surrounded him. It was applauded by some largely circulated newspapers +which had previously been unfriendly to the Tory party. Thus he was +more surprised than any other man of similar experience to find the +nation sending up a larger majority against him in 1880 than it had +sent up for him in 1874. This was the most striking instance of his +miscalculation. But he had all through his career an imperfect +comprehension of the English people. Individuals, or even an assembly, +may be understood by dint of close and long-continued observation; but +to understand a whole nation, one must also have sympathy, and this +his circumstances, not less than his character, had denied him. + +It was partly the same defect that prevented him from mastering the +general politics of Europe. There is a sense in which no single man +can pretend to understand Europe. Bismarck himself did not. The +problem is too vast, the facts to be known too numerous, the +undercurrents too varying. One can speak only of more or less. If +Europe had been in his time what it was a century before, Disraeli +would have had a far better chance of being fit to become what it was +probably his dearest wish to become--its guide and arbiter. He would +have taken the measure of the princes and ministers with whom he had +to deal, would have seen and adroitly played on their weaknesses. His +novels show how often he had revolved diplomatic situations in his +mind, and reflected on the way of handling them. Foreign diplomatists +are agreed that at the Congress of Berlin he played his part to +admiration, spoke seldom, but spoke always to the point and with +dignity, had a perfect conception of what he meant to secure, and of +the means he must employ to secure it, never haggled over details or +betrayed any eagerness to win support, never wavered in his demands, +even when they seemed to lead straight to war. Dealing with +individuals, who represented material forces which he had gauged, he +was perfectly at home, and deserved the praise he obtained from +Bismarck, who, comparing him with other eminent figures at the +Congress, is reported to have said, bluntly but heartily, "Der alte +Jude, das ist der Mann."[11] But to know what the condition of +South-Eastern Europe really was, and understand how best to settle its +troubles, was a far more difficult task, and Disraeli possessed +neither the knowledge nor the insight required. In the Europe of +to-day, peoples count for more than the wills of individual rulers: +one must comprehend the passions and sympathies of peoples if one is +to forecast the future. This he seldom cared to do. He did not realise +the part and the power of moral forces. Down to the outbreak of the +American Civil War he maintained that the question between the North +and the South was mainly a fiscal question between the Protectionist +interests of the one and the Free Trade interests of the other. He +always treated with contempt the national movement in Italy. He made +no secret in the days before 1859 of his good-will to Austria and of +his liking for Louis Napoleon--a man inferior to him in ability and in +courage, but to whose character his own had some affinities. In that +elaborate study of Sir Robert Peel's character,[12] which is one of +Disraeli's best literary performances, he observes that Peel "was +destitute of imagination, and wanting imagination he wanted +prescience." True it is that imagination is necessary for prescience, +but imagination is not enough to give prescience. It may even be a +snare. + +Disraeli's imagination, his fondness for theories, and disposition +rather to cling to them than to study and interpret facts, made him +the victim of his own preconceived ideas, as his indolence deterred +him from following the march of change and noting how different things +were in the 'seventies from what they had been in the 'thirties. Mr. +Gladstone said to me in 1876, "Disraeli's two leading ideas in foreign +policy have always been the maintenance of the temporal power of the +Pope, and the maintenance of the power of the Sultan." Unable to save +the one, he clung to the hope of saving the other. He was possessed by +the notion, seductive to a dreamy mind, that all the disturbances of +Europe arose from the action of secret societies; and when the Eastern +Question was in 1875 re-opened by the insurrection in Herzegovina, +followed by the war of Servia against the Turks, he explained the +event in a famous speech by saying, "The secret societies of Europe +have declared war against Turkey"--the fact being that the societies +which in Russia were promoting the Servian war were public societies, +openly collecting subscriptions, while those secret "social +democratic" societies of which we have since heard so much were +strongly opposed to the interference of Russia, and those other secret +societies in the rest of Europe, wherein Poles and Italians have +played a leading part, were, if not hostile, at any rate quite +indifferent to the movement among the Eastern Christians. + +Against these errors there must be set several cases in which he +showed profound discernment. In 1843 and 1844 he delivered, in debates +on the condition of Ireland, speeches which then constituted and long +remained the most penetrating and concise diagnosis of the troubles of +that country ever addressed to Parliament. Ireland has, he said, a +starving peasantry, an alien church, and an absentee aristocracy, and +he went on to add that the function of statesmanship was to cure by +peaceful and constitutional methods ills which in other countries had +usually induced, and been removed by, revolution. During the American +Civil War of 1861-65, Disraeli was the only leading statesman on his +own side of politics who did not embrace and applaud the cause of the +South. Whether this arose from a caution that would not commit itself +where it recognised ignorance, or from a perception of the superior +strength of the Northern States (a perception which whoever visits the +South even to-day is astonished that so few people in Europe should +have had), it is not easy to decide; but whatever the cause, the fact +is an evidence of his prudence or sagacity all the more weighty +because Lord Palmerston, Lord Russell, and Mr. Gladstone, as well as +Lord Derby and Sir Hugh Cairns, had each of them expressed more or +less sympathy with, or belief in, the success of the Southern cause. + +The most striking instance, however, of Disraeli's insight was his +perception that an extension of the suffrage would not necessarily +injure, and might end by strengthening, the Tory party. The Act of +1867 was described at the time as "a leap in the dark." But +Disraeli's eyes had pierced the darkness. For half a century +politicians had assumed that the masses of the people were and would +remain under the Liberal banner. Even as late as 1872 it was thought +on Liberal platforms a good joke to say of some opinion that it might +do for Conservative working men, if there were any. Disraeli had, long +before 1867, seen deeper, and though his youthful fancies that the +monarchy might be revived as an effective force, and that "the +peasantry" would follow with mediaeval reverence the lead of the landed +gentry, proved illusory, he was right in discerning that wealth and +social influence would in parliamentary elections count for more among +the masses than the traditions of constitutional Whiggism or the +dogmas of abstract Radicalism. + +In estimating his statesmanship as a whole, one must give due weight +to the fact that it impressed many publicists abroad. No English +minister had for a long time past so fascinated observers in Germany +and Austria. Supposing that under the long reign of Liberalism +Englishmen had ceased to care for foreign politics, they looked on him +as the man who had given back to Britain her old European position, +and attributed to him a breadth of design, a grasp and a foresight +such as men had revered in Lord Chatham, greatest in the short list of +ministers who have raised the fame of England abroad. I remember +seeing in a Conservative club, about 1880, a large photograph of Lord +Beaconsfield, wearing the well-known look of mysterious fixity, under +which is inscribed the line of Homer: "He alone is wise: the rest are +fleeting shadows."[13] It was a happy idea to go for a motto to the +favourite poet of his rival, as it was an unhappy chance to associate +the wisdom ascribed to Disraeli with his policy in the Turkish East +and in Afghanistan, a policy now universally admitted to have been +unwise and unfortunate.[14] But whatever may be thought of the +appropriateness of the motto, the fact remains that this was the +belief he succeeded in inspiring. He did it by virtue of those very +gifts which sometimes brought him into trouble--his taste for large +and imposing theories, his power of clothing them in vague and solemn +language, his persistent faith in them. He came, by long posing, to +impose upon himself and to believe in his own profundity. Few people +could judge whether his ideas of imperial policy were sound and +feasible; but every one saw that he had theories, and many fell under +the spell which a grandiose imagination can exercise. It is chiefly +this gift, coupled with his indomitable tenacity, which lifts him out +of the line of mere party leaders. If he failed to see how much the +English are sometimes moved by compassion, he did see that it may be +worth while to play to their imagination. + +We may now ask again the question asked at first: How did a man, +whatever his natural gifts, who was weighted in his course by such +disadvantages as Disraeli's, by his Jewish origin, by the escapades of +his early career, by the want of confidence which his habitual +cynicism inspired, by the visionary nature of so many of his +views,--how did he, in a conservative and aristocratic country like +England, triumph over so many prejudices and enmities, and raise +himself to be the head of the Conservative and aristocratic party, the +trusted counsellor of the Crown, the ruler, almost the dictator, of a +free people? + +However high be the estimate formed of Disraeli's gifts, secondary +causes must have been at work to enable him to overcome the obstacles +that blocked his path. The ancients were not wrong in ascribing to +Fortune a great share in human affairs. Now, among the secondary +causes of success, that "general minister and leader set over worldly +splendours," as Dante calls her,[15] played no insignificant part. One +of these causes lay in the nature of the party to which he belonged. +The Tory party of the years between 1848 and 1865 contained a +comparatively small number of able men. When J. S. Mill once called it +the stupid party, it did not repudiate the name, but pointed to its +cohesion and its resolution as showing how many things besides mere +talent go to make political greatness. A man of shining gifts had +within its ranks few competitors; and this was signally the case +immediately after Peel's defection. That statesman had carried off +with him the intellectual flower of the Conservatives. Those who were +left behind to form the Protectionist Opposition in the House of +Commons were broad-acred squires, of solid character but slender +capacity. Through this heavy atmosphere Mr. Disraeli rose like a +balloon. Being practically the only member of his party in the Commons +with either strategical or debating power, he became indispensable, +and soon established a supremacy which years of patient labour might +not have given him in a rivalry with the distinguished band who +surrounded Peel. During the twenty years that followed the great Tory +schism of 1846 no man arose in the Tory ranks capable of disputing his +throne. The conspiracies hatched against him might well have prospered +could a candidate for the leadership have been found capable of +crossing swords with the chieftain in possession. Fortune, true to her +nursling, suffered none such to appear. + +Another favouring influence not understood outside England was to be +found in the character of the party he led. In his day the Tories, +being the party of the property-holders, and having not to advance but +to stand still, not to propose changes but to resist them, having +bonds of interest as well as of sentiment to draw them close together, +possessed a cohesion, a loyalty to their chiefs, a tenacious corporate +spirit, far exceeding what was to be found among their adversaries, +who were usually divided into a moderate or Whig and an advanced or +Radical section. He who established himself as the Tory leader was +presently followed by the rank and file with a devotion, an +unquestioning submission and confidence, which placed his character +and doctrines under the aegis of the party, and enforced loyalty upon +parliamentary malcontents. This corporate spirit was of infinite value +to Disraeli. The historical past of the great Tory party, its +associations, the social consideration which it enjoys, all went to +ennoble his position and efface the remembrance of the less creditable +parts of his career. And in the later days of his reign, when no one +disputed his supremacy, every Tory was, as a matter of course, his +advocate and admirer, and resented assaults on him as insults to the +party. When a man excites hatred by his words or deeds, attacks on his +character are an inevitable relief to overcharged feelings. +Technically regarded, they are not good politics. Misrepresentation +sometimes succeeds; vituperation seldom. Let a man be personally +untrustworthy or dangerous, still, it is only his own words that +damage him, at least in England and America. Even his own words, +however discrediting, even his acts, however culpable, may, if they +belong to a past unfamiliar to the voter of to-day, tell little, +perhaps too little, on the voter's mind when they are brought up +against him. The average citizen has a short memory, and thinks that +the dead may be allowed to bury their dead. + +Let it be further noted that Disraeli's career coincided with a +significant change in English politics, a change partly in the temper +of the nation, partly in the balance of voting power. For thirty years +after the Reform Act of 1832, not only had the middle classes +constituted the majority of the electors, but the social influence of +the great Whig families and the intellectual influence of the economic +school of Cobden had been potent factors. These forces were, in the +later part of Disraeli's life, tending to decline. The working-class +vote was vastly increased in 1867. The old Whig light gradually paled, +and many of the Whig magnates, obeying class sympathies rather than +party traditions, drifted slowly into Toryism. A generation arose +which had not seen the Free Trade struggle, or had forgotten the Free +Trade arguments, and which was attracted by ideals other than those +which Cobden had preached. The grievances which had made men +reformers had been largely removed. The battle of liberty and +nationality in Continental Europe had been in the main won, and +Englishmen had lost the enthusiasm for freedom which had fired them in +the days when the memory of their own struggle against the Crown and +the oligarchy was still fresh. With none of these changes had +Disraeli's personal action much to do, but they all enured to the +benefit of his party, they all swelled the tide which bore him into +office in 1874. + +Finally, he had the great advantage of living long. Many a statesman +has died at fifty, and passed from the world's memory, who might have +become a figure in history with twenty years more of life. Had +Disraeli's career closed in 1854, he would have been remembered as a +parliamentary gladiator, who had produced a few incisive speeches, a +crude Budget, and some brilliant social and political sketches. The +stronger parts of his character might have remained unknown. True it +is that a man must have greatness in order to stand the test of long +life. Some are found out, like Louis Napoleon. Some lose their balance +and therewith their influence, like Lord Brougham. Some cease to grow +or learn, and if a statesman is not better at sixty than he was at +thirty, he is worse. Some jog heavily on, like Metternich, or stiffen +into arbitrary doctrinaires, like Guizot. Disraeli did not merely +stand the test, he gained immensely by it. He gained by rising into a +position where his strength could show itself. He gained also by so +impressing his individuality upon people as to make them accept it as +an ultimate fact, till at length they came, not so much to blame him +for what he did in accord with his established reputation, as rather +to relish and enter into the humour of his character. As they +unconsciously took to judging him by a standard different from that +which they applied to ordinary Englishmen, they hardly complained of +deflections from veracity which would have seemed grave in other +persons. He had given notice that he was not like other men, that his +words must not be taken in their natural sense, that he was to be +regarded as the skilful player of a great game, the consummate actor +in a great part. And, once more, he gained by the many years during +which he had opportunities of displaying his fortitude, patience, +constancy under defeat, unwavering self-confidence--gifts rarer than +mere intellectual power, gifts that deserve the influence they bestow. +Nothing so fascinates mankind as to see a man equal to every fortune, +unshaken by reverses, indifferent to personal abuse, maintaining a +long combat against apparently hopeless odds with the sharpest weapons +and a smiling face. His followers fancy he must have hidden resources +of wisdom as well as of courage. When some of his predictions come +true, and the turning tide of popular feeling begins to bear them +toward power, they believe that he has been all along right and the +rest of the world wrong. When victory at last settles on his crest, +even his enemies can hardly help applauding a reward which seems so +amply earned. It was by this quality, more perhaps than by anything +else, by this serene surface with fathomless depths below, that he +laid his spell upon the imagination of observers in Continental +Europe, and received at his death a sort of canonisation from a large +section of the English people. + +What will posterity think of him, and by what will he be remembered? +The glamour has already passed away, and to few of those who on the +19th of April deck his statue with flowers is he more than a name. + +Parliamentary fame is fleeting: the memory of parliamentary conflicts +soon grows dim and dull. Posterity fixes a man's place in history by +asking not how many tongues buzzed about him in his lifetime, but how +great a factor he was in the changes of the world, that is, how far +different things would have been twenty or fifty years after his death +if he had never lived. Tried by this standard, the results upon the +course of events of Disraeli's personal action are not numerous, +though some of them may be deemed momentous. He was an adroit +parliamentary tactician who held his followers together through a +difficult time. By helping to keep the Peelites from rejoining their +old party, he gave that party a colour different from the sober hues +which it had worn during the leadership of Peel. He became the founder +of what has in later days been called Tory democracy, winning over a +large section of the humbler classes to the banner under which the +majority of the wealthy and the holders of vested interests already +stood arrayed. He saved for the Turkish Empire a part of its +territories, yet in doing so merely prolonged for a little the death +agony of Turkish power. Though it cannot be said that he conferred any +benefit on India or the Colonies, he certainly stimulated the imperial +instincts of Englishmen. He had occasional flashes of insight, as when +in 1843 he perceived exactly what Ireland needed, and at least one +brilliant flash of foresight when he predicted that a wide extension +of the suffrage would bring no evil to the Tory party. Yet in the case +of Ireland he did nothing, when the chance came to him, to give effect +to the judgment which he had formed, while in the case of the suffrage +he did but follow up and carry into effect an impulse given by others. +The Franchise Act of 1867 is perhaps the only part of his policy which +has, by hastening a change that induced other changes, permanently +affected the course of events; and it remains the chief monument of +his parliamentary skill. There was nothing in his career to set the +example of a lofty soul or a noble purpose. He did not raise, he may +even have lowered, the tone of English public life. + +Yet history will not leave him without a meed of admiration. When all +possible explanations of his success have been given, what a wonderful +career! An adventurer foreign in race, in ideas, in temper, without +money or family connections, climbs, by patient and unaided efforts, +to lead a great party, master a powerful aristocracy, sway a vast +empire, and make himself one of the four or five greatest personal +forces in the world. His head is not turned by his elevation. He never +becomes a demagogue; he never stoops to beguile the multitude by +appealing to sordid instincts. He retains through life a certain +amplitude of view, a due sense of the dignity of his position, a due +regard for the traditions of the ancient assembly which he leads, and +when at last the destinies of England fall into his hands, he feels +the grandeur of the charge, and seeks to secure what he believes to be +her imperial place in the world. Whatever judgment history may +ultimately pass upon him, she will find in the long annals of the +English Parliament no more striking figure. + +----- + + [1] No "authorised" life of Lord Beaconsfield, nor indeed any life + commensurate with the part he played in English politics, has + yet appeared. + + [2] Disraeli's family claimed to be of Spanish origin, but had come + from Italy to England shortly before 1748. + + [3] There are few legal allusions in his novels, fewer in proportion + than in Shakespeare's plays, but an ingenious travesty of the + English use of legal fictions may be found in the _Voyage of + Captain Popanilla_, a satire on the English constitution and + government. Popanilla, who is to be tried for treason, is, to + his astonishment, indicted for killing a camelopard. + + [4] That historical interest he did feel deeply. One might almost say + of him that he was a Christian because he was a Jew, for + Christianity was to him the proper development of the ancient + religion of Israel. "The Jews," he observes in the _Life of + Lord George Bentinck_, "represent the Semitic principle, all + that is most spiritual in our nature.... It is deplorable that + several millions of Jews still persist in believing only a part + of their religion." + + [5] Though it has been maintained that in the Dark and Middle Ages a + considerable number of Gentiles found their way into Jewish + communities and became Judaised. + + The high average of intellectual power among the Jews need + not be attributed to purity of race; it is sufficiently + explained by their history. Nor is it clear that where two + of the more advanced races are mixed by intermarriage, the + product is inferior to either of the parent stocks. On the + contrary, such a mixture, _e.g._ of Teutonic and Slavonic + blood, or of Celtic and Teutonic, gives a result at least + equal in capacity to either of the pure-blooded races which + have been so commingled. + + [6] He had an intellectual arrogance, which made him dislike what may + be called the Radical conception of human equality. In the + _Life of Lord George Bentinck_ he remarks, "The Jews are a + living and the most striking evidence of the falsity of that + pernicious doctrine of modern times, the natural equality of + man.... All the tendencies of the Jewish race are conservative. + Their bias is to religion, property, and natural aristocracy." + + [7] On one occasion he went so far as to deny that he had asked Peel + for office, relying on the fact that the letter which contained + the request was marked "private," so that Peel could not use it + to disprove his statement (_Letters of Sir Robert Peel_, by C. + S. Parker, vol. ii. p. 486; vol. iii. pp. 347, 348). + + [8] See Sir S. Northcote's report of a conversation with Disraeli in + his last years (_Life of Sir Stafford Northcote_, vol. ii.). + + [9] In the _Life of Lord George Bentinck_ (written shortly after + Peel's death), Disraeli, after dilating upon the loyalty which + the Tory aristocracy had displayed towards Peel, observes, "An + aristocracy hesitates before it yields its confidence, but it + never does so grudgingly.... In political connections the + social feeling mingles with the principle of honour which + governs gentlemen.... Such a following is usually cordial and + faithful. An aristocracy is rather apt to exaggerate the + qualities and magnify the importance of a plebeian leader." + + [10] When he did set himself to examine the condition of the people, + the diagnosis, if not always correct, was always suggestive, + _e.g._ the account of the manufacturing districts given in + _Sybil, or the Two Nations_. + + [11] "The old Jew, that is the man." + + [12] In the _Life of Lord George Bentinck_. + + [13] +Oio pepnusthai, toi de skiai aissousin+ (_Od._ x. 495). Used of + Tiresias, in the world of disembodied spirits. + + [14] To defend Disraeli by arguing that his policy had not a fair + chance because his colleagues did not allow him to carry it + through is to admit another error not less grave, for the path + he took was one on which no minister ought to have entered + unless satisfied that the Cabinet and the country would let him + follow it to the end. + + [15] _Inf._ vii. 77. + + + + +DEAN STANLEY[16] + + +In the England of his time there was no personality more attractive, +nor any more characteristic of the country, than Arthur Penrhyn +Stanley, Dean of Westminster. England is the only European country in +which such a figure could have appeared, for it is the only country in +which a man may hold a high ecclesiastical post and yet be regarded by +the nation, not specially as an ecclesiastic, but rather as a +distinguished writer, an active and influential man of affairs, an +ornament of social life. But if in this respect he was typical of his +country, he was in other respects unique. He was a clergyman untouched +by clericalism, a courtier unspoiled by courts. No one could point to +any one else in England who occupied a similar position, nor has any +one since arisen who recalls him, or who fills the place which his +departure left empty. + +Stanley was born in 1815. His father, then Rector of Alderley, in +Cheshire, afterwards Bishop of Norwich, belonged to the family of the +Stanleys of Alderley, a branch of that ancient and famous line the +head of which is Earl of Derby. His mother, Catherine Leycester, was a +woman of much force of character and intellectual power. He was +educated at Rugby School under Dr. Arnold, the influence of whose +ideas remained great over him all through his life, and at Oxford, +where he became a fellow and tutor of University College. Passing +thence to be Canon of Canterbury, he returned to the University as +Professor of Ecclesiastical History, and remained there for seven +years. In 1863 he was appointed Dean of Westminster, and at the same +time married Lady Augusta Bruce (sister of the then Lord Elgin, +Governor-General first of Canada and afterwards of India). He died in +1881. + +He had an extraordinarily active and busy life, so intertwined with +the history of the University of Oxford and the history of the Church +of England from 1850 to 1880, that one can hardly think of any salient +point in either without thinking also of him. Yet it was perhaps +rather in the intensity of his nature and the nobility of his +sentiments than in either the compass or the strength of his +intellectual faculties that the charm and the force he exercised lay. +In some directions he was curiously deficient. He had no turn for +abstract reasoning, no liking for metaphysics or any other form of +speculation. He was equally unfitted for scientific inquiry, and could +scarcely work a sum in arithmetic. Indeed, in no field was he a +logical or systematic thinker. Neither, although he had a retentive +memory, and possessed a great deal of various knowledge on many +subjects, could he be called learned, for he had not really mastered +any branch of history, and was often inaccurate in details. He had +never been trained to observe facts in natural history. He had +absolutely no ear for music, and very little perception either of +colour or of scent. He learned foreign languages with difficulty and +never spoke them well. He was so short-sighted as to be unable to +recognise a face passing close in the street. Yet with these +shortcomings he was a born traveller, went everywhere, saw everything +and everybody worth seeing, always seized on the most characteristic +features of a landscape, or building, or a person, and described them +with a freshness which made one feel as if they had never been +described before. Of the hundreds who have published books on the +Desert of Sinai and the Holy Land, many of them skilful writers or men +of profound knowledge, he is the only one who is still read and likely +to continue to be read, so vivid in colour, so exquisite in feeling, +are the pictures he has given. Nature alone, however, nature taken by +herself, did not satisfy him, did not, indeed, in his later days (for +in his boyhood he had been a passionate lover of the mountains) +greatly interest him. A building or a landscape had power to rouse his +imagination and call forth his unrivalled powers of description only +when it was associated with the thoughts and deeds of men. + +The largest part of his literary work was done in the field of +ecclesiastical history, a subject naturally congenial to him, and +to which he was further drawn by the professorship which he held at +Oxford during a time when a great revival of historical studies was +in progress. It was work which critics could easily disparage, for +there were many small errors scattered through it; and the picturesque +method of treatment he employed was apt to pass into scrappiness. He +fixed on the points which had a special interest for his own mind as +illustrating some trait of personal or national character, or some +moral lesson, and passed hastily over other matters of equal or +greater importance. Nevertheless his work had some distinctive merits +which have not received from professional critics the whole credit +they deserved. In all that Stanley wrote one finds a certain +largeness and dignity of view. He had a sense of the unity of +history, of the constant relation of past and present, of the +similarity of human nature in one age and country to human nature in +another; and he never failed to dwell upon the permanently valuable +truths which history has to teach. Nothing was too small to +attract him, because he discovered a meaning in everything, and he +was therefore never dull, for even when he moralised he would light +up his reflections by some happy anecdote. With this he possessed a +keen eye, the eye of a poet, for human character, and a power of +sympathy that enabled him to appreciate even those whose principles +and policy he disliked. Herein he was not singular, for the +sympathetic style of writing history has become fashionable among +us. What was remarkable in him was that his sympathy did not +betray him into the error, now also fashionable, of extenuating moral +distinctions. His charity never blunted the edge of his justice, nor +prevented him from reprobating the faults of the personages who had +touched his heart. For one sin only he had little historical +tolerance--the sin of intolerance. So there was one sin only which +ever led him to speak severely of any of his contemporaries--the +sin of untruthfulness. Being himself so simple and straightforward as +to feel his inability to cope with deceitful men, deceit incensed +him. But he did not resent the violence of his adversaries, for +though he suffered much at their hands he knew many of them to be +earnest, unselfish, and conscientious men. + +His pictures of historical scenes are admirable, for with his interest +in the study of character there went a large measure of dramatic +power. Nothing can be better in its way than the description of the +murder of St. Thomas of Canterbury given in the _Memorials of +Canterbury_, which, after _Sinai and Palestine_ and the _Life of +Arnold_, may be deemed the best of Stanley's books. Whether he could, +with more leisure for careful thought and study, have become a +great historian, was a question which those of us who were dazzled +by his Public Lectures at Oxford used often to discuss. The leisure +never came, for he was throughout life warmly interested in every +current ecclesiastical question, and ready to bear a part in +discussing it, either in the press--for he wrote in the _Edinburgh +Review_, and often sent letters to the _Times_ under the signature of +"Anglicanus"--or in Convocation, where he had a seat during the +latter part of his career. These interruptions not only checked the +progress of his studies, but gave to his compositions an air of +haste, which made them seem to want system and finish. The habit +of rapid writing for magazines or other ephemeral purposes is alleged +to tell injuriously upon literary men: it told the more upon +Stanley because he was also compelled to produce sermons rapidly. +Now sermon-writing, while it breeds a tendency to the making of +rhetorical points, subordinates the habit of dispassionate inquiry to +the enforcement of a moral lesson. Stanley, who had a touch of +the rhetorical temperament, and was always eager to improve an +occasion, certainly suffered in this way. When he brings out a +general truth he is not content with it as a truth, but seeks to turn +it also to edification, or to make it illustrate and support some +view for which he is contending at the time. When he is simply +describing, he describes rather as a dramatic artist working for +effect than as a historian solely anxious to represent men and +events as they were. Yet if we consider how much a historian gains, +not only from an intimate knowledge of his own time, but also, and +even more largely, from playing an active part in the events of his +own time, from swaying opinion by his writings and his speeches, +from sitting in assemblies and organising schemes of attack and +defence, we may hesitate to wish that Stanley's time had been more +exclusively given to quiet investigation. The freshness of his +historical portraits is notably due to the sense he carried about +with him of moving in history and being a part of it. He never +mounted his pulpit in the Abbey or walked into the Jerusalem +Chamber when Convocation was sitting without feeling that he was about +to do something which might possibly be recorded in the annals of +his country. I remember his mentioning, to illustrate undergraduate +ignorance, that once when he was going to give a lecture to his +class, he suddenly recollected that Mr. Goldwin Smith, then Regius +Professor of Modern History, was announced to deliver a public +lecture at the same hour. Telling the class that they would be +better employed in hearing Mr. Goldwin Smith than himself, he led +them all there. The next time the class met, one of them, after +making some acute comments on the lecture, asked who the lecturer +was. "I was amazed," said Stanley, "that an intelligent man should +ask such a question, and then it occurred to me that probably he did +not know who I was either." There was nothing of personal vanity or +self-importance in this. All the men of mark among whom he moved +were to him historical personages, and he would describe to his +friends some doing or saying of a contemporary statesman or +ecclesiastic with the same eagerness, the same sense of its being a +fact to be noted and remembered, as the rest of us feel about a +personal anecdote relating to Oliver Cromwell or Cardinal Richelieu. + +His sermons, like nearly all good sermons, will be inadequately +appreciated by those who now peruse them, not only because they were +composed for a given audience with special reference to the +circumstances of the time, but also because the best of them gained so +much by his impassioned delivery. They were all read from manuscript, +and his handwriting was so illegible that it was a marvel how he +contrived to read them. I once asked him, not long after he had been +promoted to the Deanery of Westminster, whether he found it easy to +make himself heard in the enormous nave of the Abbey church. His +frame, it ought to be stated, was spare as well as small, and his +voice not powerful. He answered: "That depends on whether I am +interested in what I am saying. If the sermon is on something which +interests me deeply I can fill the nave; otherwise I cannot." When he +had got a worthy theme, or one which stimulated his own emotions, the +power of his voice and manner was wonderful. His tiny body seemed to +swell, his chest vibrated as he launched forth glowing words. The +farewell sermon he delivered when quitting Oxford for Westminster +lives in the memory of those who heard it as a performance of +extraordinary power, the power springing from the intensity of his own +feeling. No sermon has ever since so moved the University. + +He was by nature shy and almost timid, and he was not supposed to +possess any gift for extempore speaking. But when in his later days he +found himself an almost solitary champion in Convocation of the +principles of universal toleration and comprehension which he held, he +developed a debating power which surprised himself as well as his +friends. It was to him a matter of honour and conscience to defend his +principles, and to defend them all the more zealously because he +stood alone on their behalf in a hostile assembly. His courage was +equal to the occasion, and his faculties responded to the call his +courage made. + +In civil politics he was all his life a Liberal, belonging by birth to +the Whig aristocracy, and disposed on most matters to take rather the +Whiggish than the Radical view, yet drawn by the warmth of his +sympathy towards the working classes, and popular with them. One of +his chief pleasures was to lead parties of humble visitors round the +Abbey on public holidays. Like most members of the Whig families, he +had no great liking for Mr. Gladstone, not so much, perhaps, on +political grounds as because he distrusted the High Churchism and +anti-Erastianism of the Liberal leader. However, he never took any +active part in general politics, reserving his strength for those +ecclesiastical questions which seemed to lie within his peculiar +province.[17] Here he had two leading ideas: one, that the Church of +England must at all hazards continue to be an Established Church, in +alliance with, or subjection to, the State (for his Erastianism was +unqualified), and recognising the Crown as her head; the other, that +she must be a comprehensive Church, finding room in her bosom for +every sort or description of Christian, however much or little he +believed of the dogmas contained in the Thirty-nine Articles and the +Prayer-Book, to which she is bound by statute. The former view cut him +off from the Nonconformists and the Radicals; the latter exposed him +to the fire not only of those who, like the High Churchmen and the +Evangelicals, attach the utmost importance to these dogmas, but of +those also among the laity who hold that a man ought under no +circumstances to sign any test or use any form of prayer which does +not express his own convictions. Stanley would, of course, have +greatly preferred that the laws which regulate the Church of England +should be so relaxed as to require little or no assent to any +doctrinal propositions from her ministers. He strove for this; and he +continued to hope that this might be ultimately won. But he conceived +that in the meantime it was a less evil that men should be technically +bound by subscriptions they objected to than that the National Church +should be narrowed by the exclusion of those whose belief fell short +of her dogmatic standards. It was remarkable that not only did he +maintain this unpopular view of his with unshaken courage on every +occasion, pleading the cause of every supposed heretic against hostile +majorities with a complete forgetfulness of his own peace and ease, +but that no one ever thought of attributing the course he took to any +selfish or sinister motive. It was generally believed that his own +opinions were what nine-tenths of the Church of England would call +unorthodox. But the honesty and uprightness of his character were so +patent that nobody supposed that this fact made any difference, or +that it was for the sake of keeping his own place that he fought the +cause of others. + +What his theological opinions were it might have puzzled Stanley +himself to explain. His mind was not fitted to grasp abstract +propositions. His historical imagination and his early associations +attached him to the doctrines of the Nicene Creed; but when he came to +talk of Christianity, he laid so much more stress on its ethics than +on its dogmatic side that his clerical antagonists thought he held no +creed at all. Dr. Pusey once said that he and Stanley did not worship +the same God. The point of difference between him and them was not so +much that he consciously disbelieved the dogmas they held--probably he +did not--as that he did not, like them, think that true religion and +final salvation depended on believing them. And the weak point in his +imagination was that he seemed never to understand their position, nor +to realise how sacred and how momentous to them were statements which +he saw in a purely imaginative light. He never could be got to see +that a Church without any dogmas would not be a Church at all in the +sense either of mankind in the past or of mankind in the present. An +anecdote was current that once when he had in Disraeli's presence been +descanting on the harm done by the enforcement of dogmatic standards, +Disraeli had observed, "But pray remember, Mr. Dean, no dogma, no +Dean." + +Those who thought him a heathen would have assailed him less bitterly +if he had been content to admit his own differences from them. What +most incensed them was his habit of assuming that, except in mere +forms of expression, there were really no differences at all, and that +they also held Christianity to consist not in any body of doctrines, +but in reverence for God and purity of life. They would have preferred +heathenism itself to this kind of Universalism. + +As ecclesiastical preferment had not discoloured the native hue of his +simplicity, so neither did the influences of royal favour. It says +little for human nature that few people should be proof against what +the philosopher deems the trivial and fleeting fascinations of a +court. Stanley's elevation of mind was proof. Intensely interested in +the knowledge of events passing behind the scenes which his relations +with the reigning family opened to him, he scarcely ever referred to +those relations, and seemed neither to be affected thereby, nor to +care a whit more for the pomps and vanities of power or wealth, a whit +less for the friends and the causes he had learned to value in his +youth. + +In private, that which most struck one in his intellect was the quick +eagerness with which his imagination fastened upon any new fact, +caught its bearings, and clothed it with colour. His curiosity +remained inexhaustible. His delight in visiting a new country was like +that of an American scholar landing for the first time in Europe. A +friend met him a year before his death at a hotel in the North of +England, and found he was going to the Isle of Man. He had mastered +its geography and history, and talked about it and what he was to +explore there as one might talk of Rome or Athens when visiting them +for the first time. When anybody told him an anecdote his susceptible +imagination seized upon points which the narrator had scarcely +noticed, and discovered a whole group of curious analogies from other +times or countries. Whatever you planted in this fertile soil struck +root and sprouted at once. Morally, he impressed those who knew him +not only by his kindness of heart, but by a remarkable purity and +nobleness of aim. Nothing mean or small or selfish seemed to harbour +in his mind. You might think him right or wrong, but you never doubted +that he was striving after the truth. He was not merely a just man; he +loved justice with passion. It was partly, perhaps, because justice, +goodness, honour, charity, seemed to him of such paramount importance +in life that he made little of doctrinal differences, having perceived +that these virtues may exist, and may also be found wanting, in every +form of religious creed or philosophical profession. When the +Convocation of the Anglican Church met at Westminster, it was during +many years his habit to invite a great number of its leading members +to the deanery, the very men who had been attacking him most hotly in +debate, and who would go on denouncing his latitudinarianism till +Convocation met again. They yielded--sometimes reluctantly, but still +they yielded--to the kindliness of his nature and the charm of his +manner. He used to dart about among them, introducing opponents to one +another, as indeed on all occasions he delighted to bring the most +diverse people together, so that some one said the company you met at +the deanery were either statesmen and duchesses or starving curates +and briefless barristers. + +He had on the whole a happy life. It is true that the intensity of his +attachments exposed him to correspondingly intense grief when he lost +those who were dearest to him; true also that, being by temperament a +man of peace, he was during the latter half of his life almost +constantly at war. But his home, first in the lifetime of his mother +and then in that of his wife, had a serene and unclouded brightness; +and the care of the Abbey, rich with the associations of nearly a +thousand years of history, provided a function which exactly suited +him and which constituted a never-failing source of enjoyment. To +dwell in the centre of the life of the Church of England, and to dwell +close to the Houses of Parliament, in the midst of the making of +history, knowing and seeing those who were principally concerned in +making it, was in itself a pleasure to his quenchless historical +curiosity. His cheerfulness and animation, although to some extent +revived by his visit to America and the reception he met with there, +were never the same after his wife's death in 1876. But the sweetness +of his disposition and his affection for his friends knew no +diminution. He remembered everything that concerned them; was always +ready with sympathy in sorrow or joy; and gave to all alike, high or +low, famous or unknown, the same impression, that his friendship was +for themselves, and not for any gifts or rank or other worldly +advantage they might enjoy. The art of friendship is the greatest art +in life. To enjoy his was to be educated in that art. + +----- + + [16] A _Life of Dean Stanley_, in two volumes, begun by Theodore + Walrond, continued by Dean Bradley, and completed by Mr. R. E. + Prothero, appeared in 1893. + + [17] When J. S. Mill was a candidate for Westminster in 1868, Stanley + published a letter announcing his support, partly out of + personal respect for Mill, partly because it gave him an + opportunity of expressing an opinion on the Irish Church + question, and of reprobating the charge of atheism which had + been brought against Mill. + + + + +THOMAS HILL GREEN + + +The name of Thomas Green, Professor of Moral Philosophy in the +University of Oxford, was not, during his lifetime, widely known +outside the University itself. But he is still remembered by students +of metaphysics and ethics as one of the most vigorous thinkers of his +time; and his personality was a striking one, which made a deep and +lasting impression on those with whom he came in contact. + +He was born in Yorkshire in 1836, the son of a country clergyman; was +educated at Rugby School and at Balliol College, Oxford, of which he +became a fellow in 1860, and a tutor in 1869. In 1867 he was an +unsuccessful candidate for a chair of philosophy at St. Andrews, and +in 1878 was elected Professor of Moral Philosophy in his own +University, which he never thereafter quitted. He was married in 1869 +and died in 1882. It was a life externally uneventful, but full of +thought and work, and latterly crowned by great influence over the +younger and great respect from the senior members of the University. + +I can best describe Green as he was in his undergraduate days, for +it was then that I saw most of him. His appearance was striking, and +made him a familiar figure even to those who did not know him +personally. Thick black hair, a sallow complexion, dark eyebrows, +deep-set eyes of rich brown with a peculiarly steadfast look, were +the features which first struck one; and with these there was a +remarkable seriousness of expression, an air of solidity and quiet +strength. He knew comparatively few people, and of these only a +very few intimately, having no taste or turn for those sports in +which university acquaintances are most frequently made, and seldom +appearing at breakfast or wine parties. This caused him to pass for +harsh or unsocial; and I remember having felt a slight sense of +alarm the first time I found myself seated beside him. Though we +belonged to different colleges I had heard a great deal about him, +for Oxford undergraduates are warmly interested in one another, and +at the time I am recalling they had an inordinate fondness for +measuring the intellectual gifts and conjecturing the future of those +among their contemporaries who seemed likely to attain eminence. + +Those who came to know Green intimately, soon perceived that under +his reserve there lay not only a capacity for affection--no man was +more tenacious in his friendships--but qualities that made him an +attractive companion. His tendency to solitude sprang less from +pride or coldness, than from the occupation of his mind by subjects +which seldom weigh on men of his age. He had, even when a boy at +school (where he lived much by himself, but exercised considerable +moral influence), been grappling with the problems of metaphysics +and theology, and they had given a tinge of gravity to his manner. +The relief to that gravity lay in his humour, which was not only +abundant but genial and sympathetic. It used to remind us of +Carlyle--he had both the sense of humour and an underlying Puritanism +in common with Carlyle, one of the authors who (with Milton and +Wordsworth) had most influenced him--but in Green the Puritan tinge +was more kindly, and, above all, more lenient to ordinary people. +While averse, perhaps too severely averse, to whatever was luxurious +or frivolous in undergraduate life, he had the warmest interest in, +and the strongest sympathy for, the humbler classes. Loving social +equality, and filled with a sense of the dignity of simple human +nature, he liked to meet farmers and tradespeople on their own level, +and knew how to do so without seeming to condescend; indeed +nothing pleased him better, than when they addressed him as one of +themselves, the manner of his talk to them, as well as the extreme +plainness of his dress, conducing to such mistakes. The belief in +the duty of approaching the people directly and getting them to +think and to form and express their own views in their own way was +at the root of all his political doctrines. + +Though apt to be silent in general company, no one could be more +agreeable when you were alone with him. We used to say of him--and his +seniors said the same--that one never talked to him without carrying +away something to ponder over. On everything he said or wrote there +was stamped the impress of a strong individuality, a mind that thought +for itself, a character ruggedly original, wherein grimness was +mingled with humour, and practical shrewdness with a love for abstract +speculation. His independence appeared even in the way he pursued his +studies. With abilities of the highest order, he cared comparatively +little for the distinctions which the University offers; choosing +rather to follow out his own line of reading in the way he judged +permanently useful than to devote himself to the pursuit of honours +and prizes. + +He was constitutionally lethargic, found it hard to rouse himself to +exertion, and was apt to let himself be driven to the last moment in +finishing a piece of work. There was a rule in his College that an +essay should be given in every Friday evening. His was, to the great +annoyance of the dons, never ready till Saturday. But when it did go +in, it was the weightiest and most thoughtful, as well as the most +eloquent, that the College produced. This indolence had one good +result. It disposed him to brood over subjects, while others were +running quickly through many books and getting up subjects for +examination. It contributed to that depth and systematic quality which +struck us in his thinking, and made him seem mature beside even the +ablest of his contemporaries. When others were being, so to speak, +blown hither and thither, picking up and fascinated by new ideas, +which they did not know how to fit in with their old ones, he seemed +to have already formed for himself, at least in outline, a scheme of +philosophy and life coherent and complete. There was nothing random or +scattered in his ideas; his mind, like his style of writing, which ran +into long and complicated sentences, had a singular connectedness. You +felt that all its principles were in relation with one another. This +maturity in his mental attitude gave him an air of superiority, just +as the strength of his convictions gave a dogmatic quality to his +deliverances. Yet in spite of positiveness and tenacity he had the +saving grace of a humility which distrusted human nature in himself at +least as much as he distrusted it in others. Leading an introspective +life, he had many "wrestlings," and often seemed conscious of the +struggle between the natural man and the spiritual man, as described +in the Epistle to the Romans. + +In these early days, before, and to a less extent after, taking his +degree, he used to speak a good deal, mostly on political topics, at +the University Debating Society, where so many generations of young +men have sharpened their wits upon one another. His speaking was +vigorous, shrewd, and full of matter, yet it could not be called +popular. It was, in a certain sense, too good for a debating society, +too serious, and without the dash and sparkle which tell upon +audiences of that kind. Sometimes, however, and notably in a debate +on the American War of Secession in 1863, he produced, by the +concentrated energy of his language and the fierce conviction with +which he spoke, a powerful effect.[18] In a business assembly, +discussing practical questions, he would soon have become prominent, +and would have been capable on occasions of an oratorical success. + +Retired as was Green's life, he became by degrees more and more widely +known beyond the circle of his own intimates; and became also, I +think, more willing to make new friends. His truthfulness appeared in +this that, though powerful in argument, he did not argue for victory. +When he felt the force of what was urged against him, his admissions +were candid. Thus people came to respect his character, with its high +sense of duty, its simplicity, its uprightness, its earnest devotion +to an ideal, even more than they admired his intellectual powers. I +remember one friend of my own, himself eminent in undergraduate +Oxford, and belonging to another college, between which and Green's +there existed much rivalry, who, having been defeated by Green in +competition for a University prize, said, "If it had been any one +else, I should have been vexed, but I don't mind being beaten by a man +I respect so much." My friend knew Green very slightly, and had been +at one time strongly prejudiced against him by rumours of his +heterodox opinions. + +So much for those undergraduate days on which recollection loves to +dwell, but which were not days of unmixed happiness to Green, for his +means were narrow and the future rose cloudy before him. When anxiety +was removed by the income which a fellowship secured, he still +hesitated as to his course in life. At one time he thought of +journalism, or of seeking a post in the Education Office. More +frequently his thoughts turned to the clerical profession. His +theological opinions would not have permitted him to enter the +service of the Church of England, but he did seriously consider +whether he should become a Unitarian minister. It was not till he +found that his college needed him as a teacher that these difficulties +came to an end. Similarly he had doubted whether to devote himself to +history, to theology, or to metaphysics. For history he had +unquestionable gifts. With no exceptional capacity for mastering or +retaining facts, he had a remarkable power of penetrating at once to +the dominant facts, of grasping their connection, and working out +their consequences. He had also a keen sense of the dramatic aspect of +events, and a turn, not unlike Carlyle's, partly perhaps formed on +Carlyle, of fastening on the details in which character shows itself, +and illumining narrative by personal touches. On the problems of +theology he had meditated even at school, and after taking his degree +he set himself to a systematic study of the German critics, and I +remember that when we were living together at Heidelberg he had begun +to prepare a translation of C. F. Baur's principal treatise. As he +worked slowly, the translation was never finished. Though not +professing to be an adherent of the Tuebingen school, he had been +fascinated by Baur's ingenuity and constructive power. + +Ultimately he settled down to metaphysical and ethical inquiries, and +devoted to these the last thirteen years of his life. During his +undergraduate years the two intellectual forces most powerful at +Oxford had been the writings of J. H. Newman in the religious sphere, +though their influence was already past its meridian, and the writings +of John Stuart Mill in the sphere of logic and philosophy. By neither +of these, save in the way of antagonism, had Green been influenced. He +heartily hated all the Utilitarian school, and had an especial scorn +for Buckle, who, now almost forgotten, enjoyed in those days, as being +supposed to be a philosophic historian, a brief term of popularity. +Green had been led by Carlyle to the Germans, and his philosophic +thinking was determined chiefly by Kant and Hegel, more perhaps by the +former than by the latter, for it was always upon ethical rather than +upon purely metaphysical problems that his mind was bent. His +religious vein and his hold upon practical life made him more +interested in morals than in abstract speculation. Thus he became the +leader in Oxford of a new philosophic school which looked to Kant as +its master, and which for a time, partly perhaps because it +effectively attacked the school of Mill, received the adhesion of some +among the most thoughtful of the younger High Churchmen. Like Kant, he +set himself to answer David Hume, and the essay prefixed to his +edition of Hume's _Treatise on Human Nature_. along with his +_Prolegomena to Ethics_, are the only books in which his doctrines +have been given to the world, for he did not live to write the more +systematic exposition he had planned. These two essays are hard +reading, for his philosophical style was usually technical, and +sometimes verged on obscurity. But when he wrote on less abstruse +matters he was intelligible as well as weighty, full of thought, and +with an occasional underglow of restrained eloquence. The force of +character and convictions makes itself felt through the language. + +His mind, though constructive, was not, having regard to its general +power, either fertile or versatile. Like most of those who prefer +solitary musings to the commerce of men, he had little facility, and +found it hard to express his thoughts in any other words than those +into which his musings had first flowed. Thus even his oral teaching +was not easy to follow. An anecdote was current how when one day he +had been explaining to a small class his theory of the origin of our +ideas, the class listened in rapt attention to his forcible rhetoric, +admiring each sentence as it fell, and thinking that all their +difficulties were being removed. When he ended they expressed their +gratitude for the pleasure he had given them, and were quitting the +room, when one, halting at the door, said timidly, "But, Mr. Green, +what did you say was really the origin of our ideas?" However, +whether they were or were not capable of assimilating his doctrines, +his pupils all joined in their respect for him. They felt the +loftiness of his character, they recognised the fervour of his belief. +He was the most powerful ethical influence, and perhaps also the most +stimulative intellectual influence, that in those years played upon +the minds of the ablest youth of the University. But it was a singular +fact, which those who have never lived in Oxford or Cambridge may find +it hard to understand, that when he rose from the post of a college +tutor to that of a University professor, his influence declined, not +that his powers or his earnestness waned, but because as a professor +he had fewer auditors and less personal relation with them than he had +commanded as a college teacher. Such is the working of the collegiate +system in Oxford, curiously unfortunate when it deprives the ablest +men, as they rise naturally to the highest positions, of the +opportunities for usefulness they had previously enjoyed. + +As his powers developed and came to be recognised, so did those slight +asperities which had been observed in undergraduate days soften down +and disappear. Though he lived a retired life, his work brought him +into contact with a good many people, and he became more genial in +general company. I remember his saying with a smile when I had lured +him into Wales for a short excursion, "I don't know whether it is a +sign of declining virtue, but I find as I grow older that I am less +and less fond of my own company." From the first he had won the +confidence and affection of his pupils. Many of them used long +afterwards to say that his conduct and his teaching had been the one +great example or one great influence they had found and felt in +Oxford. The unclouded happiness of his married life made it easier for +him to see the bright side of things, and he could not but enjoy the +sense that the seed he sowed was falling on ground fit to receive it. +Even when ill-health had fastened on him, and was checking both his +studies and his public work, it did not affect the evenness of his +temper nor sharpen the edge of his judgments of others. In earlier +days these had been sometimes austere, though expressed in temperate +and measured terms. + +I must not forget to add that although Green's opinions were by no +means orthodox, the influence he exerted while he remained a college +tutor was in large measure a religious influence. As the clergyman +used to be in the English Universities less of a clergyman than he was +anywhere else, so conversely it caused no surprise there that a lay +teacher should concern himself with the religious life of his pupils. +Green, however, did more, for he on two occasions at least delivered +to his pupils, before the celebration of the communion in the college +chapel, addresses which were afterwards privately printed, and which +present his view of the relations of ethics and religion in a way +impressive even to those who may find it hard to follow the +philosophical argument. + +Metaphysicians are generally as little interested in practical +politics as poets are, and not better suited for political life. Green +was a remarkable exception. Politics were in a certain sense the +strongest of his interests. To him metaphysics were not only the basis +of theology, but also the basis of politics. Everything was to +converge on the free life of the individual in a free State; rational +faith and reason inspired by emotion were to have their perfect work +in making the good citizen. + +His interest in politics was perhaps less active in later years than +it had been in his youth, but his principles stood unchanged. He was a +thoroughgoing Liberal, or what used to be called a Radical, full of +faith in the people, an advocate of pretty nearly every measure that +tended to democratise English institutions, a friend of peace and of +non-intervention. In our days he would have been called a Little +Englander, for though his ideal of national life was lofty, the +wellbeing of the masses was to him a more essential part of that ideal +than any extension of territory or power. He once said that he would +rather see the flag of England trailed in the dirt than add sixpence +to the taxes that weigh upon the poor. In foreign politics Louis +Napoleon, as the corrupter of France and the disturber of Europe, was +his favourite aversion; in home politics, Lord Palmerston, as the +chief obstacle to parliamentary reform. The statesman whom he most +admired and trusted was Mr. Bright. A strong sense of civic duty led +him to enter the City Council of Oxford, although he could ill spare +from his study and his lecture-room the time which the discharge of +municipal duties required. He was the first tutor who had ever offered +himself to a ward for election. The townsfolk, between whom and the +University there had generally been little love, the former thinking +themselves looked down upon by the latter, warmly appreciated his +action in coming out of his seclusion to help them, and his influence +in the Council contributed to secure some useful reforms, among +others, the establishment of a "grammar" or secondary school for the +city. + +One of the last things he wrote was a short pamphlet on freedom of +contract, intended to justify the interference with bargains between +landlord and tenant which was proposed by Mr. Gladstone's Irish Land +Bill of 1881. It is a vigorous piece of reasoning, which may still be +read with interest in respect of its application of philosophical +principles to a political controversy. Had he desired it he might have +gone to the House of Commons as member for the city of Oxford. But he +had found in the Council a field for local public work, and apart from +his constitutional indolence and his declining health, he had +concluded that his first duty lay in expounding his philosophical +system. + +Green will be long remembered in the English Universities as the +strongest force in the sphere of ethical philosophy that they have +seen in the second half of the nineteenth century, and remembered also +as a singular instance of a metaphysician with a bent towards politics +and practical life, no less than as a thinker far removed from +orthodoxy who exerted over orthodox Christians a potent and inspiring +religious influence. + +----- + + [18] As I have referred to the American Civil War, it is worth adding + that there were no places in England where the varying fortunes + of that tremendous struggle were followed with a more intense + interest than in Oxford and Cambridge, and none in which so + large a proportion of the educated class sympathised with the + cause of the North. Mr. Goldwin Smith led the section which + took that view, and which included three-fourths of the best + talent in Oxford. Among the younger men Green was the most + conspicuous for his ardour on behalf of the principles of human + equality and freedom. He followed and watched every move in the + military game. No Massachusetts Abolitionist welcomed the fall + of Vicksburg with a keener joy. He used to say that the whole + future of humanity was involved in the triumph of the Federal + arms. + + + + +ARCHBISHOP TAIT[19] + + +England is now the only Protestant country in which bishops retain +some relics of the dignity and influence which belonged to the +episcopal office during the Middle Ages. Even in Roman Catholic +countries they have been sadly shorn of their ancient importance, +though the prelates of Hungary still hold vast possessions, while +in France, or Spain, or the Catholic parts of Germany a man of eminent +talents and energy may occasionally use his official position to +become, through his influence over Catholic electors or Catholic +deputies, a considerable political factor. This happens even in +the United States and Canada, though in the United States the +general feeling that religion must be kept out of politics obliges +ecclesiastics to use their spiritual powers cautiously and sparingly. +England stands alone in the fact that although the Protestant +Episcopal Church is, in so far as she is established by law, the +creature and subject of the State, she is nevertheless so far +independent as a religious organisation that she retains a greater +power than in other Protestant nations. State establishment, though it +may have depressed, has not stifled her ecclesiastical life, and an +interest in ecclesiastical questions is shown by a larger proportion +of her laity than one finds in Germany or the Scandinavian kingdoms. A +man of shining parts has, as an English bishop, a wide field of +action and influence open to him outside the sphere of theology or +of purely official duty. And the opportunities of the position +attain their maximum when he reaches the primatial chair of +Canterbury, which is now the oldest and the most dignified of all the +metropolitan sees in countries that have accepted the Reformation of +the sixteenth century. + +Ever since there was a bishop at Canterbury at all, that is to say, +ever since the conversion of the English began in the seventh +century of our era, the holder of that see has been the greatest +ecclesiastical personage in these islands, with a recognised +authority over all England, as well as an influence and dignity to +which, in the Middle Ages, the Archbishops of Armagh and St. Andrews +(primates of the Irish and Scottish Churches) practically bowed, +even while refusing to admit his legal supremacy. To be the most +highly placed and officially the most powerful man in the churches of +Britain, in days when the Church was better organised, and in some +ways stronger, than the State, meant a vast deal. The successor of +Augustine was often called a Pope of his own world--that world of +Britain which lay apart from the larger world of the European +continent. Down to the Reformation, the English primates possessed a +power which made some of them almost a match for the English kings. +Dunstan, Lanfranc, Anselm, Thomas (Becket), Hubert, Stephen Langton, +Arundel, Warham, were among the foremost statesmen of their time. +After Henry VIII.'s breach with Rome, the Primate of England +received some access of dignity in becoming independent of the +Pope; but, in reality, the loss of church power and church wealth +which the Reformation caused lowered his political importance. In +the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, however, there were still +some conspicuous and influential prelates at Canterbury--Cranmer, +Pole, Whitgift, and Laud the best remembered among them. After the +Revolution of 1688, a time of smaller men begins. The office +retained its dignity as the highest place open to a subject, ranking +above the Lord Chancellor or the Lord President of the Council, but +the Church of England, having no fightings within, nor anything to +fear from without, was lapped in placid ease, so it mattered +comparatively little who her chief pastor was. + +Bishoprics were in those days regarded chiefly as pieces of rich +preferment with which prime ministers bought the support of powerful +adherents. But since the middle of the nineteenth century, as the +Anglican Church has become at once more threatened and more energetic, +as more of the life of the nation has flowed into her and round her, +the office of a bishop has risen in importance. People show more +interest in the appointments to be made, and ministers have become +proportionately careful in making them. Bishops work harder and are +more in the public eye now than they were eighty, or even fifty, years +ago. They have lost something of the antique dignity and social +consideration which they enjoyed. They no longer wear wigs or ride in +State coaches. They may be seen in third-class railway carriages, or +sitting on the tops of omnibuses. But they have gained by having +countless opportunities opened up to them for exerting influence in +philanthropic as well as in religious movements; and the more zealous +among them turn these opportunities to excellent account. + +Whatever is true of an ordinary bishop is true _a fortiori_ of the +Archbishop of Canterbury. He is still a great personage, but he is +great in a new way, with less of wealth and power but larger +opportunities of influence. He is also a kind of Pope in a new way, +because he is the central figure of the Anglican communion over the +whole world, with no legal jurisdiction outside England (except in +India), but far over-topping all the prelates of that communion in the +United States or the British Colonies. Less deference is paid to the +office, considered simply as an office, than it received in the Middle +Ages, because society and thought have been tinged by the spirit of +democratic equality, and people realise that offices are only +artificial creations, whose occupants are human beings like +themselves. But if he is himself a man of ability and force, he may +make his headship of an ancient and venerated church a vantage-ground +whence to address the nation as well as the members of his own +communion. He is sure of being listened to, which is of itself no +small matter in a country where many voices are striving to make +themselves heard at the same time. The world takes his words into +consideration; the newspapers repeat them. His position gives him easy +access to the ministers of the Crown, and implies a confidential +intercourse with the Crown itself. He is, or can be, "in touch" with +all the political figures who can in any way influence the march of +events, and is able to enforce his views upon them. All his conduct is +watched by the nation; so that if it is discreet, provident, animated +by high and consistent principle, he gets full credit for whatever he +does well, and acquires that influence to which masses of men are +eager to bow whenever they can persuade themselves that it is +deserved. During the first half of the nineteenth century the English +people was becoming more interested in ecclesiastical and in +theological matters than it had been during the century preceding. It +grew by slow degrees more inclined to observe ecclesiastical persons, +to read and think about theological subjects, to reflect upon the +relations which the Church ought to bear to civil life and moral +progress. Thus a leader of the Church of England became relatively a +more important factor than he had been a century ago, and an +archbishop, strong by his character, rectitude, and powers of +utterance, rose to occupy a more influential, if not more conspicuous, +position than his predecessors in the days of the Georges had done. + +These changes naturally made the selection of an archbishop a more +delicate and troublesome business than it was in those good old days. +Nobody then blamed a Prime Minister for preferring an aspirant who had +the support of powerful political connections. Blameless in life he +must be: even the eighteenth century demanded that from candidates for +English, if not, according to Dean Swift, for Irish sees. If he was +also a man of courtly grace and dignity, and a finished scholar, so +much the better. If he was a man of piety, that also was well. By the +time of Queen Victoria the possession of piety and of gifts of speech +had become more important qualifications, but the main thing was +tactful moderation. Even in apostolic days it was required that a +bishop should rule his own house well, and the Popes esteemed most +saintly have not always been the best, as the famous case of Celestine +the Fifth attests. An archbishop must first and foremost be a discreet +and guarded man, expressing few opinions, and those not extreme ones. +His chief virtue came to be, if not the purely negative one of +offending no section by expressing the distinctive views of any other, +yet that of swerving so little from the _via media_ between Rome and +Geneva that neither the Tractarian party, who began to be feared after +1837, nor the pronounced Low Churchmen could claim the Primate as +disposed to favour their opinions. In the case of ordinary bishops the +plan could be adopted, and has since the days of Lord Palmerston been +mostly followed, of giving every party its turn, while choosing from +every party men of the safer sort. This method, however, was less +applicable to the See of Canterbury, for a man on whose action much +might turn could not well be taken from any particular section. The +acts and words of a Primate, who is expected to "give a line" to the +clergy generally and to speak on behalf of the bench of bishops as a +whole, are so closely scrutinised that he must be prudent and wary, +yet not so wary as to seem timid. He ought to be both firm and suave, +conciliatory and decided. That he may do justice to all sections of +the Church of England, he ought not to be an avowed partisan of any. +Yet he must be able and eminent, and of course able and eminent men +are apt to throw themselves into some one line of action or set of +views, and so come to be considered partisans. The position which the +Archbishop of Canterbury holds as the representative in Parliament of +the whole Established Church, makes statesmanship the most important +of all qualifications. Learning, energy, eloquence, piety would none +of them, nor all of them together, make up for the want of calmness +and wisdom. Yet all those qualities are obviously desirable, because +they strengthen as well as adorn the primate's position. + +Archibald Campbell Tait (born in Scotland in 1811, died 1882) was +educated at Glasgow University and at Balliol College, Oxford; worked +at his college for some years as a tutor, succeeded Dr. Arnold as +headmaster of Rugby School in 1843, became Dean of Carlisle and then +Bishop of London, and was translated to Canterbury in 1868. It has +been generally understood that Mr. Disraeli, then Prime Minister, +suggested another prelate for the post, but the Queen, who did not +share her minister's estimate of that prelate, expressed a preference +for Tait. Her choice was amply justified, for Tait united, and indeed +possessed in a high degree, the qualifications which have just been +enumerated. He was, if it be not a paradox to say so, more remarkable +as an archbishop than as a man. He had no original power as a thinker. +He was not a striking preacher, and the more pains he took with his +sermons the less interesting did they become. He was so far from being +learned that you could say no more of him than that he was a sound +scholar and a well-informed man. He was deeply and earnestly pious, +but in a quiet, almost dry way, which lacked what is called unction, +though it impressed those who were in close contact with him. He +showed slight interest either in the historical or in the speculative +side of theology. Though a good headmaster, he was not a stimulating +teacher. Had he remained all his life in a subordinate position, as a +college tutor at Oxford, or as canon of some cathedral, he would have +discharged the duties of the position in a thoroughly satisfactory +way, and would have acquired influence among his colleagues, but no +one would have felt that Fate had dealt unfairly with him in depriving +him of some larger career and loftier post. No one, indeed, who knew +him when he was a college tutor seems to have predicted the dignities +he was destined to attain, although he had shown in the theological +strife that then raged at Oxford the courage and independence of his +character. + +In what, then, did the secret of his success lie--the secret, that is, +of his acquitting himself so excellently in those dignities as to have +become almost a model to his own and the next generation of what an +Archbishop of Canterbury ought to be? In the statesmanlike quality of +his mind. He had not merely moderation, but what, though often +confounded with moderation, is something rarer and better, a steady +balance of mind. He was carried about by no winds of doctrine. He +seldom yielded to impulses, and was never so seduced by any one theory +as to lose sight of other views and conditions which had to be +regarded. He was, I think, the first man of Scottish birth who ever +rose to be Primate of England, and he had the cautious self-restraint +which is deemed characteristic of his nation. He knew how to be +dignified without assumption, firm without vehemence, prudent without +timidity, judicious without coldness. He was, above all things, a +singularly just man, who recognised every one's rights, and did not +seek to overbear them by an exercise of authority. He was as ready to +listen to his opponents as to his friends. Indeed, he so held himself +as to appear to have no opponents, but to be rather a judge before +whom different advocates were stating their respective cases, than a +leader seeking to make his own views or his own party prevail. Genial +he could hardly be called, for there was little warmth, little display +of emotion, in his manner; and the clergy noted, at least in his +earlier episcopal days, a touch of the headmaster in his way of +receiving them. But he was simple and kindly, capable of seeing the +humorous side of things, desiring to believe the good rather than the +evil, and to lead people instead of driving them. With all his caution +he was direct and straightforward, saying no more than was necessary, +but saying nothing he had occasion to be ashamed of. He sometimes made +mistakes, but they were not mistakes of the heart, and, being free +from vanity or self-conceit, he was willing in his quiet way to admit +them and to alter his course accordingly. So his character by degrees +gained upon the nation, and so even ecclesiastical partisanship, +proverbially more bitter than political, because it springs from +deeper wells of feeling, grew to respect and spare him. The influence +he obtained went far to strengthen the position of the Established +Church, and to keep its several parties from breaking out into more +open hostility with one another. He himself inclined to what might be +called a moderate Broad Church attitude, leaning more to Evangelical +than to Tractarian or Romanising views in matters of doctrine. At one +time the extreme High Churchmen regarded him as an enemy. But this +unfriendliness had almost died away when the death of his wife and his +only son (a young man of singularly winning character), followed by +his own long illness, stilled the voices of criticism. + +He exerted great influence in the House of Lords by his tact, by his +firmness of character, and by the consistency of his public course, as +well as by powers of speech, which, matured by long practice, had +risen to a high level. Without eloquence, without either imagination +or passion, which are the chief elements in eloquence, he had a grave, +weighty, thoughtful style which impressed that fastidious audience. +His voice was strong and sonorous, his diction plain yet pure and +dignified, his matter well considered. His thought moved on a high +plane; he spoke as one who fully believed every word he said. The late +Bishop of Winchester, the famous Dr. Samuel Wilberforce, was +incomparably his superior not only as a talker but as an orator, but +no less inferior in his power over the House of Lords, for so little +does rhetorical brilliance count in a critical and practical assembly. +Next to courage, the quality which gains trust and regard in a +deliberative body is that which is familiarly described when it is +said of a man, "You always know where to find him." Tait belonged to +no party. But his principles, though not rigid, were fixed and +settled; his words and votes were the expression of his principles. + +The presence of bishops in the House of Lords is disapproved by some +sections of English opinion, and there are those among the temporal +peers who, quite apart from any political feeling, are said to regard +them with little favour. But every one must admit that they have +raised and adorned the debates in that chamber. Besides Tait and +Wilberforce, two other prelates of the same generation stood in the +front rank of speakers, Dr. Magee, whose wit and fire would have found +a more fitting theatre in the House of Commons, and Dr. Thirlwall, a +scholar and historian whose massive intellect and stately diction were +too rarely used to raise great political issues above the dust-storms +of party controversy. + +Perhaps no Archbishop since the Revolution of 1688 has exercised so +much influence as Dr. Tait, and certainly none within living memory is +so well entitled to be credited with a definite ecclesiastical policy. +His aim was to widen the bounds of the Church of England, so far as +the law could, without evasion, be stretched for that purpose. He bore +a leading part in obtaining an Act of Parliament which introduced a +new and less strict form of clerical subscription. He realised that +the Church of England can maintain her position as a State Church +only by adapting herself to the movements of opinion, and accordingly +he voted for the Divorce Bill of 1859, and for the Burials Bill, which +relieved Dissenters from a grievance that exposed the Established +Church to odium. The Irish Church Disestablishment Bill of 1869 threw +upon him, at the critical moment when it went from the House of +Commons, where it had passed by a large majority, to the House of +Lords, where a still larger majority was hostile, a duty delicate in +itself, and such as seldom falls to the lot of a prelate. The Queen +wrote to him suggesting that he should endeavour to effect a +compromise between Mr. Gladstone, then head of the Liberal Ministry, +and the leading Tory peers who were opposing the Bill. He conducted +the negotiation with tact and judgment, and succeeded in securing good +pecuniary terms for the Protestant Episcopal Establishment. Though he +had joined in the Letter of the Bishops which conveyed their strong +disapproval of the book called _Essays and Reviews_ (whose supposed +heretical tendencies roused such a storm in 1861), and had thereby +displeased his friends, Temple (afterwards archbishop), Jowett, and +Stanley,[20] he joined in the judgment of the Privy Council which in +1863 dismissed the charges against the impugned Essayists. Despite his +advocacy of the Bill which in 1874 provided a new procedure to be used +against clergymen transgressing the ritual prescribed by law, he +discouraged prosecutions, and did his utmost to keep Ritualists as +well as moderate Rationalists within the pale of the Church of +England. He did not succeed--no one could have succeeded, even though +he had spoken with the tongues of men and of angels--in stilling +ecclesiastical strife. The controversies of his days still rage, +though in a slightly different form. But in refusing to yield to the +pressure of any section, in regarding the opinion of the laity rather +than that of the clergy, in keeping close to the law yet giving it the +widest possible interpretation, he laid down the lines on which the +Anglican Established Church can best be defended and upheld. That she +will last, as an Establishment, for any very long time, will hardly be +expected by those who mark the direction in which thought tends to +move all over the civilised world. But Tait's policy and personality +have counted for something in prolonging the time-honoured connection +of the Anglican Church with the English State. + +Perhaps a doubtful service either to the Church or to the State. Yet +even those who regret the connection, and who, surveying the long +course of Christian history from the days of the Emperor Constantine +down to our own, believe that the Christian Church would have been +spiritually purer and morally more effective had she never become +either the mistress or the servant or the ally of the State, but +relied on her divine commission only, may wish that, when the day +arrives for the ancient bond to be unloosed, it should be unloosed not +through an embittered political struggle, but because the general +sentiment of the nation, and primarily of religious men throughout the +nation, has come to approve the change. + +----- + + [19] An admirable life of Archbishop Tait by his son-in-law, Dr. R. T. + Davidson (now Archbishop of Canterbury), and Canon Benham + appeared in 1891. + + [20] They thought his public action scarcely consistent with the + language he had used to Temple in private. + + + + +ANTHONY TROLLOPE[21] + + +When Mr. Anthony Trollope died (December 11, 1882) at the age of +sixty-seven, he was the best known of our English writers of fiction, +and stood foremost among them if the double test of real merit and +wide popularity be applied. Some writers, such as Wilkie Collins, may +have commanded a larger sale. One writer at least, Mr. George +Meredith, had produced work of far deeper insight and higher +imaginative power. But the gifts of Mr. Meredith had then scarcely +begun to win recognition, and not one reader knew his name for five +who knew Trollope's. So Mr. Thomas Hardy had published what many +continue to think his two best stories, but they had not yet caught +the eye of the general public. Mrs. Oliphant, high as was the general +level of her work, and inexhaustible as her fertility appeared, had +not cut her name so deep upon the time as Trollope did. Everything she +did was good, nothing superlatively good. No one placed Trollope in +the first rank of creative novelists beside Dickens or Thackeray, or +beside George Eliot, who had died two years before. But in the second +rank he stood high; and though other novelists may have had as many +readers as he, none was in so many ways representative of the general +character and spirit of English fiction. He had established his +reputation nearly thirty years before, when Thackeray and Dickens were +still in the fulness of their fame; and had maintained it during the +zenith of George Eliot's. For more than a generation his readers had +come from the best-educated classes as well as from those who lack +patience or taste for anything heavier than a story of adventure. In +this respect he stood above Miss Braddon, Mrs. Henry Wood, Ouida, and +other heroines of the circulating libraries, and also above such more +artistic or less sensational writers as William Black, Walter Besant, +James Payn, and Whyte Melville. (The school of so-called realistic +fiction had scarcely begun to appear.) None of these had, like +Trollope, succeeded in making their creations a part of the common +thought of cultivated Englishmen; none had, like him, given us +characters which we treat as typical men and women, and discuss at a +dinner-table as though they were real people. Mrs. Proudie, for +instance, the Bishop of Barchester's wife, to take the most obvious +instance (though not that most favourable to Trollope, for he produced +better portraits than hers), or Archdeacon Grantly, was when Trollope +died as familiar a name to English men and women between sixty and +thirty years of age as Wilkins Micawber, or Blanche Amory, or Rosamond +Lydgate. There was no other living novelist of whose personages the +same could be said, and perhaps none since has attained this +particular kind of success. + +Personally, Anthony Trollope was a bluff, genial, hearty, vigorous +man, typically English in his face, his talk, his ideas, his tastes. +His large eyes, which looked larger behind his large spectacles, were +full of good-humoured life and force; and though he was neither witty +nor brilliant in conversation, he was what is called very good +company, having travelled widely, known all sorts of people, and +formed views, usually positive views, on all the subjects of the day, +views which he was prompt to declare and maintain. There was not much +novelty in them--you were disappointed not to find so clever a writer +more original--but they were worth listening to for their solid +common-sense, tending rather to commonplace sense, and you enjoyed the +ardour with which he threw himself into a discussion. Though +boisterous and insistent in his talk, he was free from assumption or +conceit, and gave the impression of liking the world he lived in, and +being satisfied with his own place in it. Neither did one observe in +him that erratic turn which is commonly attributed to literary men. He +was a steady and regular worker, who rose every morning between five +and six to turn out a certain quantity of copy for the printer before +breakfast, enjoying his work, and fond of his own characters--indeed +he declared that he filled his mind with them and saw them moving +before him--yet composing a novel just as other people might compose +tables of statistics. These methodical habits were to some extent due +to his training as a clerk in the Post Office, where he spent the +earlier half of his working life, having retired in 1864. He did not +neglect his duties there, even when occupied in writing, and claimed +to have been the inventor of the pillar letter-box. It was probably in +his tours as an inspector of postal deliveries that he obtained that +knowledge of rural life which gives reality to his pictures of country +society. He turned his Civil Service experiences to account in some of +his stories, giving faithful and characteristic sketches, in _The +Three Clerks_ and _The Small House at Allington_, of different types +of Government officials, a class which is much more of a class in +England than it is in America, though less of a class than it is in +Germany or France. His favourite amusement was hunting, as readers of +his novels know, and until his latest years he might have been seen, +though a heavy weight, following the hounds in Essex once or twice a +week. + +When E. A. Freeman wrote a magazine article denouncing the cruelty of +field sports, Trollope replied, defending the amusement he loved. Some +one said it was a collision of two rough diamonds. But the end was +that Freeman invited Trollope to come and stay with him at Wells, and +they became great friends. + +Like most of his literary contemporaries, he was a politician, and +indeed a pretty keen one. He once contested in the Liberal interest--in +those days literary men were mostly Liberals--the borough of Beverley in +Yorkshire, a corrupt little place, where bribery proved too strong +for him. It was thereafter disfranchised as a punishment for its +misdeeds; and his costly experiences doubtless suggested the clever +electioneering sketches in the story of _Ralph the Heir_. Thackeray +also was once a Liberal candidate. He stood for the city of Oxford, and +the story was current there for years afterwards how the freemen of +the borough (not an exemplary class of voters) rose to an unwonted +height of virtue by declaring that though they did not understand his +speeches or know who he was, they would vote for him, expecting +nothing, because he was a friend of Mr. Neate's. Trollope showed his +continued interest in public affairs by appearing on the platform at +the great meeting in St. James's Hall in December 1876, which was the +beginning of a vehement party struggle over the Eastern Question that +only ended at the general election of 1880. He was a direct and +forcible speaker, who would have made his way had he entered +Parliament. But as he had no practical experience of politics either in +the House of Commons or as a working member of a party organisation in +a city where contests are keen, the pictures of political life which are +so frequent in his later tales have not much flavour of reality. They +are sketches obviously taken from the outside. Very rarely do even the +best writers of fiction succeed in reproducing any special and +peculiar kind of life and atmosphere. Of the various stories that +purport to describe what goes on in the English Parliament, none +gives to those who know the social conditions and habits of the place +an impression of truth to nature, and the same has often been +remarked with regard to tales of English University life. Trollope, +however, with his quick eye for the superficial aspects of any +society, might have described the House of Commons admirably had he +sat in it himself. He was fond of travel, and between 1862 and 1880 +visited the United States, the West Indies, Australia and New +Zealand, and South Africa, about all of which he wrote books which, if +hardly of permanent value, were fresh, vigorous, and eminently +readable, conveying a definite and generally correct impression of the +more obvious social and economic phenomena he found then existing. +His account of the United States, for instance, is excellent, and did +something to make the Americans forgive the asperity with which his +mother had described her experiences there many years before. +Trollope's travel sketches are as much superior in truthfulness to +Froude's descriptions of the same regions as they are inferior in the +allurements of style. + +The old classification of novels, based on the two most necessary +elements of a drama, divided them into novels of plot and novels of +character. To these we have of late years added novels of incident +or adventure, novels of conversation, novels of manners, not to +speak of "novels with a purpose," which are sermons or pamphlets +in disguise. No one doubted to which of these categories Trollope's +work should be referred. There was in his stories as little plot as a +story can well have. The conversations never beamed with humour like +that of Scott, nor glittered with aphorisms like those of George +Meredith. The incidents carried the reader pleasantly along, but +seldom surprised him by any ingenuity of contrivance. Character there +was, and, indeed, great fertility in the creation of character, for +there is hardly one of the tales in which three or four at least +of the personages do not stand out as people whom you would know +again if you met them years after. But the conspicuous merit of +Trollope's novels, in the eyes of his own countrymen, is their +value as pictures of contemporary manners. Here he may claim to +have been surpassed by no writer of his own generation. Dickens, with +all his great and splendid gifts, did not describe the society he +lived in. His personages were too unusual and peculiar to speak and +act and think like the ordinary men and women of the nineteenth +century; nor would a foreigner, however much he might enjoy the +exuberant humour and dramatic power with which they are presented, +learn from them much about the ways and habits of the average +Englishman. The everyday life to which the stories are most true +is the life of the lower middle class in London; and some one has +observed that although this class changes less quickly than the +classes above it, it is already unlike that which Dickens saw when +in the 'thirties he was a police-court reporter. Critics have, +indeed, said that Dickens was too great a painter to be a good +photographer, but the two arts are not incompatible, as appears +from the skill with which Walter Scott, for instance, portrayed the +peasantry of his own country in _The Antiquary_. Thackeray, again, +though he has described certain sections of the upper or upper +middle class with far more power and delicacy than Trollope ever +reached, does not go beyond those sections, and has little to tell us +about the middle class generally, still less about the classes +beneath them. Trollope was thoroughly at home in the English middle +class and also (though less perfectly) in the upper class; and his +pictures are all the more true to life because there is not that vein +of stern or cynical reflection which runs through Thackeray, and makes +us think less of the story than of the moral. Trollope usually has a +moral, but it is so obvious, so plainly and quietly put, that it does +not distract attention from the minor incidents and little touches +of every day which render the sketches lifelike. If even his +best-drawn characters are not far removed from the commonplace +this helps to make them fairly represent the current habits and +notions of their time. They are the same people we meet in the street +or at a dinner-party; and they are mostly seen under no more +exciting conditions than those of a hunting meet, or a lawn-tennis +match, or an afternoon tea. They are flirting or talking for effect, +or scheming for some petty temporary end; they are not under the +influence of strong passions, or forced into striking situations, +like the leading characters in Charlotte Bronte's or George Eliot's +novels; and for this reason again they represent faithfully the +ordinary surface of English upper and upper middle class society: +its prejudices, its little pharisaisms and hypocrisies, its +snobbishness, its worship of conventionalities, its aloofness from or +condescension to those whom it deems below its own level; and +therewith also its public spirit, its self-helpfulness, its +neighbourliness, its respect for honesty and straightforwardness, +its easy friendliness of manner towards all who stand within the +sacred pale of social recognition. Nor, again, has any one more +skilfully noted and set down those transient tastes and fashions +which are, so to speak, the trimmings of the dress, and which, +transient though they are, and quickly forgotten by contemporaries, +will have an interest for one who, a century or two hence, feels the +same curiosity about our manners as we feel about those of the +subjects of King George the Third. That Trollope will be read at +all fifty years after his death one may hesitate to predict, +considering how comparatively few in the present generation read +Richardson, or Fielding, or Miss Edgeworth, or Charlotte Bronte, and +how much reduced is the number of those who read even Walter Scott +and Thackeray. But whoever does read Trollope in 1930 will gather +from his pages better than from any others an impression of what +everyday life was like in England in the "middle Victorian" period. +The aspects of that life were already, when his latest books were +written, beginning to change, and the features he drew are fast +receding into history. Even the clergy of 1852-1862 are no longer, +except in quiet country districts, the same as the clergy we now see. + +People have often compared the personal impressions which eminent +writers make on those who talk to them with the impressions previously +derived from their works. Thomas Carlyle and Robert Browning used to +be taken as two instances representing opposite extremes. Carlyle +always talked in character: had there been phonographs in his days, +the phonographed "record" might have been printed as part of one of +his books. Browning, on the other hand, seemed unlike what his poems +had made a reader expect: it was only after a long _tete-a-tete_ with +him that the poet whose mind had been learned through his works stood +revealed. Trollope at first caused a similar though less marked +surprise. This bluff burly man did not seem the kind of person who +would trace with a delicate touch the sunlight sparkling on, or a gust +of temper ruffling, the surface of a youthful soul in love. Upon +further knowledge one perceived that the features of Trollope's +talent, facile invention, quick observation, and a strong common-sense +view of things, with little originality or intensity, were really the +dominant features of his character as expressed in talk. Still, though +the man was more of a piece with his books than he had seemed, one +could never quite recognise in him the delineator of Lily Dale. + +As a painter of manners he recalls two of his predecessors--one +greater, one less great than himself. In his limitations and in his +fidelity to the aspects of daily life as he saw them, he resembles +Miss Austen. He is inferior to her in delicacy of portraiture, in +finish, in atmosphere. No two of his books can be placed on a level +with _Emma_ and _Persuasion_. On the other hand, while he has done for +the years 1850-1870 what Miss Burney did for 1770-1790, most critics +will place him above her both in fertility and in naturalness. Her +characters are apt either to want colour, like the heroines of +_Evelina_ and _Cecilia_, or to be so exaggerated, like Mr. Briggs and +Miss Larolles, as to approach the grotesque. Trollope is a realist in +the sense of being, in all but a few of his books, on the lines of +normal humanity, though he is seldom strong enough to succeed, when he +pierces down to the bed-rock of human nature, in rendering the primal +passions either solemn or terrible. Like Miss Austen, he attains +actuality by observation rather than by imagination, hardly ever +entering the sphere of poetry. + +His range was not wide, for he could not present either grand +characters or tragical situations, any more than he could break out +into the splendid humour of Dickens. His wings never raised him far +above the level floor of earth. But within that limited range he had +surprising fertility. His clerical portrait-gallery is the most +complete that any English novelist has given us. No two faces are +exactly alike, and yet all are such people as one might see any day in +the pulpit. So, again, there is scarcely one of his stories in which a +young lady is not engaged, formally or practically, to two men at the +same time, or one man more or less committed to two women; yet no +story repeats exactly the situation, or raises the problem of honour +and duty in quite the same form as it appears in the stories that went +before. Few people who have written so much have so little appeared to +be exhausting their invention. + +It must, however, be admitted that Trollope's fame might have stood +higher if he had written less. The public which had been delighted +with his earlier groups of novels, and especially with that group in +which _The Warden_ comes first and _Barchester Towers_ second, began +latterly to tire of what they had come to deem the mannerisms of their +favourite, and felt that they now knew the compass of his gifts. +Partly, perhaps, because he feared to be always too like himself, he +once or twice attempted to represent more improbable situations and +exceptional personages. But the attempt was not successful. He lost +his touch of ordinary life without getting into any higher region of +poetical truth; and in his latest stories he had begun to return to +his earlier and better manner. + +New tendencies, moreover, embodying themselves in new schools, were +already beginning to appear. R. L. Stevenson as leader of the school +of adventure, Mr. Henry James as the apostle of the school of +psychological analysis, soon to be followed by Mr. Kipling with a type +of imaginative directness distinctively his own, were beginning to +lead minds and tastes into other directions. The influence of France +was more felt than it had been when Trollope began to write. And what +a contrast between Trollope's manner and that of his chief French +contemporaries, such as Octave Feuillet or Alphonse Daudet or Guy de +Maupassant! The French novelists, be their faculty of invention +greater or less, at any rate studied their characters with more care +than English writers had usually shown. The characters were fewer, +almost as few as in a classical drama; and the whole action of the +story is carefully subordinated to the development of these +characters, and the placing of them in a critical position which sets +their strength and weakness in the fullest light. There was more of a +judicious adaptation of the parts to the whole in French fiction than +in ours, and therefore more unity of impression was attained. +Trollope, no doubt, set a bad example in this respect. He crowded his +canvas with figures; he pursued the fortunes of three or four sets of +people at the same time, caring little how the fate of the one set +affected that of the others; he made his novel a sort of chronicle +which you might open anywhere and close anywhere, instead of a drama +animated by one idea and converging towards one centre. He neglected +the art which uses incidents small in themselves to lead up to the +_denoument_ and make it more striking. He took little pains with his +diction, seeming not to care how he said what he had to say. These +defects strike those who turn over his pages to-day. But to those who +read him in the 'fifties or 'sixties, the carelessness was redeemed +by, or forgotten in, the vivacity with which the story moved, the +freshness and faithfulness of its pictures of character and manners. + +----- + + [21] Trollope's autobiography, published in 1883, is a good specimen + of self-portraiture, candid, straightforward, and healthy, and + leaves an agreeable impression of the writer. Dr. Richard + Garnett has written well of him in the _Dictionary of National + Biography_. + + + + +JOHN RICHARD GREEN[22] + + +John Richard Green was born in Oxford on 12th December 1837, and +educated first at Magdalen College School, and afterwards, for a short +time, at a private tutor's. He was a singularly quick and bright boy, +and at sixteen obtained by competition a scholarship at Jesus College, +Oxford, where he began to reside in 1856. The members of that college +were in those days almost entirely Welshmen, and thereby somewhat cut +off from the rest of the University. They saw little of men in other +colleges, so that a man might have a reputation for ability in his own +society without gaining any in the larger world of Oxford. It so +happened with Green. Though his few intimate friends perceived his +powers, they had so little intercourse with the rest of the +University, either by way of breakfasts and wine-parties, or at the +University debating society, or in athletic sports, that he remained +unknown even to those among his contemporaries who were interested in +the same things, and would have most enjoyed his acquaintance. The +only eminent person who seems to have appreciated and influenced him +was Dean Stanley, then Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Canon +of Christ Church. Green had attended Stanley's lectures, and Stanley, +whose kindly interest in young men never failed, was struck by him, +and had some share in turning his studies towards history. He +graduated in 1860, having refused to compete for honours, because he +had not received from those who were then tutors of the college the +recognition to which he was entitled. + +In 1860 he was ordained, and became curate in London at St. Barnabas, +King's Square, whence, after two years' experience, and one or two +temporary engagements, including the sole charge of a parish in +Hoxton, he was appointed in 1865 to the incumbency of St. Philip's, +Stepney, a district church in one of the poorest parts of London, +where the vicar's income was ill-proportioned to the claims which +needy parishioners made upon him. Here he worked with zeal and +assiduity for about three years, gaining an insight into the condition +and needs of the poor which scholars and historians seldom obtain. He +learnt, in fact, to know men, and the real forces that sway them; and +he used to say in later life that he was conscious how much this had +helped him in historical writing. Gibbon, as every one knows, makes a +similar remark about his experience as a captain in the Hampshire +militia. + +Green threw the whole force of his nature into the parish schools, +spending some part of every day in them; he visited incessantly, and +took an active part in the movement for regulating and controlling +private charity which led to the formation of the Charity Organisation +Society. An outbreak of cholera and period of distress among the poor +which occurred during his incumbency drew warm-hearted men from other +parts of London to give their help to the clergy of the East End. +Edward Denison, who was long affectionately remembered by many who +knew him in Oxford and London, chose Green's parish to work in, and +the two friends confirmed one another in their crusade against +indiscriminate and demoralising charity. It was at this time that +Green, who spent upon the parish nearly all that he received as vicar, +found himself obliged to earn some money by other means, and began to +write for the _Saturday Review_. The addition of this labour to the +daily fatigues of his parish duties told on his health, which had +always been delicate, and made him willingly accept from Archbishop +Tait, who had early marked and learned to value his abilities, the +post of librarian at Lambeth. He quitted Stepney, and never took any +other clerical work. + +Although physical weakness was one of the causes which compelled this +step, there was also another. He had been brought up in Tractarian +views, and is said to have been at one time on the point of entering +the Church of Rome. This tendency passed off, and before he went to +St. Philip's he had become a Broad Churchman, and was much influenced +by the writings of Mr. F. D. Maurice, whom he knew and used frequently +to meet, and whose pure and noble character, even more perhaps than +his preaching, had profoundly impressed him. However, his restless +mind did not stop long at that point. The same tendency which had +carried him away from Tractarianism made him feel less and less at +home in the ministry of the Church of England, and would doubtless +have led him, even had his health been stronger, to withdraw from +clerical duties. After a few years his friends ceased to address +letters to him under the usual clerical epithet; but he continued to +interest himself in ecclesiastical affairs, and always retained a +marked dislike to Nonconformity. Aversions sometimes outlive +attachments. + +On leaving Stepney he went to live in lodgings in Beaumont Street, +Marylebone, and divided his time between Lambeth and literary work. +He now during several years wrote a good deal for the _Saturday +Review_, and his articles were among the best which then appeared in +that organ. The most valuable of them were reviews of historical +books, and descriptions from the historical point of view of cities or +other remarkable places, especially English and French towns. Some of +these are masterpieces. Other articles were on social, or what may be +called occasional, topics, and attracted much notice at the time from +their gaiety and lightness of touch, which sometimes seemed to pass +into flippancy. He never wrote upon politics, nor was he in the +ordinary sense of the word a journalist, for with the exception of +these social articles, his work was all done in his own historical +field, and done with as much care and pains as others would bestow on +the composition of a book. Upon this subject I may quote the words of +one of his oldest and most intimate friends (Mr. Stopford Brooke), who +knew all he did in those days. + + The real history of this writing for the _Saturday Review_ has + much personal, pathetic, and literary interest. + + It was when he was vicar of St. Philip's, Stepney, that he wrote + the most. The income of the place was, I think, L300 a year, and + the poverty of the parish was very great. Mr. Green spent every + penny of this income on the parish. And he wrote--in order to + live, and often when he was wearied out with the work of the day + and late into the night--two, and often three, articles a week for + the _Saturday Review_. It was less of a strain to him than it + would have been to many others, because he wrote with such speed, + and because his capacity for rapidly throwing his subject into + form and his memory were so remarkable. But it was a severe + strain, nevertheless, for one who, at the time, had in him the + beginnings of the disease of which he died. + + I was staying with him once for two days, and the first night he + said to me, "I have three articles to write for the _Saturday + Review_, and they must all be done in thirty-six hours." "What are + they?" I said; "and how have you found time to think of them?" + "Well," he answered, "one is on a volume of Freeman's _Norman + Conquest_, another is a 'light middle,' and the last on the + history of a small town in England; and I have worked them all + into form as I was walking to-day about the parish and in London." + One of these studies was finished before two o'clock in the + morning, and while I talked to him; the other two were done the + next day. It is not uncommon to reach such speed, but it is very + uncommon to combine this speed with literary excellence of + composition, and with permanent and careful knowledge. The + historical reviews were of use to, and gratefully acknowledged by, + his brother historians, and frequently extended, in two or three + numbers of the _Saturday Review_, to the length of an article in a + magazine. I used to think them masterpieces of reviewing, and + their one fault was the fault which was then frequent in that + _Review_--over-vehemence in slaughtering its foes. Such reviewing + cannot be fairly described as journalism. It was an historical + scholar speaking to scholars. + + Another class of articles written by Mr. Green were articles on + towns in England, France, or Italy. I do not know whether it was + he or Mr. Freeman who introduced this custom of bringing into a + short space the historical aspect of a single town or of a famous + building, and showing how the town or the building recorded its + own history, and how it was linked to general history, but Mr. + Green, at least, began it very early in his articles on Oxford. At + any rate, it was his habit, at this time, whenever he travelled in + England, France, or Italy, to make a study of any town he + visited. + + Articles of this kind--and he had them by fifties in his + head--formed the second line of what has been called his + journalism. I should prefer to call them contributions to history. + They are totally different in quality from ordinary journalism. + They are short historical essays. + +As his duties at Lambeth made no great demands on his time, he was now +able to devote himself more steadily to historical work. His first +impulse in that direction seems, as I have said, to have been received +from Dean Stanley at Oxford. His next came from E. A. Freeman, who had +been impressed by an ingenious paper of his at a meeting of the +Somerset Archaeological Society, and who became from that time his +steadfast friend. Green was a born historian, who would have been +eminent without any help except that of books. But he was wise enough +to know the value of personal counsel and direction, and generous +enough to be heartily grateful for what he received. He did not belong +in any special sense to what has been called Freeman's school, +differing widely from that distinguished writer in many of his views, +and still more in style and manner. But he learnt much from Freeman, +and he delighted to acknowledge his debt. He learnt among other things +the value of accuracy, the way to handle original authorities, the +interpretation of architecture, and he received, during many years of +intimate intercourse, the constant sympathy and encouragement of a +friend whose affection was never blind to faults, while his +admiration was never clouded by jealousy. It was his good fortune to +win the regard and receive the advice of another illustrious +historian, Dr. Stubbs, who has expressed in language perhaps more +measured, but not less emphatic than Freeman's, his sense of Green's +services to English history. These two he used to call his masters; +but no one who has read him and them needs to be told that his was one +of those strong and rich intelligences which, in becoming more perfect +by the study of others, loses nothing of its originality. + +His first continuous studies had lain among the Angevin kings of +England, and the note-books still exist in which he had accumulated +materials for their history. However, the book he planned was never +written, for when the state of his lungs (which forced him to spend +the winter of 1870-71 at San Remo) had begun to alarm his friends, +they urged him to throw himself at once into some treatise likely to +touch the world more than a minute account of so remote a period could +do. Accordingly he began, and in two or three years, his winters +abroad sadly interrupting work, he completed the _Short History of the +English People_. When a good deal of it had gone through the press, he +felt, and his friends agreed with him, that the style of the earlier +chapters was too much in the eager, quick, sketchy, "point-making" +manner of his _Saturday Review_ articles, "and did not possess" (says +the friend whom I have already quoted) "enough historical dignity for +a work which was to take in the whole history of England. It was then, +being convinced of this, that he cancelled a great deal of what had +been stereotyped, and re-wrote it, re-creating, with his passionate +facility, his whole style." In order to finish it he gave up the +_Saturday Review_ altogether, though he could ill spare what his +writing there brought him in. It is seldom that one finds such +swiftness and ease in composition as his, united to so much +fastidiousness. He went on remoulding and revising till his friends +insisted that the book should be published anyhow, and published it +accordingly was, in 1874. Feeling that his time on earth might be +short, for he was often disabled even by a catarrh, he was the readier +to yield. + +The success of the _Short History_ was rapid and overwhelming. +Everybody bought it. It was philosophical enough for scholars, and +popular enough for schoolboys. No historical book since Macaulay's +_History_ has made its way so fast, or been read with so much avidity. +And Green was under disadvantages from which his great predecessor did +not suffer. Macaulay's name was famous before his _History of England_ +appeared, and Macaulay's scale was so large that he could enliven his +pages with a multitude of anecdotes and personal details. Green was +known only to a small circle of friends, having written nothing under +his own signature except one or two papers in magazines or in the +Transactions of archaeological societies; and the plan of his book, +which dealt, in eight hundred and twenty pages, with the whole +fourteen centuries of English national life, obliged him to handle +facts in the mass, and touch lightly and briefly on personal traits. A +summary is of all kinds of writing that which it is hardest to make +interesting, because one must speak in general terms, one must pack +facts tightly together, one must be content to give those facts +without the delicacies of light and shade, or the subtler tints of +colour. Yet such was his skill, both literary and historical, that his +outlines gave more pleasure and instruction than other people's +finished pictures. + +In 1876 he took, for the only time in his life, except when he had +supported a working-man's candidate for the Tower Hamlets at the +general election of 1868, an active part in practical politics. +Towards the end of that year, when war seemed impending between Russia +and the Turks, fears were entertained that England might undertake the +defence of the Sultan, and a body called the Eastern Question +Association was formed to organise opposition to the pro-Turkish +policy of Lord Beaconsfield's Ministry. Green threw himself warmly +into the movement, was chosen to serve on the Executive Committee of +the Association, and was one of a sub-committee of five (which +included also Mr. Stopford Brooke and Mr. William Morris the poet[23]) +appointed to draw up the manifesto convoking the meeting of delegates +from all parts of the country, which was held in December 1876, under +the title of the Eastern Question Conference. The sub-committee met at +my house and spent the whole day on its work. It was a new and curious +experience to see these three great men of letters drafting a +political appeal. Morris and Green were both of them passionately +anti-Turkish, and Morris indeed acted for the next two years as +treasurer of the Association, doing his work with a business-like +efficiency such as poets seldom possess. Green continued to attend the +general committee until, after the Treaty of Berlin, it ceased to +meet, and took the keenest interest in its proceedings. But his weak +health and frequent winter absences made public appearances impossible +to him. He was all his life an ardent Liberal. His sympathy with +national movements did not confine itself to Continental Europe, but +embraced Ireland and made him a Home Ruler long before Mr. Gladstone +and the Liberal party adopted that policy. It ought to be added that +though he had ceased to belong to the Church of England, he remained +strongly opposed to disestablishment. + +When he had completed the re-casting of his _Short History_ in the +form of a larger book, which appeared under the title of _A History of +the English People_, he addressed himself with characteristic activity +to a new project. He had for a long time meditated upon the _origines_ +of English history, the settlement of the Teutonic invaders in +Britain, followed by the consolidation of their tribes into a nation +with definite institutions and a settled order; and his desire to +treat this topic was stimulated by the way in which some critics had +sought to disparage his _Short History_ as a mere popularising of +other people's ideas. The criticism was unjust, for, if there had been +no rummaging in MS. sources for the _Short History_, there was +abundant originality in the views the book contained. However, these +carpings disposed his friends to recommend an enterprise which would +lead him to deal chiefly with original authorities, and to put forth +those powers of criticism and construction which they knew him to +possess. Thus he set to work afresh at the very beginning, at Roman +Britain and the Saxon Conquest. He had not advanced far when, having +gone to spend the winter in Egypt, he caught an illness which so told +on his weak frame that he was only just able to return to London in +April, and would not have reached it at all but for the care with +which he was tended by his wife. (He had married Miss Alice Stopford +in 1877.) In a few weeks he so far recovered as to be able to resume +his studies, though now forbidden to give to them more than two or +three hours a day. However, what he could not do alone he did with and +through his wife, who consulted the original sources for him, +investigated obscure points, and wrote at his dictation. In this way, +during the summer and autumn months of 1881, when often some slight +change of weather would throw him back and make work impossible for +days or weeks, the book was prepared, which he published in February +1882, under the title of _The Making of England_. Even in those few +months it was incessantly rewritten; no less than ten copies were made +of the first chapter. It was warmly received by the few persons who +were capable of judging its merits. But he was himself far from +satisfied with it as a literary performance, thinking that a reader +would find it at once too speculative and too dry, deficient in the +details needed to make the life of primitive England real and +instructive. If this had been so it would have been due to no failing +in his skill, but to the scantiness of the materials available for the +first few centuries of our national history. But he felt it so +strongly that he was often disposed to recur to his idea of writing a +history of the last seventy or eighty years, and was only induced by +the encouragement of a few friends to pursue the narrative which, in +_The Making of England_, he had carried down to the reign of Egbert. +The winter of 1881 was spent at Mentone, and the following summer in +London. He continued very weak, and was sometimes unable for weeks +together to go out driving or to work at home. But the moment that an +access of strength returned, the note-books were brought out, and he +was again busy going through what his wife's industry had tabulated, +and dictating for an hour or two till fatigue forced him to desist. +Those who saw him during that summer were amazed, not only at the +brave spirit which refused to yield to physical feebleness, but at the +brightness and clearness of his intellect, which was not only as +active as it had ever been before, but as much interested in whatever +passed in the world. When one saw him sitting propped up with cushions +on the sofa, his tiny frame worn to skin and bone, his voice +interrupted by frequent fits of coughing, it seemed wrong to stay, +but, after a little, all was forgotten in the fascination of his talk, +and one found it hard to realise that where thought was strong speech +might be weak. + +In October, when he returned to Mentone, the tale of early English +history had been completed, and was in type down to the death of Earl +Godwine in A.D. 1052. He had hesitated as to the point at which the +book should end, but finally decided to carry it down to A.D. 1085, +the date of the dispersion of the last great Scandinavian armament +which threatened England. As the book dealt with both the Danish and +Norman invasions, he called it _The Conquest of England_. It appeared +after his death, wanting, indeed, those expansions in several places +which he had meant to give it, but still a book such as few but he +could have produced, full of new light, and equal in the parts which +have been fully handled to the best work of his earlier years. + +Soon after he returned to Mentone he became rapidly worse, and unfit +for any continuous exertion. He could barely sit in the garden during +an hour or two of morning sunshine. There I saw him in the end of +December, fresh and keen as ever, aware that the most he could hope +for was to live long enough to complete his _Conquest_, but eagerly +reading every new book that came to him from England, starting schemes +for various historical treatises sufficient to fill three life-times, +and ranging in talk over the whole field of politics, literature, and +history. It seemed as if the intellect and will, which strove to +remain till their work was done, were the only things which held the +weak and wasted body together. The ardour of his spirit prolonged life +amid the signs of death. In January there came a new attack, and in +February another unexpected rally. On the 2nd of March he remarked +that it was no use fighting longer, and expired five days afterwards +at the age of forty-six. + +Short as his life was, maimed and saddened by an ill-health which gave +his powers no fair chance, it was not an unhappy life, for he had that +immense power of enjoyment which so often belongs to a vivacious +intelligence. He delighted in books, in travel, in his friends' +company, in the constant changes and movements of the world. No +satiety dulled his taste for these things, nor was his spirit, except +for passing moments, darkened by the shadows which to others seemed to +lie so thick around his path. He enjoyed, though without boasting, the +fame his books had won, and the sense of creative power. And the last +six years of his life were brightened by the society and affection of +one who entered into all his tastes and pursuits with the fullest +sympathy, and enabled him, by her unwearied diligence, to prosecute +labours which physical weakness must otherwise have arrested. + +He might have won fame as a preacher or as a political journalist. It +was, however, towards historical study that the whole current of his +intellect set, and as it is by what he did in that sphere that he will +be remembered, his special gifts for it deserve to be examined. + +A historian needs four kinds of capacity. First of all, accuracy, +and a desire for the exact truth, which will grudge no time and +pains in tracing out even what might seem a trivial matter. +Secondly, keen observation, which can fasten upon small points, and +discover in isolated data the basis for some generalisation, or the +illustration of some principle. Thirdly, a sound and calm judgment, +which will subject all inferences and generalisations, both one's +own and other people's, to a searching review, and weigh in delicate +scales their validity. These two last-mentioned qualifications taken +together make up what we call the critical faculty, _i.e._ the power +of dealing with evidence as tending to establish or discredit +statements of fact, and those general conclusions which are built on +the grouping of facts. Neither acuteness alone nor the judicial +balance alone is enough to make the critic. There are men quick in +observation and fertile in suggestion whose conclusions are +worthless, because they cannot weigh one argument against another, +just as there are solid and well-balanced minds that never enlighten +a subject because, while detecting the errors of others, they +cannot combine the data and propound a luminous explanation. To the +making of a true critic, in history, in philosophy, in literature, +in psychology, even largely in the sciences of nature, there should +go not only judgment, but also a certain measure of creative +power. Fourthly, the historian must have imagination, not indeed +with that intensity which makes the poet, but in sufficient volume +to let him feel the men of other ages and countries to be living +and real like those among whom he moves, to present to him a large and +full picture of a world remote from himself in time--as a world +moving, struggling, hoping, fearing, enjoying, believing, like the +near world of to-day--a world in which there went on a private life +of thousands or millions of men and women, vaster, more complex, +more interesting than that public life which is sometimes all that +the records of the past have transmitted to us. Our imaginative +historian may or may not be able to reconstruct for us the private +and personal as well as the public or political life of the past. If +he can, he will. If the data are too scanty, he may cautiously +forbear. Yet he will still feel that those whose movements on the +public stage he chronicles were steeped in an environment of natural +and human influences which must have affected them at every turn; +and he will so describe them as to make us feel them human, and give +life to the pallid figures of far-off warriors and lawgivers. + +To these four aptitudes one need hardly add the faculty of literary +exposition, for whoever possesses in large measure the last three, or +even the last alone, cannot fail to interest his readers; and what +more does literary talent mean? + +Distinguishing these several aptitudes, historians will be found to +fall into two classes, according as there predominates in them the +critical or the imaginative faculty. Though no one can attain +greatness without both gifts, still they may be present in very +unequal degrees. Some will investigate tangible facts and their +relations with special care, occupying themselves chiefly with that +constitutional and diplomatic side of history in which positive +conclusions are (from the comparative abundance of records) most +easily reached. Others will be drawn towards the dramatic and personal +elements in history, primarily as they appear in the lives of famous +individual men, secondarily as they are seen, more dimly but not less +impressively, in groups and masses of men, and in a nation at large, +and will also observe and dwell upon incidents of private life or +features of social and religious custom, which the student of stately +politics passes by. + +As Coleridge, when he divided thinkers into two classes, took Plato +as the type of one, Aristotle of the other, so we may take as +representatives of these two tendencies among historians Thucydides +for the critical and philosophical, Herodotus for the imaginative +and picturesque. The former does not indeed want a sense of the +dramatic grandeur of a situation; his narrative of the later part of +the Athenian expedition against Syracuse is like a piece of Aeschylus +in prose. So too Herodotus is by no means without a philosophical +view of things, nor without a critical instinct, although his +generalisations are sometimes vague or fanciful, and his critical +apparatus rudimentary. Each is so splendid because each is wide, +with the great gifts largely, although not equally, developed. + +Green was an historian of the Herodotean type. He possessed capacities +which belong to the other type also; he was critical, sceptical, +perhaps too sceptical, and philosophical. Yet the imaginative quality +was the leading and distinctive quality in his mind and writing. An +ordinary reader, if asked what was the main impression given by the +_Short History of the English People_, would answer that it was the +impression of picturesqueness and vividity--picturesqueness in +attention to the externals of the life described, vividity in the +presentation of that life itself. + +I remember to have once, in talking with Green about Greek history, +told him how I had heard Mr. Jowett, in discussing the ancient +historians, disparage Herodotus and declare him unworthy to be placed +near Thucydides. Green answered, almost with indignation, that to say +such a thing showed that eminent scholars might have little feeling +for history. "Great as Thucydides is," he said, "Herodotus is far +greater, or at any rate far more precious. His view was so much +wider." I forget the rest of the conversation, but what he meant was +that Herodotus, to whom everything in the world was interesting, and +who has told us something about every country he visited or heard of, +had a more fruitful conception of history than his Athenian successor, +who practically confined himself to politics in the narrower sense of +the term, and that even the wisdom of the latter is not so valuable to +us as the flood of miscellaneous information which Herodotus pours out +about everything in the early world--a world about which we should +know comparatively little if his book had not been preserved. + +This deliverance was thoroughly characteristic of Green's own view of +history. Everything was interesting to him because his imagination +laid hold of everything. When he travelled, nothing escaped his quick +eye, perpetually ranging over the aspects of places and society. When +he went out to dinner, he noted every person present whom he had not +known before, and could tell you afterwards something about them. He +had a theory, so to speak, about each of them, and indeed about every +one with whom he exchanged a dozen words. When he read the newspaper, +he seemed to squeeze all the juice out of it in a few minutes. Nor was +it merely the large events that fixed his mind; he drew from stray +notices of minor current matters evidence of principles or tendencies +which escaped other people's eyes. You never left him without having +new light thrown upon the questions of the hour. His memory was +retentive, but more remarkable was the sustained keenness of +apprehension with which he read, and which made him fasten upon +everything in a book or in talk which was significant, and could be +made the basis for an illustration of some view. He had the Herodotean +quality of reckoning nothing, however small or apparently remote from +the main studies of his life, to be trivial or unfruitful. His +imagination vitalised the small things, and found a place for them in +the pictures he was always sketching out. + +As this faculty of discerning hidden meanings and relations was one +index and consequence of his imaginative power, so another was found +in that artistic gift to which I have referred. To give literary form +to everything was a necessity of his intellect. He could not tell an +anecdote or repeat a conversation without unconsciously dramatising +it, putting into people's mouths better phrases than they would have +themselves employed, and giving a finer point to the moral which the +incident expressed. Verbal accuracy suffered, but what he thought the +inner truth came out the more fully. + +Though he wrote very fast, and in the most familiar way, the style of +his more serious letters was as good, I might say as finished, as that +of his books. Every one of them had a beginning, middle, and end. The +ideas were developed in an apt and graceful order, the sentences could +all be construed, the diction was choice. It was the same with the +short articles which he at one time used to write for the _Saturday +Review_. They are little essays, some of them worthy to live not only +for the excellent matter they contain, but for the delicate refinement +of their form. Yet they were all written swiftly, and sometimes in the +midst of physical exhaustion. The friend I have previously quoted +describes the genesis of one. Green had reached the town of Troyes +early one morning with two companions, and immediately started off to +explore it, darting hither and thither through the streets like a dog +trying to find a scent. In two or three hours the examination was +complete. The friends lunched together, took the train on to Basel, +got there late, and went off to bed. Green, however, wrote before he +slept, and laid on the breakfast-table next morning, an article on +Troyes, in which its characteristic features were brought out and +connected with its fortunes and those of the Counts of Champagne +during some centuries, an article which was really a history in +miniature. Then they went out together to look at Basel, and being +asked some question about that city he gave on the spur of the moment +a sketch of its growth and character equally vivid and equally +systematic, grouping all he had to say round two or three leading +theories. Yet he had never been in either place before, and had not +made a special study of either. He could apparently have done the same +for many another town in France or the Rhineland. + +Nothing struck one so much in daily intercourse with him as his +passionate interest in human life. The same quickness of sympathy +which had served him well in his work among the East End poor, enabled +him to pour feeling into the figures of a bygone age, and become the +most human, and in so far the most real and touching, of all who have +dealt with English history. Whether or not his portraits are true, +they always seem to breathe. + +Men and women--that is to say, such of them as have characteristics +pronounced enough to make them classifiable--may be divided into those +whose primary interests are in nature and what relates to nature, and +those whose primary interests are in and for man. Green was the most +striking type I have known of the latter class, not merely because his +human interests were strong, but also because they excluded, to a +degree singular in a mind so versatile, interests in purely natural +things. He did not seem to care for or seek to know any of the +sciences of nature[24] except in so far as they bore directly upon +man's life, and were capable of explaining it or of serving it. He had +a keen eye for country, for the direction and character of hills, the +position and influence of rivers, forests, and marshes, of changes in +the line of land and sea. Readers of _The Making of England_ will +recall the picture of the physical aspects of Britain when the +Teutonic invaders entered it as an unsurpassed piece of reconstructive +description. So on a battle-field or in an historical town, his vision +of the features of the ground or the site was unerring. But he +perceived and enjoyed natural beauty chiefly in reference to human +life. The study of the battle-field and the town site were aids to the +comprehension of historical events. The exquisite landscape was +exquisite because it was associated with the people dwelling there, +with the processes of their political growth, with their ideas or +their social usages. I remember to have had from him the most vivid +descriptions of the towns of the Riviera and of Capri, where he used +to pass the winter, but he never touched on anything which did not +illustrate or intertwine itself with the life of the people, leaving +one uninformed on matters purely physical. Facts about the character +of the mountains, the relation of their ranges to one another, or +their rocks, or the trees and flowers of their upper regions, the +prospects their summits command, the scenes of beauty in their glens, +or beside their wood-embosomed lakes, all, in fact, which the mountain +lover delights in, and which are to him a part of the mountain ardour, +of the passion for pure nature unsullied by the presence of man--all +this was cold to him. But as soon as a touch of human life fell like a +sunbeam across the landscape, all became warm and lovable. + +It was the same with art. With an historian's delight in the creative +ages and their work, he had a fondness for painting and sculpture, and +could so describe what he saw in the galleries and churches of Italy +as to bring out meanings one had not perceived before. But here, too, +it was the human element that fascinated him. Technical merits, though +he observed them, as he observed most things, were forgotten; he dwelt +only on what the picture expressed or revealed. Pure landscape +painting gave him little pleasure. + +It seems a truism to say that one who writes history ought to care +for all that bears upon man in the present in order that he may +comprehend what bore upon him in the past. This roaring loom of +Time, these complex physical and moral forces playing round us, and +driving us hither and thither by such a strange and intricate +interlacement of movements that we seem to perceive no more than what +is next us, and are unable to say whither we are tending, ought to +be always before the historian's mind. But there are few who have +tried, as Green tried, to follow every flash of the shuttle, and to +discover a direction and a relation amidst apparent confusion, for +there are few who have taken so wide a view of the historian's +functions, and have so distinctly set before them as their object the +comprehension and realisation and description of the whole field +of bygone human life. The Past was all present to him in this sense, +that he saw and felt in it not only those large events which +annalists or state papers have recorded, but the everyday life of +the people, their ideas, their habits, their external surroundings. +And the Present was always as if past to him in this sense, that in +spite of his strong political feelings, he looked at it with the eye +of a philosophical observer, trying to disengage principles from +details, permanent tendencies from passing outbursts. His imagination +visualised, so to speak, the phenomena as in a picture; his +speculative faculty tried to harmonise them, measure them, and +forecast their effects. Hence it was a necessity to him to know +what was passing in the world. The first thing he did every day, +whatever other pressure there might be on him, was to read the daily +newspaper. The last thing that he ceased to read, when what remained +of life began to be counted by hours, was the daily newspaper. This +warm interest in mankind is the keynote of his _History of the +English People_. It is the whole people that is ever present to him, +as it had been present before to few other historians. + +Such power of imagination and sympathy as I have endeavoured to +describe is enough to make a brilliant writer, yet not necessarily a +great historian. One must see how far the other qualifications, +accuracy, acuteness of observation, and judgment, are also brought +into action. + +His accuracy has been much impeached. When the first burst of applause +that welcomed the _Short History_ had subsided, several critics began +to attack it on the score of minor errors. They pointed out a number +of statements of fact which were doubtful, and others which were +incorrect, and spread in some quarters the impression that Green was a +careless and untrustworthy writer. I do not deny that there are in the +first editions of the _Short History_ some assertions made more +positively than the evidence warrants, some pictures drawn from +exceedingly slender materials. Mr. Skene remarks of the account given +of the battle between the Jutes and the Britons which took place in +the middle of the fifth century, somewhere near Aylesford in Kent, and +about which we really know scarcely anything, "Mr. Green describes it +as if he had been present." The temptation to such liberties is strong +where the treatment of a period is summary. A writer who compresses +the whole history of England into eight hundred pages of small +octavo, making his narrative not a bare narrative but a picture full +of colour and incident--incident which, for brevity's sake, must often +be given by allusion--cannot be always interrupting the current of the +story to indicate doubts or quote authorities for every statement in +which there may be an element of conjecture; and it is probable that +when the authorities are scrutinised their result will sometimes +appear different from that which the author has presented. On this +head the _Short History_ may be admitted to have occasionally +purchased vividity at the price of exactitude. Of mistakes, strictly +so called--_i.e._ statements demonstrably incorrect and therefore +ascribable to haste or carelessness--there are enough to make a show +under the hands of a hostile critic, yet not more than one is prepared +to expect from any but the most careful scholars. The book falls far +short of the accuracy of Thirlwall or Ranke or Stubbs, short even of +the accuracy of Gibbon or Carlyle; but it is not greatly below the +standard of Grote or Macaulay or Robertson, it is equal to the +standard of Milman, above that of David Hume. I take famous names, and +could put a better face on the matter by choosing for comparison +divers contemporary writers whose literary eminence is higher than +their historical. And Green's mistakes, although pretty numerous, were +(for they have been corrected in later editions) nearly all in small +matters. He puts an event, let us say, in 1340 which happened in the +November of 1339; he calls a man John whose name was William. These +are mistakes to the eye of a civil service examiner, but they seldom +make any difference to the general reader, for they do not affect the +doctrines and pictures which the book contains, and in which lies its +permanent value as well as its literary charm. As Bishop Stubbs says, +"Like other people, Green makes mistakes sometimes; but scarcely ever +does the correction of his mistakes affect either the essence of the +picture or the force of the argument.... All his work was real and +original work; few people besides those who knew him well would see +under the charming ease and vivacity of his style the deep research +and sustained industry of the laborious student." It may be added that +Green's later and more detailed works, _The Making of England_ and +_The Conquest of England_, though they contain plenty of debatable +matter, as in the paucity of authentic data any such book must do, +have been charged with few errors in matters of fact. + +In considering his critical gift, it is well to distinguish those two +elements of acute perception and sober judgment which I have already +specified, for he possessed the former in larger measure than the +latter. The same activity of mind which made him notice everything +while travelling or entering a company of strangers, played +incessantly upon the historical data of his work, and supplied him +with endless theories as to the meaning of a statement, the source it +came from, the way it had been transmitted, the conditions under which +it was made. No one could be more acute and penetrating in what the +Germans call _Quellenforschung_, the collection and investigation and +testing of the sources of history, nor could any one be more +painstaking. Errors of view, apart from those trivial inaccuracies +already referred to, did not arise from an indolence that left any +stone unturned, but rather from an occupation with the leading idea +which had drawn his attention away from the details of time and place. +The ingenuity with which he built up theories was as admirable as the +art with which he stated them. People whom that art fascinated +sometimes fancied that the charm lay entirely in the style. But the +style was only a part of the craftsmanship. The facility in +theorising, the power of grouping facts under new aspects, the skill +in gathering and sifting evidence, were as remarkable as those +artistic qualities which expressed themselves in the paragraphs and +sentences and phrases. What danger there was arose from this +fecundity. His mind was so fertile, could see so much in a theory and +apply it so dexterously, that his judgment was sometimes dazzled by +the brilliance of his ingenuity. I do not think he loved his theories +specially because they were his own, for he often modified them, and +was ready to consider any one else's suggestions; but he had a passion +for light, and when a new view seemed to him to explain things +previously dark, he wanted the patience to suspend his judgment and +abide in uncertainty. Some of his hypotheses he himself dropped. Some +others he probably would have dropped, as the authorities he respected +have not embraced them. Others have made their way into general +acceptance, and may become still more useful as future research works +them out. But, whether right or wrong, they were instructive. Every +one of them is based upon facts whose importance had not been so fully +seen before, and suggests a point of view worth considering. Green's +view may sometimes appear fanciful: it is never foolish, or +superficial, or perverse. And so far from being credulous, his natural +tendency was towards doubt. + +Inventive as his mind was, it was also solvent and sceptical. Seldom +is a strong imagination coupled with so unsparing a criticism as +that which he applied to the materials on which the constructive +faculty had to work. His later tendencies were rather towards +scepticism, and towards what one may call a severe and ascetic view +of history. While writing _The Making of England_ and _The Conquest +of England_, he used to lament the scantiness of the data and the +barren dryness which he feared the books would consequently show. +"How am I to make anything of these meagre entries of marches and +battles which are the only materials for the history of whole +centuries? Here are the Norsemen and Danes ravaging and occupying +the country; we learn hardly anything about them from English +sources, and nothing at all from Danish. How can one conceive and +describe them? how have any comprehension of what England was like in +the districts the Northmen took and ruled?" I tried to get him to +work at the Norse Sagas, and remember in particular to have +entreated him when he came to the battle of Brunanburh to eke out +the pitifully scanty records of that fight from the account given of +it in the story of the Icelandic hero, Egil, son of Skallagrim. But +he answered that the Saga was unhistorical, a bit of legend +written down more than a century after the events, and that he +could not, by using it in the text, appear to trust it, or to mix up +authentic history with what was possibly fable. It was urged that he +could guard himself in a note from being supposed to take it for more +than what it was, a most picturesque embellishment of his tale. But +he stood firm. Throughout these two last books, he steadily +refrained from introducing any matter, however lively or romantic, +which could not stand the test of his stringent criticism, and used +laughingly to tell how Dean Stanley had long ago said to him, after +reading one of his earliest pieces, "I see you are in danger of +growing picturesque. Beware of it. I have suffered for it." + +If in these later years he reined in his imagination more tightly, the +change was due to no failing in his ingenuity. Nothing in his work +shows higher constructive ability than _The Making of England_. He had +to deal with a time which has left us scarcely any authentic records, +and to piece together his narrative and his picture of the country out +of these records, and the indications, faint and scattered, and often +capable of several interpretations, which are supplied by the remains +of Roman roads and villas, the names of places, the boundaries of +local divisions, the casual statements of writers many centuries +later. What he has given us remains an enduring witness to his +historical power. For here it is not a question of mere brilliance of +style. The result is due to patience, penetration, and the careful +weighing of evidence, joined to that faculty of realising things in +the concrete by which a picture is conjured up out of a mass of +phenomena, everything falling into its place under laws which seem to +prove themselves as soon as they are stated. + +Of his style nothing need be said, for his readers have felt its +charm. But it deserves to be remarked that this accomplished master of +words had little verbal memory. He used to say that he could never +recollect a phrase in its exact form, and in his books he often +unconsciously varied, writing from memory, some expression whose +precise form is on record. Nor had he any turn for languages. German +he knew scarcely at all, a fact which makes the range of his +historical knowledge appear more striking; and though he had spent +several winters in Italy, he could not speak Italian except so far as +he needed it for the inn or the railway. The want of mere verbal +memory partly accounts for this deficiency, but it was not unconnected +with the vehemence of his interest in the substance of things. He was +so anxious to get at the kernel that he could not stop to examine the +nut. In this absence of linguistic gifts, as well as in the keenness +of his observation (and in his shortsightedness), he resembled Dean +Stanley, who, though he had travelled in and brought back all that was +best worth knowing from every country in Europe, had no facility in +any language but his own. + +Green was not one of those whose personality is unlike their books, +for there was in both the same fertility, the same vivacity, the +same quickness of sympathy. Nevertheless, his conversation seemed to +give an even higher impression of intellectual power than did his +writings, because it was so swift and so spontaneous. Such talk has +rarely been heard in our time, so gay was it, so vivid, so various, +so full of anecdote and illustration, so acute in criticism, so +candid in consideration, so graphic in description, so abundant in +sympathy, so flashing in insight, so full of colour and emotion as +well as of knowledge and thought. One had to forbid one's self to +visit him in the evening, because it was impossible to get away before +two o'clock in the morning. And, unlike many famous talkers, he was +just as willing to listen as to speak. One of the charms of his +company was that it made a man feel better than his ordinary self. +His appreciation of whatever had any worth in it, his comments and +replies, so stimulated the interlocutor's mind that it moved faster +and could hit upon apter expressions than at any other time. The +same gifts which shone in his conversation, lucid arrangement of +ideas, ready command of words, and a power in perceiving the +tendencies of those whom he addressed, would have made him an +admirable public speaker. I do not remember that he ever did +speak, in his later years, to any audience larger than a committee +of twenty. But he was an eloquent preacher. The first time I ever +saw him was in St. Philip's Church at Stepney about 1866, and I +shall never forget the impression made on me by the impassioned +sentences that rang through the church from the fiery little figure +in the pulpit with its thin face and bright black eyes. + +What Green accomplished seems to those who used to listen to him +little in comparison with what he might have done had longer life +and a more robust body been granted him. Some of his finest gifts +would not have found their full scope till he came to treat of a +period where the materials for history are ample, and where he +could have allowed himself space to deal with them--such a period, +for instance, as that of his early choice, the Angevin kings of +England. Yet, even basing themselves on what he has done, they may +claim for him a place among the foremost writers of his time. He +left behind him no one who combined so many of the best gifts. There +were among his contemporaries historians more learned and equally +industrious. There were two or three whose accuracy was more +scrupulous, their judgment more uniformly sober and cautious. But +there was no one in whom so much knowledge and so wide a range of +interests were united to such ingenuity, acuteness, and originality, +as well as to such a power of presenting results in rich, clear, +pictorial language. A master of style may be a worthless historian. +We have instances. A skilful investigator and sound reasoner may be +unreadable. The conjunction of fine gifts for investigation with +fine gifts for exposition is a rare conjunction, which cannot be +prized too highly, for while it advances historical science, it brings +historical methods, as well as historical facts, within the horizon of +the ordinary reader. + +Of the services Green rendered to English history, the first, and that +which was most promptly appreciated, was the intensity with which he +realised, and the skill with which he portrayed, the life of the +people of England as a whole, and taught his readers that the exploits +of kings and the intrigues of ministers, and the struggles of parties +in Parliament, are, after all, secondary matters, and important +chiefly as they affect the welfare or stimulate the thoughts and +feelings of the great mass of undistinguished humanity in whose hands +the future of a nation lies. He changed the old-fashioned distribution +of our annals according to reigns and dynasties into certain periods, +showing that such divisions often obscure the true connection of +events, and suggesting new and better conceptions of the periods into +which the record of English progress naturally falls. And, lastly, he +laid, in his latest books, a firm and enduring foundation for our +mediaeval history by that account of the Teutonic occupation of +England, of the state of the country as they found it, and the way +they conquered and began to organise it, which I have already dwelt on +as a signal proof of his constructive faculty. + +Many readers will be disposed to place him near Macaulay, for though +he was less weighty he was more subtle, and not less fascinating. To +fewer perhaps will it occur to compare him with Gibbon, yet I am +emboldened by the opinion of one of our greatest contemporary +historians to venture on the comparison. There are indeed wide +differences between the two. Green is as completely a man of the +nineteenth century as Gibbon was a man of the eighteenth. Green's +style has not the majestic march of Gibbon: it is quick and eager +almost to restlessness. Nor is his judgment so uniformly grave and +sound. But one may find in his genius what was characteristic of +Gibbon's also, the combination of a mastery of multitudinous details, +with a large and luminous view of those far-reaching forces and +relations which govern the fortunes of peoples and guide the course of +empire. This width and comprehensiveness, this power of massing for +the purposes of argument the facts which his literary art has just +been clothing in its most brilliant hues, is the highest of a +historian's gifts, and is the one which seems most surely to establish +Green's position among the leading historical minds of his time. + +----- + + [22] This sketch was written in 1883. A volume of Green's Letters, + with a short connecting biography by Sir Leslie Stephen, was + published in 1901. The letters are extremely good reading, the + biography faithful and graceful. + + [23] Sir George Young and I were the other members. + + [24] At one time, however, he learnt a little geology from his friend + Professor Dawkins, perceiving its bearings on history. + + + + +SIR GEORGE JESSEL, MASTER OF THE ROLLS + + +There is hardly any walk of English life in which brilliant abilities +win so little fame for their possessor among the public at large as +that of practice at the Chancery bar. A leading ecclesiastic, or +physician, or surgeon, or financier, or manufacturer, or even a great +man of science, unless his work is done in some sphere which, like +pure mathematics, is far removed from the comprehension of ordinary +educated men, is sure, in a time like ours, to become well known to +the world and acquire influence in it. A great advocate practising in +the Common-law Courts is, of course, still more certain to become a +familiar figure. But the cases which are dealt with by the Courts of +Equity, though they often involve vast sums of money and raise +intricate and important points of law, mostly turn on questions of a +technical kind, and are seldom what the newspapers call sensational. +Thus it may happen that a practitioner or a judge in these Courts +enjoys an extraordinary reputation within his profession, and is by +them regarded as one of the ornaments of his time, while the rest of +his fellow-countrymen know nothing at all about his merits. + +This was the case with Sir George Jessel, though towards the end of +his career the admiration which the Bar felt for his powers began so +far to filter through to the general public that his premature death +was felt to be a national misfortune. + +Jessel (born in 1824, died in 1883) was only one among many instances +England has lately seen of men of Jewish origin climbing to the +highest distinction. But he was the first instance of a Jew who, +continuing to adhere to the creed of his forefathers, received a very +high office; for Mr. Disraeli, as every one knows, had been baptized +as a boy, and always professed to be a Christian. Jessel's career was +not marked by any remarkable incidents. He rose quickly to eminence at +the bar, being in this aided by his birth; for the Jews in London, as +elsewhere, hold together. There are among them many solicitors in +large practice, and these take a natural pleasure in pushing forward +any specially able member of their community. His powers were more +fully seen and appreciated when he became (in 1865) a Queen's Counsel, +and brought him with unusual speed to the front rank. He came into +Parliament at the general election of 1868 on the Liberal side, and +three years later was made Solicitor-General in Mr. Gladstone's first +Government, retaining, as was then usual, his private practice, which +had become so large that there was scarcely any case of first-rate +importance brought into the Chancery Courts in which he did not +appear. Although a decided Liberal, as the Jews mostly were until Lord +Beaconsfield's foreign policy had begun to lead them into other paths, +he had borne little part in politics till he took his seat in the +House of Commons; and when he spoke there, he obtained no great +success. Lawyers in the English Parliament are under the double +disadvantage of having had less leisure than most other members to +study and follow political questions, and of having contracted a +manner and style of speaking not suited to an assembly which, though +deliberative, is not deliberate, and which listens with impatience to +a technical or forensic method of treating the topics which come +before it. + +Jessel's ability would have soon overcome the former difficulty, but +less easily the latter. Though he was lucid and powerful in his +treatment of legal topics, and made a quite admirable law officer in +the way of advising ministers and the public departments, he was never +popular with the House of Commons, for he presented his views in a +hard, dry, dogmatic form, with no graces of style or delivery. +However, he did not long remain in that arena, but on the retirement +of Lord Romilly from the office of Master of the Rolls, was in 1873 +appointed to succeed him. In this post his extraordinary gifts found +their amplest sphere. The equity judges in England used always to sit, +and in nearly all cases do still sit, without a jury to hear causes, +with or without witnesses, and they despatch a great deal of the +heaviest business that is brought into the courts. Commercial causes +of the first importance come before them, no less than those which +relate to trusts or to real property; and the granting of injunctions, +a specially serious matter, rests chiefly in their hands. Each equity +judge sits alone, and the suitor may choose before which of them he +will bring his case. Among the four--a number subsequently increased +to five--equity judges of first instance, Jessel immediately rose to +the highest reputation, so that most of the heavy and difficult cases +were brought into his court. He possessed a wonderfully quick, as well +as powerful, mind, which got to the kernel of a matter while other +people were still hammering at the shell, and which applied legal +principles just as swiftly and surely as it mastered a group of +complicated facts. + +The Rolls Court used to present, while he presided over it, a curious +and interesting sight, which led young counsel, who had no business to +do there, to frequent it for the mere sake of watching the Judge. When +the leading counsel for the plaintiff was opening his case, Jessel +listened quietly for the first few minutes only, and then began to +address questions to the counsel, at first so as to guide his remarks +in a particular direction, then so as to stop his course altogether +and turn his speech into a series of answers to the Judge's +interrogatories. When, by a short dialogue of this kind, Jessel had +possessed himself of the vital facts, he would turn to the leading +counsel for the defendant and ask him whether he admitted such and +such facts alleged by the plaintiff to be true. If these facts were +admitted, the Judge proceeded to indicate the view he was disposed to +take of the law applicable to the facts, and, by a few more questions +to the counsel on the one side or the other, as the case might be, +elicited their respective legal grounds of contention. If the facts +were not admitted, it of course became necessary to call the witnesses +or read the affidavits, processes which the vigorous impatience of the +Judge considerably shortened, for it was a dangerous thing to read to +him any irrelevant or loosely-drawn paragraph. But more generally his +searching questions and the sort of pressure he applied so cut down +the issues of fact that there was little or nothing left in +controversy regarding which it was necessary to examine the evidence +in detail, since the counsel felt that there was no use in putting +before him a contention which they could not sustain under the fire +of his criticism. Then Jessel proceeded to deliver his opinion and +dispose of the case. The affair was from beginning to end far less an +argument and counter-argument by counsel than an investigation +directly conducted by the Judge himself, in which the principal +function of the counsel was to answer the Judge's questions concisely +and exactly, so that the latter might as soon as possible get to the +bottom of the matter. The Bar in a little while came to learn and +adapt themselves to his ways, and few complained of being stopped or +interrupted by him, because his interruptions, unlike those of some +judges, were neither inopportune nor superfluous. The counsel (with +scarcely an exception) felt themselves his inferiors, and recognised +not only that he was better able to handle the case than they were, +but that the manner and style in which they presented their facts or +arguments would make little difference to the result, because his +penetration was sure to discover the merits of each contention, and +neither eloquence nor pertinacity would have the slightest effect on +his resolute and self-confident mind. Thus business was despatched +before him with unexampled speed, and it became a maxim among +barristers that, however low down in the cause-list at the Rolls your +cause might stand, it was never safe to be away from the court, so +rapidly were cases "crumpled up" or "broken down" under the blows of +this vigorous intellect. It was more surprising that the suitors, as +well as the Bar and the public generally, acquiesced, after the first +few months, in this way of doing business. Nothing breeds more +discontent than haste and heedlessness in a judge. But Jessel's speed +was not haste. He did as much justice in a day as others could do in a +week; and those few who, dissatisfied with these rapid methods, tried +to reverse his decisions before the Court of Appeal, were very seldom +successful, although that court then contained in Lord Justice James +and Lord Justice Mellish two unusually strong men, who would not have +hesitated to differ even from the redoubtable Master of the Rolls. + +As I have mentioned Lord Justice Mellish, I may turn aside for a +moment to say a word regarding that extraordinary man, who stood along +with Cairns and Roundell Palmer in the foremost rank of Jessel's +professional contemporaries. Mellish held for some years before his +elevation to the Bench in 1869 a position unique at the English +Common-law Bar as a giver of opinions on points of law. As the +Israelites in King David's day said of Ahithophel that his counsel was +as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God,[25] so the legal +profession deemed Mellish practically infallible, and held an opinion +signed by him to be equal in weight to a judgment of the Court of +Exchequer Chamber (the then court of appeal in common-law cases). He +was not effective as an advocate addressing a jury, being indeed far +too good for any jury; but in arguing a point of law his unerring +logic, the lucidity with which he stated his position, the cogency and +precision with which he drew his inferences, made it a delight to +listen to him. The chain of ratiocination seemed irrefragable: + + +en d' ethet' akmotheto megan akmona, kopte de desmous + arrhektous alutous, ophr' empedon authi menoien.+[26] + +He had, indeed, but one fault as an arguer. He could not argue a point +whose soundness he doubted as effectively as one in which he had +faith; and when it befell that several points arose in a case, and the +Court seemed disposed to lay more stress on the one for which he cared +little than on the one he deemed conclusive, he refused to fall in +with their view and continued to insist upon that which his own mind +approved. + +I remember to have once heard him and Cairns argue before the House of +Lords (sitting as the final Court of Appeal) a case relating to a +vessel called the _Alexandra_--it was a case arising out of an +attempt of the Confederates, during the American War of Secession, to +get out of a British port a cruiser they had ordered. Cairns spoke +first with all his usual power, and seemed to have left nothing to be +added. But when Mellish followed on the same side, he set his points +in so strong a light, and placed his contention on so solid a basis, +that even Cairns's speech was forgotten, and it seemed impossible that +any answer could be found to Mellish's arguments. One felt as if the +voice of pure reason were speaking through his lips. + +Such an intellect might seem admirably qualified for judicial work. +But as a judge, Mellish, admirable though he was in temper, in +fairness, in learning, and in logic, did not win so exceptional a +reputation as he had won at the Bar. People used to ascribe this +partly to his weak health, partly to the fact that he, who had been a +common-law practitioner, was sitting in a court which heard equity +appeals, and alongside of a quick and strong colleague reared in the +equity courts.[27] But something may have been due to the fact that he +needed the stimulus of conflict to bring out the full force of his +splendid intelligence. A circumstance attending the appointment of +Mellish illustrates the remark already made that a great counsel whose +work lies apart from so-called "sensation cases" may remain unknown to +his contemporaries. When Mr. Gladstone, being then Prime Minister, and +having to select a Lord Justice of Appeal, was told that Mellish was +the fittest man for the post, he asked, "Can that be the boy who was +my fag at Eton?" He had not heard of Mellish during the intervening +forty years! + +However, I return to the Master of the Rolls. In dealing with facts, +Jessel has never had a superior, and in our days, perhaps, no rival. +He knew all the ways of the financial and commercial world. In his +treatment of points of law, every one admitted and admired both an +extraordinary knowledge and mastery of reported cases, and an +extremely acute and exact appreciation of principles, a complete power +of extracting them from past cases and fitting them to the case in +hand. He had a memory which forgot nothing, and which, indeed, wearied +him by refusing to forget trivial things. When he delivered an +elaborate judgment it was his delight to run through a long series of +cases, classifying and distinguishing them. His strength made him +bold; he went further than most judges in readiness to carry a +principle somewhat beyond any decided case, and to overrule an +authority which he did not respect. The fault charged on him was his +tendency, perhaps characteristic of the Hebrew mind, to take a +somewhat hard and dry view of a legal principle, overlooking its more +delicate shades, and, in the interpretation of statutes or documents, +to adhere too strictly to the letter, overlooking the spirit. An +eminent lawyer said, "If all judges had been like Jessel, there might +have been no equity." In that respect many deemed him inferior to Lord +Cairns, the greatest judge among his contemporaries, who united to an +almost equally wide and accurate knowledge of the law a grasp of +principles even more broad and philosophical than Jessel's was. Be +this as it may, the judgments of the Master of the Rolls, which fill +so many pages of the recent English Law Reports, are among the best +that have ever gone to build up the fabric of the English law. Except +on two occasions, when he reserved judgment at the request of his +colleagues in the Court of Appeal, they were delivered on the spur of +the moment, after the conclusion of the arguments, or of so much of +the arguments as he allowed counsel to deliver; but they have all the +merits of carefully-considered utterances, so clear and direct is +their style, so concisely as well as cogently are the authorities +discussed and the grounds of decision stated. The bold and sweeping +character which often belongs to them makes them more instructive as +well as more agreeable reading than the judgments of most modern +judges, whose commonest fault is a timidity which tries to escape, by +dwelling on the details of the particular case, from the enunciation +of a definite general principle. Positive and definite Jessel always +was. As he put it himself: "I may be wrong, but I never have any +doubts." + +At the Bar, Jessel had been far from popular; for his manners were +unpolished, and his conduct towards other counsel overbearing. On +the Bench he improved, and became liked as well as respected. There +was a sort of rough _bonhomie_ about him, and though he could be +disagreeable on occasions to a leading counsel, especially if brought +from the common-law bar into his court, he showed a good-humoured +wish to deal gently with young or inexperienced barristers. There +was also an obvious anxiety to do justice, an impatience of mere +technicalities, and a readiness, remarkable in so strong-willed a +man, to hear what could be said against his own opinion, and to +reconsider it. Besides, a profession is naturally proud of any one +whose talents adorn it, and whose eminence seems to be communicated +to the whole body. + +Ever since, under the Plantagenet kings, the Chancery became a law +court, the office of Master of the Rolls had been that of a judge of +first instance. In 1881 its character was changed, and its occupant +placed at the head of the Court of Appeal. Thus it was as an appellate +judge that Jessel latterly sat, giving no less satisfaction in that +capacity than in his former one, and being indeed confessedly the +strongest judicial intellect (except Lord Cairns) on the Bench. +Outside his professional duties, his chief interest was in the +University of London, at which he had himself graduated. He was a +member of its senate, and busied himself with its examinations, being +up till the last excessively fond of work, and finding that of a judge +who sits for five or six hours daily insufficient to satisfy his +appetite. He was not what would be called a highly cultivated man, +although he knew a great deal beyond the field of law, mathematics, +for instance, and Hebrew literature and botany, for he had been +brought up in a not very refined circle, and had been absorbed in +legal work during the best years of his life. But his was an +intelligence of extraordinary power and flexibility, eminently +practical, as the Semitic intellect generally is, and yet thoroughly +scientific. And he was also one of those strong natures who make +themselves disliked while they are fighting their way to the top, but +grow more genial and more tolerant when they have won what they +sought, and perceive that others admit their pre-eminence. The +services which he rendered as a judge illustrate not only the +advantage of throwing open all places to all comers--the bigotry of an +elder day excluded the Jews from judicial office altogether--but also +the benefit of having a judge at least equal in ability to the best of +those who practise before him. It was because Jessel was so easily +master in his court that so large and important a part of the judicial +business of the country was, during many years, despatched with a +swiftness and a success seldom equalled in the annals of the English +Courts. + +----- + + [25] 2 Sam. xvi. 23. + + [26] _Odyss._ viii. 274: "And upon the anvil-stand he set the mighty + anvil; and he forged the links that could be neither broken nor + loosed, so that they should stay firm in their place." + + [27] Lord Justice James said of his colleague that he had only one + defect as a judge: "He was too anxious to convince counsel that + they were wrong, when he thought their contention unsound, + seeming to forget that counsel are paid not to be convinced." + + + + +LORD CHANCELLOR CAIRNS + + +Hugh M'Calmont Cairns, afterwards Earl Cairns (born 1819, died +1885), was one of three remarkable Scoto-Irishmen whom the north-east +corner of Ulster gave to the United Kingdom in one generation, and +each of whom was foremost in the career he entered. Lord Lawrence +was the strongest of Indian or Colonial administrators, and did more +than any other man to save India for England in the crisis of the +great Mutiny of 1857. Lord Kelvin has been, since the death of +Charles Darwin, the first among British men of science. Lord Cairns +was unquestionably the greatest judge of the Victorian epoch, perhaps +of the nineteenth century.[28] His name and family were of Scottish +origin, but he combined with the shrewd sense and grim persistency +of Scotland some measure of the keen partisanship which marks the +Irish Orangeman. Born an Episcopalian, he grew up a Tory in +politics, an earnest Low-Church Evangelical in religion; nor did his +opinions in either respect ever seem to alter during his long +life. His great abilities were perceived both at school (he was +educated at the Academy in Belfast) and at college (Trinity College, +Dublin), and so much impressed the counsel in whose chambers he +studied for a year in London, that he strongly dissuaded the young +man from returning to Dublin to practise at the Irish bar, promising +him a brilliant career on the wider theatre of England. The prediction +was verified by the rapidity with which Cairns, who had, no doubt, +the advantage of influential connections in the City of London, rose +into note. He obtained (as a Conservative) a seat in Parliament +for his native town of Belfast when only thirty-three years of age, +and was appointed Solicitor-General to Lord Derby's second Ministry +six years later--a post which few eminent lawyers have reached before +fifty. In the House of Commons, though at first somewhat diffident and +nervous, he soon proved himself a powerful as well as ready speaker, +and would doubtless have remained in an assembly where he was +rendering such valuable services to his party but for the weakness +of his lungs and throat, which had threatened his life since boyhood. +He therefore accepted, in 1867, the office of Lord Justice of +Appeal, with a seat in the House of Lords, and next year was made +Lord Chancellor by Mr. Disraeli, then Prime Minister, who dismissed +Lord Chelmsford, then Chancellor, in order to have the benefit of +Cairns's help as a colleague. Disraeli subsequently caused him to +be raised to an earldom. + +After Lord Derby's death, Cairns led the Tory party in the House of +Lords for a time (replacing the Duke of Richmond when the latter +quitted the leadership), but his very pronounced Low-Church +proclivities, coupled perhaps with a certain jealousy felt toward him +as a newcomer, prevented him from becoming popular there, so that +ultimately the leadership of that House settled itself in the hands of +Lord Salisbury, a statesman not superior to Cairns in political +judgment or argumentative power, but without the disadvantage of being +a lawyer, possessing a wider range of political experience, and in +closer sympathy with the feelings and habits of the titled order. +There were, however, some peers who, when Lord Beaconsfield died in +1881, desired to see Cairns chosen to succeed him in the leadership of +the Tory party, then in opposition, in the Upper Chamber. Whether in +opposition or in power, Cairns took a prominent part in all +"full-dress" political debates in the House of Lords and in the +discussion of legal measures, and was indeed so absolutely master of +the Chamber when such measures came under discussion, that the +Liberal Government, during the years from 1868 to 1874, and again from +1880 till 1885, could carry no legal reforms through the House of +Lords except by his permission, which, of course, was never given when +such reforms could seem to affect any political issue. Yet the +vehemence of his party feeling did not overcast his judgment. It was +mainly through his interposition (aided by that of Archbishop Tait) +that the House of Lords consented to pass the Irish Church Bill of +1869, a measure which Cairns, of course heartily disliking it, +accepted for the sake of saving to the disestablished Church a part of +her funds, since these might have been lost had the Bill been rejected +then and passed next year by an angrier House of Commons. Of all the +members of Disraeli's two Cabinets, he was the one whom Disraeli +himself had been wont most to trust and most to rely on. In January +1874, when Mr. Gladstone's suddenly announced dissolution of +Parliament startled all England one Saturday morning, Disraeli, who +heard of it while still in bed, was at first frightened, thinking that +the Liberal leader had played his cards boldly and well, and would +carry the elections. When his chief party manager came to see him he +was found restless and dejected, and cried out, "Send for Cairns at +once." Lord Cairns was sent for, came full of vigour, hope, and +counsel, and after an hour's talk so restored the confidence of his +ally that Disraeli sat down in the best spirits to compose his +electoral manifesto. As everybody knows, Cairns's forecast was right, +and the Tories won the general election by a large majority. + +For political success Cairns had several qualities of the utmost +value--a stately presence, a clear head, a resolute will, and splendid +oratorical gifts. He was not an imaginative speaker, nor fitted to +touch the emotions; but he had a matchless power of statement, and a +no less matchless closeness and cogency in argument. In the famous +controversies of 1866, he showed himself the clearest and most +vigorous thinker among the opponents of reform, more solid, if less +brilliant, than was Robert Lowe. His diction, without being +exceptionally choice, was pure and precise, and his manner had a +dignity and weight which seemed to compel your attention even when +the matter was uninteresting. A voice naturally neither strong nor +musical, and sometimes apt to sound hollow (for the chest was weak), +was managed with great skill; action and gesture were used sparingly +but effectively, and the tall well-built figure and strongly-marked, +somewhat Roman features, with their haughty and distant air, +deepened the impression of power, courage, and resolution which was +characteristic of the whole man. + +The qualities of oratory I have described may seem better fitted to a +comparatively sober and sedate assembly like the House of Lords than +to a changeful and excitable assembly like the House of Commons. Yet, +in point of fact, Cairns spoke better in the Commons than he did +afterwards in the Lords, and would have left an even higher oratorical +reputation had his career in the popular House been longer and his +displays more numerous. The reason seems to be that the heat of that +House warmed his somewhat chilly temperament, and roused him to a more +energetic and ardent style of speaking than was needed in the Upper +Chamber, where he and his friends, commanding a large majority, had +things all their own way. In the House of Commons he confronted a +crowd of zealous adversaries, and put forth all the forces of his +logic and rhetoric to overcome them. In the more languid House of +Lords he was apt to be didactic, sometimes even prolix. He overproved +his own case without feeling the need, which he would have felt in the +Commons, of overthrowing the case of the other side; his manner wanted +animation and his matter variety. Still, he was a great speaker, +greater as a speaker upon legal topics, where a power of exact +statement and lucid exposition is required, than any one he left +behind him. + +Why, it may be asked, with these gifts, and with so much firmness and +energy of character, did he not play an even more conspicuous part in +politics, and succeed, after Lord Beaconsfield's death, to the +chieftaincy of the Tory party? The answer is to be found partly in the +prejudice which still survives in England against legal politicians, +partly in certain defects of his own personality. Although sincerely +pious, and exemplary in all the relations of domestic life, he was +ungenial and unbending in social intercourse. Few equally eminent men +of our time have had so narrow a circle of personal friends. There was +a dryness, a coldness, and an appearance of reserve and hauteur about +his manner which repelled strangers, and kept acquaintanceship from +ripening into friendship. To succeed as a political leader, a man must +usually (I do not say invariably, because there are a few remarkable +instances--Mr. Parnell's would appear to be one of them--to the +contrary) at least seem sympathetic; must be able to enter into the +feelings of his followers, and show himself interested in them not +merely as party followers, but as human beings. There must be a +certain glow, a certain effluence of feeling about him, which makes +them care for him and rally to him as a personality. Whether Lord +Cairns wanted warmth of heart, or whether it was that an inner warmth +failed to pierce the cloak of reserve and pride which he habitually +wore, I do not attempt to determine. But the defect told heavily +against him. He never became a familiar figure to the mass of his +party, a person whose features they knew, at whose name they would +cheer; and nowadays all leaders, to whatever party they belong, find a +source of strength in winning this kind of popularity. The quality +which Americans call magnetism is perhaps less essential in England +than in the country which distinguished and named it; but it is +helpful even in England. Cairns, though an Irishman, was wholly +without it. + +In the field of law, where passion has no place, and even imagination +must be content to move with clipped wings along the ground, the +merits of Lord Cairns's intellect showed to the best advantage. At the +Chancery bar he was one of a trio who had not been surpassed, if ever +equalled, during the nineteenth century, and whom none of our now +practising advocates rivals. The other two were Mr., afterwards Lord +Justice, Rolt, and Mr. Roundell Palmer, afterwards Lord Chancellor +Selborne. All were admirable lawyers, but, of the three, Rolt excelled +in his spirited presentation of a case and in the lively vigour of his +arguments. Palmer was conspicuous for exhaustless ingenuity, and for a +subtlety which sometimes led him away into reasonings too fine for the +court to follow. Cairns was broad, massive, convincing, with a robust +urgency of logic which seemed to grasp and fix you, so that while he +spoke you could fancy no conclusion possible save that toward which he +moved. His habit was to seize upon what he deemed the central and +vital point of the case, throwing the whole force of his argument upon +that one point, and holding the judge's mind fast to it. + +All these famous men were raised to the judicial bench. Rolt remained +there for a few months only, so his time was too short to permit him +to enrich our jurisprudence and leave a memory of himself in the +Reports. Palmer sat in the House of Lords from his accession to the +Chancellorship in 1872 till his death in 1896, and, while fully +sustaining his reputation as a man of eminent legal capacity, was, on +the whole, less brilliant as a judge than he had been as an advocate, +because a tendency to over-refinement is more dangerous in the +judicial than in the forensic mind. He made an admirable Chancellor, +and showed himself more industrious and more zealous for law reform +than did Cairns. But Cairns was the greater judge, and became to the +generation which argued before him a model of judicial excellence. In +hearing a cause he was singularly patient, rarely interrupting +counsel, and then only to put some pertinent question. His figure was +so still, his countenance so impassive, that people sometimes doubted +whether he was really attending to all that was urged at the bar. But +when the time came for him to deliver judgment, which in the House of +Lords is done in the form of a speech addressed to the House in +moving or supporting a motion that is to become the judgment of the +tribunal, it was seen how fully he had apprehended the case in all its +bearings. His deliverances were never lengthy, but they were +exhaustive. They went straight to the vital principles on which the +question turned, stated these in the most luminous way, and applied +them with unerring exactitude to the particular facts. It is as a +storehouse of fundamental doctrines that his judgments are so +valuable. They disclose less knowledge of case-law than do those of +some other judges; but Cairns was not one of the men who love cases +for their own sake, and he never cared to draw upon, still less to +display, more learning than was needed for the matter in hand. It was +in the grasp of the principles involved, in the breadth of view which +enabled him to see these principles in their relation to one another, +in the precision of the logic which drew conclusions from the +principles, in the perfectly lucid language in which the principles +were expounded and applied, that his strength lay. Herein he surpassed +the most eminent of contemporary judges, the then Master of the Rolls, +for while Jessel had perhaps a quicker mind than Cairns, he had not so +wide a mind, nor one so thoroughly philosophical in the methods by +which it moved. + +Outside the spheres of law and politics, Cairns's only interest was in +religion. He did not seem, although a good classical scholar and a +competent mathematician, to care either for letters or for science. But +he was a Sunday-school teacher nearly all his life. Prayer-meetings +were held at his house, at which barristers, not otherwise known for +their piety, but believed to desire county court judgeships, were +sometimes seen. He used to take the chair at missionary and other +philanthropic meetings. He was surrounded by evangelisers and +clergymen. But nothing softened the austerity or melted the ice of +his manners. Neither did the great position he had won seem to give a +higher and broader quality to his statesmanship. It is true that in +law he was wholly free from the partisanship which tinged his politics. +No one was more perfectly fair upon the bench; no one more honestly +anxious to arrive at a right decision. And as a law reformer, although +he effected less than might have been hoped from his abilities or +expected from the absolute sway which he exercised while Chancellor in +Lord Beaconsfield's Government from 1874 to 1880, he was free from +prejudice, and willing to sweep away antiquated rules or usages if they +seemed to block the channel of speedy justice. But in politics this +impartiality and elevation vanished even after he had risen so high +that he did not need to humour the passions or confirm the loyalty of +his own associates. He seemed to be not merely a party man, which an +English politician is forced to be, because if he stands outside +party he cannot effect anything, but a partisan--that is, a man +wholly devoted to his party, who sees everything through its eyes, and +argues every question in its interests. He gave the impression of +being either unwilling or unable to rise to a higher and more truly +national view, and sometimes condescended to arguments whose unsoundness +his penetrating intellect could hardly have failed to detect. His +professional tone had been blameless, but at the bar the path of +rectitude is plain and smooth, and a scrupulous mind finds fewer cases +of conscience present themselves in a year than in Parliament within a +month. Yet if in this respect Cairns failed to reach a level worthy of +his splendid intellect, the defect was due not to any selfish view of +his own interest, but rather to the narrowness of the groove into +which his mind had fallen, and to the atmosphere of Orange sentiment +in which he had grown up. As a politician he is already beginning to +be forgotten; but as a judge he will be held in honourable remembrance +as one of the five or six most brilliant luminaries that have +adorned the English bench since those remote days[29] in which the +beginning of legal memory is placed. + +----- + + [28] No biography of Lord Cairns has (so far as I know) appeared--a + singular fact, considering the brilliancy of his career, and + considering the tendency which now prevails to bestow this kind + of honour on many persons of the second or even the third rank. + One reason may be that Cairns, great though he was, never won + personal popularity even with his own political party or among + his contemporaries at the bar, and was to the general public no + more than a famous name. + + [29] The reign of King Richard the First. + + + + +BISHOP FRASER + + +James Fraser, Bishop of Manchester from 1870 till 1885, was born in +Gloucestershire, of a Scottish family, in 1818, and died at Manchester +in 1885.[30] He took no prominent part in ecclesiastical politics, and +no part at all in general politics. Though a sound classical scholar +in the old-fashioned sense of the term--he won the Ireland University +Scholarship at Oxford, then and still the most conspicuous prize in +the field of classics--he was not an exceptionally cultivated man, and +he never wrote anything except official reports and episcopal charges. +Neither was he, although a ready and effective speaker, gifted with +the highest kind of eloquence. Neither was he a profound theologian. +Yet his character and career are of permanent interest, for he created +not merely a new episcopal type, but (one may almost say) a new +ecclesiastical type within the Church of England. + +Till some sixty or seventy years ago the normal English bishop was a +rich, dignified, and rather easy-going magnate, aristocratic in his +tastes and habits, moderate in his theology, sometimes to the verge of +indifferentism, quite as much a man of the world as a pastor of souls. +He had usually obtained his preferment by his family connections, or +by some service rendered to the court or a political chief--perhaps +even by solicitation or intrigue. Now and then eminence in learning or +literature raised a man to the bench: there were, for instance, the +"Greek play" bishops, such as Dr. Monk of Gloucester, whose fame +rested on their editions of the Attic dramatists; and the _Quarterly +Review_ bishops, such as Dr. Copleston, of Llandaff, whose powerful +pen, as well as his wise administration of the great Oxford College +over which he long presided, amply justified his promotion. So even in +the eighteenth century the illustrious Butler had been Bishop of +Durham, as in Ireland the illustrious Berkeley had been Bishop of +Cloyne. But, on the whole, the bishops of our grandfathers' days were +more remarkable for their prudence and tact, their adroitness or +suppleness, than for intellectual or moral superiority to the rest of +the clergy. Their own upper-class world, and the middle class which, +in the main, took its view of English institutions from the upper +class, respected them as a part of the solid fabric of English +society, but they were a mark for Radical invective and for literary +sneers. Their luxurious pomp and ease were incessantly contrasted +with the simplicity of the apostles and the poverty of curates, and +the abundance among them of the gifts that befit the senate or the +drawing-room was compared with the rarity of the graces that adorn a +saint. The comparison was hardly fair, for saints are scarce, and a +good bishop needs some qualities which a saint may lack. + +That revival within the Church of England which went on in various +forms from 1800 till 1870, at first Low Church or Evangelical in its +tendencies, latterly more conspicuously High Church and Ritualist, +began from below and worked upwards till at length it reached the +bishops. Lord Palmerston, influenced by Lord Shaftesbury, filled the +vacant sees that fell to him with earnest men, sometimes narrow, +sometimes deficient in learning, but often good preachers, and zealous +for the doctrines they held. When the High Churchmen found their way +to the Bench, as they did very largely under Lord Derby's and Mr. +Gladstone's rule, they showed as much theological zeal as the +Evangelicals, and perhaps more talent for administration. The popular +idea of what may be expected from a bishop rose, and the bishops rose +with the idea. As Bishop of Oxford, Dr. Samuel Wilberforce was among +the first to make himself powerfully felt through his diocese. His +example told upon other prelates, and prime ministers grew more +anxious to select energetic and popular men. So it came to pass that +the bishops began to be among the foremost men in the Church of +England. Some, like Dr. Magee of Peterborough, and afterwards of York, +were brilliant orators; some, like Dr. Lightfoot of Durham, profound +scholars; some, like Dr. Temple of Exeter, able and earnest +administrators. There remained but few who had not some good claim to +the dignity they enjoyed. So it may be said, when one compares the +later Victorian bishops with their Georgian predecessors, that no +class in the country has improved more. Few now sneer at them, for no +set of men take a more active and more creditable part in the public +business of the country. Their incomes, curtailed of late years in the +case of the richer sees, are no more than sufficient for the expenses +which fall upon them, and they work as hard as any other men for their +salaries. Though the larger sees have been divided, the reduction of +the toil of bishops thus effected has been less than the addition to +it due to the growth of population and the increased activity of the +clergy. The only defect which the censorious still impute to them is a +certain episcopal conventionality, a disposition to try to please +everybody by the use of vague professional language, a tendency to +think too much about the Church as a church establishment, and to +defer to clerical opinion when they ought to speak and act with an +independence born of their individual opinions. Some of them, as, for +instance, the three I have just mentioned, were not open to this +reproach. It was one of the merits and charms of Fraser that he was +absolutely free from any such tendency. Other men, such as Bishop +Lightfoot, have been not less eminent models of the virtues which +ought to characterise a great Christian pastor; but Fraser (appointed +some time before Lightfoot) was the first to be an absolutely +unconventional and, so to speak, unepiscopal bishop. His career marked +a new departure and set a new example. + +Fraser spent the earlier years of his manhood in Oxford, as a tutor in +Oriel College, teaching Thucydides and Aristotle. Like many of his +Oxford contemporaries, he continued through life to think on +Aristotelian lines, and one could trace them in his sermons. He then +took in succession two college livings, both in quiet nooks in the +South of England, and discharged for nearly twenty years the simple +duties of a parish priest, unknown to the great world, but making +himself beloved by the people, and doing his best to improve their +condition. The zeal he had shown in promoting elementary education +caused him to be appointed (in 1865) by the Schools Inquiry +Commissioners to be their Assistant Commissioner to examine the +common-school system of the United States, and the excellence of his +report thereon attracted the notice of the late Lord Lyttelton, one +of those Commissioners who were then sitting to investigate the state +of secondary education in England. His report long remained by far the +best general picture of American schools, conspicuous for its breadth +of view, its clearness of statement, its sympathetic insight into +conditions unlike those he had known in England. On the recommendation +(as has been generally believed) of Lord Lyttelton and of the then +Bishop of Salisbury, who was a friend of Dr. Fraser's, Mr. Gladstone, +at that time Prime Minister, appointed him Bishop of Manchester in +1870. The diocese of Manchester, which included all Lancashire except +Liverpool and a small district in the extreme north of the county, had +been under a bishop who, although an able and learned man, capable of +making himself agreeable when he pleased, was personally unpopular, +and had done little beyond his formal duties. He lived in a large and +handsome country-house some miles from the city, and was known by +sight to very few of its inhabitants. (I was familiar with Lancashire +in those days, for I had visited all its grammar-schools as Assistant +Commissioner to the Commission just referred to, and there was hardly +a trace to be found in it of the bishop's action.) Fraser had not been +six months in the county before everything was changed. The country +mansion was sold, and he procured a modest house in one of the less +fashionable suburbs of the city. He preached twice every Sunday, +usually in some parish church, and spent the week in travelling up and +down his diocese, so that the days were few in which he was not on the +railway. He stretched out the hand of friendship to the Dissenters +(numerous and powerful in the manufacturing districts), who had +hitherto regarded a bishop as a sort of natural enemy, gained their +confidence, and soon became as popular with them as with the laity of +his own Church. He associated himself with all the works of +benevolence or public utility which were in progress, subscribed to +all so far as his means allowed, and was always ready to speak at a +meeting on behalf of any good enterprise. He dealt in his sermons with +the topics of the day, avoiding party politics, but speaking his mind +on all social and moral questions with a freedom which sometimes +involved him in passing difficulties, but stimulated the minds of his +hearers, and gave the impression of his own perfect candour and +perfect courage. He used to say that as he felt it his duty to speak +wherever he was asked to do so, he must needs speak without +preparation, and must therefore expect sometimes to get into hot +water; that this was a pity, but it was not his fault that he was +reported, and that it was better to run the risk of making mistakes +and suffering for them than to refuse out of self-regarding caution to +give the best of himself to the diocese. He had that true modesty +which makes a man willing to do a thing imperfectly, at the risk of +lowering his intellectual reputation. He knew that he was neither a +deep thinker nor a finished preacher, and was content to be what he +was, so long as he could perform the work which it was in him to do. +He lost no opportunity of meeting the working men, would go and talk +to them in the yards of the mills or at the evening gatherings of +mechanics' institutes; and when any misfortune befell, such as a +colliery accident, he was often among the first who reached the spot +to help the survivors and comfort the widows. He made no difference +between rich and poor, showed no wish to be a guest in the houses of +the great, and treated the poorest curate with as much courtesy as the +most pompous county magnate. His work in Lancashire seldom allowed him +to appear in the House of Lords; and this he regretted, not that he +desired to speak there, but because, as he said, "Whether or not +bishops do Parliament good, Parliament does bishops good." + +Such a simple, earnest, active course of conduct told upon the +feelings of the people who read of his words and doings. But even +greater was the impression made by his personality upon those who saw +him. He was a tall, well-built man,[31] erect in figure, with a quick +eye, a firm step, a ruddy face, an expression of singular heartiness +and geniality. He seemed always cheerful, and, in spite of his endless +labours, always fresh and strong. His smile and the grasp of his hand +put you into good-humour with yourself and the world; if you were +dispirited, they led you out of shadow into sunlight. He was not a +great reader, and had no time for sustained and searching thought; yet +he seemed always abreast of what was passing in the world, and to know +what the books and articles and speeches of the day contained, +although he could not have found time to peruse them. With strong +opinions of his own, he was anxious to hear yours; a ready and eager +talker, yet a willing listener. His oratory was plain, with few +flights of rhetoric, but it was direct and vigorous, free from +conventional phrases, charged with clear good sense and genuine +feeling, and capable, when his feeling was exceptionally strong, of +rising to eloquence. He had a ready sense of humour, the best proof of +which was that he relished a joke against himself.[32] However, the +greatest charm, both of his public and private talk, was the +transparent sincerity and honesty that shone through it. His mind was +like a crystal pool of water in a mountain stream. You saw everything +that was in it, and saw nothing that was mean or unworthy. This +sincerity and freshness made his character not only manly, but lovable +and beautiful, beautiful in its tenderness, its loyalty to his +friends, its devotion to truth. + +His conscientious anxiety to say nothing more than he thought was apt +to make him an embarrassing ally. It happened more than once that when +he came to speak at a public meeting on behalf of some enterprise, he +was not content, like most men, to set forth its merits and claims, +but went on to dwell upon possible drawbacks or dangers, so that the +more ardent friends of the scheme thought he was pouring cold water on +them, and called him a Balaam reversed. In a political assembly he +would have been an _enfant terrible_ whom his party would have feared +to put up to speak; but as people in the diocese got to know that this +was his way, they only smiled at his too ingenuous honesty. As he +spoke with no preparation, and was naturally impulsive, he now and +then spoke unadvisedly, and received a good deal of newspaper censure. +But he was never involved in real trouble by these speeches. As Dean +Stanley wrote to him, "You have a singular gift of going to the very +verge of imprudence and yet never crossing it." + +No one will wonder that such a character, set in a conspicuous place, +and joined to extraordinary activity and zeal, should have produced an +immense effect on the people of his city and diocese. Since +Nonconformity arose in England in the seventeenth century, no bishop, +perhaps, indeed no man, whether cleric or layman, had done so much to +draw together people of different religious persuasions and help them +to realise their common Christianity. Densely populated South +Lancashire is practically one huge town, and he was its foremost +citizen; the most instant in all good works; the one whose words were +most sure to find attentive listeners. This was because he spoke, I +will not say as a layman, but simply as a Christian, never claiming +for himself any special authority in respect either of his sacerdotal +character or his official position. No English prelate before him had +been so welcome to all classes and sections; none was so much lamented +by the masses of the people. But it is a significant fact that he was +from first to last more popular with the laity than with the clergy. +Not that there was ever any slur on his orthodoxy. He began life as a +moderate High Churchman, and gradually verged, half unconsciously, +toward what would be called a Broad-Church position; maintaining the +claim of the Anglican Church to undertake, and her duty to hold +herself responsible for, the education of the people, and upholding +her status as an establishment, but dwelling little on minor points of +doctrinal difference, and seeming to care still less for external +observances or points of ritual. This displeased the Anglo-Catholic +party, and even among other sections of the clergy there was a kind of +feeling that the Bishop was not sufficiently clerical, did not set +full store by the sacerdotal side of his office, and did not think +enough about ecclesiastical questions. + +He was, I think, the first bishop who greeted men of science as +fellow-workers for truth, and declared that Christianity had not, and +could not have, anything to fear from scientific inquiry. This has +often been said since, but in 1870 it was so novel that it drew from +Huxley a singularly warm and impressive recognition. He was one of the +first bishops to condemn the system of theological tests in the +English universities. He even declared that "it was an evil hour when +the Church thought herself obliged to add to or develop the simple +articles of the Apostles' Creed." These deliverances, which any one +can praise now, alarmed a large section of the Church of England then; +nor was the bishop's friendliness to Dissenters favourably regarded by +those who deny to Dissenting pastors the title of Christian +ministers.[33] + +The gravest trouble of his life arose in connection with legal +proceedings which he felt bound to take in the case of a Ritualist +clergyman who had persisted in practices apparently illegal. Fraser, +though personally the most tolerant of men to those who differed from +his own theological views, felt bound to enforce the law, because it +was the law, and was at once assailed unjustly, as well as bitterly, +by those who sympathised with the offending clergyman, and who could +not, or would not, understand that a bishop, like other persons in an +official position, may hold it his absolute duty to carry out the +directions of the law whether or no he approves the law, and at +whatever cost to himself. These attacks were borne with patience and +dignity. He was never betrayed into recriminations, and could the more +easily preserve his calmness, because he felt no animosity. + +A bishop may be a power outside his own religious community even in a +country where the clergy are separated as a caste from the lay +people. Such men as Dupanloup in France show that. So too he may be a +mighty moral and religious force outside his own religious community +in a country where there is no church established or endowed by the +State. The example of Dr. Phillips Brooks in the United States shows +that. But Dupanloup would have been eminent and influential had he not +been a clergyman at all; and Dr. Brooks was the most inspiring +preacher and the most potent leader of religious thought in America +long before, in the last years of his life, he reluctantly consented +to accept the episcopal office. Fraser, not so gifted by nature as +either of those men, would have had little chance of doing the work he +did save in a country where the existence of an ancient establishment +secures for one of its dignitaries a position of far-reaching +influence. When the gains and losses to a nation of the retention of a +church establishment are reckoned up, this may be set down among the +gains. + +If the Church of England possessed more leaders like Tait, Fraser, and +Lightfoot--the statesman, the citizen, and the scholar--in the +characters and careers of all of whom one finds the common mark of a +catholic and pacific spirit, she would have no need to fear any +assaults of political foes, no temptation to ally herself with any +party, but might stand as an establishment until, after long years, +by the general wish of her own people, as well as of those who are +without, she passed peaceably into the position of being the first in +honour, numbers, and influence among a group of Christian communities, +all equally free from State control. + +Fraser's example showed how much an attitude of unpretending +simplicity and friendliness to all sects and classes may do to +mitigate the jealousy and suspicion which still embitter the relations +of the different religious bodies in England, and which work for evil +even in its politics. He created, as Dean Stanley said, a new type of +episcopal excellence: and why should not originality be shown in the +conception and discharge of an office as well as in the sphere of pure +thought or of literary creation? + +----- + + [30] Two Lives of Dr. Fraser have been published, one (in 1887) by the + late Judge Hughes, the other, which gives a fuller impression + of his personal character, by the Rev. J. W. Diggle (1891). + + [31] He was a good judge of horses, and had in his youth been fond of + hunting. + + [32] A clergyman of his diocese had once, under the greatest + provocation, knocked down a person who had insulted him, and + the bishop wrote him a letter of reproof pointing out (among + other things) that, exposed as the Church of England was to + much criticism on all hands, her ministers ought to be very + careful in their demeanour. The offender replied by saying, "I + must regretfully admit that being grossly insulted, and + forgetting in the heat of the moment the critical position of + the Church of England, I did knock the man down, etc." Fraser, + delighted with this turning of the tables on himself, told me + the anecdote with great glee, and invited the clergyman to stay + with him not long afterwards. + + [33] He was himself aware that this caused displeasure. In his latest + Charge, delivered some months before his death, he said: "I am + charged, amongst other grievous sins, with that of thinking not + unkindly, and speaking not unfavourably, of Dissenters. I don't + profess to love dissent, but I have received innumerable + kindnesses from Dissenters. Why should I abuse them? Why should + I call them hard names? Remembering how Nonconformity was + made--no doubt sometimes by self-will and pride and prejudice + and ignorance, but far more often by the Church's supineness, + neglect, and intolerance in days long since gone by, of which + we have not yet paid the full penalty--though, as I have said, + I love not the thing, I cannot speak harshly of it." + + That a defence was needed may seem strange to those who do not + know England. + + + + +SIR STAFFORD HENRY NORTHCOTE, EARL OF IDDESLEIGH[34] + + +Sir Stafford Northcote (born 1818, died 1887) belonged to a type of +politician less common among us than it used to be, and likely to +become still more rare as England grows more democratic--the county +gentleman of old family and good estate, who receives and profits by a +classical education at one of the ancient universities, who is at an +early age returned to Parliament in respect of his social position in +his county, who has leisure to cultivate himself for statesmanship, +who has tastes and resources outside the sphere of politics. +Devonshire, whence he came, has preserved more of the old features of +English country life than the central and northern parts of England, +where manufactures and the growth of population have swept away the +venerable remains of feudalism. In Devonshire the old families are +still deeply respected by the people. They are so intermarried that +most of them have ties of kinship with all their neighbours. Few rich +parvenus have intruded among them; society is therefore exceptionally +easy, simple, and unostentatious. There is still a strong local +patriotism, which makes every Devonshire man, whatever his political +prepossessions, proud of other Devonshire men who rise to eminence, +and which exerts a wholesome influence on the tone of manners and +social intercourse. Northcote was a thorough Devonshire man, who loved +his county and knew its dialect: his Devonshire stories, told with the +strong accent he could assume, were the delight of any company that +could tempt him to repeat them. He was immensely popular in the +county, and had well earned his popularity by his pleasant neighbourly +ways, as well as by his attention to county business and to the duties +of a landowner. + +He had the time-honoured training of the good old English type, was a +schoolboy at Eton, went thence to Oxford, won the highest distinctions +as a scholar, and laid the foundations of a remarkably wide knowledge +of modern as well as ancient literature. He served his apprenticeship +to statesmanship as private secretary to Mr. Gladstone, who was then +(1843) a member of Sir Robert Peel's Government. When the great schism +in the Tory party took place over the question of free trade in corn, +he was not yet in Parliament, and therefore was not driven to choose +between Peel and the Protectionists. In 1855, when he first entered +the House of Commons, that question was settled and gone, so there was +no inconsistency in his entering the Tory ranks although himself a +decided Free Trader. He was not a man who would have elbowed his way +upward. But elbows were not needed. His abilities, as well as his +industry and the confidence he inspired, speedily brought him to the +top. He was appointed Secretary to the Treasury in 1859, entered the +Cabinet in 1866, when a new Tory Ministry was formed under Lord Derby; +and when in 1876 Mr. Disraeli retired to the House of Lords, he +became, being then Chancellor of the Exchequer, leader of the majority +in the House of Commons, while Mr. Gathorne Hardy, the only other +person who had been thought of as suitable for that post, received a +peerage. Mr. Hardy was a more forcible and rousing speaker, but +Northcote had more varied accomplishments and a fuller mastery of +official work. Disraeli said that he had "the largest parliamentary +knowledge of any man he had met." + +As an administrator, Sir Stafford Northcote was diligent, judicious, +and free from any taint of jobbery. He sought nothing for himself; did +not abuse his patronage; kept the public interests steadily before his +mind. He was considerate to his subordinates, and gracious to all +men. He never grudged labour, although there might be no prospect of +winning credit by it. Scrupulous in discharging his duties to his +party, he overtaxed his strength by speaking constantly at public +meetings in the country, a kind of work he must have disliked, and for +which he was ill fitted by the moderation of his views and of his +language. Parliament is not a good place for the pursuit of pure +truth, but the platform is still less favourable to that quest. It was +remarked of him that even in party gatherings, where invective against +political opponents is apt to be expected and relished, he argued +fairly, and never condescended to abuse. + +As a Parliamentarian he had two eminent merits--immense knowledge +and admirable readiness. He had been all his life a keen observer +and a diligent student; and as his memory was retentive, all that he +had observed or read stood at his command. In questions of trade and +finance, questions which, owing, perhaps, to their increasing +intricacy, seem to be less and less frequently mastered by practical +politicians in England, he was especially strong. No other man on his +own side in politics spoke on such matters with equal authority, and +the brunt of the battle fell on him whenever they came up for +discussion. As he had now his old master for his chief antagonist, the +conflict was no easy one; but he never shrank from it. Not less +remarkable was his alertness in debate. His manner was indeed +somewhat ineffective, for it wanted both force and variety. Sentence +followed sentence in a smooth and easy stream, always clear, always +grammatically correct, but with a flow too equably unbroken. There +were few impressive phrases, few brilliant figures, few of those +appeals to passion with which it is necessary to warm and rouse a +large assembly. When the House grew excited at the close of a long +full-dress debate, and Sir Stafford rose in the small hours of the +morning to wind it up on behalf of his party, men felt that the +ripple of his sweet voice, the softness of his gentle manner, were not +what the occasion called for. But what he said was always to the +point and well worth hearing. No facts or arguments suddenly +thrown at him by opponents disconcerted him; for there was sure to +be an answer ready. However weak his own case might seem, his +ingenuity could be relied upon to strengthen it; however powerfully +the hostile case had been presented, he found weak places in it and +shook it down by a succession of well-planted criticisms, each +apparently small, but damaging when taken all together, because no +one of them could be dismissed as irrelevant. + +It was interesting to watch him as he sat on the front bench, with his +hat set so low on his brow that it hid all the upper part of his face, +while the lower part was covered by a thick yellowish-brown beard, +perfectly motionless, rarely taking a note of what was said, and, to +all appearance, the most indifferent figure in the House. The only +sign of feeling which he gave was to be found in his habit of +thrusting each of his hands up the opposite sleeve of his coat when +Mr. Gladstone, the only assailant whom he needed to fear, burst upon +him in a hailstorm of declamation. But when he rose, one perceived +that nothing had escaped him. Every point which an antagonist had made +was taken up and dealt with; no point that could aid his own +contention was neglected; and the fluent grace with which his +discourse swept along, seldom aided by a reference to notes, was not +more surprising than the unfailing skill with which he shunned +dangerous ground, and put his propositions in a form which made it +difficult to contradict them. I remember to have heard a member of the +opposite party remark, that nothing was more difficult than to defend +your argument from Northcote, because he had the art of nibbling it +away, admitting a little in order to evade or overthrow the rest. + +So much for his parliamentary aptitudes, which were fully recognised +before he rose to leadership. But as it was his leadership that has +given him a place in history, I may dwell for a little upon the way in +which he filled that most trying as well as most honourable post. He +led the House--that is to say, the Ministerial majority--for four +sessions (1877-1880), and the Tory Opposition for five and a half +sessions (1880 to middle of 1885). To lead the House of Commons a man +must have, over and above the qualities which make a good debater, an +unusual combination of talents. He must be both bold and cautious, +combative and cool. He must take, on his own responsibility, and on +the spur of the moment, decisions which commit the whole Ministry, and +yet, especially if he be not Prime Minister, he must consider how far +his colleagues will approve and implement his action. He must put +enough force and fire into his speeches to rouse his own ranks and +intimidate (if he can) his opponents, yet must have regard to the more +timorous spirits among his own supporters, going no further than he +feels they will follow, and must sometimes throw a crafty fly over +those in the Opposition whom he thinks wavering or disaffected. Under +the fire of debate, perhaps while composing the speech he has to make +in reply, he must consider not merely the audience before him but also +the effect his words will have when they are read next morning in cold +blood, and, it may be, the effect not only in England but abroad. +Being responsible for the whole conduct of parliamentary business, he +must keep a close watch upon every pending bill, and determine how +much of Government time shall be allotted to each, and in what order +they shall be taken, and how far the general feeling of the House will +let him go in seizing the hours usually reserved for private members, +and in granting or refusing opportunities for discussing topics he +would prefer to have not discussed at all. + +So far as prudence, tact, and knowledge of business could enable him +to discharge these duties, Northcote discharged them admirably. It was +his good fortune to have behind him in Lord Beaconsfield, who had +recently gone to the House of Lords, a chief of the whole party who +trusted him, and with whom he was on the best terms. The immense +authority of that chief secured his own authority. His party was--as +the Tory party usually is--compact and loyal; and his majority ample, +so he had no reason to fear defeat. In the conflicts that arose over +Eastern affairs in 1877-79, affairs at some moments highly critical, +he was cautious and adroit, more cautious than Lord Beaconsfield, +sometimes repairing by moderate language the harm which the latter's +theatrical utterances had done. When a group of Irish Nationalist +members, among whom Mr. Parnell soon came to the front, began to evade +the rules and paralyse the action of the House by obstructive tactics, +he was less successful. Their ingenuity baffled the Ministry, and +brought the House into sore straits. But it may be doubted whether +any leader could have overcome the difficulties of the position. It +was a new position. The old rules framed under quite different +conditions were not fit to check members who, far from regarding the +sentiments of the House, avowed their purpose to reduce it to +impotence, and thereby obtain that Parliament of their own, which +could alone, as they held, cure the ills of Ireland. + +After ten years of struggle and experiment, drastic remedies for +obstruction were at last devised; but in the then state of opinion +within the House, those remedies could not have been carried. Members +accustomed to the old state of things could not for a good while make +up their minds to sacrifice part of their own privileges in order to +deal with a difficulty the source of which they would not attempt to +cure. On the whole, therefore, though he was blamed at the time, +Northcote may be deemed to have passed creditably through his first +period of leadership. + +It was when he had to lead his party in Opposition, after April 1880, +that his severest trial came. To lead the minority is usually easier +than to lead the majority. A leader of the Opposition also must, no +doubt, take swift decisions in the midst of a debate, must consider +how far he is pledging his party to a policy which they may be +required to maintain when next they come into power, must endeavour +to judge, often on scanty data, how many of his usual or nominal +supporters will follow him into the lobby when a division is called, +and how best he can draw off some votes from among his opponents. +Still, delicate as this work is, it is not so hard as that of the +leader of the Government, for it is rather critical than constructive, +and a mistake can seldom do irreparable mischief. Northcote, however, +had special difficulties to face. Mr. Gladstone, still full of energy +and fire, was leading the majority. After a few months Lord +Beaconsfield's mantle no longer covered Northcote (that redoubtable +strategist died in April 1881), and a small but active group of Tory +members set up an irregular skirmishing Opposition on their own +account, paying little heed to his moderate counsels. The Tory party +was then furious at its unexpected defeat at the election of 1880. It +was full of fight, burning for revenge, eager to denounce every +trifling error of the Ministry, and to give battle on small as well as +great occasions. Hence it resented the calm and cautiously critical +attitude which Northcote took up. He had plenty of courage; but he +thought, as indeed most impartial observers thought, that little was +to be gained by incessantly worrying an enemy so superior in force and +flushed with victory; that premature assaults might consolidate a +majority within which there existed elements of discord; and that it +was wiser to wait till the Ministry should begin to make mistakes and +incur misfortunes in the natural course of events, before resuming the +offensive against them. There is a natural tendency to reaction in +English popular opinion, and a tendency to murmur against whichever +party may be in power. This tendency must soon have told in favour of +the Tories, with little effort on their own part; and when it was +already manifest, a Parliamentary attack could have been delivered +with effect. Northcote's view and plan were probably right, but, being +too prone to yield to pressure, and finding his hand forced, he +allowed himself to be drawn by the clamour of his followers into +aggressive operations, which, nevertheless, himself not quite +approving them, he conducted in a half-hearted way. He had not Mr. +Gladstone's power of doing excellently what he hated to have to do. +And it must be admitted that from 1882 onwards, when troubles in +Ireland and oscillations in Egyptian policy had begun to shake the +credit of the Liberal Ministry, he showed less fire and pugnacity than +the needs of the time required from a party leader. In one thing the +young men, who, like Zulu warriors, wished to wash their spears, were +right and he was wrong. He conceived that frequent attacks and a +resort to obstructive tactics would damage the Opposition in the eyes +of the country. Experience has shown that parties do not greatly +suffer from the way they fight their Parliamentary battles. Few people +follow the proceedings closely enough to know when an Opposition +deserves blame for prolonging debate, or a Ministry for abuse of the +closure. So, too, in the United States it would seem that neither the +tyrannical action of a majority nor filibustering by a minority shocks +the nation. + +Not only was Northcote's own temper pacific, but he was too sweetly +reasonable and too dispassionate to be a successful leader in +Opposition. He felt that he was never quite a party man. His mind was +almost too judicial, his courtesy too unfailing, his temper too +unruffled, his manner too unassuming. He did not inspire awe or fear. +Not only did he never seek to give pain, even where pain might have +been a wholesome discipline for pushing selfishness--he seemed +incapable of irritation, and bore with vexatious obstruction from some +members of the House, and mutinous attacks from others who belonged to +his own party, when a spirit less kindly and forgiving might have +better secured his own authority and the dignity of the assembly. He +proceeded on the assumption, an unsafe one, as he had too much reason +to know, that every one else was a gentleman like himself, penetrated +by the old traditions of the House of Commons. + +While superior to the prejudices of the old-fashioned wing of his +party, he was too cautious and conscientious to join those who sought +to lead it into demagogic courses. So far as political opinions went, +he might, had fortune sent him into the world as the son of a Whig +family, have made an excellent Whig, removed as far from high Toryism +on the one hand as from Radicalism on the other. There was, therefore, +a certain incompatibility between the man and the position. Average +partisans felt that a leader so very reasonable was not in full +sympathy with them. Even his invincible optimism displeased them. +"Hang that fellow Northcote!" said one of them; "he's always seeing +blue sky." The militant partisans, whatever their opinions, desired a +pugnacious chief. That a leader should draw the enemy's fire does him +good with his followers, and makes them rally to him. But the fire of +his opponents was hardly ever directed against Northcote, even when +controversy was hottest. Had he possessed a more imperious will, he +might have overcome these difficulties, because his abilities and +experience were of the highest value to his party, and his character +stood so high that the mass of sensible Tories all over the country +might perhaps have rallied to him, if he had appealed to them against +the intrigues by which it was sought to supplant him. He did not lack +courage. But he lacked what men call "backbone." For practical +success, it is less fatal to fail in wisdom than to fail in +resolution. He had not that unquenchable self-confidence which I have +sought to describe in Disraeli, and shall have to describe in Parnell +and in Gladstone. He yielded to pressure, and people came to know that +he would yield to pressure. + +The end of it was that the weakened prestige and final fall of the +Liberal Ministry were not credited to his generalship, but rather to +those who had skirmished in advance of the main army. That fall was in +reality due neither to him nor to them, but partly to the errors or +internal divisions of the Ministry itself, partly to causes such as +the condition of Ireland and the revolt of Arabi in Egypt, for which +Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet was no more, perhaps less, to blame than many +of its predecessors. No Ministry of recent years seemed, when it was +formed, to have such a source of strength in the abilities of the men +who composed it as did the Ministry of 1880. None proved so +persistently unlucky. + +The circumstances under which Northcote's leadership came to an end by +his elevation to the Upper House (June 1885) as Earl of Iddesleigh, as +well as those under which he was subsequently (1887) removed from the +post of Foreign Secretary in the then Tory Ministry, evoked much +comment at the time, but some of the incidents attending them have not +yet been disclosed, and they could not be discussed without bringing +in other persons with whom I am not here concerned. Conscious of his +own loyalty to his party, and remembering his long and laborious +services, he felt those circumstances deeply; and they may have +hastened his death, which came very suddenly in February 1887, and +called forth a burst of sympathy such as had not been seen since Peel +perished by an accident nearly forty years before. + +In private life Northcote had the charm of unpretending manners, +coupled with abundant humour, a store of anecdote, and a geniality +which came straight from the heart. No man was a more agreeable +companion. In 1884, when the University of Edinburgh celebrated its +tercentenary, he happened to be Lord Rector, and in that capacity had +to preside over the festivities. Although a stranger to Scotland, and +as far removed (for he was a decided High Churchman) from sympathy +with Scottish Presbyterianism as he was removed in politics from the +Liberalism then dominant in Edinburgh, he won golden opinions from the +Scotch, as well as from the crowd of foreign visitors, by the tact and +grace he showed in the discharge of his duties, and the skill with +which, putting off the politician, he entered into the spirit of the +occasion as a lover of letters and learning. Though political eminence +had secured his election to the office, every one felt that it would +have been hard to find in the ranks of literature and science any one +fitter to preside over such a gathering. + +He left behind few in whom the capacities of the administrator were so +happily blended with a philosophic judgment and a wide culture. It is +a combination which was inadequately appreciated in his own person. +Vehemence in controversy, domineering audacity of purpose, the power +of moving crowds by incisive harangues, were the qualities which the +younger generation seemed disposed to cultivate. They are qualities +apt to be valued in times of strife and change, times when men are +less concerned to study and apply principles than to rouse the +passions and consolidate the organisation of their party, while +dazzling the nation by large promises or bold strokes of policy. For +such courses Northcote was not the man. Were it to be observed of him +that he was too good for the work he had to do, it might be answered +that political leadership is work for which no man can be too good, +and that it was rather because his force of will and his combativeness +were not commensurate with his other gifts, that those other gifts did +not have their full effect and win their due success. Yet this at +least may be said, that if he had been less amiable, less fair-minded, +and less open-minded, he would have retained his leadership to the +end. + +----- + + [34] A _Life of Lord Iddesleigh_, written by Mr. Andrew Lang, + presents Northcote's character and career with fairness and + discrimination. + + + + +CHARLES STEWART PARNELL + + +Though I do not propose to write even the briefest narrative of +Parnell's life, but only to note certain salient features of his +intellect and character, it may be well to state a few facts and +dates; for in these days of rapid change and hasty reading, facts soon +pass out of most men's memories, leaving only vague impressions +behind.[35] + +He belonged to a family which, established at Congleton in Cheshire, +had at the time of the Restoration migrated to Ireland, had settled on +an estate in Wicklow, and had produced in every subsequent generation +a person of distinction. Thomas Parnell, the friend of Pope and Swift, +is still remembered by his poem of _The Hermit_. Another Parnell (Sir +John) was Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer in the days of Henry +Grattan, whose opinions he shared. Another (Sir Henry) was a leading +Irish Liberal member of the House of Commons, and died by his own hand +in 1842. Charles's father and grandfather figured less in the public +eye. But his mother was a remarkable woman, and the daughter of a +remarkable man, Commodore Charles Stewart, one of the most brilliant +naval commanders on the American side in the war of 1812. Stewart was +the son of a Scoto-Irishman from Ulster, who had emigrated to America +in the middle of the eighteenth century; so there was a strain of +Scottish as well as a fuller strain of English blood in the most +powerful Irish leader of recent times. + +Parnell was born at Avondale, the family estate in Wicklow, in 1846, +and was educated mostly at private schools in England. He spent some +months at Magdalene College, Cambridge, but, having been rusticated +for an affray in the street, refused to return to the College, and +finished his education for himself at home. It was a very imperfect +education. He cared nothing for study, and indeed showed interest only +in mathematics and cricket. In 1874 he stood as a candidate for +Parliament, but without success. When he had to make a speech he broke +down utterly. In 1875 he was returned as member for the county of +Meath, and within two years had made his mark in the House of Commons. +In 1880 he was elected leader of the Irish Parliamentary party, and +ruled it and his followers in Ireland with a rod of iron until he was +deposed, in 1890, at the instance of the leaders of the English +Liberal party, who thought that the verdict against him in a divorce +suit in which he was co-respondent had fatally discredited him in the +eyes of the bulk of the English Liberal party, and made co-operation +with him impossible. Refusing to resign his leadership, he conducted a +campaign in Ireland against the majority of his former followers with +extraordinary energy till November 1891, when he died of rheumatic +fever after a short illness. A constitution which had never been +strong was worn out by the ceaseless exertions and mental tension of +the last twelve months. + +The whole of his political activity was comprised within a period of +sixteen years, during ten of which he led the Irish Nationalist party, +exercising an authority more absolute than any Irish leader had +exercised before. + +It has often been observed that he was not Irish, and that he led the +Irish people with success just because he did not share their +characteristic weaknesses. But it is equally true that he was not +English. One always felt the difference between his temperament and +that of the normal Englishman. The same remark applies to some other +famous Irish leaders. Wolfe Tone, for instance, and Fitzgibbon +(afterwards Lord Clare) were unlike the usual type of Irishman--that +is, the Irishman in whom the Celtic element predominates; but they +were also unlike Englishmen. The Anglo-Irish Protestants, a strong +race who have produced a number of remarkable men in excess of the +proportion they bear to the whole population of the United Kingdom, +fall into two classes--the men of North-Eastern Ulster, in whom there +is so large an infusion of Scottish blood that they may almost be +called "Scotchmen with a difference," and the men of Leinster and +Munster, who are true Anglo-Celts. It was to this latter class that +Parnell belonged. They are a group by themselves, in whom some of the +fire and impulsiveness of the Celt has been blended with some of the +firmness, the tenacity, and the close hold upon facts which belong to +the Englishman. Mr. Parnell, however, though he might be reckoned to +the Anglo-Irish type, was not a normal specimen of it. He was a man +whom you could not refer to any category, peculiar both in his +intellect and in his character generally. + +His intellect was eminently practical. He did not love speculation or +the pursuit of abstract truth, nor had he a taste for literature, +still less a delight in learning for its own sake. Even of the annals +of Ireland his knowledge was most slender. He had no grasp of +constitutional questions, and was not able to give any help in the +construction of a Home Rule scheme in 1886. His general reading had +been scanty, and his speeches show no acquaintance either with +history, beyond the commonest facts, or with any other subject +connected with politics. Very rarely did they contain a maxim or +reflection of general applicability, apart from the particular topic +he was discussing. Nor did he ever attempt to give to them the charm +of literary ornament. All was dry, direct, and practical, without so +much as a graceful phrase or a choice epithet. Sometimes, when +addressing a great public meeting, he would seek to rouse the audience +by vehement language; but though there might be a glow of suppressed +passion, there were no flashes of imaginative light. Yet he never gave +the impression of an uneducated man. His language, though it lacked +distinction, was clear and grammatical. His taste was correct. It was +merely that he did not care for any of those things which men of +ability comparable to his usually do care for. His only interests, +outside politics, lay in mechanics and engineering and in the +development of the material resources of his country. He took pains to +manage his estate well, and was specially anxious to make something +out of his stone quarries, and to learn what could be done in the way +of finding and working minerals. + +Those who observed that he was almost always occupied in examining and +attacking the measures or the conduct of those who governed Ireland +were apt to think his talent a purely critical one. They were +mistaken. Critical, indeed, it was, in a remarkable degree; keen, +penetrating, stringently dissective of the arguments of an opponent, +ingenious in taking advantage of a false step in administration or of +an admission imprudently made in debate. But it had also a positive +and constructive quality. From time to time he would drop his negative +attitude and sketch out plans of legislation which were always +consistent and weighty, though not made attractive by any touch of +imagination. They were the schemes not so much of a statesman as of an +able man of business, who saw the facts, especially the financial +facts, in a sharp, cold light, and they seldom went beyond what the +facts could be made to prove. And his ideas struck one as being not +only forcible but independent, the fruit of his own musings. Although +he freely used the help of others in collecting facts or opinions, he +did not seem to be borrowing the ideas, but rather to have looked at +things for himself, and seen them as they actually were, in their true +perspective, not (like many Irishmen) through the mists of sentiment +or party feeling. The impression made by one of his more elaborate +speeches might be compared to that which one receives from a grey +sunless day with an east wind, a day in which everything shows clear, +but also hard and cold. + +To call his mind a narrow one, as people sometimes did, was to wrong +it. If the range of his interests was limited, his intelligence was +not. Equal to any task it undertook, it judged soundly, appreciating +the whole phenomena of the case, men and things that had no sort of +attraction for it. There was less pleasure in watching its activities +than the observation of a superior mind generally affords, for it was +always directed to immediate aims, and it wanted the originality which +is fertile in ideas and analogies. It was not discursive, not +versatile, not apt to generalise. It did not rejoice in the exercise +of thought for thought's sake, but felt itself to be merely a useful +instrument for performing the definite practical work which the will +required of it. + +If, however, the intellect of the man could not be called interesting, +his character had at least this interest, that it gave one many +problems to solve, and could not easily be covered by any formulae. An +observer who followed the old method of explaining every man by +ascribing to him a single ruling passion, would have said that his +ruling passion was pride. The pride was so strong that it almost +extinguished vanity. Parnell did not appear to seek occasions for +display, frequently neglecting those which other men would have +chosen, seldom seeming to be elated by the applause of crowds, and +treating the House of Commons with equal coolness whether it cheered +him or howled at him. He cared nothing for any social compliments or +attentions, rarely accepted an invitation to dinner, dressed with +little care and often in clothes whose style and colour seemed +unworthy of his position. He was believed to be haughty and distant to +his followers; and although he could occasionally be kindly and even +genial, scarcely any were admitted to intimacy, and few of the +ordinary signs of familiarity could be observed between him and them. +Towards other persons he was sufficiently polite but warily reserved, +showing no desire for the cultivation of friendship, or, indeed, for +any relations but those of business. Of some ordinary social duties, +such as opening and answering letters, he was, especially in later +years, more neglectful than good breeding permits; and men doubted +whether to ascribe this fault to indolence or to a superb disregard of +everybody but himself. Such disregard he often showed in greater +matters, taking no notice of attacks made upon him which he might have +refuted, and intimating to the English his indifference to their +praise or blame. On one remarkable occasion, at the beginning of the +session of 1883, he was denounced by Mr. W. E. Forster in a long and +bitter speech, which told powerfully upon the House. Many instances +were given in which Irish members had palliated or failed to condemn +criminal acts, and Parnell was arraigned as the head and front of this +line of conduct, and thus virtually responsible for the outrages that +had occurred. The Irish leader, who had listened in impassive silence, +broken only by one interjected contradiction, to this fierce +invective, did not rise to reply, and was with difficulty induced by +his followers to deliver his defence on the following day. To the +astonishment of every one, that defence consisted in a declaration, +delivered in a cold, careless, almost scornful way, that for all he +said or did in Ireland he held himself responsible to his countrymen +only, and did not in the least regard what Englishmen thought of him. +It was an answer not of defence but of defiance. + +Even to his countrymen he could on occasion be disdainful, expecting +them to defer to his own judgment of his own course. He would +sometimes remain away from Parliament for weeks together, although +important business might be under consideration, perhaps would vanish +altogether from public ken. Yet this lordly attitude and the air of +mystery which surrounded him did not seem to be studied with a view to +effect. They were due to his habit of thinking first and chiefly of +himself. If he desired to indulge his inclinations, he indulged them. +Some extremely strong motive of passion or interest might interpose +to restrain this desire and stimulate him to an unwelcome exertion; +but no respect for the opinion of others, nor fear of censure from his +allies or friends, would be allowed to do so. + +This boundless self-confidence and independence greatly contributed to +his success as a leader. His faith in his star inspired a conviction +that obstacles whose reality his judgment recognised would ultimately +yield to his will, and gave him in moments of crisis an undismayed +fortitude which only once forsook him--in the panic which was suddenly +created by the Phoenix Park murders of May 1882. The confidence which +he felt, or appeared to feel, reacted upon his party, and became a +chief ground of their obedience to him and their belief in his +superior wisdom. His calmness, his tenacity, his patience, his habit +of listening quietly to every one, but deciding for himself, were all +evidences of that resolute will which imposed itself upon the Irish +masses no less than upon his Parliamentary following, and secured for +him a loyalty in which there was little or nothing of personal +affection. + +In these several respects his overweening pride was a source of +strength. In another direction, however, it proved a source of +weakness. There are men in whom the want of moral principle, of noble +emotions, or of a scrupulous conscience and nice sense of honour, is +partly replaced by deference to the opinion of their class or of the +world. Such men may hold through life a tolerably upright course, +neither from the love of virtue nor because they are ambitious and +anxious to stand well with those whom they aspire to influence or +rule, but because, having a sense of personal dignity, combined with a +perception of what pleases or offends mankind, they are resolved to do +nothing whereby their good name can be tarnished or an opening given +to malicious tongues. But when pride towers to such a height as to +become a law to itself, disregarding the judgment of others, it may +not only lead its possessor into an attitude of defiance which the +world resents, but may make him stoop to acts of turpitude which +discredit his character. Mr. Parnell was certainly not a scrupulous +man. Without dwelling upon the circumstances attending the divorce +case already referred to, or upon his betrayal of Mr. Gladstone's +confidences, and his reckless appeals during the last year of his life +to the most inflammable elements in Ireland, there are facts enough in +his earlier career to show that he had little regard for truth and +little horror for crime. A revolution may extenuate some sins, but +even in a revolution there are men (and sometimes the strongest men) +whose moral excellence shines through the smoke of conflict and the +mists of detraction. In Mr. Parnell's nature the moral element was +imperfectly developed. He seemed cynical and callous; and it was +probably his haughty self-reliance which prevented him from +sufficiently deferring to the ordinary moralities of mankind. His +pride, which ought to have kept him free from the suspicion of +dishonour, made him feel himself dispensed from the usual restraints. +Whatever he did was right in his own eyes, and no other eyes need be +regarded. Phenomena somewhat similar were observable in Napoleon. But +Napoleon, though he came of a good family, was obviously not a +gentleman in the common sense of the term. Mr. Parnell was a gentleman +in that sense. He had the bearing, the manners, the natural easy +dignity of a man of birth who has always moved in good society. He +rarely permitted any one to take liberties with him, even the innocent +liberties of familiar intercourse. This made his departures from what +may be called the inner and higher standard of gentlemanly conduct all +the more remarkable. + +He has been accused of a want of physical courage. He did no doubt +after the Phoenix Park murders ask the authorities in England for +police protection, being, not unnaturally, in fear for his life; and +he habitually carried firearms. He was at times in danger, and there +was every reason why he should be prepared to defend himself. An +anecdote was told of another member of the House of Commons whose +initials were the same as his own, and who, taking what he supposed to +be his own overcoat from the peg on which it hung in the cloakroom of +the House, was startled when he put his hand into the pocket to feel +in it the cold iron of a pistol. Moral courage he showed in a high +degree during his whole public career, facing his antagonists with an +unshaken front, even when they were most numerous and bitter. Though +he intensely disliked imprisonment, the terms on which he came out of +Kilmainham Gaol left no discredit upon him. He behaved with perfect +dignity under the attacks of the press in 1887, and in the face of the +use made of letters attributed to him which turned out to have been +forged by Richard Pigott--letters which the bulk of the English upper +classes had greedily swallowed. With this courage and dignity there +was, however, little trace of magnanimity. He seldom said a generous +word, or showed himself responsive to such a word spoken by another. +Accustomed to conceal his feelings, except in his most excited +moments, he rarely revealed, but he certainly cherished, vindictive +sentiments. He never forgave either Mr. W. E. Forster or Mr. Gladstone +for having imprisoned him in 1881;[36] and though he stood in some +awe of the latter, whom he considered the only really formidable +antagonist he had ever had to confront, he bore a grudge which +smouldered under the reconciliation of 1886 and leapt into flame in +the manifesto of November 1890. + +The union in Mr. Parnell of intense passion with strenuous self-control +struck all who watched him closely, though it was seldom that passion +so far escaped as to make the contrast visibly dramatic. Usually he was +cold, grave, deliberate, repelling advances with a sort of icy +courtesy. He hardly ever lost his temper in the House of Commons, +even in his last session under the sarcasms of his former friends, +though the low, almost hissing tones of his voice sometimes betrayed an +internal struggle. But during the electoral campaign in Kilkenny, in +December 1890, when he was fighting for his life, he was more than +once so swept away by anger that those beside him had to hold him +back from jumping off the platform into the crowd to strike down some +one who had interrupted him. Suspended for a moment, his mastery of +himself quickly returned. Men were astonished to observe how, after +some of the stormy passages at the meetings of Irish members held in +one of the House of Commons committee-rooms in December 1890, he +would address quietly, perhaps lay his hand upon the shoulder of, some +one of the colleagues who had just been denouncing him, and on whom +he had poured all the vitriol of his fierce tongue. As this could +not have been good-nature, it must have been either calculated +policy or a pride that would not accept an injury from those whom he +had been wont to deem his subjects. Spontaneous kindliness was never +ascribed to him; nor had he, so far as could be known, a single intimate +friend. + +Oratory is the usual avenue to leadership in a democratic movement, +and Mr. Parnell is one of the very few who have arrived at power +neither by that road nor by military success. So far from having by +nature any of the gifts or graces of a popular speaker, he was at +first conspicuously deficient in them, and became at last effective +only by constant practice, and by an intellectual force which asserted +itself through commonplaceness of language and a monotonous delivery. +Fluency was wanting, and even moderate ease was acquired only after +four or five years' practice. His voice was neither powerful nor +delicate in its modulations, but it was clear, and the enunciation +deliberate and distinct, quiet when the matter was ordinary, slow and +emphatic when an important point arrived. With very little action of +the body, there was often an interesting and obviously unstudied +display of facial expression. So far from glittering with the florid +rhetoric supposed to characterise Irish eloquence, his speeches were +singularly plain, bare, and dry. Neither had they any humour. If they +ever raised a smile, which seldom happened, it was by some touch of +sarcasm or adroit thrust at a point left unguarded by an adversary. +Their merit lay in their lucidity, in their aptness to the matter in +hand, in the strong practical sense which ran through them, coupled +with the feeling that they came from one who led a nation, and whose +forecasts had often fulfilled themselves. They were carefully +prepared, and usually made from pretty full notes; but the preparation +had been given rather to the matter and the arrangement than to the +diction, which had rarely any ornament or literary finish. Of late +years he spoke infrequently, whether from indolence or from weak +health, or because he thought little was to be done in the face of a +hostile majority, now that the tactics of obstruction had been +abandoned. When he interposed without preparation in a debate which +had arisen unexpectedly, he was short, pithy, and direct; indeed, +nothing was more characteristic of Parnell than his talent for hitting +the nail on the head, a talent which always commands attention in +deliberative assemblies. No one saw more clearly or conveyed in terser +language the course which the circumstances of the moment required; +and as his mastery of parliamentary procedure and practice came next +to that of Mr. Gladstone, any advice that he gave to the House on a +point of order carried weight. It would indeed be no exaggeration to +say that during the sessions of 1889 and 1890 he was distinctly the +second man in the House of Commons, surpassed in debating power by +five or six others, but inferior to Mr. Gladstone alone in the +interest which his speeches excited and in the impression they +produced. Along with this access of influence his attitude and the +spirit of his policy appeared to rise and widen. There was less of +that hard attorneyism which had marked his criticisms of the Tory +Government and their measures up to March 1880, and of the Liberal +Government and their measures during the five following years. He +seemed to grow more and more to the full stature of a statesman, with +constructive views and a willingness to make the best of the facts as +he found them. Yet even in this later and better time one note of +greatness was absent from his speeches. There was nothing genial or +generous or elevated about them. They never soared into an atmosphere +of lofty feeling, worthy of the man who was by this time deemed to be +leading his nation to victory, and who had begun to be admired and +honoured by one of the two great historic English parties. + +Parnell was not only versed in the rules of parliamentary procedure, +but also a consummate master of parliamentary tactics. Soon after he +entered the House of Commons he detected its weak point, and perfected +a system of obstruction which so destroyed the efficiency of its +time-honoured modes of doing business that new sets of rules, each +more stringent than the preceding, had to be devised between 1878 and +1888. The skill with which he handled his small but well-disciplined +battalion was admirable. He was strict with individuals, requiring +absolute obedience to the party rules, but ready to gratify any +prevailing current of feeling when he saw that this could be done +without harm to the cause. More than once, when English members who +happened to be acting with him on some particular question pressed him +to keep his men quiet and let a division be taken at once, he answered +that they were doubtless right in thinking that the moment for +securing a good division had arrived, but that he must not muzzle his +followers when they wanted to have their fling. The best proof of the +tact with which he ruled a section comprising many men of brilliant +talents lies in the fact that there was no serious revolt, or movement +towards revolt, against him until the breach of 1890 between himself +and the Liberal party had led to the belief that his continued +leadership would mean defeat at the polls in Great Britain, and the +postponement, perhaps for many years, of Home Rule for Ireland. + +Parnell's political views and tendencies were eagerly canvassed by +those who had studied him closely. Many, among both Englishmen and +Irishmen, held that he was at heart a Conservative, valuing strong +government and attached to the rights of property. They predicted that +if an Irish Parliament had been established, as proposed by Mr. +Gladstone in 1886, and an Irish cabinet formed to administer the +affairs of the island, Parnell would have been the inevitable and +somewhat despotic leader of the party of authority and order. His +co-operation with the agrarian agitators from 1879 onwards was in this +view merely a politic expedient to gain support for the Home Rule +campaign. For this theory there is much to be said. Though he came to +lead a revolution, and was willing, as appeared in the last few months +of his life, to appeal to the genuine revolutionary party, Parnell was +not by temper or conviction a revolutionist. Those who were left in +Ireland of the old Fenian group, and especially that section of the +extreme Fenians out of which the secret insurrectionary and dynamitard +societies were formed, never liked or trusted him. The passion which +originally carried him into public life was hatred of England, and a +wish to restore to Ireland, if possible her national independence +(though he rarely if ever avowed this), or at least her own +Parliament. But he was no democratic leveller, and still less +inclined to those socialistic doctrines which the section influenced +by Mr. Davitt had espoused. He did not desire the "extinction of +landlordism," and would probably have been a restraining and +moderating force in an Irish legislature. That he was genuinely +attached to his native country need not be doubted. But his patriotism +had little of a sentimental quality, and seemed to spring as much from +dislike of England as from love of Ireland. + +It may excite surprise that a man such as has been sketched, with so +cool a judgment and so complete a self-control, a man (as his previous +career had shown) able to endure temporary reverses in the confidence +of ultimate success, should have committed the fatal error, which +blasted his fame and shortened his life, of clinging to the headship +of his party when prudence prescribed retirement. When he sought the +advice of Mr. Cecil Rhodes, retirement for a time was the counsel he +received. His absence need not have been of long duration. Had he, +after the sentence of the Divorce Court in November 1890, gone abroad +for eight or ten months, allowing some one to be chosen in his place +chairman of the Irish party for the session, he might thereafter have +returned to the House of Commons, and would doubtless, after a short +lapse of time, have naturally recovered the leadership. No one else +could have resisted his claims. Unfortunately, the self-reliant pride +which had many a time stood him in good stead, made him refuse to bow +to the storm. Probably he could not understand the indignation which +the proceedings in the divorce case had awakened in England, being +morally somewhat callous, and knowing that his offence had been no +secret to many persons in the House of Commons. He had been accustomed +to despise English opinion, and had on former occasions suffered +little for doing so. He bitterly resented both Mr. Gladstone's letter +and the movement to depose him which it roused in his own party. +Having often before found defiant resolution lead to success, he +determined again to rely on the maxim which has beguiled so many to +ruin, just because it has so much truth in it--"_De l'audace, encore +de l'audace, toujours de l'audace._" The affront to his pride +disturbed the balance of his mind, and made him feel as if even a +temporary humiliation would destroy the prestige that had been won by +his haughty self-confidence. It was soon evident that he had +overestimated his power in Ireland, but when the schism began there +were many besides Lord Salisbury--many in Ireland as well as in +England--who predicted triumph for him. Nor must it be thought that it +was pure selfishness which made him resolve rather to break with the +English Liberals than allow the Nationalist bark to be steered by any +hands but his own. He was a fatalist, and had that confidence in his +star and his mission which is often characteristic of minds in which +superstition--for he was superstitious--and a certain morbid taint may +be discerned. There were others who believed that no one but himself +could hold the Irish party together and carry the Irish cause to +triumph. No wonder that this belief should have filled and perhaps +disordered his own brain. + +The swiftness of his rise is a striking instance of the power which +intellectual concentration and a strenuous will can exert, for he had +no adventitious help from wealth or family connection or from the +reputation of having suffered for his country. _Ergo vivida vis animi +pervicit._ When he entered Parliament he was only thirty, with no +experience of affairs and no gift of speech; but the quality that was +in him of leading and ruling men, of taking the initiative, of seeing +and striking at the weak point of the enemy, and fearlessly facing the +brunt of an enemy's attack, made itself felt in a few months, and he +rose without effort to the first place. With some intellectual +limitations and some great faults, he will stand high in the long and +melancholy series of Irish leaders: less lofty than Grattan, less +romantic than Wolfe Tone, less attractive than O'Connell, less +brilliant than any of these three, yet entitled to be remembered as +one of the most remarkable characters that his country has produced in +her struggle of many centuries against the larger isle. + +----- + + [35] The _Life of Parnell_, by Mr. R. Barry O'Brien, has taken rank + among the best biographies of the last half-century. + + [36] An anecdote was told at the time that when he found himself in + the prison yard at Kilmainham, he said, in a sort of soliloquy, + "I shall live yet to dance upon those two old men's graves." + + + + +CARDINAL MANNING + + +Henry Edward Manning, Archbishop of Westminster and Cardinal of the +Holy Roman Church, was born in 1808, eight years after Cardinal +Newman, and died in 1892. He was one of the most notable figures of +his generation; and, indeed, in a sense, an unique figure, for he +contributed a new type to the already rich and various ecclesiastical +life of England. If he could scarcely be described as intellectually a +man of the first order, he held a considerable place in the history of +his time, having effected what greater men might perhaps have failed +to effect, for the race is not always to the swift, and time and +chance favoured Manning. + +He was the son of wealthy parents, his father a City of London +merchant; was educated at Harrow and at Oxford, where he obtained high +classical honours and a Fellowship at Merton College; was ordained a +clergyman, and soon rose to be Archdeacon of Chichester; and, having +by degrees been led further and further from his original Low Church +position into the Tractarian movement, ultimately, at the age of +forty-three, went over to the Church of Rome. Having some time before +lost his wife, he was at once re-ordained a priest, was appointed +Archbishop of Westminster on Cardinal Wiseman's death in 1865, and +raised to the Cardinalate by Pope Pius IX. in 1875. + +He was not a great thinker nor a man of wide learning. His writings +show no trace of originality, nor indeed any conspicuous philosophical +acuteness or logical power. So far as purely intellectual gifts are +concerned, he was not to be named with Cardinal Newman or with several +other of the ablest members of the English Tractarian party, such as +were the two metaphysicians W. G. Ward and Dalgairns, both of whom +passed over to Rome, or such as was Dean Church, an accomplished +historian, and a man of singularly beautiful character, who remained +an Anglican till his death in 1890. Nor, though he had won a high +reputation at his University, was Manning a leading spirit in the +famous "Oxford Movement." It was by his winning manners, his graceful +rhetoric, and his zealous discharge of clerical duties, rather than by +any commanding talents that he rose to eminence in the Church of +England. Neither had his character the same power either to attract or +to awe as that of Newman. Nobody in those days called him great, as +men called Newman. Nobody felt compelled to follow where he led. There +was not, either in his sermons or in his writings, or in his bodily +presence and conversation, anything which could be pronounced +majestic, or lofty, or profound. In short, he was not in the grand +style, either as a man or as a preacher, and wanted that note of +ethereal purity or passionate fervour which marks the two highest +forms of religious character. + +Intelligent, however, skilful, versatile he was in the highest degree; +cultivated, too, with a knowledge of all that a highly educated man +ought to know; dexterous rather than forcible in theological +controversy; an admirable rhetorician, handling language with +something of that kind of art which Roman ecclesiastics most +cultivate, and in their possession of which the leading Tractarians +showed their affinity to Rome, an exact precision of phrase and a +subtle delicacy of suggestion. Newman had it in the fullest measure. +Dean Church had it, with less brilliance than Newman, but with no less +grace and dignity. Manning equalled neither of these, but we catch in +him the echo. He wrote abundantly and on many subjects, always with +cleverness and with the air of one who claimed to belong to the _ames +d'elite_, yet his style never attained the higher kind of literary +merit. There was no imaginative richness about it, neither were there +the weight and penetration that come from sustained and vigorous +thinking. Similarly, with a certain parade of references to history +and to out-of-the-way writers, he gave scant evidence of solid +learning. He was an accomplished disputant in the sense of knowing +thoroughly the more obvious weaknesses of the Protestant (and +especially of the Anglican) position, and of being able to contrast +them effectively with the external completeness and formal symmetry of +the Roman system. But he never struck out a new or illuminative +thought; and he seldom ventured to face--one could indeed sometimes +mark him seeking to elude--a real difficulty. + +What, then, was the secret of his great and long-sustained reputation +and influence? It lay in his power of dealing with men. For the work +of an ecclesiastical ruler he had three inestimable gifts--a resolute +will, captivating manners, and a tact equally acute and vigilant, by +which he seemed not only to read men's characters, but to discern the +most effective means of playing on their motives. To call him an +intriguer would be unjust, because the word, if it does not imply the +pursuit of some mean or selfish object, does generally connote a +resort to unworthy arts; and the Cardinal was neither dishonourable +nor selfish. But he had the talents which an intriguer needs, though +he used them in a spirit of absolute devotion to the interests of his +Church, and though he was too much of a gentleman to think that the +interests of the Church, which might justify a good deal, could be +made to justify any and every means. In conversation he had the art of +seeming to lay his mind alongside of yours, wishful to know what you +had to say, and prepared to listen respectfully to it, even though you +might be much younger and of no personal consequence. Yet you +sometimes felt, if your own power of observation had not been lulled +to sleep by the winning manner, that he was watching you, and +watching, in conformity to a settled habit, the effect upon you of +whatever he said. It was hard not to be flattered by this air of +kindly deference, and natural to admire the great man who condescended +without condescension, even though one might be secretly disappointed +at the want of freshness and insight in his conversation. Like his +famous contemporary, Bishop Samuel Wilberforce, Manning was all things +to all men. He was possessed, no doubt, of far less wit and far less +natural eloquence than that brilliant but variable creature. But he +gave a more distinct impression of earnest and unquestioning loyalty +to the cause he had made his own. + +In the government of his diocese, Manning showed himself a finished +ruler and manager of men, flexible in his power of adapting himself to +any character or society, yet inflexible when firmness was needed, +usually tactful if not always gentle in his methods, but tenacious in +his purposes, demanding rightfully from others the simplicity of life +and the untiring industry of which he set an example himself. Over +women his influence was still greater than over men, because women are +more susceptible to the charm of presence and address; nor could any +other ecclesiastic count so many conversions among ladies of high +station, his dignified carriage and ascetic face according admirably +with his sacerdotal rank and his life of strict observance. For some +years it was his habit to go to Rome early in Lent and remain till +after Easter. Promising subjects, who had doubts as to their +probabilities of salvation in the Anglican communion, used to be +invited to dinner to meet him, and they fell in swift succession +before his skilful presentation of the peace and bliss to be found +within the Roman fold. + +In his public appearances, it was neither the solid substance of his +discourses nor the literary quality of their style that struck one, +but their judicious adaptation to the audience, and the grace with +which they were delivered. For this reason--originality being rarer +and therefore more precious in the pulpit, where well-worn themes have +to be handled, than on a platform, where the topic is one of the +moment--his addresses at public meetings were better than his sermons, +and won for him the reputation of a speaker whom it was well worth +while to secure at any social or philanthropic gathering. At the +Vatican OEcumenical Council of 1870 it was less by his speeches than +by his work in private among the assembled prelates that he served the +Infallibilist cause. Himself devoted, and, no doubt, honestly devoted, +to Ultramontane principles, he did not hesitate to do violence to +history and join in destroying what freedom the Church at large had +retained, in order to exalt the Chair of Peter to a position unheard +of even at Trent, not to say in the Middle Ages. His activity, his +assiduity, and his tireless powers of persuasion contributed largely +to the satisfaction at that Council of the wishes of Pius IX., who +presently rewarded him with the Cardinalate. But the opponents of the +new dogma, who were as superior in learning to the Infallibilists as +they proved inferior in numbers, carried back with them to Germany and +North America an undying distrust of the astute Englishman who had +shown more than a convert's proverbial eagerness for rushing to +extremes and forcing others to follow. I remember to have met some of +the anti-Infallibilist prelates returning to America in the autumn of +1870; and in our many talks on shipboard they spoke of the Archbishop +in terms no more measured than Nestorius may have used of St. Cyril +after the Council of Ephesus. + +But Manning's powers shone forth most fully in the course he gave to +his policy as Archbishop of Westminster and head of the Roman +hierarchy in Britain. He had two difficulties to confront. One was the +suspicion of the old English Roman Catholic families, who distrusted +him as a recent recruit from Protestantism, a man brought up in ideas +unfamiliar to their conservative minds. The other was the aversion of +the ruling classes in England, and indeed of Englishmen generally, to +the pretensions of Rome an aversion which, among the Tories, sprang +from deep-seated historical associations, and among the Whigs drew +further strength from dislike to the reactionary tendencies of the +Popedom on the European continent, and especially its resistance to +the freedom and unity of Italy. In 1850 the creation by the Pope of a +Roman Catholic hierarchy in England, followed by Cardinal Wiseman's +letter dated from the Flaminian Gate, had evoked a burst of anti-papal +feeling which never quite subsided during Wiseman's lifetime. Both +these enmities Manning overcame. The old Catholic families rallied to +a prelate who supported with dignity and vigour the pretensions of +their church; while the suspicions of Protestants were largely, if not +universally, allayed when they noted the attitude of a patriotic +Englishman, zealous for the greatness of his country, which the +Archbishop assumed, as well as the heartiness with which he threw +himself into moral and philanthropic causes. Loyalty to Rome never +betrayed him into any apparent disloyalty to England. Too prudent to +avow sympathy with either political party, he seemed less opposed to +Liberalism than his predecessor had been or than most of the English +Catholics were. While, of course, at issue with the Liberal party upon +educational questions, he was believed to lean to Home Rule, and +maintained good relations with the Irish leaders. He joined those who +worked for the better protection of children and the repression of +vice, advocated total abstinence by precept and example, and did much +to promote it among the poorer Roman Catholic population. Discerning +the growing magnitude of what are called labour questions, he did not +recoil from proposals to limit by legislation the hours of toil, and +gladly exerted himself to settle differences between employers and +workmen, showing his own sympathy with the needs and hardships of the +latter. Thus he won a popularity with the London masses greater than +any prelate of the Established Church had enjoyed, while the middle +and upper classes noted with pleasure that, however Ultramontane in +his theology, he always spoke and wrote as an Englishman upon +non-theological subjects. + +In this there was no playing of a part, for he sincerely cared about +temperance, the welfare of children, the advancement of the labouring +class, and the greatness of England. But there was also a sage +perception of the incidental service which his attitude in these +matters could render to his church; and he relished opportunities of +proving that a Catholic prelate could be not only a philanthropist but +also a patriot. He saw the value of the attitude, though he used it +honestly, and if he was not artful, he was full of art. Truth, for its +own sake, he neither loved nor sought, but, having once adopted +certain conclusions, doctrinal and practical, subordinated everything +else to them. Power he loved, yet not wholly for the pleasure which he +found in exerting it, but also because he knew that he was fit to use +it, and could use it, to promote the aims he cherished. To his church +he was devoted heart and soul; nor could any one have better served it +so far as England was concerned. No one in our time, hardly even +Cardinal Newman, has done so much to sap and remove the old Protestant +fears and jealousies of Rome, fears and jealousies which had descended +from days when they were less unreasonable than the liberality or +indifference of our times will allow. Truly the Roman Church is a +wonderful institution, fertile beyond any other, since in each +succeeding age she has given birth to new types of force suited to the +conditions she has to deal with. In Manning she developed a figure +full of a kind of charm and strength which could hardly have found due +scope within a Protestant body: a man who never obtruded a claim, yet +never yielded one; who was the loyal servant of a spiritual despotism, +yet apparently in sympathy with democratic ideas and movements; +equally welcome among the poorest Irish of his diocese and at the +gatherings of the great; ready to join in every good work with those +most opposed to his own doctrines, yet standing detached as the +austere and unbending representative of a world-embracing power. + + * * * * * + +Since these pages were written there has appeared a Life of Cardinal +Manning which, for the variety and interest of its contents, and for +the flood of light which it throws upon its subject, deserves to rank +among the best biographies in the English language. It reveals the +inner life of Manning, his high motives and his tortuous methods, his +piety and his aspirations, his occasional lapses from sincerity and +rectitude, with a fulness to which one can scarcely find a parallel. +As was remarked by Mr. Gladstone, who was so keenly interested in the +book that for months he could talk of little else, it leaves nothing +for the Day of Judgment. + +It would be idle to deny that Manning's reputation did in some measure +suffer. Yet it must in fairness be remembered that an ordeal such as +that to which he has been thus subjected is seldom applied, and might, +if similarly applied, have lowered many another reputation. Cicero +has suffered in like manner. We should have thought more highly of +him, though I do not know that we should have liked him better, if his +letters had not survived to reveal weaknesses which other men, or +their biographers, were discreet enough to conceal. + +I have not attempted to rewrite the preceding pages in the light of +Mr. Purcell's biography, for to do so would have extended them beyond +the limits of a sketch. I have, moreover, found that the disclosures +contained in the biography do not oblige me to darken the colours of +the sketch itself. Taken all in all, these intimate records of +Manning's life tend to confirm the view that, along with his love of +power and pre-eminence, along with his carelessness about historic +truth, along with the questionable methods he sometimes allowed +himself to use, there lay deep in his heart a genuine and unfailing +sympathy with many good causes, such as the cause of temperance, and a +real tenderness for the poor and for children. If he was far removed +from a saint, still less was he the mere worldly ecclesiastic, crafty +and ambitious, who has in all ages been a familiar and unlovely type +of character. + + + + +EDWARD AUGUSTUS FREEMAN[37] + + +Edward Freeman was born at Harborne in South Staffordshire on 2nd +August 1823, and died at Alicante on 16th March 1892, in the course of +an archaeological and historical journey to the east and south of +Spain, whither he had gone to see the sites of the early Carthaginian +settlements. His life was comparatively uneventful, as that of learned +men in our time usually is. He was educated at home and at a private +school till he went to Oxford at the age of eighteen. There he was +elected a scholar of Trinity College in 1841, took his degree (second +class in _literae humaniores_) in 1845, and was elected a fellow of +Trinity shortly afterwards. Marrying in 1847, he lost his fellowship, +and settled in 1848 in Gloucestershire, and at a later time went to +live in Monmouthshire, whence he migrated in 1860 to Somerleaze, a +pretty spot about a mile and a half to the north-west of Wells in +Somerset. Here he lived till 1884, when he was appointed (on the +recommendation of Mr. Gladstone) to the Regius Professorship of Modern +History at Oxford. Thenceforth he spent the winter and spring in the +University, returning for the long vacation to Somerleaze, a place he +dearly loved, not only in respect of the charm of the surrounding +scenery, but from its proximity to the beautiful churches of Wells and +to many places of historical interest. For the greater part of his +manhood his surroundings were those of a country gentleman, nor did he +ever reconcile himself to town life, for he loved the open sky, the +fields and hills, and all wild creatures, though he detested what are +called field sports, knew nothing of natural history, and had neither +taste nor talent for farming. As he began life with an income +sufficient to make a gainful profession unnecessary, he did not +prepare himself for any, but gave free scope from the first to his +taste for study and research. Thus the record of his life is, with the +exception of one or two incursions into the field of practical +politics, a record of his historical work and of the journeys he +undertook in connection with it. + +History was the joy as well as the labour of his life. But the +conception he took of it was peculiar enough to deserve some remark. +The keynote of his character was the extraordinary warmth of his +interest in the persons, things, and places which he cared for, and the +scarcely less conspicuous indifference to matters which lay outside the +well-defined boundary line of his sympathies. If any branch of inquiry +seemed to him directly connected with history, he threw himself +heartily into it, and drew from it all it could be made to yield for his +purpose. About other subjects he would neither read nor talk, no +matter how completely they might for the time be filling the minds of +others. While an undergraduate, and influenced, like most of the abler +men among his Oxford contemporaries, by the Tractarian opinions and +sentiments then in their full force and freshness,[38] he became +interested in church architecture, discerned the value which +architecture has as a handmaid to historical research, set to work +to study mediaeval buildings, and soon acquired a wonderfully full and +exact knowledge of the most remarkable churches and castles all over +England. He taught himself to sketch, not artistically, but +sufficiently well to record characteristic points, and by the end of +his life he had accumulated a collection of hundreds of drawings made +by himself of notable buildings in France, Germany, Italy, and +Dalmatia, as well as in the British Isles. Architecture was always +thenceforward to him the prime external record and interpreter of +history. But it was the only art in which he took the slightest +interest. He cared nothing for pictures or statuary; was believed to +have once only, when his friend J. R. Green dragged him thither, +visited a picture-gallery in the course of his numerous journeys; and +did not seem to perceive the significance which paintings have as +revealing the thoughts and social condition of the time which produced +them. Another branch of inquiry cognate to history which he prized +was comparative philology. With no great turn for the refinements of +classical scholarship, and indeed with some contempt for the practice +of Latin and Greek verse-making which used to absorb much of the time +and labour of undergraduates and their tutors at Oxford and Cambridge, +he was extremely fond of tracing words through different languages +so as to establish the relations of the peoples who spoke them, and, +indeed, used to argue that all teaching of languages ought to begin +with Grimm's law, and to base his advocacy of the retention of Greek +as a _sine qua non_ for an Arts degree in the University on the +importance of that law. But with this love for philology as an +instrument in the historian's hands, he took little pleasure in +languages simply as languages--that is to say, he did not care to +master, and was not apt at mastering, the grammar and idioms of a +tongue. French was the only foreign language he spoke with any +approach to ease, though he could read freely German, Italian, and +modern Greek, and on his tour in Greece made some vigorous speeches +to the people in their own tongue. He had learnt to pronounce Greek in +the modern fashion, which few Englishmen can do; but how much of his +classically phrased discourses did the crowds that acclaimed the +distinguished Philhellene understand? So too he was a keen and +well-trained archaeologist, but only because archaeology was to him a +priceless adjunct--one might almost say the most trustworthy source--of +the study of early history. As evidence of his accomplishments as an +antiquary I cannot do better than quote the words of a master of that +subject, who was also one of his oldest friends. Mr. George T. Clark +says:-- + + He was an accurate observer, not only of the broad features of a + country but of its ancient roads and earthworks, its prehistoric + monuments, and its earlier and especially its ecclesiastical + buildings. No man was better versed in the distinctive styles of + Christian architecture, or had a better general knowledge of the + earthworks from the study of which he might hope to correct or + corroborate any written records, and by the aid of which he often + infused life and reality into otherwise obscure narrations.... He + visited every spot upon which the Conqueror is recorded to have + set his foot, compared many of the strongholds of his followers + with those they left behind them in Normandy, and studied the + evidence of Domesday for their character and possessions. When + writing upon Rufus he spent some time in examining the afforested + district of the New Forest, and sought for traces of the villages + and churches said to have been depopulated or destroyed. And for + us archaeologists he did more than this. When he attended a + provincial congress and had listened to the description of some + local antiquity, some mound, or divisional earthbank, or + semi-Saxon church, he at once strove to show the general evidence + to be deduced from them, and how it bore upon the boundaries or + formation of some Celtic or Saxon province or diocese, if not upon + the general history of the kingdom itself.... He thus did much to + elevate the pursuits of the archaeologist, and to show the relation + they bore to the far superior labours of the historian. + + Freeman was always at his best when in the field. It was then that + the full force of his personality came into play: his sturdy + upright figure, sharp-cut features, flowing beard, well-modulated + voice, clear enunciation, and fluent and incisive speech. None who + have heard him hold forth from the steps of some churchyard cross, + or from the top stone of some half-demolished cromlech, can ever + cease to have a vivid recollection of both the orator and his + theme. + +Freeman took endless pains to master the topography of any place he +had to deal with. When at work in his later years on Sicilian history +he visited, and he has minutely described, the site of nearly every +spot in that island where a battle or a siege took place in ancient +times, so that his volumes have become an elaborate historical +guide-book for the student or tourist. + +But while he thus delighted in whatever bore upon history as he +conceived it, his conception was one which belonged to the eighteenth +century rather than to our own time. It was to him not only primarily +but almost exclusively a record of political events--that is to say, +of events in the sphere of war, diplomacy, and government. He +expressed this view with concise vigour in the well-known dictum, +"History is past politics, and politics is present history"; and +though his friends remonstrated with him against this view as far too +narrow, excluding from the sphere of history many of its deepest +sources of interest, he would never give way. That historians should +care as much (or more) for the religious or philosophical opinions of +an age, or for its ethical and social phenomena, or for the study of +its economic conditions, as for forms of government or battles and +sieges, seemed to him strange. He did not argue against the friends +who differed from him, for he was ready to believe that there must be +something true and valuable in the views of a man whom he respected; +but he could not be induced to devote his own labours to the +elucidation of these matters. He would say to Green, "You may bring in +all that social and religious kind of thing, Johnny, but I can't." So +when he went to deliver lectures in the United States, he delighted in +making new acquaintances there, and was interested in the Federal +system and in all institutions which he could trace to their English +originals, but did not care to see anything or hear anything about the +economic development or social life of the country. + +The same predominant liking for the political element in history made +him indifferent to many kinds of literature. It may indeed be said +that literature, simply as literature, did not attract him. In his +later years, at any rate, he seldom read a book except for the sake of +the political or historical information it contained. Among the +writers whom he most disliked were Plato, Carlyle, and Ruskin, in no +one of whom could he see any merit. Plato, he said, was the only +author he had ever thrown to the other end of the room. Neither, +although very fond of the Greek and Roman classics generally, did he +seem to enjoy any of the Greek poets except Homer and Pindar and, to +some extent, Aristophanes. His liking for Pindar used to surprise us, +because Pindar is peculiarly the favourite poet of poetical minds; and +I suspect it was not so much the splendour of Pindar's style and the +wealth of his imagination that Freeman enjoyed, as rather the +profusion of historical and mythological references. He was impatient +with the Greek tragedians, and still more impatient with Virgil, +because (as he said) "Virgil cannot or will not say a thing simply." +Among English poets his preference was for the old heroic ballads, +such as the songs of Brunanburh and Maldon, and, among recent +writers, for Macaulay's _Lays_. The first thing he ever published +(1850) was a volume of verse, consisting mainly of ballads, some of +them very spirited, on events in Greek and Moorish history. It may be +doubted if he remembered a line of Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth, or +Tennyson. He blamed Walter Scott for misrepresenting history in +_Ivanhoe_, but constantly read the rest of his stories, taking special +pleasure in _Peveril of the Peak_. He bestowed warm praise upon +_Romola_, on one occasion reading it through twice in a single +journey. Mrs. Gaskell's _Mary Barton_, Marryatt's _Peter Simple_, +Trollope's _The Warden_ and _Barchester Towers_, were amongst his +favourites. Among the moderns, Macaulay was his favourite prose +author, and he was wont to say that from Macaulay he had learned never +to be afraid of using the same word to describe the same thing, and +that no one was a better model to follow in the choice of pure +English. Limitations of taste are not uncommon among eminent men. What +was uncommon in Freeman was the perfect frankness with which he avowed +his aversions, and the absence of any pretence of caring for things +which he did not really care for. He was in this, as in all other +matters, a singularly simple and truthful man, never seeking to appear +different from what he was, and finding it hard to understand why +other people should not be equally simple and direct. This directness +made him express himself with an absence of reserve which often gave +offence. Positive and definite, with a strong broad logic which every +one could follow, he was a formidable controversialist even on +subjects outside history. A good specimen of his powers was given in +the argument against the cruelty of field sports which he carried on +with Anthony Trollope. His cause was not a popular one in England, but +he stated it so well as to carry off the honours of the fray.[39] + +The restriction of his interest to a few topics--wide ones, to be +sure--seemed to increase the intensity of his devotion to those few; +and thus even the two chief practical interests he had in life +connected themselves with his conception of history. One was the +discharge of his duties as a magistrate in the local government of his +county. While he lived at Somerleaze he rarely missed Quarter +Sessions, speaking seldom, but valuing the opportunity of taking part +in the rule of the shire. The other was the politics of the time, +foreign politics even more than domestic. He was from an early age a +strong Liberal, throwing himself into every question which bore on the +Constitution, either in state or in church, for (as has been said) +topics of the social or economic kind lay rather out of his sphere. +When Mr. Gladstone launched his Irish Home Rule scheme in 1886, +Freeman espoused it warmly, and praised it for the very point which +drew most censure even from Liberals, the removal of the Irish members +from Parliament. He was intensely English and Teutonic, and wished the +Gael to be left to settle, or fight over, their own affairs in their +own island, as they had done eight centuries ago. Even the idea of +separating Ireland altogether from the English Crown would not have +alarmed him, for he did not thank Strongbow and Henry II. for having +invaded it; while, on the other hand, the plan of turning the United +Kingdom into a federation, giving to England, Scotland, Ireland, and +Wales each a local parliament of its own, with an imperial parliament +for common concerns, shocked all his historical instincts. + +In 1859 he was on the point of coming forward as a parliamentary +candidate for the borough of Newport in Monmouthshire, and again at +the election of 1868 he actually did stand for one of the divisions of +Somerset, and showed in his platform speeches a remarkable gift of +eloquence, and occasionally, also, of humour, coupled with a want of +those minor arts which usually contribute more than eloquence does to +success in electioneering. I went round with him, along with his and +my friend Mr. Albert Dicey, and few are the candidates who get so much +pleasure out of a contest as Freeman did. He was a strenuous advocate +of disestablishment in Ireland, the question chiefly at issue in the +election of 1868, because he thought the Roman Catholic Church was of +right, and ought by law to be, the national Church there; but no less +decidedly opposed to disestablishment in England, where it would have +pained him to see the uprooting of a system entwined with the ideas +and events of the Middle Ages. In his later years he told me that if +the Liberal party took up the policy of disestablishment in Wales, he +did not know whether he could adhere to them, much as he desired to do +so. + +Similarly he disliked all schemes for drawing the colonies into closer +relations with the United Kingdom, and even seemed to wish that they +should sever themselves from it, as the United States had done. This +view sprang partly from his feeling that they were very recent +acquisitions, with which the old historic England had nothing to do, +partly also from the impression made on him by the analogy of the +Greek colonies. He held that the precedent of the Greek settlements +showed the true and proper relation between a "metropolis," or +mother-city, and her colonies to be one not of political dependence or +interdependence, but of cordial friendliness and a disposition to +render help, nothing more. These instances are worth citing because +they illustrate a remarkable difference between his way of looking +historically at institutions and Macaulay's way. A friend of his (the +late Mr. S. R. Gardiner), like Freeman a distinguished historian, and +like him a strong Home Ruler, wrote to me upon this point as +follows:-- + + Freeman and Macaulay are alike in the high value they set upon + parliamentary institutions. On the other hand, when Macaulay wants + to make you understand a thing, he compares it with that which + existed in his own day. The standard of the present is always with + him. Freeman traces it to its origin, and testifies to its growth. + The strength of this mode of proceeding in an historian is + obvious. Its weakness is that it does not help him to appreciate + statesmanship looking forward and trying to find a solution of + difficult problems. Freeman's attitude is that of the people who + cried out for the good laws of King Edward, trying to revive the + past. + +Freeman was apt to go beyond his own dictum about history and +politics, for he sometimes made history present politics as well as +past. + +By far the strongest political interest--indeed it rose to a +passion--of his later years was his hatred of the Turk. In it his +historical and religious sentiment, for there was a good deal of the +Crusader about him, was blended with his abhorrence of despotism and +cruelty. Ever since the beginning of the Crimean war he had been +opposed to the traditional English policy of supporting the Sultan. +Ever since he had thought about foreign politics at all he had +sympathised with the Christians of the East. So when Lord Beaconsfield +seemed on the point of carrying the country into a war with Russia in +defence of the Turks, no voice rose louder or bolder than his in +denouncing the policy then popular with the upper classes in England. +On this occasion he gave substantial proof of his earnestness by +breaking off his connection with the _Saturday Review_ because it had +espoused the Turkish cause. This cost him L600 a year, a sum he could +ill spare, and took from him what had been the joy of his heart, +opportunities of delivering himself upon all sorts of current +questions. But his sense of duty forbade him to write for a journal +which was supporting a misguided policy and a minister whom he thought +unscrupulous. + +His habit of speaking out his whole mind with little regard to the +effect his words might produce, or to the way in which they might be +twisted, sometimes landed him in difficulties. One utterance raised an +outcry at the time, because it was made at a conference held in London +in December 1876 to oppose Lord Beaconsfield's Eastern policy. The +Duke of Westminster and Lord Shaftesbury presided at the forenoon and +afternoon sessions, and the meeting, which told powerfully on the +country, was wound up by Mr. Gladstone. Freeman's speech, only ten +minutes long, but an oratorical success at the moment, contained the +words, "Perish the interests of England, perish our dominion in India, +rather than that we should strike one blow or speak one word on behalf +of the wrong against the right." This flight of rhetoric was perverted +by his opponents into "Perish India"; and though he indignantly +repudiated the misrepresentation, it continued to be repeated against +him for years thereafter, and to be cited as an instance of the +irresponsible violence of the friends of the Eastern Christians. + +The most conspicuous and characteristic merits of Freeman as an +historian may be summed up in six points: love of truth, love of +justice, industry, common sense, breadth of view, and power of vividly +realising the political life of the past. + +Every one knows the maxim, _pectus facit theologum_,[40] a maxim +accountable, by the way, for a good deal of weak theology. More truly +may it be said that the merits of a great historian are far from lying +wholly in his intellectual powers. Among the highest of such merits, +merits which the professional student has even more reason to +appreciate than the general reader, because he more frequently +discerns the disturbing causes, are two moral qualities. One is the +zeal for truth, with the willingness to undertake, in a search for it, +a toil by which no credit will ever be gained. The other is a clear +view of, and loyal adherence to, the permanent moral standards. In +both these points Freeman stood in the front rank. He was kindly and +fair in his judgments, and ready to make all the allowances for any +man's conduct which the conditions of his time suggested, but he hated +cruelty, falsehood, oppression, whether in Syracuse twenty-four +centuries ago or in the Ottoman empire to-day. That conscientious +industry which spares no pains to get as near as possible to the facts +never failed him. Though he talked less about facts and verities than +Carlyle did, Carlyle was not so assiduous and so minutely careful in +sifting every statement before he admitted it into his pages. That he +was never betrayed by sentiment into partisanship it would be too much +to say. Scottish critics have accused him, perhaps not without +justice, of being led by his English patriotism to over-state the +claims of the English Crown to suzerainty over Scotland. J. R. Green, +as well as the late Mr. C. H. Pearson, thought that the same cause +disposed him to overlook the weak points in the character of Harold +son of Godwin, one of his favourite heroes. But there have been few +writers who have so seldom erred in this way; few who have striven so +earnestly to do full justice to every cause and every person. Even the +race prejudices which he allowed himself to indulge, in letters and +talk, against Irishmen, Frenchmen, and Jews, scarcely ever appear in +his books. The characters he has drawn of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, +William the Conqueror and William the Red, St. Thomas of Canterbury +(none of whom he liked), and, in his _History of Sicily_, of Nicias, +are models of the fairness which historical portraiture requires. It +is especially interesting to compare his picture of the unfortunate +Athenian with the equally vigorous but harsher view of Grote. Freeman, +whom many people thought fierce, was one of the most soft-hearted of +men, and tolerant of everything but perfidy and cruelty. Though +disposed to be positive in his opinions, he was always willing to +reconsider a point when any new evidence was discovered or any new +argument brought to his notice, and not unfrequently modified his view +in the light of such evidence or arguments. It was this passion for +accuracy and for that lucidity of statement which is the necessary +adjunct of real accuracy, that made him deal so sternly with confused +thinkers and careless writers. Carelessness seemed to him a moral +fault, because a fault which true conscientiousness excludes. So also +clearness of conception and exact precision in the use of words were +so natural to him, and appeared so essential to good work, that he +would set down the want of them rather to indolence than to +incapacity, and apply to them a proportionately severe censure. Mere +ignorance he could pardon, but when it was, as often happens, even in +persons of considerable pretensions, joined to presumption, his wrath +was the hotter because he deemed it a wholly righteous wrath. Never +touching any subject which he had not mastered, he thought it his duty +as a critic to expose impostors, and rendered in this way, during the +years when he wrote for the _Saturday Review_, services to English +scholarship second only to those which were embodied in his own +treatises. It must be confessed that he enjoyed the work, and, like +Samuel Johnson, was not displeased to be told that he had "tossed and +gored several persons." + +His determination to get to the bottom of a question was the cause of +the censure he so freely bestowed both on lawyers, who were wont to +rest content with their technicalities, and not go back to the +historical basis on which those technicalities rested, and on +politicians who fell into the habit of using stock phrases which +muddled or misrepresented the principles involved. The expression +"national property," as applied to tithes, incensed him, and gave +occasion for some of his most vigorous writing. So the commonplace +grumblings against the presence of bishops in the House of Lords, +which may be heard from people who acquiesce in the presence of +hereditary peers, led him to give the most clear and forcible +statement of the origin and character of that House which our time has +produced. Here he was on ground he knew thoroughly. But his habits of +accuracy were not less fully illustrated by his attitude towards +branches of history he had not explored. With a profound and minute +knowledge of English history down to the fourteenth century, so far as +his aversion to the employment of manuscript authorities would allow, +and a scarcely inferior knowledge of foreign European history during +the same period, with a less full but very sound knowledge down to the +middle of the sixteenth century, and with a thorough mastery of pretty +nearly all ancient history, his familiarity with later European +history, and with the history of such outlying regions as India or +America, was not much beyond that of the average educated man. He used +to say when questioned on these matters that "he had not come down to +that yet." But when he had occasion to refer to those periods or +countries, he hardly ever made a mistake. If he did not know, he did +not refer; if he referred, he had seized, as if by instinct, something +which was really important and serviceable for his purpose. The same +remark applies (speaking generally) to Gibbon and to Macaulay, and I +have heard Freeman make it of the writings of Mr. Goldwin Smith, for +whom he had a warm admiration. + +Freeman's abstention from the use of manuscript sources was virtually +prescribed by his persistence in refusing to work out of his own +library, or, as he used to say, out of a room which he could +consider to be his library for the time being. As, however, the +original authorities for the times with which he chiefly dealt are, +with few or unimportant exceptions, all in print, this habit can +hardly be considered a defect in his historical qualifications. In +handling the sources he was a judicious critic and a sound scholar, +thoroughly at home in Greek and Latin, and sufficiently equipped in +Anglo-Saxon, or, as he called it, Old English. Of his breadth of +view, of the command he had of the whole sweep of his knowledge, of +his delight in bringing together things the most remote in place or +time, it is superfluous to speak. These merits are perhaps most +conspicuously seen in the plan of his treatise on Federal Government, +as well as in the execution of that one volume which unfortunately +was all he produced of what might have been, if completed, a book of +the utmost value. But one or two trifling illustrations of this habit +of living in an atmosphere in which the past was no less real to him +than the present may be forgiven. When careless friends directed +letters to him at "Somerleaze, Wookey, Somerset," Wookey being a +village a quarter of a mile from his house, but on the other side of +the river Axe, he would write back complaining that they were +"confusing the England and Wales of the seventh century." When his +attention had been called to a discussion in the weekly journals +about Shelley's first wife he wrote to me, "Why will they worry us +with this _Harrietfrage_? You and I have quite enough to do with +Helen, and Theodora, and Mary Stuart." So in addressing Somersetshire +rustics during his election campaign in 1868, he could not help on one +occasion referring to Ptolemy Euergetes, and on another launching +out into an eloquent description of the Landesgemeinde of Uri. + +Industry came naturally to Freeman, because he was fond of his own +studies and did not think of his work as task work. The joy in reading +and writing about bygone times sprang from the intensity with which he +realised them. He had no geographical imagination, finding no more +pleasure in books of travel than in dramatic poetry. But he loved to +dwell in the past, and seemed to see and feel and make himself a part +of the events he described. Next to their worth as statements of +carefully investigated facts, the chief merit of his books lies in the +sense of reality which fills them. The politics of Corinth or Sicyon, +the contest of William the Red with St. Anselm, interested him as +keenly as a general election in which he was himself a candidate. +Looking upon current events with an historian's eye, he was fond, on +the other hand, of illustrating features of Roman history from +incidents he had witnessed when taking part in local government as a +magistrate; and in describing the relations of Hermocrates and +Athenagoras at Syracuse he drew upon observations which he had made in +watching the discussions of the Hebdomadal Council at Oxford. This +power of realising the politics of ancient or mediaeval times was +especially useful to him as a writer, because without it his +minuteness might have verged on prolixity, seeing that he cared +exclusively for the political part of history. It was one of the +points in which he rose superior to most of those German students with +whom it is natural to compare him. Many of them have equalled him in +industry and diligence; some have surpassed him in the ingenuity which +they bring to bear upon obscure problems; but few of them have shown +the same gift for understanding what the political life of remote +times really was. Like Gibbon, Freeman was not a mere student, but +also a man with opportunities of mixing in affairs, accustomed to bear +his share in the world's work, and so better able than the mere +student can be to comprehend how that work goes forward. Though he was +too peculiar in his views and his way of stating them to have been +adapted either to the House of Commons or to a local assembly, and +would indeed have been wasted upon nineteen-twentieths of the business +there transacted, he loved politics and watched them with a shrewdly +observant eye. Though he indulged his foibles in some directions, he +could turn upon history a stream of clear common sense which sometimes +made short work of German conjectures. And he was free from the +craving to have at all hazards something new to advance, be it a +trivial fact or an unsupported guess. He was accustomed of late years +to complain that German scholarship seemed to be suffering from the +passion for _etwas Neues_, and the consequent disposition to disparage +work which did not abound with novelties, however empty or transient +such novelties might be. + +To think of the Germans is to think of industry. Freeman was a true +Teuton in the mass of his production. Besides the seven thick +volumes devoted to the Norman Conquest and William Rufus, the four +thick volumes to Sicily, four large volumes of collected essays, +and nine or ten smaller volumes on architectural subjects, on the +English constitution, on the United States, on the Slavs and the +Turks, he wrote an even greater quantity of matter which appeared in +the _Saturday Review_ during the twenty years from 1856 to 1876, and +it was by these articles, not less than by his books, that he +succeeded in dispelling many current errors and confusions, and in +establishing some of his own doctrines so firmly that we now +scarcely remember what iteration and reiteration, in season and out +of season, and much to the impatience of those who remembered that +they had heard these doctrines often before, were needed to make +them accepted by the public. Freeman's swift facility was due to +his power of concentration. He always knew what he meant an article +to contain before he sat down to his desk; and in his historical +researches he made each step so certain that he seldom required to +reinvestigate a point or to change, in revising for the press, the +substance of what he had written. + +In his literary habits he was so methodical and precise that he could +carry on three undertakings at the same time, keeping on different +tables in his working rooms the books he needed for each, and passing +at stated hours from one to the other. It is often remarked that the +growth of journalism, forcing men to write hastily and profusely, +tends to injure literature both in matter and in manner. In point of +matter, Freeman, though for the best part of his life a very prolific +journalist, did not seem to suffer. He was as exact, clear, and +thorough at the end as he had been at the beginning. On his style, +however, the results were unfortunate. It retained its force and its +point, but it became diffuse, not that each particular sentence was +weak, or vague, or wordy, but that what was substantially the same +idea was apt to be reiterated, with slight differences of phrase, in +several successive sentences or paragraphs. He was fond of the +Psalter, great part of which he knew by heart, and we told him that he +had caught too much of the manner of Psalm cxix. This tendency to +repetition caused some of his books, and particularly the _Norman +Conquest_ and _William Rufus_, to swell to a portentous bulk. Those +treatises, which constitute a history of England from A.D. 1042 to +1100, would be more widely read if they had been, as they ought to +have been, reduced to three or four volumes; and as he came to +perceive this, he resolved in the last year of his life to republish +the _Norman Conquest_ in a condensed form. To be obliged to compress +was a wholesome, though unwelcome, discipline, and the result is seen +in some of his smaller books, such as the historical essays, and the +sketches of English towns, often wonderfully fresh and vigorous bits +of work. Anxiety to be scrupulously accurate runs into prolixity, and +Freeman so loved his subjects that it pained him to omit any +characteristic detail a chronicler had preserved; as he once observed +to a distinguished writer who was dealing with a much later period, +"You know so much about your people that you have to leave out a great +deal, I know so little that I must tell all I know." The tendency to +repeat the same word too frequently sprang from his preference for +words of Teutonic origin and his pride in what he deemed the purity of +his English. His pages would have been livelier had he felt free to +indulge in the humour with which his private letters sparkled; for he +was full of fun, though it often turned on points too recondite for +the public. But it was only in the notes to his histories, and seldom +even there, that he gave play to one of the merits that most commended +him to his friends. + +So far of his books. He was, however, also Regius Professor of History +at Oxford during the last eight years of his life, and thus the head +of the historical faculty in his own university which he dearly loved. +That he was less effective as a teacher than as a writer may be partly +ascribed to his having come too late to a new kind of work, and one +which demands the freshness of youth; partly also to the cramping +conditions under which professors have to teach at Oxford, where +everything is governed by a system of examinations which Freeman was +never tired of denouncing as ruinous to study. His friends, however, +doubted whether the natural bent of his mind was towards oral +teaching. It was a peculiar mind, which ran in a deep channel of its +own, and could not easily, if the metaphor be permissible, be drawn +off to irrigate the adjoining fields. He was always better at putting +his own views in a clear and telling way than at laying his intellect +alongside of yours, apprehending your point of view, and setting +himself to meet it. Or, to put the same thing differently, you learned +more by listening to him than by conversing with him. He had not the +quick intellectual sympathy and effusion which feels its way to the +heart of an audience, and indeed derives inspiration from the sight of +an audience. In his election meetings I noticed that the temper and +sentiment of the listeners did not in the least affect him; what he +said was what he himself cared to say, not what he felt they would +wish to hear. So also in his lecturing he pleased himself, and chose +the topics he liked best rather than those which the examination +scheme prescribed to the students. Perhaps he was right, for he was of +those whose excellence in performance depends upon the enjoyment they +find in the exercise of their powers. But even on the topics he +selected, he did not take hold of and guide the mind of the students, +realising their particular difficulties and needs, but simply +delivered his own message in his own way. Admitting this deficiency, +the fact remains that he was not only an ornament to the University by +the example he set of unflagging zeal, conscientious industry, loyalty +to truth, and love of freedom, but also a stimulating influence upon +those who were occupied with history. He delighted to surround himself +with the most studious of the younger workers, gave them abundant +encouragement and recognition, and never grudged the time to help them +by his knowledge or his counsel. + +Much the same might be said of his lifelong friend and illustrious +predecessor in the chair of history (Dr. Stubbs), whom Freeman had +been generously extolling for many years before the merits of that +admirable scholar became known to the public. Stubbs disliked +lecturing; and though once a year he delivered a "public lecture" full +of wisdom, and sometimes full of wit also, he was not effective as a +teacher, not so effective, for instance, as Bishop Creighton, who won +his reputation at Merton College long before he became Professor of +Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge. But Stubbs, by his mere presence +in the University, and by the inexhaustible kindness with which he +answered questions and gave advice, rendered great services to the +studies of the place. It may be doubted whether, when he was raised to +the episcopal bench, history did not lose more than the Church of +England gained. Other men of far less ability could have discharged +five-sixths of a bishop's duties equally well, but there was no one +else in England, if indeed in Europe, capable of carrying on his +historical researches. So Dr. Lightfoot was, as Professor at +Cambridge, doing work for Christian learning even more precious than +the work which is still affectionately remembered in his diocese of +Durham. + +Few men have had a genius for friendship equal to Freeman's. The +names of those he cared for were continually on his lips, and their +lives in his thoughts; their misfortunes touched him like his own; +he was always ready to defend them, always ready to give any aid they +needed. No differences of opinion affected his regard. Sensitive +as he was to criticism, he received their censure on any part of his +work without offence. The need he felt for knowing how they fared and +for sharing his thoughts with them expressed itself in the enormous +correspondence, not of business, but of pure affection, which he kept +up with his many friends, and which forms, for his letters were so +racy that many of them were preserved, the fullest record of his +life. + +This warmth of feeling deserves to be dwelt on, because it explains +the tendency to vehemence in controversy which brought some enmities +upon him. There was an odd contrast between his fondness for +describing wars and battles and that extreme aversion to militarism +which made him appear to dislike the very existence of a British army +and navy. So his combativeness, and the zest with which he bestowed +shrewd blows on those who encountered him, though due to his wholesome +scorn for pretenders, and his hatred of falsehood and injustice, +seemed inconsistent with the real kindliness of his nature. The +kindliness, however, no one who knew him could doubt; it showed itself +not only in his care for dumb creatures and for children, but in the +depth and tenderness of his affections. Of religion he spoke little, +and only to his most intimate friends. In opinion he had drifted a +long way from the Anglo-Catholic position of his early manhood; but he +remained a sincerely pious Christian. + +Though his health had been infirm for some years before his death, his +literary activity did not slacken, nor did his powers show signs of +decline. There is nothing in his writings, nor in any writings of our +time, more broad, clear, and forcible than many chapters of the +_History of Sicily_. Much of his work has effected its purpose, and +will, by degrees, lose its place in the public eye. But much will +live on into a yet distant future, because it has been done so +thoroughly, and contains so much sound and vigorous thinking, that +coming generations of historical students will need it and value it +almost as our own has done. + +----- + + [37] An excellent Life of Freeman has been written by his friend Mr. + W. R. W. Stephens, afterwards Dean of Winchester, whose death + while these pages were passing through the press has caused the + deepest regret to all who had the opportunity of knowing his + literary gifts and his lovable character. + + [38] The scholars of Trinity were then (1843) all High Churchmen, and + never dined in hall on Fridays. Fourteen years later there was + not a single High Churchman among them. Ten or fifteen years + afterwards Anglo-Catholic sentiment was again strong. Freeman + said that his revulsion against Tractarianism began from a + conversation with one of his fellow-scholars, who had remarked + that it was a pity there had been a flaw in the consecration of + some Swedish bishops in the sixteenth century, for this had + imperilled the salvation of all Swedes since that time. He was + startled, and began to reconsider his position. + + [39] Having had about the same time a brush with George Anthony + Denison (Archdeacon of Taunton), and a less friendly passage of + arms with James Anthony Froude, he wrote to me in 1870: "I am + greater than Cicero, who was smiter of one Antonius. I venture + to think that I have whopped the whole _Gens Antonia_--first + Anthony pure and simple, which is Trollope; secondly, James + Anthony, whom I believe myself to have smitten, as Cnut did + Eadric swiethe rihtlice, in the matter of St. Hugh; thirdly, + George Anthony, with whom I fought again last Tuesday, carrying + at our Education Board a resolution in favour of Forster's + bill." Trollope and he became warm friends. Froude he heartily + disliked, not, I think, on any personal grounds, but because he + thought Froude indifferent to truth, and was incensed by the + defence of Henry VIII.'s crimes. + + It may be added that Freeman, much as he detested Henry VIII., + used to observe that Henry had a sort of legal conscience, + because he always wished his murders to be done by Act of + Parliament, and that the earlier and better part of Henry's + reign ought not to be forgotten. He was fond of quoting the + euphemism with which an old Oxford professor of ecclesiastical + history concluded his account of the sovereign whom, in respect + of his relation to the Church of England, it seemed proper to + handle gently: "The later years of this great monarch were + clouded by domestic troubles." + + [40] "The heart makes the theologian." + + + + +ROBERT LOWE VISCOUNT SHERBROOKE[41] + + +Had Robert Lowe died in 1868, when he became a Cabinet Minister, his +death would have been a political event of the first magnitude; but +when he died in 1892 (in his eighty-second year) hardly anybody under +forty years of age knew who Lord Sherbrooke was, and the new +generation wondered why their seniors should feel any interest in the +disappearance of a superannuated peer whose name had long since ceased +to be heard in either the literary or the political world. It requires +an effort to believe that he was at one time held the equal in oratory +and the superior in intellect of Mr. Bright and Mr. Gladstone. There +are few instances in our annals of men who have been equally famous +and whose fame has been bounded by so short a span out of a long +life. + +No one who knew Lowe ever doubted his abilities. He made a brilliant +reputation, first at Winchester (where, as his autobiography tells +us, he was miserable) and then at Oxford, where he was the +contemporary and fully the peer of Roundell Palmer (afterwards Lord +Chancellor Selborne) and of Archibald Tait (afterwards Archbishop of +Canterbury). He was much sought after and wonderfully effective as a +private tutor or "coach" in classical subjects, being not only an +excellent scholar but extremely clear and stimulating as a teacher. He +retained his love of literature all through life, and made himself, +_inter alia permulta_, a good Icelandic scholar and a fair Sanskrit +scholar. For mathematics he had no turn at all. Active sports, he +tells us, he enjoyed, characteristically adding, "they open to dulness +also its road to fame." When he left the University, where anecdotes +of his caustic wit were long current, he tried his fortune at the Bar, +but with such scant success that he presently emigrated to New South +Wales, soon rose to prominence and unpopularity there, returned in ten +years with a tolerable fortune and a detestation of democracy, became +a leading-article writer on the _Times_, entered Parliament, but was +little heard of till Lord Palmerston gave him (in 1859) the place of +Vice-President of the Committee of Council on Education. His function +in that office was to administer the grants made from the national +treasury to elementary schools, and as he found the methods of +inspection rather lax, and noted a tendency to superficiality and a +neglect of backward children, he introduced new rules for the +distribution of the grant (the so-called "Revised Code") which +provoked violent opposition. The motive was good, but the rules were +too mechanical and rigid and often worked harshly; so he was presently +driven from office by an attack led by Lord Robert Cecil (now Lord +Salisbury). + +Though Lowe became known by this struggle, his conspicuous fame dates +from 1865, when he appeared as the trenchant critic of a measure +for extending the parliamentary franchise in boroughs, introduced +by a private member. Next year his powers shone forth in their full +lustre. The Liberal Ministry of Lord Russell, led in the House of +Commons by Mr. Gladstone, had brought in a Franchise Extension Bill +(applying to boroughs only) which excited the dislike of the more +conservative or more timid among their supporters. This dislike might +not have gone beyond many mutterings and a few desertions but for the +vehemence with which Lowe opposed the measure. He fought against it +in a series of speeches which produced a greater impression in the +House of Commons, and roused stronger feelings of admiration and +hostility in the country, than any political addresses had done since +1832. The new luminary rose so suddenly to the zenith, and cast so +unexpected a light that everybody was dazzled; and though many +dissented, and some attacked him bitterly, few ventured to meet him +in argument on the ground he had selected. The effect of these +speeches of 1866 can hardly be understood by any one who reads them +to-day unless he knows how commonplace and "practical," that is to +say, averse to general reasonings and historical illustrations, +the character of parliamentary debating was becoming even in Lowe's +time. It is still more practical and still less ornate in our own +day. + +The House of Commons then contained, and has indeed usually contained +(though some Houses are much better than others), many capable +lawyers, capable men of business, capable country gentlemen; many men +able to express themselves with clearness, fluency, and that sort of +temperate good sense which Englishmen especially value. Few, +however, were able to produce finished rhetoric; still fewer had a +range of thought and knowledge extending much beyond the ordinary +education of a gentleman and the ordinary ideas of a politician; +and the assembly was one so intolerant of rhetoric, and so much +inclined to treat, as unpractical, facts and arguments drawn from +recondite sources, that even those who possessed out-of-the-way +learning were disposed, and rightly so, to use it sparingly. In +Robert Lowe, however, a remarkable rhetorical and dialectical power +was combined with a command of branches of historical, literary, and +economic knowledge so unfamiliar to the average member as to have +for him all the charm of novelty. The rhetoric was sometimes too +elaborate. The political philosophy was not always sound. But the +rhetoric was so polished that none could fail to enjoy it; and the +political philosophy was put in so terse, bright, and pointed a form +that it made the ordinary country gentleman fancy himself a +philosopher while he listened to it in the House or repeated it to +his friends at the club. The speeches, which, though directed +against a particular measure, constituted an indictment of democratic +government in general, had the advantages of expressing what many +felt but few had ventured to say, and of being delivered from one side +of the House and cheered by the other side. No position gives a +debater in the House of Commons such a vantage ground for securing +attention. Its rarity makes it remarkable. If the speaker who +attacks his own party is supposed to do so from personal motives, +the personal element gives piquancy. If he may be credited with +conscientious conviction, his shafts strike with added weight, for +how strong must conviction be when it turns a man against his former +friends. Accordingly, nothing so much annoys a party and gratifies +its antagonists as when one of its own recalcitrant members attacks +it in flank. When one looks back now at the contents of these +speeches--there were only five or six of them--and finds one's self +surprised at their success, this favouring circumstance and the whole +temper of the so-called "upper classes" need to be remembered. The +bulk of the wealthier commercial class and a large section of the +landed class had theretofore belonged to the Liberal party. Most +of them, however, were then already beginning to pass through what +was called Whiggism into habits of thought that were practically +Tory. They did not know how far they had gone till Lowe's speeches +told them, and they welcomed his ideas as justifying their own +tendencies. + +In themselves, as pieces either of rhetoric or of "civil wisdom," the +speeches are not first-rate. No one would dream of comparing them to +Burke's, in originality, or in richness of diction, or in weight of +thought. But for the moment they were far more appreciated than +Burke's were by the House of his time, which thought of dining while +he thought of convincing. Robert Lowe was for some months the idol of +a large part of the educated class, and indeed of that part chiefly +which plumed itself upon its culture. I recollect to have been in +those days at a breakfast party given by an eminent politician and +nominal supporter of the Liberal Ministry, and to have heard Mr. G. S. +Venables, the leader of the _Saturday Review_ set, an able and copious +writer who was a sort of literary and political oracle among his +friends, deliver, amid general applause, including that of the host, +the opinion that Lowe was an intellectual giant compared to Mr. +Gladstone, and that the reputation of the latter had been extinguished +for ever. + +This period of glory, which was enhanced by the fall of Lord Russell +and Mr. Gladstone from power in June 1866--the defeat came on a minor +point, but was largely due to Lowe's speeches--lasted till Lowe, who +had now become a force to be counted with, obtained office as +Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Liberal Ministry which Mr. +Gladstone formed in the end of 1868. From that moment his position +declined. He lost popularity and influence both with the country and +in the House of Commons. His speeches were always able, but they did +not seem to tell when delivered from the ministerial bench. His +financial proposals, though ingenious, were thought too ingenious, and +showed a deficient perception of the tendencies of the English mind. +No section likes being taxed, but Lowe's budgets met with a more than +usually angry opposition. His economies and retrenchments, so far from +bringing him the credit he deserved, exposed him to the charge of +cheese-paring parsimony, and did much to render the Ministry +unpopular. Before that ministry fell in 1874, Lowe, who had in 1873 +exchanged the Exchequer for the Home Office, had almost ceased to be a +personage in politics. He did nothing to retrieve his fame during the +six years of Opposition that followed, seldom spoke, took little part +in the denunciation of Lord Beaconsfield's Eastern and Afghan policy, +which went on from 1876 till 1880, and once at least gave slight signs +of declining mental power. So in 1880 he was relegated to the House of +Lords, because the new Liberal Government of that year could not make +room for him. Very soon thereafter his memory began to fail, and for +the last ten years of his life he had been practically forgotten, +though sometimes seen, a pathetic figure, at evening parties. There is +hardly a parallel in our parliamentary annals to so complete an +eclipse of so brilliant a luminary. + +This rapid obscuration of a reputation which was genuine, for Lowe's +powers had been amply proved, was due to no accident, and was apparent +long before mental decay set in. The causes lay in himself. One cause +was purely physical. He was excessively short-sighted, so much so +that when he was writing a letter, his nose was apt to rub out the +words his pen had traced; and this defect shut him out from all that +knowledge of individual men and of audiences which is to be +obtained by watching their faces. Mr. Gladstone, who never seemed to +resent Lowe's attacks, and greatly admired his gifts--it was not so +clear that Lowe reciprocated the admiration--used to relate that on +one occasion when a foreign potentate met the Minister in St. +James's Park and put out his hand in friendly greeting, Lowe +repelled his advances, and when the King said, "But, Mr. Lowe, you +know me quite well," he answered, "Yes, indeed, I know you far too +well, and I don't want to have anything more to do with you." He +had mistaken the monarch for a prominent politician with whom he +had had a sharp encounter on a deputation a few days before! For +social purposes Lowe might almost as well have been blind; yet he did +not receive that kind of indulgence which is extended to the +blind. In the interesting fragment of autobiography which he left, +he attributes his unpopularity entirely to this cause, declaring that +he was really of a kindly nature, liking his fellow-men just as well +as most of them like one another.[42] But in truth his own character +had something to answer for. Without being ill-natured, he was deemed +a hard-natured man, who did not appear to consider the feelings of +others. He had indeed a love of mischief, and gleefully tells in +his autobiography how, when travelling in his youth through the +Scottish Highlands, he drove the too self-conscious Wordsworth wild +by his incessant praise of Walter Scott.[43] He had not in political +life more than his fair share of personal enmities. One of them was +Disraeli's. They were not unequally matched. Lowe was intellectually +in some respects stronger, but he wanted Disraeli's skill in +managing men and assemblies. Disraeli resented Lowe's sarcasms, and +on one occasion, when the latter had made an indiscreet speech, went +out of his way to inflict on him a personal humiliation. + +Nor was this Lowe's only defect. Powerful in attack, he was feeble in +defence. Terrible as a critic, he had, as his official career showed, +little constructive talent, little tact in shaping or recommending his +measures. Unsteady or inconstant in purpose, he was at one moment +headstrong, at another timid or vacillating. These faults, scarcely +noticed when he was in Opposition, sensibly reduced his value as a +minister and as a Cabinet colleague. + +In private Lowe was good company, bright, alert, and not unkindly. He +certainly did not, as was alleged of another famous contemporary, +Lord Westbury, positively enjoy the giving of pain. But he had a most +unchristian scorn for the slow and the dull and the unenlightened, and +never restrained his scorching wit merely for the sake of sparing +those who came in his way. If the distinction be permissible, he was +not cruel but he was merciless, that is to say, unrestrained by +compassion. Instances are not wanting of men who have maintained great +influence in spite of their rough tongues and the enmities which rough +tongues provoke. But such men have usually also possessed some of the +arts of popularity, and have been able to retain the adherence of +their party at large, even when they had alienated many who came into +personal contact with them. This was not Lowe's case. He did not +conceal his contempt for the multitude, and had not the tact needed +for humouring it, any more than for managing the House of Commons. The +very force and keenness of his intellect kept him aloof from other +people and prevented him from understanding their sentiments. He saw +things so clearly that he could not tolerate mental confusion, and was +apt to reach conclusions so fast that he missed perceiving some of the +things which are gradually borne in upon slower minds. There are also +instances of strong men who, though they do not revile their +opponents, incur hatred because their strength and activity make them +feared. Hostility concentrates itself on the opponents deemed most +formidable, and a political leader who is spared while his fellows are +attacked cannot safely assume that this immunity is a tribute to his +virtues. Incessant abuse fell to the lot of Mr. Bright, who was not +often, and of Mr. Gladstone, who was hardly ever, personally bitter in +invective. But in compensation Mr. Bright and Mr. Gladstone received +enthusiastic loyalty from their followers. For Lowe there was no such +compensation. Even his own side did not love him. There was also a +certain harshness, perhaps a certain narrowness, about his views. Even +in those days of rigid economics, he took an exceptionally rigid view +of all economic problems, refusing to make allowance for any motives +except those of bare self-interest. Though he did not belong by +education or by social ties to the Utilitarian group, and gave an +ungracious reception to J. S. Mill's first speeches in the House of +Commons, he was a far more stringent and consistent exponent of the +harder kind of Benthamism than was Mill himself. He professed, and +doubtless to some extent felt, a contempt for appeals to historical or +literary sentiment, and relished nothing more than deriding his own +classical training as belonging to an effete and absurd scheme of +education. He left his mark on our elementary school system by +establishing the system of payment by results, but nearly every change +made in that system since his day has tended to destroy the +alterations he made and to bring back the older condition of things, +though no doubt in an amended form. His ideas of University reform +were crude and barren, limited, indeed, to the substitution of what +the Germans call "bread studies" for mental cultivation, and to the +extension of the plan of competitive examinations for honours and +money prizes, a plan which more and more displeases the most +enlightened University teachers, and is felt to have done more harm +than good to Oxford and Cambridge, where it has had the fullest play. +He had also, and could give good reasons for his opinion, a hearty +dislike to endowments of all kinds; and once, when asked by a Royal +Commission to suggest a mode of improving their application, answered +in his trenchant way, "Get rid of them. Throw them into the sea." + +It would not be fair to blame Lowe for the results which followed his +vigorous action against the extension of the suffrage in 1866, for no +one could then have predicted that in the following year the Tories, +beguiled by Mr. Disraeli, would reverse their former attitude and +carry a suffrage bill far wider than that which they had rejected a +year before. But the sequel of the successful resistance of 1866 may +stand as a warning to those who think that the course of thoroughgoing +opposition to a measure they dislike is, because it seems courageous, +likely to be the right and wise course for patriotic men. Had the +moderate bill of 1866 been suffered to pass, the question of further +extending the suffrage might possibly have slept for another thirty +years, for there was no very general or urgent cry for it among the +working people, and England would have continued to be ruled in the +main by voters belonging to the middle class and the upper section of +the working class. The consequence of the heated contest of 1866 was +not only to bring about a larger immediate change in 1867, but to +create an interest in the question which soon prompted the demand for +the extension of household suffrage to the counties, and completed in +1884-85 the process by which England has become virtually a democracy, +though a plutocratic democracy, still affected by the habits and +notions of oligarchic days. Thus Robert Lowe, as much as Disraeli and +Gladstone, may in a sense be called an author of the tremendous change +which has passed upon the British Constitution since 1866, and the +extent of which was not for a long while realised. Lowe himself never +recanted his views, but never repeated his declaration of them, +feeling that he had incurred unpopularity enough, and probably feeling +also that the case was hopeless. + +People who disliked his lugubrious forecasts used to call him a +Cassandra, perhaps forgetting that, besides the distinctive feature +of Cassandra's prophecies that nobody believed them, there was another +distinctive feature, viz. that they came true. Did Lowe's? It is often +profitable and sometimes amusing to turn back to the predictions +through which eminent men relieved their perturbed souls, and see how +far these superior minds were able to discern the tendencies, already +at work in their time, which were beginning to gain strength, and were +destined to determine the future. Whoever reads Lowe's speeches of +1865-67 may do worse than glance at the same time at a book,[44] long +since forgotten, which contains the efforts of a group of young +University Liberals to refute the arguments used by him and by Lord +Cairns, the strongest of his allies, in their opposition to schemes of +parliamentary reform. + +To compare the optimism of these young writers and Lowe's pessimism +with what has actually come to pass is a not uninstructive task. True +it is that England has had only thirty-five years' experience of the +Reform Act of 1867, and only seventeen years' experience of that even +greater step towards pure democracy which was effected by the +Franchise and Redistribution Acts of 1884-85. We are still far from +knowing what sorts of Parliaments and policies the enlarged suffrage +will end by giving. But some at least of the mischiefs Lowe foretold +have not arrived. He expected first of all a rapid increase in +corruption and intimidation at parliamentary elections. The quality of +the House of Commons would decline, because money would rule, and +small boroughs would no longer open the path by which talent could +enter. Members would be either millionaires or demagogues, and they +would also become far more subservient to their constituents. +Universal suffrage would soon arrive, because no halting-place between +the L10 franchise[45] and universal suffrage could be found. Placed on +a democratic basis, the House of Commons would not be able to retain +its authority over the Executive. The House of Lords, the Established +Church, the judicial bench (in that dignity and that independence +which are essential to its usefulness), would be overthrown as England +passed into "the bare and level plain of democracy where every +ant-hill is a mountain and every thistle a forest tree." These and the +other features characteristic of popular government on which Lowe +savagely descanted were pieced together out of Plato and Tocqueville, +coupled with his own disagreeable experiences of Australian politics. +None of the predicted evils can be said to have as yet become features +of the polity and government of England,[46] though the power of the +House relatively to the Cabinet does seem to be declining. Yet some of +Lowe's incidental remarks are true, and not least true is his +prediction that democracies will be found just as prone to war, just +as apt to be swept away by passion, as other kinds of government have +been. Few signs herald the approach of that millennium of peace and +enlightenment which Cobden foretold and for which Gladstone did not +cease to hope. + +No one since Lowe has taken up the part of _advocatus diaboli_ against +democracy which he played in 1866.[47] Since Disraeli passed the +Household Suffrage in Boroughs Bill in 1867, a nullification of Lowe's +triumph which incensed him more than ever against Disraeli, no one has +ever come forward in England as the avowed enemy of changes designed +to popularise our government. Parties have quarrelled over the time +and the manner of extensions of the franchise, but the issue of +principle raised in 1866 has not been raised again. Even in 1884, when +Mr. Gladstone carried his bill for assimilating the county franchise +to that existing in boroughs, the Tory party did not oppose the +measure in principle, but confined themselves to insisting that it +should be accompanied by a scheme for the redistribution of seats. The +secret, first unveiled by Disraeli, that the masses will as readily +vote for the Tory party as for the Liberal, is now common property, +and universal suffrage, when it comes to be offered, is as likely to +be offered by the former party as by the latter. This gives a touch of +historical interest to Lowe's speeches of 1866. They are the swan-song +of the old constitutionalism. The changes which came in 1867 and 1884 +must have come sooner or later, for they were in the natural line of +development as we see it all over the world; but they might have come +much later had not Lowe's opposition wrecked the moderate scheme of +1866. Apart from that episode Lowe's career would now be scarcely +remembered, or would be remembered by those who knew his splendid +gifts as an illustration of the maxim that mere intellectual power +does not stand first among the elements of character that go to the +winning of a foremost place. + +----- + + [41] A carefully written life of Lord Sherbrooke (in two volumes) by + Mr. Patchett Martin was published in 1896. The most interesting + part of it is the short fragment of autobiography with which it + begins, and which carries the story down to Lowe's arrival in + Australia. + + [42] In his autobiography he writes, "With a quiet temper and a real + wish to please, I have been obliged all my life to submit to an + amount of unpopularity which I really did not deserve, and to + feel myself condemned for what were really physical rather than + moral deficiencies." + + [43] There was an anecdote current in the University of Oxford down to + my time that when Lowe was examining in the examination which + the statutes call "Responsions," the dons "Little-go," and the + undergraduates "Smalls," a friend coming in while the _viva + voce_ was in progress, asked him how he was getting on. + "Excellently," said Lowe; "five men plucked already, and the + sixth very shaky." Another tale, not likely to have been + invented, relates that when he and several members of the then + Liberal Ministry were staying in Dublin with the Lord + Lieutenant, and had taken an excursion into the Wicklow hills, + they found themselves one afternoon obliged to wait for half an + hour at a railway station. To pass the time, Lowe forthwith + engaged in a dispute about the charge with the car-drivers who + had brought them, a dispute which soon became hot and noisy, to + the delight of Lowe, but to the horror of the old Lord + Chancellor, who was one of the party. + + [44] _Essays on Reform_, published in 1867. + + [45] The then borough qualification, which Mr. Gladstone's Bill + proposed to reduce to L7. + + [46] Mr. Gladstone said to me in 1897 that the extension of the + suffrage had, in his judgment, improved the quality of + legislation, making it more regardful of the interests of the + body of the people, but had not improved the quality of the + House of Commons. + + [47] Sir H. S. Maine's _Quarterly Review_ articles, published in a + volume under the title of _Popular Government_, come nearest to + being a literary presentation of the case against democracy, + but they are, with all their ingenuity and grace of style, so + provokingly vague and loosely expressed that there can seldom + be found in them a proposition with which one can agree, or + from which one can differ. E. de Laveleye's well-known book is + not much more substantial, but instruction may (as respects + France) be found in the late Edmond Scherer's _De la + Democratie_, and (as respects England and the United States) in + M. Ostrogorski's recent book, _Democracy and the Organisation + of Political Parties_. + + + + +WILLIAM ROBERTSON SMITH + + +Robertson Smith,[48] the most widely learned and one of the most +powerful teachers that either Cambridge or Oxford could show during +the years of his residence in England, died at the age of forty-seven +on the 31st of March 1894. To the English public generally his name +was little known, or was remembered only in connection with the +theological controversy and ecclesiastical trial of which he had been +the central figure in Scotland fifteen years before. But on the +Continent of Europe and by Orientalists generally he was regarded as +the foremost Semitic scholar of Britain, and by those who knew him as +one of the most remarkable men of his time. + +He was born in 1846 in the quiet pastoral valley of the Don, in +Aberdeenshire. His father, who was a minister of the Scottish Free +Church in the parish of Keig, possessed high mathematical talent, +and his mother, who survived him six years, was a woman of great +force of character, who retained till her death, at seventy-six years +of age, the full exercise of her keen intelligence. Smith went +straight from his father's teaching to the University of Aberdeen, and +after graduating there, continued his studies first at Bonn in +1865, and afterwards at Gottingen (1869). When only twenty-four he +became Professor of Oriental Languages in the College or Divinity +School of the Free Church at Aberdeen, and two years later was +chosen one of the revisers of the Old Testament, a striking honour +for so young a man. In 1881 he became first assistant-editor and +then editor-in-chief of the ninth edition of the _Encyclopaedia +Britannica_. He was exceptionally qualified for the post by the +variety of his attainments and by the extreme quickness of his +mind, which rapidly acquired knowledge on almost any kind of subject. +Those who knew him are agreed that among all the eminent men who have +been connected with this great _Encyclopaedia_ from its first +beginning nearly a century and a half ago until now, he was +surpassed by none, if equalled by any, in the range of his learning +and in the capacity to bring learning to bear upon editorial work. +He took infinite pains to find the most competent writers, and was +able to exercise effective personal supervision over a very large +proportion of the articles. The ninth edition was much fuller and +more thorough than any of its predecessors; and good as the first +twelve volumes were, a still higher level of excellence was attained +in the latter half, a result due to his industry and discernment. +Not a few of the articles on subjects connected with the Old +Testament were from his own pen; and they were among the best in the +work. + +The appearance of one of them, that entitled "Bible," which contained +a general view of the history of the canonical books of Scripture, +their dates, authorship, and reception by the Christian Church, became +a turning-point in his life. The propositions he stated regarding the +origin of parts of the Old Testament, particularly the Pentateuch, +excited alarm and displeasure in Scotland, where few persons had +become aware of the conclusions reached by recent Biblical scholars in +Continental Europe. The article was able, clear, and fearless, plainly +the work of a master hand. The views it advanced were not for the most +part due to Smith's own investigations, but were to be found in the +writings of other learned men. Neither would they now be thought +extreme; they are in fact accepted to-day by many writers of +unquestioned orthodoxy in Britain and a (perhaps smaller) number in +the United States. In 1876, however, these views were new and +startling to those who had not studied in Germany or followed the +researches of such men as Ewald, Kuenen, and Wellhausen. The Scottish +Free Church had theretofore prided itself upon the rigidity of its +orthodoxy; and while among the younger ministers there were a good +many able and learned scholars holding what used to be called +"advanced views," the mass of the elder and middle-aged clergy had +gone on in the old-fashioned traditions of verbal inspiration, and +took every word in the Five Books (except the last chapter of +Deuteronomy) to have been written down by Moses. It was only natural +that their anger should be kindled against the young professor, whose +theories seemed to cut away the ground from under their feet. +Proceedings were (1876) taken against him before the Presbytery of +Aberdeen, and the case found its way thence to the Synod of Aberdeen, +and ultimately to the General Assembly of the Free Church. In one form +or another (for the flame was lit anew by other articles published by +him in the _Encyclopaedia_) it lingered on for five years. So far from +yielding to the storm, Robertson Smith defied it, maintaining not only +the truth of his views, but their compatibility with the Presbyterian +standards as contained in the Confession of Faith and the Longer and +Shorter Catechisms. In this latter contention he was successful, +proving that the divines of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries +had not committed themselves to any specific doctrine of inspiration, +still less to any dogmatic deliverance as to the authorship of +particular books of Scripture. The standards simply declared that the +Word of God was contained in the canonical books, and as there had +been little or no controversy between Protestants and Roman Catholics +regarding the date or the authorship or the divine authority of those +books (apart of course from disputes regarding the Apocrypha), had not +dealt specifically with those last mentioned matters. As it was by +reference to the Confession of Faith that the offence alleged had to +be established, Smith made good his defence; so in the end, finding it +impossible to convict him of deviation from the standards, and thereby +to deal with him as an ordained minister of the Church, his +adversaries fell back on the plan of depriving him, by an executive +rather than judicial vote, not indeed of his clerical status, but of +his professorship, on the ground of the alleged "unsettling character" +of his teaching. + +Meanwhile, however, there had been an immense rally to him of the +younger clergy and of the less conservative among the laity. The main +current of Scottish popular thought and life had ever since the +Reformation flowed in an ecclesiastical channel; and even nowadays, +when Scotland is rapidly becoming Anglicised, a theological or +ecclesiastical question excites a wider and keener interest there than +a similar question would do in England. So in Scotland for four years +"the Robertson Smith case" was the chief topic of discussion outside +as well as inside the Free Church. The sympathy felt for the accused +was heightened by the ingenuity, energy, and courage with which he +defended his position, showing a power of argument and repartee which +made it plain that he would have held a distinguished place in any +assembly whatever. If his debating had a fault, it was that of being +almost too dialectically cogent, so that his antagonists felt that +they were being foiled on the form of the argument before they could +get to the issues they sought to raise. But while he was an +accomplished lawyer in matters of form, he was no less an accomplished +theologian in matters of substance. Although the party of repression +triumphed so far as to deprive him of his chair, the victory virtually +remained with him, not only because he had shown that the Scottish +Presbyterian standards did not condemn the views he held, but also +because his defence and the discussions which it occasioned had, in +bringing those views to the knowledge of a great number of thoughtful +laymen, led such persons to reconsider their own position. Some of +them found themselves forced to agree with Smith. Others, who +distrusted their capacity for arriving at a conclusion, came at least +to think that the questions involved did not affect the essentials of +faith, and must be settled by the ordinary canons of historical and +philological criticism. Thus the trial proved to be a turning-point +for the Scottish Churches, much as the _Essays and Reviews_ case had +been for the Church of England eighteen years earlier. Opinions +formerly proscribed were thereafter freely expressed. Nearly all the +doctrinal prosecutions subsequently attempted in the Scottish +Presbyterian Churches have failed. Much feeling has been excited, but +the result has been to secure a greater latitude than was dreamt of +forty years ago. At first the rigidly orthodox section of the Free +Church, now almost confined to the Highlands, thought of seceding from +the main body on the ground that tolerance was passing into +indifference or unbelief. But the new ideas continued to grow, and the +sentiment in favour of letting clergymen as well as lay church members +put a lax construction on the doctrinal standards drawn up in the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, has spread as widely in Scotland +as in England. The Presbyterian Churches in America and the Roman +Catholic Church now stand almost alone among the larger Christian +bodies in retaining something of the ancient rigidity. Even the Roman +Church begins to feel the solvent power of these researches. It may be +conjectured that as the process of adjusting the letter of Scripture +to the conclusions of science which Galileo was not permitted to +apply in the field of astronomy has now been generally applied in the +fields of geology and biology, so all the churches will presently +reconcile themselves to the conclusions of historical and linguistic +criticism, now that such criticism has become truly scientific in its +methods. + +Having no longer any tie to Scotland, as he had never desired a +pastoral charge there, since he felt his vocation to lie in study and +teaching, Smith was hesitating which way to turn, when the offer of +the Lord Almoner's Readership in Arabic, which had become vacant in +1883, determined him to settle in Cambridge. He had travelled in +Arabia a few years earlier, thereby adding a colloquial familiarity to +his grammatical mastery of the language. He was an ardent student of +Arabic literature, and indeed devoted more time to it than to Hebrew. +Though he had felt deeply the attacks made upon him, and was indignant +at the mode of his dismissal, he was not in the least dispirited; and +his self-control was shown by the way in which he resisted the +temptation, to which controversialists are prone, of going further +than they originally meant and thereby damaging the position of their +supporters. Still, he was weary of controversy, and pleased to see +before him a prospect of learned quiet and labour, although the salary +of the Readership was less than L100 a year. Fortunately he had come +to a place where gifts like his were appreciated. The Master and +Fellows of Christ's College elected him to a fellowship with no duties +of tuition attached to it--a wise and graceful recognition of his +merits which did them the more credit because they had very little +personal knowledge of him, while he had possessed no prior tie with +the University. Christ's is one of the smaller colleges, but has +almost always had men of distinction among its fellows, and has +maintained a high standard of teaching. In the list of its alumni +stand the names of John Milton, Isaac Barrow, Ralph Cudworth, and +Charles Darwin. Robertson Smith dwelt in it for the rest of his days, +entering into the life of hall and common-room with great zest, for he +was of an extremely sociable turn, and the College became proud of +him. When a vacancy occurred in the office of University Librarian, he +was chosen to fill it. His knowledge of and fondness for books fitted +him excellently for the place, but the details of administration +worried him, and it was a change for the better when (in 1889), on the +death of his friend, William Wright, he became Professor of +Arabic.[49] His efforts to build up a school of Oriental studies on +the foundations laid by Wright, and with the help of an eminent Syriac +scholar, Bensley, were proving successful, and a considerable number +of able young men were gathering round him, when (in 1890) the hand of +disease fell upon him, obliging him first to curtail and afterwards to +intermit his lectures. The last year of his life was a year of +suffering, borne with uncomplaining fortitude. + +What with work on the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, with the distractions +of his prolonged trial, with the time spent in oral teaching, and with +the physical weakness of his latest years, Smith's leisure available +for literary production was not large, and the books he has left do +not adequately represent either his accumulated knowledge or his +faculty of investigation. The earlier books--_The Old Testament in the +Jewish Church_ and _The Prophets of Israel_ (the latter a series of +lectures delivered at Glasgow)--are comparatively popular in handling. +The two later--_Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia_ and _The +Religion of the Semites_--are more abstruse and technical, and also +more original, dealing with topics in which their author was a +pioneer, though he had been influenced by, and acknowledged in the +amplest way his obligations to, his friend John F. Maclennan, the +author of _Primitive Marriage_. _The Religion of the Semites_, though +masterly in plan and execution, and though it has excited the +admiration of the few Oriental scholars competent to appraise its +substantial merit, suffers from its incompleteness. Only the first +volume was published, for death overtook the author before he could +put into final shape the materials he had collected for the full +development of his theories. As the second volume would have traced +the connection between the primitive religion of the Arab branches of +the Semitic stock (including Israel) and the Hebrew religion as we +have it in the earlier books of the Old Testament, the absence of this +finished statement is a loss to science. Changes had passed upon his +views since he wrote the incriminated articles, and he said to me (I +think about 1888) that he would no longer undertake any clerical +duties. He had a sensitive conscience, and held that no clergyman +ought to use language in the pulpit which did not express his personal +convictions. + +What struck one most in Robertson Smith's writings was the easy +command wherewith he handled his materials. His generalisations were +based on an endlessly patient and careful study of details, a study in +which he never lost sight of guiding principles. With perfect lucidity +and an unstrained natural vigour, there was a sense of abounding and +overflowing knowledge which inspired confidence in the reader, making +him feel he was in the hands of a master. On all that pertained to the +languages and literature of the Arabic branch of the Semitic races, +ancient and modern (for he did not claim to be an Assyriologist), his +knowledge was accurate no less than comprehensive. Full of deference +to the great scholars--no one spoke with a warmer admiration of +Noeldeke, Wellhausen, and Lagarde than he did--he was a stringent +critic of unscientific work in the sphere of history and physics as +well as in that of philology, quick to expose the uncritical +assumptions or loose hypotheses of less careful though more +pretentious students. He used to say that when he had disposed of the +_Encyclopaedia Britannica_, he might undertake a "Dictionary of +European Impostors." Oriental lore was only one of many subjects in +which he might have achieved distinction. His mathematical talents +were remarkable, and during two sessions he taught with conspicuous +success the class of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh +as assistant professor. He had a competent acquaintance with not a few +other practical arts, including navigation, and once, when the +compasses of the vessel on which he was sailing in the Red Sea got out +of order, he proved to be the person on board most competent to set +them right. In metaphysics and theology, in ancient history and many +departments of modern history, he was thoroughly at home. Few, indeed, +were the subjects that came up in the course of conversation on which +he was not able to throw light, for the range of his acquirements was +not more striking than the swiftness and precision with which he +brought knowledge to bear wherever it was wanted. + +There was hardly a line of practical life in which he might not have +attained a brilliant success. But the passion for knowledge made him +prefer the life of a scholar, and seemed to have quenched any desire +even for literary fame. + +Learning is commonly thought of as a weight to be carried, which makes +men dull, heavy, or pedantic. With Robertson Smith the effect seemed +to be exactly the opposite. Because he knew so much, he was interested +in everything, and threw himself with a joyous freshness and keenness +into talk alike upon the most serious and the lightest topics. He was +combative, apt to traverse a proposition when first advanced, even +though he might come round to it afterwards; and a discussion with him +taxed the defensive acumen of his companions. Having once spent five +weeks alone with him in a villa at Alassio on the Riviera, I observed +to him when we parted that we had had (as the Americans say) "a lovely +time" together, and that there was not an observation I had made +during those weeks which he had not contested. He laughed and did not +contest that observation. Yet this tendency, while it made his society +more stimulating, did not make it less agreeable, because he never +seemed to seek to overthrow an adversary, but only to get at the truth +of the case, and his manner, though positive, had about it nothing +either acrid or conceited. One could imagine no keener intellectual +pleasure than his company afforded, for there was, along with an +exuberant wealth of thought and knowledge, an intensity and ardour +which lit up every subject which it touched. I once invited him and +John Richard Green (the historian) to meet at dinner. They took to one +another at once, nor was it easy to say which lamp burned the +brighter. Smith had wider and more accurate learning, and stronger +logical power, but Green was just as swift, just as fertile, just as +ingenious. In stature Smith, like Green, was small, almost diminutive; +his dark brown eyes bright and keen; his speech rapid; his laugh ready +and merry, for he had a quick sense of humour and a power of enjoying +things as they came. The type of intellect suggested a Teutonic Scot +of the Lowlands, but in appearance and temperament he was rather a +Scottish Celt of the Highlands, with a fire and a gaiety, an abounding +vivacity and vitality, which made him a conspicuous figure wherever he +lived, in Aberdeen, in Edinburgh, in Cambridge. Even by his walk, with +its quick, irregular roll, one could single him out at a distance in +the street. + +When a man is attractive personally, he is all the more attractive for +being unlike other men, and he often becomes the centre of a group. +This was the case with Smith. His numerous friends were so much +interested by him that when they met their talk was largely of him, +and many friendships were based on a common knowledge of this one +person. Indeed, the geniality, elevation, and simplicity of his +character gave him a quite unusual hold on those who had come to know +him well. Few men, leading an equally quiet and studious life, have +inspired so much regard and affection in so large a number of persons; +few teachers have had an equal power of stimulating and attracting +their pupils. He loved teaching hardly less than he loved the +investigation of truth, and he was the most faithful and sympathetic +of friends, one who was felt to be unique while he lived and +irreplaceable when he had departed. + +I have spoken of the courage he had shown in confronting his +antagonists in the ecclesiastical courts. That courage did not fail +him in the severer trials of his last illness. The nature of the +disease of which he died was disclosed to him by his physician in +September 1892, while an international Congress of Orientalists, in +which he presided over the Semitic section, was holding its meetings. +A festival dinner was being given in honour of the Congress the same +afternoon. When the physician had spoken, Smith simply remarked, "This +means the death my brother died" (one of his brothers had been struck +by the same malady a few years before). He went straight to the +dinner, and was throughout the evening the gayest and brightest of the +guests. + +Fancy sometimes indulges herself in imagining what part the eminent +men one has known would have played had their lot been cast in some +other age. So I have fancied that Archbishop Tait (described in an +earlier chapter) ought to have been Primate of England under Edward +the Sixth or Elizabeth. He would have guided the course of reform more +prudently and more firmly than Cranmer did; he would have shown a +broader spirit than did Parker or Whitgift. So Cardinal Manning, had +he lived in the seventeenth century, might haply have become General +of the Jesuit Order, and enjoyed the secret control of the politics of +the Catholic world. So Robertson Smith, had he been born in the great +age of the mediaeval universities, might, like the bold dialectician of +whom Dante speaks, have "syllogised invidious truths"[50] in the +University of Paris; or had Fortune placed him two centuries later +among the scholars of the Italian Renaissance in its glorious prime, +the fame of his learning might have filled half Europe. + +----- + + [48] No life of Robertson Smith has yet been written, but it is hoped + that one may be prepared by his intimate friend, Mr. J. + Sutherland Black. A portrait of him (by his friend Sir George + Reid, late President of the Royal Scottish Academy) hangs in + the library of Christ's College, Cambridge, to which Smith's + collection of Oriental books was presented by his friends, and + another has been placed in the Divinity College of the United + Free Presbyterian Church at Aberdeen. A memorial window has + been set up in the chapel of the University of Aberdeen, where + he won his first distinctions. I have to thank my friend Mr. + Black for some suggestions he has kindly made after perusing + this sketch. + + [49] There was an aged Jewish scholar who came now and then to + Cambridge in those days, and who, as sometimes happens, + disliked other scholars labouring in the same field. He was (so + it used to be said) one of the few who knew exactly how the + word which we write Jehovah or Iahve ought to be pronounced, + and it was believed that he had solemnly cursed Wright, Smith, + and a third Semitic scholar in the Sacred Name. All three died + soon afterwards. + + What would have been thought of this in the Middle Ages! + + [50] _Parad._ x. 136, of Sigier, "Sillogizzo invidiosi veri." + + + + +HENRY SIDGWICK + + +Henry Sidgwick was born at Skipton, in Yorkshire, where his father was +headmaster of the ancient grammar school of the town, on 31st May +1838.[51] The family belonged to Yorkshire. He was a precocious boy, +and used to delight his brothers and sister by the fertility of his +imagination in inventing games and stories. Educated at Rugby School +under Goulburn (afterwards Dean of Norwich), he was sent at an +unusually early age to Trinity College, Cambridge. His brilliant +University career was crowned by the first place in the classical +tripos and by a first class in the mathematical tripos, and he was +speedily elected a Fellow of Trinity. Intellectual curiosity and an +interest in the problems of theology presently drew him to Germany, +where he worked at Hebrew and Arabic under Ewald at Gottingen, as well +as with other eminent teachers. After hesitating for a time whether to +devote himself to Oriental studies or to classical scholarship, he was +drawn back to philosophy by his desire to investigate questions +bearing on natural theology, and finally settled down to the pursuit +of what are called in Cambridge the moral sciences--metaphysics, +ethics, and psychology; becoming first a College Lecturer and then (in +1875) a University Praelector in these subjects. In 1869 he resigned +his fellowship, feeling that he could no longer consider himself a +"_bona fide_ member of the Church of England," that being the +condition then attached by law to the holding of fellowships in the +Colleges at Cambridge. This step caused surprise, for the test was +deemed a very vague and light one, having been recently substituted +for a more stringent requirement, and there had been many holders of +fellowships who were at least as little entitled to call themselves +_bona fide_ members of the Established Church as he was. But, as was +afterwards said of him by Mrs. Cross (George Eliot), Sidgwick was +expected by his intimate friends to conform to standards higher than +average men prescribe for their own conduct. Taken in conjunction with +the fact that several English Dissenters and Scottish Presbyterians +had won the distinction of a Senior Wranglership and been debarred +from fellowships, though they were in theological opinion more +orthodox than some nominal members of the Established Church who were +holding fellowships, Sidgwick's conscientious act made a great +impression in Cambridge and did much to hasten that total abolition +of tests in the Universities which was effected by statute in 1871; +for in England concrete instances of hardship and injustice are more +powerful incitements to reform than the strongest abstract arguments, +and Sidgwick was already so eminent and so respected a figure that all +Cambridge felt the absurdity of excluding such a man from its honours +and emoluments. In 1883 he was appointed Professor of Moral +Philosophy, and continued to hold that post till three months before +his death in 1900, when failing health determined him to resign it. + +His life was the still and tranquil life of the thinker, teacher, and +writer, varied by no events more exciting than those controversies +over reforms in the studies and organisation of the University in +which his sense of public duty frequently led him to bear a part. + +These I pass over, but there is one branch of his active work to which +special reference ought to be made, viz. the part he took in promoting +the University education of women. In or about the year 1868 he joined +with the late Miss Anne Jane Clough (sister of the poet Arthur Clough) +and a few other friends in establishing a course of lectures and a +hall of residence for women at Cambridge, which grew into the +institution called Newnham College. It and Girton College, founded by +other friends of the same cause about the same time, were the first +two institutions in England which provided for women, together with +residential accommodation, a complete University training equivalent +and similar to that provided by the two ancient English universities +for men. The teaching was mainly given by the University professors +and lecturers, the curriculum was the same as the University +prescribed, and the women students, though not legally admitted to the +University, were examined by the University examiners at the same time +as the other students. Henry Sidgwick was, from the foundation of +Newnham onwards, the moving spirit and the guiding hand among its +University friends, the spirit which inspired the policy and the hand +which piloted the fortunes of the College. Its growth to its present +dimensions, and its usefulness, not only directly, but through the +example it has set, have been largely due to his assiduous care and +temperate wisdom. He had married (in 1876) Miss Eleanor Mildred +Balfour, and when she accepted the principalship of Newnham after Miss +Clough's death, in 1889, he and she transferred their residence to the +College, and lived thenceforward at it. The England of our time has +seen no movement of opinion more remarkable or more beneficial than +that which has recognised the claims of women to the highest kind of +education, and secured a substantial, if still incomplete, provision +therefor. The change has come so quietly and unobtrusively that few +people realise how great it is. Few, indeed, remember what things were +forty years ago, as few realise when waste lands have been stubbed and +drained and tilled what they were like in their former state. No one +did more than Sidgwick to bring about this change. Besides his work +for Newnham, he took a lead in all the movements that have been made +to obtain for women a fuller admission to University privileges, and +well deserved the gratitude of Englishwomen for his unceasing efforts +on their behalf. + +The obscure problems of psychology had a great attraction for him, and +he spent much time in investigating them, being one of the founders, +and remaining all through his later life a leading and guiding member, +of the Society for Psychical Research, which has for the last twenty +years cultivated this field with an industry and ability which have +deserved larger harvests than have yet been reaped. Two remarkable +men, both devoted friends of his, worked with him, Edmund Gurney and +Frederic Myers the poet, the latter of whom survived him a few months +only. It was characteristic of Sidgwick that he never committed +himself to any of the bold and possibly over-sanguine anticipations +formed by some of the other members of the Society, while yet he never +was deterred by failure, or by the discovery of deceptions, sometimes +elaborate and long sustained, from pursuing inquiries which seemed to +him to have an ultimate promise of valuable results. The phenomena, he +would say, may be true or false; anyhow they deserve investigation. +The mere fact that so many persons believe them to be genuine is a +problem fit to be investigated. If they are false, it will be a +service to have proved them so. If they contain some truth, it is +truth of a kind so absolutely new as to be worth much effort and long +effort to reach it. In any case, science ought to take the subject out +of the hands of charlatans. + +The main business of his life, however, was teaching and writing. Three +books stand out as those by which he will be best remembered--his +_Methods of Ethics_, his _Principles of Political Economy_, and his +_Elements of Politics_. All three have won the admiration of those +who are experts in the subjects to which they respectively relate, and +they continue to be widely read in universities both in Britain and in +America. All three bear alike the peculiar impress of his mind. + +It was a mind of singular subtlety, fertility, and ingenuity, which +applied to every topic an extremely minute and patient analysis. Never +satisfied with the obvious view of a question, it seemed unable to +acquiesce in any broad and sweeping statement. It discovered +objections to every accepted doctrine, exceptions to every rule. It +perceived minute distinctions and qualifications which had escaped the +notice of previous writers. These qualities made Sidgwick's books +somewhat difficult reading for a beginner, who was apt to ask what, +after all, was the conclusion to which he had been led by an author +who showed him the subject in various lights, and added not a few +minor propositions to that which had seemed to be the governing one. +But the student who had already some knowledge of the topic, who, +though he apprehended its main principles, had not followed them out +in detail or perceived the difficulties in applying them, gained +immensely by having so many fresh points presented to him, so many +fallacies lurking in currently accepted notions detected, so many +conditions indicated which might qualify the amplitude of a general +proposition. The method of discussion was stimulating. Sometimes it +reminded one of the Socratic method as it appears in Plato, but more +frequently it was the method of Aristotle, who discusses a subject +first from one side, then from another, throws out a number of +remarks, not always reconcilable, but always suggestive, regarding it, +and finally arrives at a view which he delivers as being probably the +best, but one which must be taken subject to the remarks previously +made. The reader often feels in Sidgwick's treatment of a subject as +he often feels in Aristotle's, that he would like to be left with +something more definite and positive, something that can be easily +delivered to learners as an established truth. He desires a bolder and +broader sweep of the brush. But he also feels how much he is benefited +by the process of sifting and analysing to which every conception or +dogma is subjected, and he perceives that he is more able to handle it +afterwards in his own way when his attention has been called to all +these distinctions and qualifications or antinomies which would have +escaped any vision less keen than his author's. For those who, in an +age prone to hasty reading and careless thinking, are disposed to +underrate the difficulties of economic and political questions, and to +walk in a vain conceit of knowledge because they have picked up some +large generalisations, no better discipline can be prescribed than to +follow patiently such a treatment as Sidgwick gives; nor can any +reader fail to profit from the candour and the love of truth which +illumine his discussion of a subject. + +The love of truth and the sense of duty guided his life as well as his +pen. Though always warmly interested in politics, he was of all the +persons I have known the least disposed to be warped by partisanship, +for he examined each political issue as it arose on its own merits, +apart from predilections for either party or for the views of his +nearest friends. We used to wonder how such splendid impartiality +would have stood a practical test such as that of the House of +Commons. His loyalty to civic duty was so strong as on one occasion to +bring him, in the middle of his vacation, all the way from Davos, in +the easternmost corner of Switzerland, to Cambridge, solely that he +might record his vote at a parliamentary election, although the result +of the election was already virtually certain. + +Sidgwick's attitude toward the Benthamite system of Utilitarianism +illustrates the cautiously discriminative habit of mind I have sought +to describe. If he had been required to call himself by any name, he +would not have refused that of Utilitarian, just as in mental +philosophy he leaned to the type of thought represented by the two +Mills rather than to the Kantian idealism of his friend and school +contemporary, the Oxford professor T. H. Green. But the system of +Utility takes in his hands a form so much more refined and delicate +than was given to it by Bentham and James Mill, and is expounded with +so many qualifications unknown to them, that it has become a very +different thing, and is scarcely, if at all, assailable by the +arguments which moralists of the idealistic type have brought against +the older doctrine. Something similar may be said of his treatment of +bimetallism in his book on political economy. While assenting to some +of the general propositions on which the bimetallic theory rests, he +points out so many difficulties in the application of that theory to +the actual conditions of currency that his assent cannot be cited as a +deliverance in favour of trying to turn theory into practice. He told +me in 1896 that he held the political and other practical objections +to an attempt to establish a bimetallic system to be virtually +insuperable. When he treats of free trade, he is no less guarded and +discriminating. He points out various circumstances or conditions +under which a protective tariff may become, at least for a time, +justifiable, but never abandons the free trade principle as being +generally true and sound, a principle not to be departed from save for +strong reasons of a local or temporary kind. His general economic +position is equally removed from the "high and dry" school of Ricardo +on the one hand, and from the "Katheder-Sozialisten" and the modern +"sentimental" school on the other. In all his books one notes a +tendency to discover what can be said for the view which is in popular +disfavour, even often for that which he does not himself adopt, and to +set forth all the objections to the view which is to receive his +ultimate adhesion. There is a danger with such a method of losing +breadth and force of effect. One is ready to cry, "Do lapse for a +moment into dogmatism." Yet it ought to be added that Sidgwick's +subtlety is always restrained by practical good sense, as well as by +the desire to reconcile opposite views. His arguments, though they +often turn on minute distinctions, are not bits of fine-drawn +ingenuity, but have weight and substance in them.[52] + +One book of his which has not yet (December 1902) been published, but +which I have had the privilege of reading in proof, displays his +constructive power in another light. It is a course of lectures on the +development of political institutions in Europe from early times down +to our own. Here, as he is dealing with concrete matter, the treatment +is more broad, and the line of exposition and argument more easy to +follow, than in the treatises already referred to. It is a masterly +piece of work, and reveals a wider range of historical knowledge and a +more complete mastery of historical method than had been shown in his +earlier books, or indeed than some of his friends had known him to +possess. + +The tendency to analysis rather than to construction, the abstention +from the deliverance of doctrines easy to comprehend and repeat, which +belong to his writings on ethics and economics, do not impair the +worth of his literary criticisms. In this field his fine perception +and discriminative taste had full scope. He was an incessant reader, +especially of poetry and novels, with a retentive memory for poetry, +as well as a finely modulated and expressive voice in reciting it. His +literary judgments had less of a creative quality, if the expression +be permissible, than Matthew Arnold's, but are not otherwise inferior +to those of that brilliant though sometimes slightly prejudiced +critic. No one of his contemporaries has surpassed Sidgwick in +catholicity and reasonableness, in the power of delicate appreciation, +or in an exquisite precision of expression. His essay on Arthur Hugh +Clough, prefixed to the latest edition of Clough's collected poems, is +a good specimen of this side of his talent. Clough was one of his +favourites, and has indeed been called the pet poet of University men. +Sidgwick's literary essays, which appeared occasionally in magazines, +were few, but they well deserve to be collected and republished, for +this age of ours, though largely occupied in talking about literature, +has produced comparatively little criticism of the first order. + +Sidgwick did not write swiftly or easily, because he weighed carefully +everything he wrote. But his mind was alert and nimble in the highest +degree. Thus he was an admirable talker, seeing in a moment the point +of an argument, seizing on distinctions which others had failed to +perceive, suggesting new aspects from which a question might be +regarded, and enlivening every topic by a keen yet sweet and kindly +wit. Wit, seldom allowed to have play in his books, was one of the +characteristics which made his company charming. Its effect was +heightened by a hesitation in his speech which often forced him to +pause before the critical word or phrase of the sentence had been +reached. When that word or phrase came, it was sure to be the right +one. Though fond of arguing, he was so candid and fair, admitting all +that there was in his opponent's case, and obviously trying to see the +point from his opponent's side, that nobody felt annoyed at having +come off second best, while everybody who cared for good talk went +away feeling not only that he knew more about the matter than he did +before, but that he had enjoyed an intellectual pleasure of a rare and +high kind. The keenness of his penetration was not formidable, because +it was joined to an indulgent judgment: the ceaseless activity of his +intellect was softened rather than reduced by the gaiety of his +manner. His talk was conversation, not discourse, for though he +naturally became the centre of nearly every company in which he found +himself, he took no more than his share. It was like the sparkling of +a brook whose ripples seem to give out sunshine. + +Though Sidgwick's writings are a mine of careful and suggestive +thinking, he was even more remarkable than his books. Though his +conversation was delightful, the impression of its fertility and its +wit was the least part of the impression which his personality +produced. An eminent man is known to the world at large by what he +gives them in the way of instruction or of pleasure. A man is prized +and remembered by his friends for what he was in the intercourse of +life. Few men of our time have influenced so wide or so devoted a +circle of friends as did Henry Sidgwick; few could respond to the +calls of friendship with a like sympathy or wisdom. His advice was +frequently asked in delicate questions of conduct, and he was +humorously reminded that, by his own capacity as well as by the title +of his chair, he was a professor of casuistry. His stores of knowledge +and helpful criticism were always at the service of his pupils or his +fellow-workers. + +From his earliest college days he had been just, well-balanced, +conscientious alike in the pursuit of truth and in the regulation of +his own life, appearing to have neither prejudices nor enmities, and +when he had to convey censure, choosing the least cutting words in +which to convey it. Yet in earlier years there had been in him a touch +of austerity, a certain remoteness or air of detachment, which +confined to a very few persons the knowledge of his highest qualities. +As he grew older his purity lost its coldness, his keenness of +discernment mellowed into a sweet and persuasive wisdom. A life +excellently conducted, a life which is the expression of fine +qualities, and in which the acts done are in harmony with the thoughts +and words of the man, is itself a beautiful product, whether of +untutored nature or of thought and experience turning every faculty to +the best account. In the modern world the two types of excellence +which we are chiefly bidden to admire are that of the active +philanthropist and that of the saint. The ancient world produced and +admired another type, to which some of its noblest characters +conformed, and which, in its softer and more benignant aspect, +Sidgwick presented. In his indifference to wealth and fame and the +other familiar objects of human desire, in the almost ascetic +simplicity of his daily life, in his pursuit of none but the purest +pleasures, in his habit of subjecting all impulses to the law of +reason, the will braced to patience, the soul brought into harmony +with the divinely appointed order, he seemed to reproduce one of those +philosophers of antiquity who formed a lofty conception of Nature and +sought to live in conformity with her precepts. But the gravity of a +Stoic was relieved by the humour and vivacity which belonged to his +nature, and the severity of a Stoic was softened by the tenderness and +sympathy which seemed to grow and expand with every year. In +Cambridge, where, though the society is a large one, all the teachers +become personally known to one another, and the students have +opportunities of familiar intercourse with the teachers, affection as +well as admiration gathered round him. His thoughts quickened and his +example inspired generation after generation of young men passing +through the University out into the life of England, as a light set +high upon the bank beams on the waves of a river gliding swiftly to +the sea. + +It was a life of single-minded devotion to truth and friendship, a +life serene and gentle, free alike from vanity and from ambition, +bearing without complaint the ill-health which sometimes checked his +labours, viewing with calm fortitude those problems of man's life on +which his mind was always fixed, untroubled in the presence of death. + + Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas + Quique metus omnes et inexorabile fatum + Subiecit pedibus strepitumque Acherontis avari. + +When his friends heard of his departure there rose to mind the words +in which the closing scene of the life of Socrates is described by the +greatest of his disciples, and we thought that among all those we had +known there was none of whom we could more truly say that in him the +spirit of philosophy had its perfect work in justice, in goodness, and +in wisdom. + +----- + + [51] It is hoped that a life of Sidgwick, together with a selection + from his letters, may before long be published. + + [52] It was his aim to avoid as much as possible technical terms or + phrases whose meaning was not plain to the average reader. An + anecdote was current that once when, in conducting a + university examination, he was perusing the papers of a + candidate who had darkened the subject by the use of extreme + Hegelian phraseology, he turned to his co-examiner and said, "I + can see that this is nonsense, but is it the right kind of + nonsense?" + + + + +EDWARD ERNEST BOWEN[53] + + +Ever since the publication of Stanley's Life of Dr. Arnold that +eminent headmaster has been taken as the model of a great teacher and +ruler of boys, the man who, while stimulating the intelligence of his +pupils, was even more concerned to discipline and mould their moral +natures. Arnold has become the type of what Carlyle might have called +"The Hero as Schoolmaster." Though there have been many able men at +the head of large schools since his time, including three who +afterwards rose to be Archbishops of Canterbury, as well as a good +many who have become bishops, his fame remains unrivalled, and the +type created by his career, or rather perhaps by his biographer's +account of it, still holds the field. Moreover, during the sixty years +that have passed since Arnold's death scarcely a word has been said +regarding any other masters than the head. During those years the +English universities have sent into the great schools a large +proportion of their most capable graduates as assistant teachers; and +some of the strongest men among these graduates have never, from +various causes, and often because they preferred to remain laymen, +been raised to the headships of the schools. Every one knows that a +school depends for its wellbeing and success more largely on the +assistants taken together than it does on the headmaster. Most people +also know that individual assistant masters are not unfrequently +better scholars, better teachers, and more influential with the boys +than is their official superior. Yet the assistant masters have +remained unhonoured and unsung in the general chorus of praise of the +great schools which has been resounding over England for nearly two +generations. + +Edward Bowen was all his life an assistant master, and never cared to +be anything else. As he had determined not to take orders in the +Church of England, he was virtually debarred from many of the chief +headmasterships, which are, some few of them by law, many more by +custom, confined to Anglican clergymen. But even when other headships +to which this condition was not attached were known to be practically +open to his acceptance, were, indeed, in one or two instances almost +tendered to him, he refused to become a candidate, preferring his own +simple and easy way of life to the pomp and circumstance which +convention requires a headmaster to maintain. This abstention, +however, did not prevent his eminence from becoming known to those who +had opportunities of judging. In his later years he would, I think, +have been generally recognised by the teaching profession as the most +brilliant, and in his own peculiar line the most successful, man among +the schoolmasters of Britain. + +He was born on 30th March 1836, of an Irish family (originally from +Wales) holding property in the county of Mayo. His father was a +clergyman of the Church of England; his mother, who survived him a +few months (dying at the age of ninety-four) and whom he tended with +watchful care during her years of widowhood, was partly of Irish, +partly of French extraction. Like his more famous but perhaps not +more remarkable elder brother, Charles Bowen, who became Lord Bowen, +and is remembered as one of the most acute and subtle judges as well +as one of the most winning personalities of our time, he had a gaiety, +wit, and versatility which suggested the presence of Celtic blood. He +was educated at Blackheath School, and afterwards at King's College +in London, whence he proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge. In +1860, after a career at the University, distinguished both in the +way of honours and in respect of the reputation he won among his +contemporaries, he became a master at Harrow, and thenceforth +remained there, leading an uneventful and externally a monotonous +life, but one full of unceasing and untiring activity in play and +work. He died on Easter Monday 1901. + +Nothing could be less like the traditional Arnoldine methods of +teaching and ruling boys than Bowen's method was. The note of those +methods was what used to be called moral earnestness. Arnold was grave +and serious, distant and awe-inspiring, except perhaps to a few +specially favoured pupils. Bowen was light, cheerful, vivacious, +humorous, familiar, and, above all things, ingenious and full of +variety. His leading principles were two--that the boy must at all +hazards be interested in the lessons and that he should be at ease +with the teacher. + +A Harrow boy once said to his master, "I don't know how it is, sir, +but if Mr. Bowen takes a lesson he makes you work twice as hard as +other masters, but you like it twice as much and you learn far more." +He was the most unexpected man in conversation that could be imagined, +always giving a new turn to talk by saying something that seemed +remote from the matter in hand until he presently showed the +connection. So his teaching kept the boys alert, because its variety +was inexhaustible. He seemed to think that it did not greatly matter +what the lesson was so long as the pupil could be got to enjoy it. The +rules of the school and the requirements of the examinations for +which boys had to be prepared would not have permitted him to try to +any great extent the experiment of varying subjects to suit individual +tastes; but he was fond of giving lessons in topics outside the +regular course, on astronomy for instance, of which he had acquired a +fair knowledge, and on recent military history, which he knew +wonderfully well, better probably than any man in England outside the +military profession. When the so-called "modern side" was established +at Harrow, in 1869, he became head of it, having taken this post, not +from any want of classical taste and learning, for he was an admirable +scholar, and to the end of his life wrote charming Latin verses, but +because he felt that this line of teaching needed to be developed in a +school which had been formerly almost wholly classical. For +grammatical minutiae, for learning rules by heart, and indeed for the +old style of grammar-teaching generally, he had an unconcealed +contempt. He thought it unkind and wasteful to let a boy go on +puzzling over difficulties of language in an author, and permitted, +under restrictions, the use of English translations, or (as boys call +them) "cribs." Teaching was in his view a special gift of the +individual, which depended on the aptitude for getting hold of the +pupil's mind, and enlisting his interest in the subject. He had +accordingly no faith in the doctrine that teaching is a science which +can be systematically studied, or an art in which the apprentice ought +to be systematically trained. When he was summoned as a witness before +the Secondary Education Commission in 1894 he adhered, under +cross-examination, to this view (so far as it affected schools like +Harrow or Eton), refusing to be moved by the arguments of those among +the Commissioners who cited the practice of Germany, where Paedagogik, +as they call it, is elaborately taught in the universities. "I am +unable," he said, "to conceive any machinery by which the art of +teaching can be given practically to masters. That art is so much a +matter of personal power and experience, and of various social and +moral gifts, that I cannot conceive a good person made a good master +by merely seeing a class of boys taught, unless he was allowed to take +a real and serious part in it himself, unless he became a teacher +himself. I can understand that at a primary school you can learn by +going in and hearing a good teacher at work; but the teaching of a +class of older boys is so different, and has so much of the social +element in it, and it may vary so much, that I should despair of +teaching a young man how to take a class unless he was a long time +with me.... A master at a large public school is chiefly a moral and +social force; a master is this to a much less extent at a primary +school or in the ordinary day-schools, the grammar-schools of the +country. To deal with boys when you have them completely under your +control for the whole of every day is an altogether different thing, +and requires different virtues in the teacher from those that are +required in the case of day-schools." + +Bowen may possibly have been mistaken, even as regards the teachers in +the great public boarding schools. His view seems to overlook or +disregard that large class of persons who have no marked natural +aptitude for teaching, but are capable of being, by special +instruction and supervised practice, kneaded and moulded into better +teachers than they would otherwise have grown to be. He felt so +strongly that no one ought to teach without having a real gift and +fondness for teaching that he thought such difference as training +could make insignificant in comparison with the inborn talent. Perhaps +he generalised too boldly from himself, for he had an enjoyment of his +work, and a conscientiousness in always putting the very best of +himself into it--how much was conscientiousness and how much was +enjoyment, no one could tell--as well as a quickness and vivacity +which no study of methods could have improved. As one of his most +eminent colleagues,[54] who was also his life-long friend, observes: +"The humdrum and routine which must form so large a part of a +teacher's life were never humdrum or routine to him, for he put the +whole of his abounding energies into his work, and round its driest +details there played and flickered, as with a lambent flame, his +joyous spirit, finding expression now perhaps in a striking parallel, +now in a startling paradox, now in a touch of humour, and once again +in a note of pathos." + +The personal influence he exerted on the boys who lived in his House +was quite as remarkable as his "form-teaching." Stoicism and honour +were the qualities it was mainly directed to form. Every boy was +expected to show manliness and endurance, and to utter no complaint. +Where physical health was concerned he was indulgent; his House was +the first which gave the boys meat at breakfast in addition to tea +with bread and butter. But otherwise the discipline was Spartan, +though not more Spartan than that he prescribed to himself, and the +House was trained to scorn the slightest approach to luxury. +Arm-chairs were forbidden except to sixth-form boys. A pupil relates +that when Bowen found he was in the habit of taking two hot baths a +week the transgression was reproved with the words: "Oh boy, that's +like the later Romans, boy." His maxims were: "Take sweet and bitter +as sweet and bitter come" and "Always play the game." He never +preached to the boys or lectured them; and if he had to convey a +reproof, conveyed it in a single sentence. But he dwelt upon honour as +the foundation of character, and made every boy feel that he was +expected to reach the highest standard of truthfulness, courage, and +duty to the little community of the House, or the cricket eleven, or +the football team. + +Some have begun to think that in English schools and universities too +much time is given to athletic sports, and that they absorb too +largely the thoughts and interests of the English youth. Bowen, +however, attached the utmost value to games as a training in +character. He used to descant upon the qualities of discipline, +good-fellowship, good-humour, mutual help, and postponement of self +which they are calculated to foster. Though some of his friends +thought that his own intense and unabated fondness for these +games--for he played cricket and football up to the end of his +life--might have biassed his judgment, they could not deny that the +games ought to develop the qualities aforesaid. + +"Consider the habit of being in public, the forbearance, the +subordination of the one to the many, the exercise of judgment, the +sense of personal dignity. Think again of the organising faculty that +our games develop. Where can you get command and obedience, choice +with responsibility, criticism with discipline, in any degree remotely +approaching that in which our social games supply them? Think of the +partly moral, partly physical side of it, temper, of course, dignity, +courtesy.... When the match has really begun, there is education, +there is enlargement of horizon, self sinks, the common good is the +only good, the bodily faculties exhilarate in functional development, +and the make-believe ambition is glorified into a sort of ideality. +Here is boyhood at its best, or very nearly at its best. _Sursum +crura!..._ When you have a lot of human beings, in highest social +union and perfect organic action, developing the law of their race and +falling in unconsciously with its best inherited traditions of +brotherhood and common action, you are not far from getting a glimpse +of one side of the highest good. There lives more soul in honest play, +believe me, than in half the hymn-books." + +These words, taken from a half-serious essay on Games written for a +private society, give some part of Bowen's views. The whole essay is +well worth reading.[55] Its arguments do not, however, quite settle +the matter. The playing of games may have, and indeed ought to have, +the excellent results Bowen claimed for it, and yet it may be doubted +whether the experience of life shows that boys so brought up do in +fact turn out substantially more good-humoured, unselfish, and fit for +the commerce of the world than others who have lacked this training. +And the further question remains whether the games are worth their +costly candle. That they occupy a good deal of time at school and at +college is not necessarily an evil, seeing that the time left for +lessons or study is sufficient if well spent. The real drawback +incident to the excessive devotion games inspire in our days is that +they leave little room in the boy's or collegian's mind either for +interest in his studies or for the love of nature. They fill his +thoughts, they divert his ambition into channels of no permanent value +to his mind or life; they continue to absorb his interest and form a +large part of his reading long after he has left school or college. +Nevertheless, be these things as they may, the opinion of a man so +able and so experienced as Bowen was, deserves to be recorded; and his +success in endearing himself to and guiding his boys was doubtless +partly due to the use he made of their liking for games. + +He was never married, so the school became the sole devotion of his +life, and he bequeathed to it the bulk of his property, directing an +area of land which he had purchased on the top of the Hill to be +always kept as an open space for the benefit of boys and masters. + +It need hardly be said that he loved boys as he loved teaching. He +took them with him in the holidays on walking tours. He kept up +correspondence with many of his pupils after they left Harrow, and +advised them as occasion rose. To many of them he remained through +life the model whom they desired to imitate. But he was very chary of +the exercise of influence. "A boy's character," he once wrote, "grows +like the Temple of old, without sound of mallet and trowel. What we +can do is to arrange matters so as to give Virtue her best chance. We +can make the right choice sometimes a little easier, we can prevent +tendencies from blossoming into acts, and render pitfalls visible. How +much indirectly and unconsciously we can do, none but the recording +angel knows. 'You can and you should,' said Chiffers,[56] 'go straight +to the heart of every individual boy.' Well, a fellow-creature's mind +is a sacred thing. You may enter into that arcanum once a year, +shoeless. And in the effort to control the spirit of a pupil, to make +one's own approval his test and mould him by the stress of our own +presence, in the ambition to do this, the craving for moral power and +visible guiding, the subtle pride of effective agency, lie some of the +chief temptations of a schoolmaster's work." + +Such ways and methods as I have endeavoured to describe are less easy +to imitate than those which belong to the Arnoldine type of +schoolmaster. In Bowen's gaiety, in his vivacity, in the humour which +interpenetrated everything he said or did, there was something +individual. Teachers who do not possess a like vivacity, versatility, +and humour cannot hope to apply with like success the method of +familiarity and sympathy. Not indeed that Bowen stood altogether alone +in his use of that method. There were others among his contemporaries +who shared his view, and whose practice was not dissimilar. He was, +however, the earliest and most brilliant exponent of the view, so his +career may be said to open a new line, and to mark a new departure in +the teacher's art. + +I have mentioned his walking tours. He was a pedestrian of extraordinary +force, rather tall, but spare and light, swift of foot, and tireless +in his activity. As an undergraduate he had walked from Cambridge to +Oxford, nearly ninety miles, in twenty-four hours, scarcely halting. At +one time or another he had traversed on foot all the coast-line and +great part of the inland regions of England. He was an accomplished +Alpine climber. His passion for exercise of body as well as of mind +was so salient a feature in his character that his friends wondered +how he would be able to support old age. He was spared the trial, +for he was gay and joyous as ever on the last morning of his life, and +he died in a moment, while mounting his bicycle after a long ascent, +among the lonely forests of Burgundy, then bursting into leaf under +an April sun. + +His interest in politics provided him with a short and strenuous +interlude of public action, which varied the even tenor of his life at +Harrow. At the general election of 1880 he stood as a candidate for +the little borough of Hertford (which has since been merged in the +county) against Mr. Arthur Balfour, now (1902) First Lord of the +Treasury in England. The pro-Turkish policy of Lord Beaconsfield, +followed by the Afghan War of 1878, had roused many Liberals who +usually took little part in political action. Bowen felt the impulse +to denounce the conduct of the Ministry, and went into the contest +with his usual airy suddenness. He had little prospect of success at +such a place, for, like many of the so-called Academic Liberals of +those days, he made the mistake of standing for a small semi-rural +constituency, overshadowed by a neighbouring magnate, instead of for a +large town, where both his opinions and his oratory would have been +better appreciated. However, he enjoyed the contest thoroughly, +amusing himself as well as the electors by his lively and sometimes +impassioned speeches, and he looked back to it as a pleasant episode +in his usually smooth and placid life. He was all his life a strong +Liberal _vieille roche_, a lover of freedom and equality as well as of +economy in public finance, a Free Trader, an individualist, an enemy +of all wars and all aggressions, and in later years growingly +indignant at the rapid increase of military and naval expenditure. He +was also, like the Liberals of 1850-60 in general, a sympathiser with +oppressed nationalities, though this feeling did not carry him the +length of accepting the policy of Home Rule for Ireland, as to which +he had grave doubts, yet doubts not quite so serious as to involve +his separation from the Liberal party. Twice after 1880 he was on the +point of becoming a candidate for a seat in the House of Commons, but +whether his love for Harrow would have suffered him to remain in +Parliament had he entered it may be doubted. One could not even tell +whether he was really disappointed that his political aspirations +remained unfulfilled. Had he given himself to parliamentary life, his +readiness, ingenuity, and wit would have soon made him valued by his +own side, while his sincerity and engaging manners would have +commended him to both sides alike. His delivery was always too rapid, +and his voice not powerful, yet these defects would have been +forgotten in the interest which so peculiar a figure must have +aroused. + +His peace principles contrasted oddly with his passion for military +history, a passion which prompted many vacation journeys to +battlefields all over Europe, from Salamanca to Austerlitz. He had +followed the campaigns of Napoleon through Piedmont and Lombardy, +through Germany and Austria, as well as those of Wellington in Spain +and Southern France.[57] This taste is not uncommon in men of peace. +Freeman had it; J. R. Green and S. R. Gardiner had it; and the +historical works of Sir George Trevelyan and Dr. Thomas Hodgkin prove +that it lives in those genial breasts also. It was a pleasure to be +led over a battlefield by Bowen, for he had a good eye for ground, he +knew the movements of the armies down to the smallest detail, and he +could explain with perfect lucidity the positions of the combatants +and the tactical moves in the game. + +Twice only did he come across actual fighting, once at Dueppel in 1864, +during the Schleswig-Holstein war, and again in Paris during the siege +of the Communards by the forces that obeyed Thiers and the Assembly +sitting at Versailles. He maintained that the Commune had been +unfairly judged by Englishmen, and wrote a singularly interesting +description of what he saw while risking his life in the beleaguered +city. There was in him a great spirit of adventure, though the +circumstances of his life gave it little scope. + +Travel was one of his chief pleasures, but it was, if possible, a +still greater pleasure to his fellow-travellers, for he was the most +agreeable of companions, fertile in suggestion, candid in discussion, +swift in decision. He cared nothing for luxury and very little for +comfort; he was absolutely unselfish and imperturbably good-humoured; +he could get enjoyment out of the smallest incidents of travel, and +his curiosity to see the surface of the earth as well as the cities of +men was inexhaustible. He loved the unexpected, and if one had written +proposing an expedition to explore Tibet, he would have telegraphed +back, "Start to-night: do we meet Charing Cross or Victoria?" + +I have dwelt on Bowen's gifts and methods as a teacher, because +teaching was the joy and the business of his life, and because he +showed a new way in which boys might be stimulated and guided. But he +was a great deal besides a teacher, just as his brother Charles was a +great deal besides a lawyer. Both had talents for literature of a very +high order. Charles published a verse translation of Virgil's +_Eclogues_ and the first six books of the _Aeneid_, full of ingenuity +and refinement, as well as of fine poetic taste. Edward's vein +expressed itself in the writing of songs. His school songs, composed +for the Harrow boys, became immensely popular with them, and their use +at school celebrations of various kinds has passed from Harrow to the +other great schools of England, even to some of the larger girls' +schools. The songs are unique in their fanciful ingenuity and humorous +extravagance, full of a boyish joy in life, in the exertion of +physical strength, in the mimic strife of games, yet with an +occasional touch of sadness, like the shadow of a passing cloud as it +falls on the cricket field over which the shouts of the players are +ringing. The metres are various: all show rhythmical skill, and in all +the verse has a swing which makes it singularly effective when sung +by a mass of voices. Most of the songs are dedicated to cricket or +football, but a few are serious, and two or three of these have a +beauty of thought and perfection of form which make the reader ask why +a poetic gift so true and so delicate should have been rarely used. +These songs were the work of his middle or later years, and he never +wrote except when the impulse came upon him. The stream ran pure but +it ran seldom. In early days he had been for a while, like many other +brilliant young University men of his time, a contributor to the +_Saturday Review_. (There surely never was a journal which enlisted so +much and such varied literary talent as the _Saturday_ did between +1855 and 1863.) Bowen's articles were, like his elder brother's, +extremely witty. In later life he could seldom be induced to write, +having fallen out of the habit, and being, indeed, too busy to carry +on any large piece of work; but the occasional papers on educational +subjects he produced showed no decline in his vivacity or in the +abundance of his humour. Those who knew the range and the resources of +his mind sometimes regretted that he would do nothing to let the world +know them. But he was, to a degree most unusual among men of real +power, absolutely indifferent, not only to fame, but to opportunities +for exercising power or influence. + +The stoicism which he sought to form in his pupils was inculcated by +his own example. It was a genial and cheerful stoicism, which checked +neither his affection for them nor his brightness in society, and +which permitted him to draw as much enjoyment from small things as +most people can from great ones. But if he had the gaiety of an +Irishman, he had a double portion of English reserve. He never gave +expression in words to his emotions. He never seemed either elated or +depressed. He never lost his temper and never seemed to be curbing it. +His tastes and way of life were simple to the verge of austerity; nor +did he appear to desire anything more than what he had obtained. + +It is natural--possibly foolish, yet almost inevitable--that those +who perceive in a friend the presence of rare and brilliant gifts +should desire that his gifts should not only be turned to full +account for the world's benefit, but should become so known and +appreciated as to make others admire and value what they admire and +value. When such a man prefers to live his life in his own way, and do +the plain duties that lie near him, with no thought of anything +further, they feel, though they may try to repress, a kind of +disappointment, as though greatness or virtue had missed its mark +because known to few besides themselves. Yet there is a sense in +which that friend is most our own who has least belonged to the +world, who has least cared for what the world has to offer, who has +chosen the simplest and purest pleasures, who has rendered the +service that his way of life required with no longing for any wider +theatre or any applause to be there won. Is there indeed anything +more beautiful than a life of quiet self-sufficing yet beneficent +serenity, such as the ancient philosophers inculcated, a life which +is now more rarely than ever led by men of shining gifts, because the +inducements to bring such gifts into the dusty thoroughfares of the +world have grown more numerous? Bowen had the best equipment for a +philosopher. He knew the things that gave him pleasure, and sought no +others. He knew what he could do well. He followed his own bent. +His desires were few, and he could gratify them all. He had made life +exactly what he wished it to be. Intensely as he enjoyed travel, he +never uttered a note of regret when the beginning of a Harrow school +term stopped a journey at its most interesting point, so dearly did +he love his boys. What more can we desire for our friends than +this--that in remembering them there should be nothing to regret, +that all who came under their influence should feel themselves for +ever thereafter the better for that influence, that a happy and +peaceful life should be crowned by a sudden and painless death? + +----- + + [53] Since this sketch was written a very interesting _Life of Edward + Bowen_ by his nephew (the Hon. and Rev. W. E. Bowen) has + appeared. Some of his (too few) essays and a collection of his + school-songs are appended to it. + + [54] Mr. R. Bosworth Smith. + + [55] It is printed in the _Life_. + + [56] "Chiffers" is the typical would-be imitator of Arnold. + + [57] He remarked once that he had so nearly exhausted the battlefields + of the past that he must begin to devote himself to the + battlefields of the future. + + + + +EDWIN LAWRENCE GODKIN + + +As with the progress of science new arts emerge and new occupations +and trades are created, so with the progress of society professions +previously unknown arise, evolve new types of intellectual excellence, +and supply a new theatre for the display of peculiar and exceptional +gifts. Such a profession, such a type, and the type which is perhaps +most specially characteristic of our times, is that of the Editor. It +scarcely existed before the French Revolution, and is, as now fully +developed, a product of the last eighty years. Various are its forms. +There is the Business Editor, who runs his newspaper as a great +commercial undertaking, and may neither care for politics nor attach +himself to any political party. America still recollects the familiar +example set by James Gordon Bennett, the founder of the _New York +Herald_. There is the Selective Editor, who may never pen a line, but +shows his skill in gathering an able staff round him, and in allotting +to each of them the work he can do best. Such an one was John Douglas +Cook, a man of slender cultivation and few intellectual interests, +but still remembered in England by those who forty years ago knew the +staff of the _Saturday Review_, then in its brilliant prime, as +possessed of an extraordinary instinct for the topics which caught the +public taste, and for the persons capable of handling those topics. +John T. Delane, of the _Times_, had the same gift, with talents and +knowledge far surpassing Cook's. A third and usually more interesting +form is found in the Editor who is himself an able writer, and who +imparts his own individuality to the journal he directs. Such an one +was Horace Greeley, who, in the days before the War of Secession, made +the _New York Tribune_ a power in America. Such another, of finer +natural quality, was Michael Katkoff, who in his short career did much +to create and to develop the spirit of nationality and imperialism in +Russia thirty years ago. + +It was to this third form of the editorial profession that Mr. Godkin +belonged. He is the most remarkable example of it that has appeared in +our time--perhaps, indeed, in any time since the profession rose to +importance; and all the more remarkable because he was never, like +Greeley or Katkoff, the exponent of any widespread sentiment or potent +movement, but was frequently in opposition to the feeling for the +moment dominant. + +Edwin Lawrence Godkin, the son of a Protestant clergyman and author, +was born in the county of Wicklow, in Ireland, in 1831. He was +educated at Queen's College, Belfast, read for a short time for the +English bar, but drifted into journalism by accepting the post of +correspondent to the London _Daily News_ during the Crimean War in +1853-54. The horror of war which he retained through his life was due +to the glimpse of it he had in the Crimea. Soon afterwards he went to +America, was admitted to the bar in New York, but never practised, +spent some months in travelling through the Southern States on +horseback, learning thereby what slavery was, and what its economic +and social consequences, was for two or three years a writer on the +_New York Times_, and ultimately, in 1865, established in New York a +weekly journal called the _Nation_. This he continued to edit, writing +most of it himself, till 1881, when he accepted the editorship of the +_New York Evening Post_, an old and respectable paper, but with no +very large circulation. The _Nation_ continued to appear, but became +practically a weekly edition of the _Evening Post_, or rather, as some +one said, the _Evening Post_ became a daily edition of the _Nation_, +for the tone and spirit that had characterised the _Nation_ now +pervaded the _Post_. In 1900 failing health compelled him to retire +from active work, and in May 1902 he died in England. Journalism left +him little leisure for any other kind of literary production; but he +wrote in early life a short history of Hungary; and a number of +articles which he had in later years contributed to the _Nation_ or to +magazines were collected and published in three volumes between 1895 +and 1900. They are clear and wise articles, specially instructive +where they deal with the most recent aspects of democracy. But as they +convey a less than adequate impression of the peculiar qualities which +established his fame, I pass on to the work by which he will be +remembered, his work as a weekly and daily public writer. + +He was well equipped for this career by considerable experience of the +world, by large reading, for though not a learned man, he had +assimilated a great deal of knowledge on economical and historical +subjects, and by a stock of positive principles which he saw clearly +and held coherently. In philosophy and economics he was a Utilitarian +of the school of J. S. Mill, and in politics what used to be called a +philosophical Radical, a Radical of the less extreme type, free from +sentiment and from prejudices, but equally free from any desire to +destroy for the sake of destroying. Like the other Utilitarians of +those days, he was a moderate optimist, expecting the world to grow +better steadily, though not swiftly; and he went to America in the +belief that he should there find more progress secured, and more of +further progress in prospect, than any European country could show. It +was the land of promise, in which all the forces making for good on +which the school of Mill relied were to be found at work, hampered +only by the presence of slavery. I note this fact, because it shows +that the pessimism of Mr. Godkin's later years was not due to a +naturally querulous or despondent temperament. + +So too was his mind admirably fitted for the career he had chosen. +It was logical, penetrating, systematic, yet it was also quick and +nimble. His views were definite, not to say dogmatic, and as they were +confidently held, so too they were confidently expressed. He never +struck a doubtful note. He never slurred over a difficulty, nor +sought, when he knew himself ignorant, to cover up his ignorance. +Imagination was kept well in hand, for his constant aim was to get +at and deal with the vital facts of every case. If he was not +original in the way of thinking out doctrines distinctively his own, +nor in respect of any exuberance of ideas bubbling up in the +course of discussion, there was fertility as well as freshness in +his application of principles to current questions, and in the +illustrations by which he enforced his arguments. + +As his thinking was exact, so his style was clear-cut and trenchant. +Even when he was writing most swiftly, it never sank below a high +level of form and finish. Every word had its use and every sentence +told. There was no doubt about his meaning, and just as little about +the strength of his convictions. He had a gift for terse vivacious +paragraphs commenting on some event of the day or summing up the +effect of a speech or a debate. The touch was equally light and firm. +But if the manner was brisk, the matter was solid: you admired the +keenness of the insight and the weight of the judgment just as much as +the brightness of the style. Much of the brightness lay in the humour. +That is a plant which blossoms so much more profusely on Transatlantic +soil that English readers of the _Nation_ had usually a start of +surprise when told that this most humorous of American journalists was +not an American at all but a European, and indeed a European who never +became thoroughly Americanised. It was humour of a pungent and +sarcastic quality, usually directed to the detection of tricks or the +exposure of shams, but it was eminently mirth-provoking and never +malicious. Frequently it was ironical, and the irony sometimes so fine +as to be mistaken for seriousness. + +The _Nation_ was from its very first numbers so full of force, +keenness, and knowledge, and so unusually well written, that it made +its way rapidly among the educated classes of the Eastern States. It +soon became a power, but a power of a new kind. Mr. Godkin wanted +most of the talents or interests of the ordinary journalist. He +gave no thought to the organisation of the paper as a business +undertaking. He scarcely heeded circulation, either when his +livelihood depended upon the _Nation_ of which he was the chief +owner, or when he was associated with others in the ownership of +the _Evening Post_. He refused to allow any news he disapproved, +including all scandal and all society gossip, to appear. He was +prepared at any moment to incur unpopularity from his subscribers, or +even to offend one half of his advertisers. He took no pains to get +news before other journals, and cared nothing for those "beats" and +"scoops" in which the soul of the normal newspaper man finds a +legitimate source of pride. He was not there, he would have said, +to please either advertisers or subscribers, but to tell the American +people the truths they needed to hear, and if those truths were +distasteful, so much the more needful was it to proclaim them. He +was absolutely independent not only of all personal but of all party +ties. A public man was never either praised or suffered to escape +censure because he was a private acquaintance. He once told me that +the being obliged to censure those with whom he stood in personal +relations was the least agreeable feature of his profession. +Whether an act was done by the Republicans or by the Democrats +made no difference to his judgment, or to the severity with which his +judgment was expressed. His distrust of Mr. James G. Blaine had led +him to support Mr. Cleveland at the election of 1884, and he +continued to give a general approval to the latter statesman during +both his presidential terms. But when Mr. Cleveland's Venezuelan +message with its menaces to England appeared in December 1895, Mr. +Godkin vehemently denounced it, as indeed he had frequently before +blamed particular acts of the Cleveland administrations. He +sometimes voted for the Republicans, sometimes for the Democrats, +according to the merits of the transitory issue or the particular +candidate, but after 1884 no one could have called him either a +Republican or a Democrat. + +Independence of party is less rare among American than among European +newspapers; but courage such as Godkin's is rare everywhere. The +editor of a century ago had in most countries to fear press +censorship, or the law of political libel, or the frowns of the great. +The modern editor, delivered from these risks, is exposed to the more +insidious temptations of financial influence, of social pressure, of +the fear of injuring the business interests of the paper, which are +now sometimes enormous. Godkin's conscientiousness and pride made him +equally indifferent to influence and to threats. As some one said, +you might as well have tried to frighten the east wind. Clear, prompt, +and self-confident, judging everything by a high standard of honour +and public spirit, he distributed censure with no regard either to the +official position or to the party affiliations of politicians. The +"Weekly Day of Judgment" was the title bestowed upon the _Nation_ by +Charles Dudley Warner, who himself admired it. As Godkin expected--or +at least demanded--righteousness from every one, he was more a terror +to evildoers than a praise to them that do well, and the fact that, +having no private ends to serve, he thought only of truth and the +public interest, made him all the more stringent. Because he was, and +found it easy to be, fearless and independent, he scarcely allowed +enough for the timidity of others, and sometimes chastised the weak as +sternly as the wicked. An editor who smites all the self-seekers and +all the time-servers whom he thinks worth smiting, is sure to become a +target for many arrows. But as Godkin was an equally caustic critic of +the sentimental vagaries or economic heresies of well-meaning men or +sections of opinion, he incurred hostility from quarters where the +desire for honest administration and the purity of public life was +hardly less strong than in the pages of the _Nation_ itself. Though he +took no personal part in politics, never appeared on platforms nor in +any way put himself forward, his paper was so markedly himself that +people talked of it as him. It was not "the _Nation_ says" or "the +_Post_ says," but "Godkin says." Even his foreign birth was charged +against him--a rare charge in a country so tolerant and catholic as +the United States, where every office except that of President is open +to newcomers as freely as to the native born. + +He was called "un-American," and I have heard men who admired and read +the _Nation_ nevertheless complain that they did not want "to be +taught by a European how to run this Republic." True it is that he did +not see things or write about them quite as an American would have +done. But was this altogether a misfortune? The Italian cities of the +Middle Ages used to call in a man of character and mark from some +other place and make him Podesta just because he stood outside the +family ties and the factions of the city. Godkin's foreign education +gave him detachment and perspective. It never reduced his ardour to +see administration and public life in America made worthy of the +greatness of the American people. + +No journal could have maintained its circulation and extended its +influence in the face of so much hostility except by commanding +merits. The merits of the _Nation_ were incontestable. It was the best +weekly not only in America but in the world. The editorials were +models of style. The book reviews, many of them in earlier days also +written by Godkin himself, were finished in point of form, and, when +not his own, came from the ablest specialist hands in the country. The +"current notes" of progress in such subjects as geography, natural +history, and archaeology were instructive and accurate. So it was that +people had to read the _Nation_ whether they liked it or not. It could +not be ignored. It was a necessity even where it was a terror. + +Yet neither the force of his reasoning nor the brilliance of his +style would have secured Godkin's influence but for two other +elements of strength he possessed. One was the universal belief in his +disinterestedness and sincerity. He was often charged with prejudice +or bitterness, but never with any sinister motive; enemies no less +than friends respected him. The other was his humour. An austere +moralist who is brimful of fun is rare in any country. Relishing +humour more than does any other people, the Americans could not be +seriously angry with a man who gave them so abundant a feast. + +To trace the course he took in the politics of the United States since +1860 would almost be to outline the history of forty years, for +there was no great issue in the discussion of which he did not bear a +part. He was a strong supporter of the Northern cause during the +War of Secession, and by his letters to the London _Daily News_ did +something to enlighten English readers. When the problems of +reconstruction emerged after the war, he suggested lines of action +more moderate than those followed by the Republican leaders, and +during many subsequent years denounced the "carpet-baggers," and +advocated the policy of restoring self-government to the Southern +States and withdrawing Federal troops. Incensed at the corruption of +some of the men who surrounded President Grant during his first +term, he opposed Grant's re-election, as did nearly all the +reformers of those days. By this time he had begun to attack the +"spoils system," and to demand a reform of the civil service, and he +had also become engaged in that campaign against the Tammany +organisation in New York City which he maintained with unabated energy +till the end of his editorial career.[58] In 1884 he led the +opposition to the candidacy of Mr. Blaine for President, and it +was mainly the persistency with which the _Evening Post_ set forth +the accusations brought against that statesman that secured his defeat +in New York State, and therewith his defeat in the election. It +was on this occasion that the nickname of Mugwump[59] was first +applied to Mr. Godkin by the ablest of his antagonists in the press, +Mr. Dana of the _New York Sun_, a title before long extended to the +Independents whom the _Post_ led, and who constituted, during the +next ten or twelve years, a section of opinion important, if not +by its numbers, yet by the intellectual and moral weight of the men +who composed it. When currency questions became prominent, Mr. +Godkin was a strong opponent of bimetallism and of "silverism" in +all its forms, and a not less strenuous opponent of all socialistic +theories and movements. It need hardly be added that he had always +been an upholder of the principles of Free Trade. Like a sound +Cobdenite, he was an advocate of peace, and disliked territorial +extension. He opposed President Grant's scheme for the acquisition +of San Domingo, as he afterwards opposed the annexation of Hawaii. +His close study of Irish history, and his old faith in the principle +of nationality, had made him a strenuous advocate of Home Rule for +Ireland. But no one was farther than he from sharing the feelings of +the American Irish towards England. He condemned the threats +addressed in 1895 to Great Britain over the Venezuela question; and +glad as he was to see that question settled by England's acceptance +of an arbitration which she had previously denied the right of the +United States to demand, he held that England must beware of yielding +too readily to pressure from the United States, because such +compliance would encourage that aggressive spirit in the latter whose +consequences for both countries he feared. Never, perhaps, did he +incur so much obloquy as in defending, almost single-handed, the +British position in the Venezuelan affair. The attacks made all over +the country on the _Evening Post_ were, he used to say, like storms of +hail lashing against his windows. At the very end of his career, +he resisted the war with Spain and the annexation of the Philippine +Islands, deeming the acquisition of trans-Oceanic territories, +inhabited by inferior races, a dangerous new departure, opposed to +the traditions of the Fathers of the Republic, and inconsistent with +the principles on which the Republic was founded. No public writer +has left a more consistent record. + +In private life Mr. Godkin was a faithful friend and a charming +companion, genial as well as witty, considerate of others, and liked +no less than admired by his staff on the _Evening Post_, free from +cynicism, and more indulgent in his views of human nature than might +have been gathered from his public utterances. He never despaired of +democratic government, yet his spirits had been damped by the faint +fulfilment of those hopes for the progress of free nations, and +especially of the United States, which had illumined his youth. The +slow advance of economic truths, the evils produced by the increase of +wealth, the growth of what he called "chromo-civilisation," the +indifference of the rich and educated to politics, the want of nerve +among politicians, the excitability of the masses, the tenacity with +which corruption and misgovernment held their ground, in spite of +repeated exposures, in cities like New York, Philadelphia, and +Chicago--all these things had so sunk into his soul that it became +hard to induce him to look at the other side, and to appreciate the +splendid recuperative forces which are at work in America. Thus his +friends were driven to that melancholy form of comfort which consists +in pointing out that other countries are no better. They argued that +England in particular, to which he had continued to look as the home +of political morality and enlightened State wisdom, was suffering from +evils, not indeed the same as those which in his judgment afflicted +America, but equally serious. They bade him remember that moral +progress is not continuous, but subject to ebbs of reaction, and that +America is a country of which one should never despair, because in it +evils have often before worked out their cure. He did regretfully own, +after his latest visits to Europe, that England had sadly declined +from the England of his earlier days, and he admitted that the clouds +under which his own path had latterly lain might after a time be +scattered by a burst of sunshine; but his hopes for the near future of +America were not brightened by these reflections. Sometimes he seemed +to feel--though of his own work he never spoke--as though he had +laboured in vain for forty years. + +If he so thought, he did his work far less than justice. It had told +powerfully upon the United States, and that in more than one way. +Though the circulation of the _Nation_ was never large, it was read by +the two classes which in America have most to do with forming +political and economic opinion--I mean editors and University +teachers. (The Universities and Colleges, be it remembered, are far +more numerous, relatively to the population, in America than in +England, and a more important factor in the thought of the country.) +From the editors and the professors Mr. Godkin's views filtered down +into the educated class generally, and affected its opinion. He +instructed and stimulated the men who instructed and stimulated the +rest of the people. To those young men in particular who thought about +public affairs and were preparing themselves to serve their country, +his articles were an inspiration. The great hope for American +democracy to-day lies in the growing zeal and the ripened intelligence +with which the generation now come to manhood has begun to throw +itself into public work. Many influences have contributed to this +result, and Mr. Godkin's has been among the most potent. + +Nor was his example less beneficial to the profession of journalism. +There has always been a profusion of talent in the American press, +talent more alert and versatile than is to be found in the press of +any European country. But in 1865 there were three things which the +United States lacked. Literary criticism did not maintain a high +standard, nor duly distinguish thorough from flashy or superficial +performances. Party spirit was so strong and so pervasive that +journalists were content to denounce or to extol, and seldom subjected +the character of men or measures to a searching and impartial +examination. There was too much sentimentalism in politics, with too +little reference of current questions to underlying principles, too +little effort to get down to what Americans call the "hard pan" of +facts. In all these respects the last forty years have witnessed +prodigious advances; and, so far as the press is concerned--for much +has been due to the Universities and to the growth of a literary +class--Mr. Godkin's writings largely contributed to the progress made. +His finished criticism, his exact method, his incisive handling of +economic problems, his complete detachment from party, helped to form +a new school of journalists, as the example he set of a serious and +lofty conception of an editor's duties helped to add dignity to the +position. He had not that disposition to enthrone the press which made +a great English newspaper once claim for itself that it discharged in +the modern world the functions of the mediaeval Church. But he brought +to his work as an anonymous writer a sense of responsibility and a +zeal for the welfare of his country which no minister of State could +have surpassed. + +His friends may sometimes have wished that he had more fully +recognised the worth of sentiment as a motive power in politics, that +he had more frequently tried to persuade as well as to convince, that +he had given more credit for partial instalments of honest service and +for a virtue less than perfect, that he had dealt more leniently with +the faults of the good and the follies of the wise. Defects in these +respects were the almost inevitable defects of his admirable +qualities, of his passion for truth, his hatred of wrong and +injustice, his clear vision, his indomitable spirit. + +The lesson of his editorial career is a lesson not for America only. +Among the dangers that beset democratic communities, none are greater +than the efforts of wealth to control, not only electors and +legislators, but also the organs of public opinion, and the +disposition of statesmen and journalists to defer to and flatter the +majority, adopting the sentiment dominant at the moment, and telling +the people that its voice is the voice of God. Mr. Godkin was not +only inaccessible to the lures of wealth--the same may happily be +still said of many of his craft-brethren--he was just as little +accessible to the fear of popular displeasure. Nothing more incensed +him than to see a statesman or an editor with his "ear to the ground" +(to use an American phrase), seeking to catch the sound of the coming +crowd. To him, the less popular a view was, so much the more did it +need to be well weighed and, if approved, to be strenuously and +incessantly preached. Democracies will always have demagogues ready to +feed their vanity and stir their passions and exaggerate the feeling +of the moment. What they need is men who will swim against the stream, +will tell them their faults, will urge an argument all the more +forcibly because it is unwelcome. Such an one was Edwin Godkin. Since +the death of Abraham Lincoln, America has been generally more +influenced by her writers, preachers, and thinkers than by her +statesmen. In the list of those who have during the last forty years +influenced her for good and helped by their pens to make her history, +a list illustrated by such names as those of R. W. Emerson and +Phillips Brooks and James Russell Lowell, his name will find its place +and receive its well-earned meed of honour. + +----- + + [58] The Tammany leaders had him repeatedly arrested, usually on + Sunday mornings (that being the day on which it was least easy + to find bail) for alleged criminal libels upon them. These + prosecutions, threatened in the hope of intimidating him, never + went further. + + [59] A Mugwump is in the Algonquin tongue an aged chief or wise man, + and the name was meant to ridicule the _ex cathedra_ manner + ascribed to the _Evening Post_. + + + + +LORD ACTON + + +When Lord Acton died on 19th June 1902, at Tegern See in Bavaria, +England lost the most truly cosmopolitan of her children, and Europe +lost one who was, by universal consent, in the foremost rank of her +men of learning. He belonged to an old Roman Catholic family of +Shropshire, a branch of which had gone to Southern Italy, where his +grandfather, General Acton, had been chief minister of the King of +Naples in the great war, at the time when the Bourbon dynasty +maintained itself in Sicily by the help of the British fleet, while +all Italy lay under the heel of Napoleon. His father, Sir Ferdinand +Acton, married a German lady, heiress of the ancient and famous house +of Dalberg, one of the great families of the middle Rhineland; so John +Edward Emerich Dalberg-Acton was born half a German, and connected by +blood with the highest aristocracy of Germany. He was educated at +Oscott, one of the two chief Roman Catholic colleges of England, under +Dr. Wiseman, afterwards Archbishop of Westminster and Cardinal; but +the most powerful influence on the development of his mind and +principles came from that glory of Catholic learning, a beautiful soul +as well as a capacious intellect, Dr. von Doellinger, with whom Acton +studied during some years at Munich. He sat for a short time in the +House of Commons as member for Carlow (1859); and was afterwards +elected for Bridgnorth (1865), but lost his seat (which he had gained +by one vote only) on a scrutiny. In those days it was not easy for a +Roman Catholic to find an English constituency, so in 1869 Mr. +Gladstone procured his elevation to the peerage. He made a successful +speech in the House of Lords in 1893, but took no prominent part in +parliamentary life in either House, feeling himself too much of a +student, and looking at current questions from a point of view unlike +that of English politicians. Neither as a philosopher, nor as a +historian, nor as a product of German training, could he find either +Lords or Commons a congenial audience. When he was asked soon after he +entered Parliament why he did not speak, he answered that he agreed +with nobody and nobody agreed with him. But since he regarded politics +as history in the course of making under his eyes, he continued to be +all his life keenly interested in public affairs, watching and judging +every move in the game. Mr. Gladstone, whose trusted friend he had +been for many years, was believed to have on one occasion wished to +place him in an important office; but political exigencies made this +impossible, and the only public post he ever held was that of +Lord-in-Waiting in the Ministry of 1892. In this capacity he was +brought into frequent contact with Queen Victoria, who felt the +warmest respect and admiration for him. He was one of the very few +persons surrounding her who was familiar with most of the courts of +Continental Europe, and could discuss with her from direct knowledge +the men who figured in those courts. At Windsor he spent in the +library of the Castle all the time during which he was not required to +be in actual attendance on the Queen, a singular phenomenon among +Lords-in-Waiting. + +Unlike most English Roman Catholics, he was a strong Liberal, a +Liberal of that orthodox type, individualist, free-trade, and +peace-loving, which prevailed from 1846 till 1885. He was also a +convinced Home Ruler, and had, indeed, adopted the principle of Home +Rule for Ireland long before Mr. Gladstone himself was converted to +it. His faith in that principle rested on the value he attached to +self-government as a means of training and developing the political +aptitudes of a people, and to the recognition of national sentiment, +which he held to be, like other natural forces, useful when guided but +formidable when repressed. So too his Liberalism was based on the love +of freedom for its own sake, joined to the conviction that freedom is +the best foundation for the stability of a constitution and the +happiness of a people. Reliance on the power of freedom was, he used +to say, one of the broadest of all the lessons he had learned from +history. He applied it in ecclesiastical as well as in political +affairs. At the time of the Vatican Council of 1870 he was, though a +layman, prominent among those who constituted the opposition +maintained by the Liberal section of the Roman Catholic Church to the +affirmation of the dogma of papal infallibility. His full and accurate +knowledge of ecclesiastical history was placed at the disposal of the +prelates, such as Archbishop Dupanloup, Bishop Strossmayer, and +Archbishop Conolly (of Halifax, Nova Scotia), who combated the +Ultramontane party in the animated and protracted debates which +illumined that OEcumenical Council. One, at least, of the treatises, +and many of the letters in the press which the Council called forth +were written either by him or from materials which he supplied, and he +was recognised by the Ultramontanes, and in particular by Archbishop +Manning, as being, along with Doellinger, the most formidable of their +opponents behind the scenes. As every one knows, the Infallibilists +triumphed, and the schism which led to the formation of the Old +Catholic Church in Germany and Switzerland was the result. Doellinger +was excommunicated; but against Lord Acton no action was taken, and he +remained all his life a faithful member of the Roman communion, while +adhering to the views he had advocated in 1870. + +With this close hold upon practical life and this constant interest in +the politics of the world, especially of England and the United +States, no one could be less like that cloistered student who is +commonly taken as the typical man of learning. But Lord Acton was a +miracle of learning. Of the sciences of nature and their practical +applications in the arts he had indeed no more knowledge than any +cultivated man of the world is expected to possess. But of all the +so-called "human subjects" his mastery was unequalled. Learning was +the business of his life. He was gifted with a singularly tenacious +memory. His industry was untiring. Wherever he was--in London, at +Cannes in winter, at Tegern See in summer, at Windsor or Osborne with +the Queen, latterly (till his health failed) at Cambridge during the +University terms--he never worked less than eight hours a day. Yet, +even after making every allowance for his memory and his industry, his +friends stood amazed at the range and exactness of his knowledge. It +was as various as it was profound, and much of it bore on recondite +matters which few men study to-day. Though less minute where it +touched the ancient and the early mediaeval world than as respected +more recent times, it might be said to cover the whole field of +history, both civil and ecclesiastical, and became wonderfully full +and exact when it reached the Renaissance and Reformation periods. It +included not only the older theology, but modern Biblical criticism. +It included metaphysics; and not only metaphysics in the more special +sense, but the abstract side of economics and that philosophy of law +on which the Germans set so much store. Most of the prominent figures +who have during the last half-century led the march of inquiry in +these subjects, men like Ranke and Fustel de Coulanges in history, +Wilhelm Roscher in economic science, Adolf Harnack in theology, were +his personal friends, and he could meet them as an equal on their own +ground. On one occasion I had invited to meet him at dinner the late +Dr. (afterwards Bishop) Creighton, who was then writing his _History +of the Popes_, and the late Professor Robertson Smith, the most +eminent Hebrew and Arabic scholar in Britain. The conversation turned +first upon the times of Pope Leo the Tenth, and then upon recent +controversies regarding the dates of the books of the Old Testament, +and it soon appeared that Lord Acton knew as much about the former as +Dr. Creighton, and as much about the latter as Robertson Smith. The +constitutional history of the United States is a topic far removed +from those philosophical and ecclesiastical or theological lines of +inquiry to which most of his time had been given; yet he knew it more +thoroughly than any other living European, at least in England and +France, for of the Germans I will not venture to speak, and he +continued to read most of the books of importance dealing with it +which from time to time were published. So, indeed, he kept abreast of +nearly all the literature of possible utility bearing on history +(especially ecclesiastical history) and political theory that appeared +in Europe or America, reading much which his less diligent or less +eager friends thought scarcely worthy of his perusal. And it need +hardly be said that his friends found him an invaluable guide to the +literature of any subject. In the sphere of history more especially, +one might safely assume that a book which he did not know was not +worth knowing, while he was often able to indicate, as being the right +book to consult, some work of which the person who consulted him, +albeit not unversed in the subject, had never heard. He had at one +time four libraries, the largest at his family seat, Aldenham in +Shropshire, others at Tegern See, at Cannes, and in London; and he +could usually tell in which of these the particular book he named was +to be found. Unlike most men who value their libraries, he was fond of +lending books, and would sometimes put a friend to shame by asking +some weeks afterwards what the latter thought of the volumes he had +almost forced on the borrower, and which the borrower had not found +time to read. After saying this, I need scarcely add that he was not a +book collector in the usual sense of the word. He did not care for +rare editions, and still less did he care about bindings. + +His Aldenham library was itself a monument of learning and industry.[60] +In forming it he sought to bring together the books needed for +tracing and elucidating the growth of formative ideas and of +institutions in the sphere of ecclesiastical and civil polity, and to +attain this he made it include not only all the best treatises +handling these large and complex subjects, but a mass of original +records bearing as well on the local histories of the cities and +provinces of such countries as Italy and France as on the general +history of the great European States and of the Church. This +magnificent design he accomplished by his own efforts before he was +forty. What was still more surprising, he had found time to use the +books. Nearly all of them show by notes pencilled or marks placed in +them that he had read some part of them, and knew (so far as was needed +for his purpose) their contents. + +Vast as his stores of knowledge were, they were opened only to his few +intimate friends. It was not merely that he, as Tennyson said of +Edmund Lushington, "bore all that weight of learning lightly, like a +flower." No one could have known in general society that he had any +weight of learning to bear. He seemed to be merely a cultivated and +agreeable man of the world, interested in letters and politics, but +disposed rather to listen than to talk. He was sometimes enigmatic +and "not incapable of casting a pearl of irony in the way of those +who would mistake it for pebbly fact."[61] A great capacity for +cynicism remained a capacity only, because joined to a greater +reverence for virtue. In a large company he seldom put forth the +fulness of his powers; it was in familiar converse with persons whose +tastes resembled his own that the extraordinary finesse and polish +of his mind revealed themselves. His critical taste was not only +delicate, but exacting; his judgments leaned to the side of severity. +No one applied a more stringent moral standard to the conduct of men +in public affairs, whether to-day or in past ages. He insisted upon +this, in his inaugural lecture at Cambridge, as the historian's first +duty. "It is," said he, "the office of historical science to maintain +morality as the sole impartial criterion of men and things." When he +came to estimate the value of literary work he seemed no less hard +to satisfy. His ideal, both as respected thoroughness in substance and +finish in form, was impossibly high, and he noted every failure to +reach it. No one appreciated merit more cordially. No one spoke +with warmer admiration of such distinguished historians and +theologians as the men whom I have just named. But the precision of +his thinking and the fastidiousness of his taste gave more than a +tinge of austerity to his judgment. His opinions were peculiarly +instructive and illuminative to Englishmen, because he was only +half an Englishman in blood, less than half an Englishman in his +training and mental habits. He was as much at home in Paris or Berlin +or Rome as he was in London, speaking the four great languages with +almost equal facility, and knowing the men who in each of these +capitals were best worth knowing. He viewed our insular literature +and politics with the detachment not only of a Roman Catholic +among Protestants, of a pupil of Doellinger and Roscher among Oxford +and Cambridge men, but also of a citizen of the world, whose mastery +of history and philosophy had given him an unusually wide outlook +over mankind at large. + +His interest in the great things, so far from turning him away from +the small things, seemed to quicken his sense of their significance. +It was a noteworthy feature of his view of history that he should have +held that the explanation of most of what has passed in the light is +to be found in what has passed in the dark. He was always hunting for +the key to secret chambers, preferring to believe that the grand +staircase is only for show, and meant to impose upon the multitude, +while the real action goes on in hidden passages behind. No one knew +so much of the gossip of the past; no one was more intensely curious +about the gossip of the present, though in his hands it ceased to be +gossip and became unwritten history. One was sometimes disposed to +wonder whether he did not think too much about the backstairs. But he +had seen a great deal of history in the making. + +The passion for acquiring knowledge which his German education had +fostered ended by becoming a snare to him, because it checked his +productive powers. Not that learning burdened him, or clogged the +soaring pinions of his mind. He was master of all he knew. But +acquisition absorbed so much of his time that little was left for +literary composition. (Doellinger saw the danger, for he observed that +if Acton did not write a great book before he reached the age of +forty, he would never do so.) It made him think that he could not +write on a subject till he had read everything, or nearly everything, +that others had written about it. It developed the habit of making +extracts from the books he read, a habit which took the form of +accumulating small slips of paper on which these extracts were written +in his exquisitely neat and regular hand, the slips being arranged in +cardboard boxes according to their subjects. He had hundreds of these +boxes; and though much of their contents must no doubt be valuable, +the time spent in distilling and bottling the essence of the books +whence they came, might have been better spent in giving to the world +the ideas which they had helped to evoke in his own mind. If one may +take the quotations appended to his inaugural lecture as a sample of +those he had collected, many of them were not exceptionally valuable, +and did little more than show how the same idea, perhaps no recondite +one, might be expressed in different words by different persons. When +one read some article he had written, garnished and even overloaded +with citations, one often felt that his own part was better, both in +substance and in form, than the passages which he had culled from his +predecessors. It becomes daily more than ever true that the secret of +historical composition is to know what to neglect, since in our time +it has become impossible to exhaust the literature of most subjects, +and, as respects the last two centuries, to exhaust even the original +authorities. Yet how shall one know what to neglect without at least a +glance of inspection? Acton was unwilling to neglect anything; and his +ardour for completeness drew him into a policy fit only for one who +could expect to live three lives of mortal men. + +The love of knowledge grew upon him till it became a passion of the +intellect, a thirst like the thirst for water in a parching desert. +What he sought to know was not facts only, but facts in their +relations to principles, facts so disposed and fitly joined together +as to become the causeway over which the road to truth shall pass. For +this purpose events were in his view not more important than the +thoughts of men, because discursive and creative thought was to him +the ruling factor in history. Hence books must be known--books of +philosophic creation, books of philosophic reflection, no less than +those which record what has happened. The danger of this conception is +that everything men have said or written, as well as everything they +have done, becomes a possibly significant fact; and thus the search +for truth becomes endless because the materials are inexhaustible. + +He expressed in striking words, prefixed to a list of books suggested +for a young man's perusal, his view of the aim of a course of +historical reading. It is "to give force and fulness and clearness and +sincerity and independence and elevation and generosity and serenity +to his mind, that he may know the method and law of the process by +which error is conquered and truth is won, discerning knowledge from +probability and prejudice from belief, that he may learn to master +what he rejects as fully as what he adopts, that he may understand the +origin as well as the strength and vitality of systems and the better +motive of men who are wrong ... and to steel him against the charm of +literary beauty and talent."[62] + +Neither his passion for facts nor his appreciation of style and form +made him decline to the right hand or to the left from the true +position of a historian. He set little store upon what is called +literary excellence, and would often reply, when questioned as to the +merits of some book bearing an eminent name, "You need not read it: it +adds nothing to what we knew." He valued facts only so far as they +went to establish a principle or explained the course of events. It +was really not so much in the range of his knowledge as in the +profundity and precision of his thought that his greatness lay. + +His somewhat overstrained conscientiousness, coupled with the +practically unattainable ideal of finish and form which he set before +himself, made him less and less disposed to literary production. No +man of first-rate powers has in our time left so little by which +posterity may judge those powers. In his early life, when for a time +he edited the _Home and Foreign Review_, and when he was connected +with the _Rambler_ and the _North British Review_, he wrote +frequently; and even between 1868 and 1890 he contributed to the press +some few historical essays and a number of anonymous letters. But the +aversion to creative work seemed to grow on him. About 1890 he so far +yielded to the urgency of a few friends as to promise to reissue a +number of his essays in a volume, but, after rewriting and polishing +these essays during several years, he abandoned the scheme altogether. +In 1882 he had already drawn out a plan for a comprehensive history of +Liberty. But this plan also he dropped, because the more he read with +a view to undertaking it the more he wished to read, and the vaster +did the enterprise seem to loom up before him. With him, as with many +men who cherish high literary ideals, the Better proved to be the +enemy of the Good. + +Twenty years ago, late at night, in his library at Cannes, he +expounded to me his view of how such a history of Liberty might be +written, and in what wise it might be made the central thread of all +history. He spoke for six or seven minutes only; but he spoke like a +man inspired, seeming as if, from some mountain summit high in air, he +saw beneath him the far-winding path of human progress from dim +Cimmerian shores of prehistoric shadow into the fuller yet broken and +fitful light of the modern time. The eloquence was splendid, but +greater than the eloquence was the penetrating vision which discerned +through all events and in all ages the play of those moral forces, now +creating, now destroying, always transmuting, which had moulded and +remoulded institutions, and had given to the human spirit its +ceaselessly-changing forms of energy. It was as if the whole landscape +of history had been suddenly lit up by a burst of sunlight. I have +never heard from any other lips any discourse like this, nor from his +did I ever hear the like again. + +His style suffered in his later days from the abundance of the +interspersed citations, and from the overfulness and subtlety of the +thought, which occasionally led to obscurity. But when he handled a +topic in which learning was not required, his style was clear, pointed +and incisive, sometimes epigrammatic. Several years ago he wrote in a +monthly magazine a short article upon a biography of one of his +contemporaries which showed how admirable a master he was of polished +diction and penetrating analysis, and made one wish that he had more +frequently consented to dash off light work in a quick unstudied way. + +To the work of a University professor he came too late to acquire the +art of fluent and forcible oral discourse, nor was the character of +his mind, with its striving after a flawless exactitude of statement, +altogether fitted for the function of presenting broad summaries of +facts to a youthful audience. His predecessor in the Cambridge chair +of history, Sir John Seeley, with less knowledge, less subtlety, and +less originality, had in larger measure the gift of oral exposition +and the power of putting points, whether by speech or by writing, in +a clear and telling way. No one, indeed, since Macaulay has been a +better point-putter than Seeley was. But Acton's lectures (read from +MS.) were models of lucid and stately narrative informed by fulness of +thought; and they were so delivered as to express the feeling which +each event had evoked in his own mind. That sternness of character +which revealed itself in his judgments of men and books never affected +his relations to his pupils. Precious as his time was, he gave it +generously, encouraging them to come to him for help and counsel. They +were awed by the majesty of his learning. Said one of them to me, +"When Lord Acton answers a question put to him, I feel as if I were +looking at a pyramid. I see the point of it clear and sharp, but I see +also the vast subjacent mass of solid knowledge." They perceived, +moreover, that to him History and Philosophy were not two things but +one, and perceived that of History as well as of divine Philosophy it +may be said that she too is "charming, and musical as is Apollo's +lute." Thus the impression produced in the University by the amplitude +of Lord Acton's views, by the range of his learning, by the liberality +of his spirit and his unfailing devotion to truth and to truth alone, +was deep and fruitful. + +When they wished that he had given to the world more of his wisdom, +his friends did not undervalue a life which was in itself a rare and +exquisite product of favouring nature and unwearied diligence. They +only regretted that the influence of his ideas, of his methods, and of +his spirit, had not been more widely diffused in an enduring form. It +was as when a plant unknown elsewhere grows on some remote isle where +ships seldom touch. Few see the beauty of the flower, and here death +came before the seed could be gathered to be scattered in receptive +soil. + +To most men Lord Acton seemed reserved as well as remote, presenting a +smooth and shining surface beneath which it was hard to penetrate. He +avoided publicity and popularity with the tranquil dignity of one for +whom the world of knowledge and speculation was more than sufficient. +But he was a loyal friend, affectionate to his intimates, gracious in +his manners, blameless in all the relations of life. Comparatively few +of his countrymen knew his name, and those who did thought of him +chiefly as the confidant of Mr. Gladstone, and as the most remarkable +instance of a sincere and steadfast Roman Catholic who was a Liberal +alike in politics and in theology. But those who had been admitted to +his friendship recognised him as one of the finest intelligences of +his generation, an unsurpassed, and indeed a scarcely rivalled, master +of every subject which he touched. + +----- + + [60] This library, bought by Mr. Andrew Carnegie, was presented by him + to Mr. John Morley, and by the latter to the University of + Cambridge. + + [61] The phrase is Professor Maitland's. + + [62] I owe this quotation to a letter of Sir M. E. Grant Duff's + published soon after Lord Acton's death. + + + + +WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE + + +Of no man who has lived in our times is it so hard to speak in a +concise and summary fashion as of Mr. Gladstone. For fifty years he +was so closely associated with the public affairs of his country that +the record of his parliamentary life is virtually an outline of +English political history during those years. His activity spread +itself out over many fields. He was the author of several learned and +thoughtful books, and of a multitude of articles upon all sorts of +subjects. He showed himself as eagerly interested in matters of +classical scholarship and Christian doctrine and ecclesiastical +history as in questions of national finance and foreign policy. No +account of him could be complete without reviewing his actions and +estimating the results of his work in all these directions. + +But the difficulty of describing and judging him goes deeper. His was +a singularly complex nature, whose threads it was hard to unravel. +His individuality was extremely strong. All that he said or did +bore its impress. Yet it was an individuality so far from being +self-consistent as sometimes to seem a bundle of opposite qualities +capriciously united in a single person. He might with equal truth +have been called, and he was in fact called, a conservative and a +revolutionary. He was dangerously impulsive, and had frequently to +suffer for his impulsiveness; yet he was also not merely prudent and +cautious, but so astute as to have been accused of craft and +dissimulation. So great was his respect for tradition that he clung +to views regarding the authorship of the Homeric poems and the date +of the books of the Old Testament which nearly all competent +specialists have now rejected. So bold was he in practical matters +that he carried through sweeping changes in the British constitution, +changed the course of English policy in the nearer East, overthrew an +established church in one part of the United Kingdom, and committed +himself in principle to the overthrow of two other established +churches in other parts. He came near to being a Roman Catholic in +his religious opinions, yet was for the last twenty years of his life +the trusted leader of the English Protestant Nonconformists and the +Scottish Presbyterians. No one who knew him intimately doubted his +conscientious sincerity and earnestness, yet four-fifths of the +English upper classes were in his later years wont to regard him as +a self-interested schemer who would sacrifice his country to his +ambition. Though he loved general principles, and often soared out +of the sight of his audience when discussing them, he generally +ended by deciding upon points of detail the question at issue. He +was at different times of his life the defender and the assailant of +the same institutions, yet scarcely seemed inconsistent in doing +opposite things, because his methods and his arguments preserved the +same type and colour throughout. Those who had at the beginning of +his career discerned in him the capacity for such diversities and +contradictions would probably have predicted that they must wreck +it by making his purposes fluctuating and his course erratic. Such +a prediction might have proved true of any one with less firmness of +will and less intensity of temper. It was the persistent heat and +vehemence of his character, the sustained passion which he threw +into the pursuit of the object on which he was for the moment bent, +that fused these dissimilar qualities and made them appear to +contribute to and increase the total force which he exerted. + +The circumstances of Mr. Gladstone's political career help to explain, +or, at any rate, will furnish occasion for the attempt to explain, +this complexity and variety of character. But before I come to his +manhood it is convenient to advert to three conditions whose influence +on him was profound--the first his Scottish blood, the second his +Oxford education, the third his apprenticeship to public life under +Sir Robert Peel. + +Theories of character based on race differences are dangerous, because +they are as hard to test as they are easy to form. Still, we all know +that there are specific qualities and tendencies usually found in the +minds of men of certain stocks, just as there are peculiarities in +their faces or in their speech. Mr. Gladstone was born and brought up +in Liverpool, and always retained a touch of Lancashire accent. But, +as he was fond of saying, every drop of blood in his veins was Scotch. +His father's family belonged to the Scottish Lowlands, and came from +the neighbourhood of Biggar, in the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire, where +the ruined walls of Gledstanes[63]--"the kite's rock"--may still be +seen. His mother was of Highland extraction, by name Robertson, from +Dingwall, in Ross-shire. Thus he was not only a Scot, but a Scot with +a strong infusion of the Celtic element, the element whence the Scotch +derive most of what distinguishes them from the northern English. The +Scot is more excitable, more easily brought to a glow of passion, more +apt to be eagerly absorbed in one thing at a time. He is also more +fond of exerting his intellect on abstractions. It is not merely that +the taste for metaphysical theology is commoner in Scotland than in +England, but that the Scotch have a stronger relish for general +principles. They like to set out by ascertaining and defining such +principles, and then to pursue a series of logical deductions from +them. They are, therefore, bolder reasoners than the English, less +content to remain in the region of concrete facts, more prone to throw +themselves into the construction of a body of speculative doctrine. +The Englishman is apt to plume himself on being right in spite of +logic; the Scotchman likes to think that it is through logic he has +reached his results, and that he can by logic defend them. These are +qualities which Mr. Gladstone drew from his Scottish blood. He had a +keen enjoyment of the processes of dialectic. He loved to get hold of +an abstract principle and to derive all sorts of conclusions from it. +He was wont to begin the discussion of a question by laying down two +or three sweeping propositions covering the subject as a whole, and +would then proceed to draw from these others which he could apply to +the particular matter in hand. His well-stored memory and boundless +ingenuity made the discovery of such general propositions so easy a +task that a method in itself agreeable sometimes appeared to be +carried to excess. He frequently arrived at conclusions which the +judgment of the common-sense auditor did not approve, because, +although they seemed to have been legitimately deduced from the +general principles just enunciated, they were somehow at variance with +the plain teaching of the facts. At such moments one felt that the man +who was fascinating but perplexing Englishmen by his subtlety was not +himself an Englishman in mental quality, but had the love for +abstractions and refinements and dialectical analysis which +characterises the Scotch intellect. He had also a large measure of +that warmth and vehemence, called in the sixteenth century the +_perfervidum ingenium Scotorum_, which belong to the Scottish +temperament, and particularly to the Celtic Scot. He kindled quickly, +and when kindled, he shot forth a strong and brilliant flame. To any +one with less power of self-control such intensity of emotion as he +frequently showed would have been dangerous; nor did this excitability +fail, even with him, to prompt words and acts which a cooler judgment +would have disapproved. But it gave that spontaneity which was one of +the charms of his nature; it produced that impression of profound +earnestness and of resistless force which raised him out of the rank +of ordinary statesmen. The rush of emotion swelling fast and full +seemed to turn the whole stream of intellectual effort into whatever +channel lay at the moment nearest. + +With these Scottish qualities, Mr. Gladstone was brought up at school +and college (Eton and Christ Church) among Englishmen, and received at +Oxford, then lately awakened from a long torpor, a bias and tendency +which never thereafter ceased to affect him. The so-called "Oxford +Movement," which afterwards obtained the name of Tractarianism and +carried Newman and Manning, together with other less famous leaders, +on to Rome, had not yet, in 1831, when Mr. Gladstone obtained his +degree with double first-class honours, taken visible shape, or +become, so to speak, conscious of its own purposes. But its doctrinal +views, its peculiar vein of religious sentiment, its respect for +antiquity and tradition, its proneness to casuistry, its taste for +symbolism, were already in the air as influences working on the more +susceptible of the younger minds. On Mr. Gladstone they told with full +force. He became, and never ceased to be, not merely a High-churchman, +but what may be called an Anglo-Catholic, in his theology, deferential +not only to ecclesiastical tradition, but to the living voice of the +Visible Church, revering the priesthood as the recipients (if duly +ordained) of a special grace and peculiar powers, attaching great +importance to the sacraments, feeling himself nearer to the Church of +Rome, despite what he deemed her corruptions, than to any of the +non-Episcopal Protestant churches. Henceforth his interests in life +were as much ecclesiastical as political. For a time he desired to be +ordained a clergyman. Had this wish, abandoned in deference to his +father's advice, been carried out, he must eventually have become a +leading figure in the Church of England and have sensibly affected her +recent history. The later stages in his career drew him away from the +main current of political opinion within that church. He who had been +the strongest advocate of the principle of the State establishment of +religion came to be the chief actor in the disestablishment of the +Protestant Episcopal Church in Ireland, and a supporter of the policy +of disestablishment in Scotland and in Wales. But the colour which +these Oxford years gave to his mind and thoughts was never effaced. +While they widened the range of his interests and deepened his moral +earnestness, they at the same time confirmed his natural bent toward +over-subtle distinctions and fine-drawn reasonings, and put him out of +sympathy not only with the attitude of the average Englishman, who is +essentially a Protestant--that is to say, averse to sacerdotalism, and +suspicious of any other religious authority than that of the Bible and +the individual conscience--but also with two of the strongest +influences of our time, the influence of the sciences of nature, and +the influence of historical criticism. Mr. Gladstone, though too wise +to rail at science, as many religious men did till within the last +few years, could never quite reconcile himself either to the +conclusions of geology and zoology regarding the history of the +physical world and the creatures which inhabit it, or to modern +methods of critical inquiry as applied to Scripture and to ancient +literature generally. The training which Oxford then gave, stimulating +as it was, and free from the modern error of over-specialisation, was +defective in omitting the experimental sciences, and in laying undue +stress upon the study of language. A proneness to dwell on verbal +distinctions and to trust overmuch to the analysis of terms as a means +of reaching the truth of things is noticeable in many eminent Oxford +writers of that and the next succeeding generation--some of them, like +the illustrious F. D. Maurice, far removed from Cardinal Newman and +Mr. Gladstone in theological opinion. + +When, bringing with him a brilliant University reputation, he +entered the House of Commons at the age of twenty-three, Sir Robert +Peel was leading the Tory party with an authority and ability rarely +surpassed in the annals of parliament. Within two years the young man +was admitted into the short-lived Tory ministry of 1834, and soon +proved himself a promising lieutenant of the experienced chief. +Peel was an eminently wary man, alive to the necessity of watching +the signs of the times, of studying and interpreting the changeful +phases of public opinion. Yet he always kept his own counsel. Even +when he perceived that the policy he had hitherto followed would +need to be modified, Peel continued to use guarded language and did +not publicly commit himself to change till it was plain that the +fitting moment had arrived. He was, moreover, a master of detail, +slow to propound a plan until he had seen how its outlines were to +be filled up by appropriate devices for carrying it out in practice. +These qualities and habits of the minister profoundly affected his +disciple. They became part of the texture of Mr. Gladstone's +political character, and in his case, as in that of Peel, they +sometimes brought censure upon him, as having locked up too long +within his breast views or purposes which he thought it unwise to +disclose till effect could be forthwith given to them. Such +reserve, such a guarded attitude and tenderness for existing +institutions, may have been not altogether natural to Mr. Gladstone's +mind, but due partly to the influence of Peel, partly to the +tendency to hold by tradition and the established order which +reverence for Christian antiquity and faith in the dogmatic teachings +of the Church had planted deep in his soul. The contrast between Mr. +Gladstone's caution and respect for facts on the one hand, and his +reforming fervour on the other, like the contrast which ultimately +appeared between his sacerdotal tendencies and his political +liberalism, contributed to make his character perplexing and to +expose his conduct to the charge of inconsistency. Inconsistent, +in the proper sense of the word, he was not, much less changeable. +He was really, in his fundamental convictions and the main habits of +his mind, one of the most tenacious and persistent of men. But there +were always at work in him two tendencies. One was the speculative +desire to probe everything to the bottom, to try it by the light of +general principles and logic, and when it failed to stand this +test, to reject it. The other was the sense of the complexity of +existing social and political arrangements, and of the risk of +disturbing any one part of them until the time had arrived for +resettling other parts also. Every statesman feels both these sides +to every concrete question of reform. No one has set them forth more +cogently, and in particular no one has more earnestly dwelt on the +necessity for the latter side, than the most profound thinker among +British statesmen, Edmund Burke. When Mr. Gladstone stated either side +with his incomparable force, people forgot that there was another +side which would be no less vividly present to him at some other +moment. He was not only, like all successful parliamentarians, +necessarily something of an opportunist, though perhaps less so than +his master, but was moved by emotion more than most statesmen, and +certainly more than Peel. The relative strength with which the need +for drastic reform or the need for watchful conservatism, as the +case might be, presented itself to his mind depended largely upon the +weight which his emotions cast into one or other scale, and this +emotional element made it difficult to forecast his course. Thus +his action in public life was the result of influences differing +widely in their origin, influences, moreover, which could be duly +appreciated only by those who knew him intimately. + +Whoever has followed his political career has been struck by the sharp +divergence of the views entertained by his fellow-countrymen about one +who had been for so long a period under their observation. That he was +possessed of boundless energy and brilliant eloquence all agreed. But +agreement went no further. One section of the nation accused him of +sophistry, of unwisdom, of a want of patriotism, of a lust for power. +The other section not only repelled these charges, but admired in him +a conscientiousness and a moral enthusiasm such as no political leader +had shown for centuries. When the qualities of his mind and the +aptitudes for politics which he showed have been briefly examined, it +will be fitting to return to these divergent views of his character, +and endeavour to discover which of them contains the larger measure of +truth. Meantime let it suffice to say that among the reasons that led +men to misjudge him, this union in one person of opposite qualities +was the chief. He was rather two men than one. Passionate and +impulsive on the emotional side of his nature, he was cautious and +conservative on the intellectual. Few understood the conjunction; +still fewer saw how much of what was perplexing in his conduct it +explained. + +Mr. Gladstone sat for sixty-three years (1833-1895) in Parliament, was +for twenty-eight years (1866-1894) the leader of his party, and was +four times Prime Minister. He began as a high Tory, remained about +fifteen years in that camp, was then led by the split between Peel and +the Protectionists to take up an intermediate position, and finally +was forced to cast in his lot with the Liberals, for in England, as in +America, third parties seldom endure. No parliamentary career in +English annals is comparable to his for its length and variety; and of +those who saw its close in the House of Commons, there was only one +man, Mr. Villiers (who died in January 1898), who could remember its +beginning. Mr. Gladstone had been opposed in 1833 to men who might +have been his grandfathers; he was opposed in 1894 to men who might +have been his grandchildren. It is no part of my design to describe or +comment on the events of such a life. All that can be done here is to +indicate the more salient characteristics which a study of his career +as a statesman and a parliamentarian sets before us. + +The most remarkable of these characteristics was the openness, +freshness, and eagerness of mind which he preserved down to the end of +his life. Most men form few new opinions after thirty-five, just as +they form few new intimacies. Intellectual curiosity may remain even +after fifty, but its range narrows as a man abandons the hope of +attaining any thorough knowledge of subjects other than those which +make the main business of his life. It is impossible to follow the +progress of all the new ideas that are set afloat in the world, +impossible to be always examining the foundations of one's political +or religious beliefs. Repeated disappointments and disillusionments +make a man expect less from changes the older he grows; while +indolence deters him from entering upon new enterprises. None of these +causes seemed to affect Mr. Gladstone. He was as much excited over a +new book (such as Cardinal Manning's Life) at eighty-four as when at +fourteen he insisted on compelling little Arthur Stanley (afterwards +Dean of Westminster, and then aged nine) forthwith to procure and +study Gray's poems, which he had just perused himself. His reading +covered almost the whole field of literature, except physical and +mathematical science. While frequently declaring that he must confine +his political thinking and leadership to a few subjects, he was so +observant of current events that the course of talk brought up +scarcely any topic in which he did not seem to know what was the +latest thing that had been said or done. Neither the lassitude nor the +prejudices that usually accompany old age prevented him from giving a +fair consideration to any new doctrines. But though his intellect was +restlessly at work, and though his curiosity disposed him to relish +novelties, except in theology, that bottom rock in his mind of caution +and reserve, which has already been referred to, made him refuse to +part with old views even when he was beginning to accept new ones. He +allowed both to "lie on the table" together, and while declaring +himself open to conviction, felt it safer to speak and act on the old +lines till the process of conviction had been completed. It took +fourteen years, from 1846 to 1860, to carry him from the Conservative +into the Liberal camp. It took five stormy years to bring him round to +Irish Home Rule, though his mind was constantly occupied with the +subject from 1880 to 1885, and those who watched him closely saw that +the process had advanced a long way even in 1882. And as regards +ecclesiastical establishments, having written a book in 1838 as a warm +advocate of State churches, it was not till 1867 that he adopted the +policy of disestablishment for Ireland, not till 1890 that he +declared himself ready to apply that policy in Wales and Scotland +also. + +Both these qualities--his disposition to revise his opinions in the +light of new arguments and changing conditions, and the silence he +maintained till the process of revision had been completed--exposed +him to misconstruction. Commonplace men, unwont to give serious +scrutiny to their opinions, ascribed his changes to self-interest, or +at best regarded them as the index of an unstable purpose. Dull men +could not understand why he should have forborne to set forth all that +was passing in his mind, and saw little difference between reticence +and dishonesty. In so far as they shook public confidence, these +characteristics injured him in his statesman's work. Yet the loss was +outweighed by the gain. In a country where opinion is active and +changeful, where the economic conditions that legislation has to deal +with are in a state of perpetual flux, where the balance of power +between the upper, the middle, and the poorer classes has been swiftly +altering during the last seventy years, no statesman can continue to +serve the public if he adheres obstinately to the doctrines with which +he started in life. He must--unless, of course, he stands aloof in +permanent isolation--either subordinate his own views to the general +sentiment of his party, and be driven to advocate courses he secretly +mislikes, or else, holding himself ready to quit his party, if need +be, must be willing to learn from events, and to reconsider his +opinions in the light of emergent tendencies and insistent facts. Mr. +Gladstone's pride as well as his conscience forbade the former +alternative; it was fortunate that the tireless activity of his +intellect made the latter natural to him. He was accustomed to say +that the capital fault of his earlier days had been his failure +adequately to recognise the worth and power of liberty, and the +tendency which things have to work out for good when left to +themselves. The application of this principle gave room for many +developments, and many developments there were. He may have shown less +than was needed of that prescience which is, after integrity and +courage, the highest gift of a statesman, but which can seldom be +expected from an English minister, too engrossed to find time for the +patient reflection from which alone sound forecasts can issue. But he +had the next best quality, that of remaining accessible to new ideas +and learning from the events which passed under his eyes. + +With this openness and flexibility of mind there went a not less +remarkable ingenuity and resourcefulness. Fertile in expedients, he +was still more fertile in reasonings by which to recommend the +expedients. The gift had its dangers, for he was apt to be carried +away by the dexterity of his own dialectic, and to think that a +scheme must be sound in whose support he could muster a formidable +array of arguments. He never seemed at a loss, in public or in +private, for a criticism, or for an answer to the criticisms of +others. If his power of adapting his own mind to the minds of those +whom he had to convince had been equal to the skill and swiftness with +which he accumulated a mass of matter persuasive to those who looked +at things in his own way, no one would have exercised so complete a +control over the political opinion of his time. But his intellect +lacked this power of adaptation. It moved on lines of its own, which +were often misconceived, even by those who sought to follow him +loyally. Thus, as already observed, he was blamed for two opposite +faults. Some, pointing to the fact that he had frequently altered his +views, denounced him as a demagogue profuse of promises, ready to +propose whatever he thought likely to catch the people's ear. Others +complained that there was no knowing where to have him; that he had an +erratic mind, whose currents ran underground and came to the surface +in unexpected places; that he did not consult his party, but followed +his own impulses; that his guidance was unsafe because his decisions +were unpredictable. Much of the suspicion with which he was regarded, +especially after 1885, arose from this view of his character. + +It was an unfair view, yet nearer to the truth than that which charged +him with seeking to flatter and follow the people. No great popular +leader had in him less of the demagogue. He saw, of course, that a +statesman cannot oppose the general will beyond a certain point, and +may have to humour it in small things that he may direct it in great +ones. He was obliged, as others have been, to take up and settle +questions he deemed unimportant because they were troubling the body +politic. Now and then, in his later days, he so far yielded to his +party advisers as to express his approval of proposals in which his +own interest was slight. But he was ever a leader, not a follower, and +erred rather in not keeping his finger closely and constantly upon the +pulse of public opinion. In this point, at least, one may discover in +him a likeness to Disraeli. Slow as he was in maturing his opinions, +Mr. Gladstone was liable to forget that the minds of his followers +might not be moving along with his own, and hence his decisions +sometimes took his party as well as the nation by surprise. But he was +too self-absorbed, too eagerly interested in the ideas that suited his +own cast of thought, to be able to watch and gauge the tendencies of +the multitude. The three most remarkable instances in which his new +departures startled the world were his declarations against the Irish +Church establishment in 1867, against the Turks and the traditional +English policy of supporting them in 1876, and in favour of Irish Home +Rule in 1886, and in none of these did any popular demand suggest his +pronouncement. It was the masses who took their view from him, not he +who took a mandate from the masses. In each of these cases he may, +perhaps, be blamed for not having sooner perceived, or at any rate for +not having sooner announced, the need for a change of policy. But it +was very characteristic of him not to give the full strength of his +mind to a question till he felt that it pressed for a solution. Those +who listened to his private talk were scarcely more struck by the +range of his vision than by his unwillingness to commit himself on +matters whose decision he could postpone. Reticence and caution were +sometimes carried too far, not merely because they exposed him to +misconstruction, but because they withheld from his party the guidance +it needed. This was true in the three instances just mentioned; and in +the last of them it is possible that earlier and fuller communications +might have averted the separation of some of his former colleagues. +Nor did he always rightly divine the popular mind. His proposal (in +1874) to extinguish the income-tax fell completely flat, because the +nation was becoming indifferent to that economy in public expenditure +which both parties had in the days of Peel and Lord John Russell vied +in demanding. Cherishing his old financial ideals, Mr. Gladstone had +not marked the change. So he failed to perceive how much the credit of +his party was suffering (after 1871) from the belief of large sections +of the people, that he was indifferent to the interests of England +outside England. Perhaps, knowing the charge of indifference to be +groundless, he underrated the effect which the iteration of it +produced: perhaps his pride would not let him stoop to dissipate it. + +Though the power of reading the signs of the times and swaying the +mind of the nation may be now more essential to an English statesman +than the skill which manages a legislature or holds together a +cabinet, that skill counts for much, and must continue to do so while +the House of Commons remains the governing authority of the country. A +man can hardly reach high place, and certainly cannot retain high +place, without possessing this kind of art. Mr. Gladstone was at one +time thought to want it. In 1864, when Lord Palmerston's end was +approaching, and Mr. Gladstone had shown himself the strongest man +among the Liberal ministers in the House of Commons, people speculated +about the succession to the headship of the party; and the wiseacres +of the day were never tired of repeating that Mr. Gladstone could not +possibly lead the House of Commons. He wanted tact, they said, he was +too excitable, too impulsive, too much absorbed in his own ideas, too +unversed in the arts by which individuals are conciliated. But when, +after twenty-five years of his unquestioned reign, the time for his +own departure drew nigh, men asked how the Liberal party in the House +of Commons would ever hold together after it had lost a leader of such +consummate capacity. The Whig critics of 1864 had grown so accustomed +to Palmerston's way of handling the House as to forget that a man +might succeed by quite different methods, and that defects, serious in +themselves, may be outweighed by transcendent merits. + +Mr. Gladstone had the defects ascribed to him. His impulsiveness +sometimes betrayed him into declarations which a cooler reflection +would have dissuaded. The second reading of the Irish Home Rule Bill +of 1886 might possibly have been carried had he not been goaded by his +opponents into words which were construed as recalling or modifying +the concessions he had announced at a meeting of the Liberal party +held just before. More than once precious time was wasted because +antagonists, knowing his excitable temper, brought on discussions with +the sole object of annoying him and drawing from him some hasty +deliverance. Nor was he an adept, like Disraeli and Disraeli's famous +Canadian imitator, Sir John A. Macdonald, in the management of +individuals. His aversion for the meaner side of human nature made him +refuse to play upon it. Many of the pursuits, and most of the +pleasures, which attract ordinary men had no interest for him, so that +much of the common ground on which men meet was closed to him. He was, +moreover, too constantly engrossed by the subjects he loved, and by +enterprises which specially appealed to him, to have leisure for the +lighter but often vitally important devices of political strategy. I +remember hearing, soon after 1870, how Mr. Delane, then editor of the +_Times_, had been invited to meet the Prime Minister at a moment when +the support of that newspaper would have been specially valuable to +the Liberal Government. Instead of using the opportunity in the way +that had been intended, Mr. Gladstone dilated during the whole time of +dinner upon the approaching exhaustion of the English coal-beds, to +the surprise of the company and the unconcealed annoyance of the +powerful guest. It was the subject then uppermost in his mind, and he +either forgot, or disdained, to conciliate Mr. Delane. Good nature as +well as good sense made him avoid giving offence by personal +reflections in debate, and he usually suffered fools if not, like St. +Paul's converts, gladly, yet patiently.[64] In the House of Commons he +was entirely free from airs, and, indeed, from any assumption of +superiority. The youngest member might accost him in the lobby and be +listened to with perfect courtesy. But he had a bad memory for faces, +seldom addressed any one outside the circle of his personal friends, +and more than once made enemies by omitting to notice and show +attention to recruits who, having been eminent in their own towns, +expected to be made much of when they entered Parliament. Having +himself plenty of pride and comparatively little vanity, he never +realised the extent to which, and the cheapness with which, men can be +captured and used through their vanity. Adherents were sometimes +turned into dangerous foes because his preoccupation with graver +matters dimmed his sense of what may be done to win support by the +minor arts, such as an invitation to dinner or even a seasonable +compliment. And his mind, flexible as it was in seizing new points of +view and devising expedients to meet new circumstances, did not easily +enter into the characters of other men. Ideas and causes interested +him more than did personal traits; his sympathy was keener and +stronger for the sufferings of nations or masses of men than with the +fortunes of an individual man. With all his accessibility and +kindliness, he was at bottom chary of real friendship, while the +circle of his intimates became constantly smaller with advancing +years. So it befell that though his popularity among the general body +of his adherents went on increasing, and the admiration of his +parliamentary followers remained undiminished, he had in the House of +Commons few personal friends who linked him to the party at large, and +rendered to him those confidential services which count for much in +keeping all sections in hearty accord and enabling the commander to +gauge the sentiment of his troops. + +Of parliamentary strategy in that larger sense, which covers +familiarity with parliamentary forms and usages, care and judgment in +arranging the business of the House, the power of seizing a +parliamentary situation and knowing how to deal with it, the art of +guiding a debate and choosing the right moment for reserve and for +openness, for a dignified retreat, for a watchful defence, for a +sudden rattling charge upon the enemy--of all this no one had a fuller +mastery. His recollection of precedents was unrivalled, for it began +in 1833 with the first reformed Parliament, and it seemed as fresh for +those remote days as for last month. He enjoyed combat for its own +sake, not so much from inborn pugnacity, for he was not disputatious +in ordinary conversation, as because it called out his fighting force +and stimulated his whole nature. "I am never nervous in reply," he +once said, "though I am sometimes nervous in opening a debate." No one +could be more tactful or adroit when a crisis arrived whose gravity he +had foreseen. In the summer of 1881 the House of Lords made some +amendments to the Irish Land Bill which were deemed ruinous to the +working of the measure, and therewith to the prospects of the +pacification of Ireland. A conflict was expected which might have +strained the fabric of the constitution. The excitement which quickly +arose in Parliament spread to the nation. Mr. Gladstone alone remained +calm and confident. He devised a series of compromises, which he +advocated in conciliatory speeches. He so played his game that by a +few minor concessions he secured nearly all the points he cared for, +and, while sparing the dignity of the Lords, steered his bill +triumphantly out of the breakers which had threatened to engulf it. +Very different was his ordinary demeanour in debate when he was off +his guard. His face and gestures while he sat in the House of Commons +listening to an opponent would express all the emotions that crossed +his mind. He would follow every sentence as a hawk follows the +movements of a small bird, would sometimes contradict half aloud, +sometimes turn to his next neighbour to vent his displeasure at the +groundless allegations or fallacious arguments he was listening to, +till at last, like a hunting leopard loosed from the leash, he would +spring to his feet and deliver a passionate reply. His warmth would +often be in excess of what the occasion required, and quite +disproportioned to the importance of his antagonist. It was in fact +the unimportance of the occasion that made him thus yield to his +feeling. As soon as he saw that bad weather was coming, and careful +seamanship wanted, his coolness returned, his language became +measured, while passion, though it might increase the force of his +oratory, never made him deviate a hand's breadth from the course he +had chosen. The Celtic heat subsided, and the shrewd self-control of +the Lowland Scot regained command. + +It was by oratory that Mr. Gladstone rose to fame and power, as, +indeed, by it most English statesmen have risen, save those to whom +wealth and rank and family connections used to give a sort of +presumptive claim to high office, like the Cavendishes and the +Russells, the Bentincks and the Cecils. And for many years, during +which Mr. Gladstone was suspected as a statesman because, while he had +ceased to be a Tory, he had not fully become a Liberal, his eloquence +was the main, one might almost say the sole, source of his influence. +Oratory was a power in English politics even a century and a half ago, +as the career of the elder Pitt shows. During the last seventy years, +years which have seen the power of rank and family connections +decline, it has, although less cultivated as a fine art, continued to +be almost essential to the highest success, and it still brings a man +quickly to the front, though it will not keep him there should he +prove to want the other branches of statesmanlike capacity. + +The permanent reputation of an orator depends upon two things, the +witness of contemporaries to the impression produced upon them, and +the written or printed record of his speeches. Few are the famous +speakers who would be famous if they were tried by this latter test +alone, and Mr. Gladstone was not one of them. It is only by a rare +combination of gifts that one who speaks with so much force and +brilliance as to charm his listeners is also able to deliver thoughts +so valuable in words so choice that posterity will read them as +literature. Some of the ancient orators did this; but we seldom know +how far those of their speeches which have been preserved are the +speeches which they actually delivered. Among moderns, a few French +preachers, Edmund Burke, Macaulay, and Daniel Webster are perhaps the +only speakers whose discourses have passed into classics and find new +generations of readers.[65] Twenty years hence Mr. Gladstone's will +not be read, except, of course, by historians. Indeed, they ceased to +be read even in his lifetime. They are too long, too diffuse, too +minute in their handling of details, too elaborately qualified in +their enunciation of general principles. They contain few epigrams and +few of those weighty thoughts put into telling phrases which the +Greeks called +gnomai+. The style, in short, is not sufficiently rich +or polished to give an enduring interest to matter whose practical +importance has vanished. The same oblivion has overtaken all but a few +of the best speeches (or parts of speeches) of Grattan, Sheridan, +Pitt, Fox, Erskine, Canning, Plunket, Brougham, Peel, Bright. It may, +indeed, be said--and the examples of Burke and Macaulay show that this +is no paradox--that the speakers whom posterity most enjoys are rarely +those who most affected the audiences that listened to them.[66] + +If, on the other hand, Mr. Gladstone be judged by the impression he +made on his own time, his place will be high in the front rank. His +speeches were neither so concisely telling as Mr. Bright's nor so +finished in diction; but no other man among his contemporaries--neither +Lord Derby nor Mr. Lowe, nor Lord Beaconsfield nor Lord Cairns, nor +Bishop Wilberforce nor Bishop Magee--taken all round, could be ranked +beside him. And he rose superior to Mr. Bright himself in readiness, +in variety of knowledge, in persuasive ingenuity. Mr. Bright spoke +seldom and required time for preparation. Admirable in the breadth and +force with which he set forth his own position, or denounced that of +his adversaries, he was not equally qualified for instructing nor +equally apt at persuading. Mr. Gladstone could both instruct and +persuade, could stimulate his friends and demolish his opponents, and +could do all these things at an hour's notice, so vast and well +ordered was the arsenal of his mind. Pitt was superb in an expository +or argumentative speech, but his stately periods lacked variety. Fox, +incomparable in reply, was hesitating and confused when he had to state +his case in cold blood. Mr. Gladstone showed as much fire in winding +up a debate as skill in opening it. + +His oratory had, indeed, two faults. It wanted concentration, and it +wanted definition. There were too many words, and the conclusion was +sometimes left vague because the arguments had been too nicely +balanced. I once heard Mr. Cobden say: "I always listen to Mr. +Gladstone with pleasure and admiration, but I sometimes have to ask +myself, when he has sat down, 'What after all was it that he meant, +and what practical course does he recommend?'" These faults were +balanced by conspicuous merits. There was a lively imagination, which +enabled him to relieve even dull matter by pleasing figures, together +with a large command of quotations and illustrations. There were +powers of sarcasm, powers, however, which he rarely used, preferring +the summer lightning of banter to the thunderbolts of invective. There +was admirable lucidity and accuracy in exposition. There was art in +the disposition and marshalling of his arguments, and finally--a gift +now almost lost in England--there was a delightful variety and grace +of appropriate gesture. But above and beyond everything else which +enthralled the listener, there stood out four qualities. Two of them +were merits of substance--inventiveness and elevation; two were merits +of delivery--force in the manner, expressive modulation in the voice. + +No one showed such swift resourcefulness in debate. His readiness, not +only at catching a point, but at making the most of it on a moment's +notice, was amazing. Some one would lean over the back of the bench he +sat on and show a paper or whisper a sentence to him. Apprehending the +bearings at a glance, he would take the bare fact and so shape and +develop it, like a potter moulding a bowl on the wheel out of a lump +of clay, that it grew into a cogent argument or a happy illustration +under the eye of the audience, and seemed all the more telling because +it had not been originally a part of his case. Even in the last three +years of his parliamentary life, when his sight had so failed that he +read nothing, printed or written, except what it was absolutely +necessary to read, and when his deafness had so increased that he did +not hear half of what was said in debate, it was sufficient for a +colleague to say into the better ear a few words explaining how the +matter at issue stood, and he would rise to his feet and extemporise a +long and ingenious argument, or retreat with dexterous grace from a +position which the course of the discussion or the private warning of +the Whips had shown to be untenable. Never was he seen at a loss +either to meet a new point raised by an adversary or to make the best +of an unexpected incident. Sometimes he would amuse himself by drawing +a cheer or a contradiction from his opponents, and would then suddenly +turn round and use this hasty expression of their opinion as the basis +for a fresh argument of his own. Loving conflict, he loved debate, +and, so far from being confused or worried by the strain conflict put +upon him, his physical health was strengthened and his faculties were +roused to higher efficiency by having to prepare and deliver a great +speech. He had the rare faculty of thinking ahead while he was +speaking, and could, while pouring forth a stream of glittering +sentences, be at the same time (as one saw by watching his eye) +composing an argument to be delivered five or ten minutes later. Once, +at a very critical moment, when he was defending a great measure +against the amendment--moved by a nominal supporter of his own--which +proved fatal to it, a friend suddenly reminded him of an incident in +the career of the mover which might be effectively used against him. +When Mr. Gladstone sat down after delivering an impassioned speech, in +the course of which he had several times approached and then sheered +off from the incident, he turned round to the friend and said, "I was +thinking all the time I was speaking whether I could properly use +against ---- what you told me, but concluded, on the whole, that it +would be too hard on him." + +The weakness of his eloquence sprang from its supersubtlety and +superabundance. He was prone to fine distinctions. He multiplied +arguments when it would have been better to rely upon two or three of +the strongest. And he was sometimes so intent on refuting the +particular adversaries opposed to him, and persuading the particular +audience before him, that he forgot to address his reasonings to the +public beyond the House, and make them equally applicable and equally +convincing to the readers of next morning. + +As dignity is one of the rarest qualities in literature, so elevation +is one of the rarest in oratory. It is a quality easier to feel than +to analyse. One may call it a power of ennobling ordinary things by +showing their relation to great things, by pouring high emotions round +them, by bringing the worthier motives of human conduct to bear upon +them, by touching them with the light of poetry. Ambitious writers and +speakers strain after effects of this kind; but they are effects which +study and straining cannot ensure. Vainly do most men flap their wings +in the effort to soar; if they succeed in rising from the ground it is +because some unusually strong burst of feeling makes them for the +moment better than themselves. In Mr. Gladstone the capacity for +feeling was at all times so strong, and the susceptibility of the +imagination so keen, that he soared without effort. His vision seemed +to take in the whole landscape. The points actually in question might +be small, but the principles involved were to him far-reaching. The +contests of to-day were ennobled by the effect they might have in a +still distant future. There are rhetoricians skilful in playing by +words and manner on every chord of human nature, rhetoricians who move +you, and may even carry you away for the moment, but whose sincerity +is doubted, because the sense of spontaneity is lacking. Mr. Gladstone +was not of these. He never seemed to be forcing an effect or assuming +a sentiment. To listen to him was to feel convinced of his own +conviction and to be warmed by the warmth with which he expressed it. +Nor was this due to the perfection of his rhetorical art. He really +did feel what he expressed. Sometimes, of course, like all statesmen, +he had to maintain a cause whose weakness he perceived, as, for +instance, when it became necessary to defend the blunder of a +colleague, or a decision reached by some Cabinet compromise which his +own judgment disapproved. But even in such cases he did not simulate +feeling, but reserved his earnestness for those parts of the case on +which it could be honestly expended. As this was generally true of the +imaginative and emotional side of his eloquence, so was it especially +true of his unequalled power of lifting a subject from the level on +which other speakers had treated it into the purer air of permanent +principle, perhaps even of moral sublimity. + +The dignity and spontaneity which marked the substance of his speeches +was no less conspicuous in their delivery. Nothing could be more easy +and graceful than his manner on ordinary occasions, nothing more grave +and stately than it became when he was making a ceremonial reference +to some public event or bestowing a meed of praise on the departed. +His expository discourses, such as those with which he introduced a +complicated bill or unfolded a financial statement, were models of +their kind, not only for lucidity, but for the pleasant smoothness, +never lapsing into monotony, with which the stream of speech flowed +from his lips. The task was performed so well that people thought it +an easy task till they saw how inferior were the performances of two +subsequent chancellors of the exchequer so able in their respective +ways as Sir Stafford Northcote and Mr. Lowe. But when an occasion +arrived which quickened men's pulses in the House of Commons, a place +where feeling rises as suddenly as do the waves of a Highland loch +when a squall comes rushing down the glen, the vehemence of his +feeling found expression in the fire of his eye and the resistless +strength of his words. His utterance did not grow swifter, nor did the +key of his voice rise, as passion raises and sharpens the voice in +most men. But the measured force with which every sentence was +launched, like a shell hurtling through the air, the concentrated +intensity of his look, as he defied antagonists in front and swept his +glance over the ranks of his supporters around and behind him, had a +startling and thrilling power which no other Englishman could exert, +and which no Englishman had exerted since the days of Pitt and Fox. +The whole proud, bold, ardent nature of the man seemed to flash out, +and one almost forgot what the lips said in admiration of the +towering personality. + +People who read next day the report in the newspapers of a speech +delivered on such an occasion could not comprehend the impression +it had made on the listeners. "What was there in it so to stir you?" +they asked. They had not seen the glance and the gestures; they +had not heard the vibrating voice rise to an organ peal of triumph or +sink to a whisper of entreaty. Mr. Gladstone's voice was naturally +rich and resonant. It was a fine singing voice, and a pleasant voice +to listen to in conversation, not the less pleasant for having a +slight trace of Liverpool accent clinging to it. But what struck one +in listening to his speeches was not so much the quality of the +vocal chords as the skill with which they were managed. He had a +gift of sympathetic expression, of throwing his feeling into his +voice, and using its modulations to accompany and convey every shade +of meaning, like that which a great composer exerts when he puts music +to a poem, or a great executant when he renders at once the +composer's and the poet's thought. And just as accomplished singers +or violinists enjoy the practice of their art, so he rejoiced, +perhaps unconsciously, yet intensely, in putting forth this faculty +of expression; as appeared, indeed, from the fact that whenever his +voice failed him (which sometimes befell in later years) his +words came less easily, and even the chariot of his argument seemed +to drive heavily. That the voice should so seldom have failed was +wonderful. When he had passed his seventy-fifth year, it became +sensibly inferior in volume and depth of tone. But its variety and +delicacy remained. In April 1886, he being then seventy-seven, it +held out during a speech of nearly four hours in length. In +February 1890 it enabled him to deliver with extraordinary effect an +eminently solemn and pathetic appeal. In March 1894 those who +listened to it the last time it was heard in Parliament--they were +comparatively few, for the secret of his impending resignation had +been well kept--recognised in it all the old charm. The most +striking instance I recall of the power it could exert is to be +found in a speech made in 1883, during one of the tiresome debates +occasioned by the refusal of the Opposition and of some timorous +Liberals to allow Mr. Bradlaugh to be sworn as a member of the House +of Commons. This speech produced on those who heard it an impression +which its perusal to-day fails to explain. That impression was chiefly +due to the grave and reverent tone in which he delivered some +sentences stating the view that it is not our belief in the bare +existence of a Deity, but the realising of him as being a Providence +ruling the world, that has moral value and significance for us. And +it was due in particular to the solemn dignity with which he +declaimed six lines of Lucretius, setting forth the Epicurean view +that the gods do not concern themselves with human affairs. There +were perhaps not twenty men in the House of Commons who could follow +the sense of the lines so as to appreciate their bearing on his +argument. But these sonorous hexameters--hexameters that seemed to +have lived on through nineteen centuries to find their application +from the lips of an orator to-day--the sense of remoteness in the +strange language and the far-off heathen origin, the deep and moving +note in the speaker's voice, thrilled the imagination of the +audience and held it spellbound, lifting for a moment the whole +subject of debate into a region far above party conflicts. Spoken by +any one else, the passage culminating in these Lucretian lines might +have produced little effect. It was the voice and manner, above +all the voice, with its marvellous modulations, that made the +speech majestic. + +Yet one must not forget to add that with him, as with some other +famous statesmen, the impression made by a speech was in a measure due +to the admiring curiosity and wonder which his personality inspired. +He was so much the most interesting human being in the House of +Commons that, when he withdrew, many members said that the place had +lost half its attraction for them, and that the chamber looked empty +because he was not in it. Plenty of able men remained. But even the +ablest seemed ordinary when compared with the figure that had +vanished, a figure in whom were combined, as in no other man of his +time, an unrivalled experience, an extraordinary activity and +versatility of intellect, a fervid imagination, and an indomitable +will. + +Though Mr. Gladstone's oratory was a main source of his power, both in +Parliament and over the people, the effort of detractors to represent +him as a mere rhetorician will seem absurd to the historian who +reviews his whole career. The rhetorician adorns and popularises the +ideas which have originated with others; he advocates policies which +others have devised; he follows and expresses the sentiments which +already prevail in his party. Mr. Gladstone was himself a source of +new ideas and new policies; he evoked new sentiments or turned old +sentiments into new channels. Neither was he, as some alleged, +primarily a destroyer. His conservative instincts were strong; he +cherished ancient custom. When it became necessary to clear away an +institution he sought to put something else in its place. He was a +constructive statesman not less conspicuously than were Pitt, Canning, +and Peel. Whether he was a philosophic statesman, basing his action on +large views obtained by thought and study, philosophic in the sense +in which we apply the epithet to Pericles, Machiavelli, Turgot, +Burke, Jefferson, Hamilton, Stein--if one class can be made to include +persons otherwise so dissimilar--may perhaps be doubted. There are few +instances in history of men who have been great thinkers and also +great legislators or administrators, because the two kinds of capacity +almost exclude one another. As experts declare that a man who should +try to operate on the Stock Exchange in reliance upon a profound +knowledge of the inner springs of European politics and the financial +resources of the great States, would ruin himself before his perfectly +correct calculations had time to come true, so a practical statesman, +though he cannot know too much, or look too far ahead, must beware of +trusting his own forecasts, must remember that he has to deal with the +next few months or years, and to persuade persons who cannot be +expected to share or even to understand his views of the future. The +habit of meditating on underlying truths, the tendency to play the +long game, are almost certain to spoil a man for dealing effectively +with the present. He will not be a sufficiently vigilant observer; he +will be out of sympathy with the notions of the average man; his +arguments will go over the head of his audience. No English prime +minister has looked at politics with the eye of a philosopher. But Mr. +Gladstone, if hardly to be called a thinker, showed higher +constructive power than any one else has done since Peel. Were the +memory of his oratorical triumphs to pass completely away, he would +deserve to be remembered in respect of the mark he left upon the +British statute-book and of the changes he wrought both in the +constitution of his country and in her European policy. + +Three groups of measures stand out as monuments of his skill and +energy. The first of these three includes the financial reforms +embodied in a series of fourteen budgets between the years 1853 and +1882, the most famous of which were the budgets of 1853 and 1860. In +the former he continued the work begun by Peel by reducing and +simplifying the customs duties. Deficiencies in revenue were supplied +by the enactment of less oppressive imposts, and particularly by +resettling the income-tax, and by the introduction of a succession +duty on real estate. The preparation and passing of this very +technical and intricate Succession Duty Act was a most laborious +enterprise, of which Mr. Gladstone used to speak as the severest +mental strain he had ever undergone: + + +Kartisten de ten ge machen phato dymenai andron.+[67] + +The budget of 1860, among other changes, abolished the paper duty, a +boon to the press which was resisted by the House of Lords. They +threw out the measure, but in the following year Mr. Gladstone forced +them to submit. His achievements in the field of finance equal, if +they do not surpass, those of Peel, and are not tarnished, as in the +case of Pitt, by the recollection of a burden of debts incurred. To no +minister can be ascribed so large a share in promoting the commercial +and industrial prosperity of modern England, and in the reduction of +her national debt to the figure at which it stood when it began to +rise again in 1900. + +The second group includes the parliamentary reform bills of 1866 and +1884 and the Redistribution Bill of 1885. The first of these was +defeated in the House of Commons, but it led to the passing next year, +by Mr. Disraeli, of a more sweeping measure. Taken together, these +statutes have turned Britain into a democratic country, changing the +character of her government almost as profoundly as did the Reform Act +of 1832. + +The third group consists of a series of Irish measures, beginning with +the Church Disestablishment Act of 1869, and including the Land Act of +1870, the University Education Bill of 1873 (defeated in the House of +Commons), the Land Act of 1881, and the Home Rule bills of 1886 and +1893. All these were in a special manner Mr. Gladstone's handiwork, +prepared as well as brought in and advocated by him. All were highly +complicated, and of one, the Land Act of 1881, which it took three +months to carry through the House of Commons, it was said that so +great was its intricacy that only three men understood it--Mr. +Gladstone himself, his Attorney-General for Ireland, and Mr. T. M. +Healy. In preparing a bill no man could be more painstaking. He +settled and laid down the principles himself; and when he came to work +them out with the draughtsman and the officials who had special +knowledge of the subject, he insisted on knowing what their effect +would be in every particular. Indeed, he loved work for its own sake, +in this respect unlike Mr. Bright, who once said to me with a smile, +when asked as to his methods of working, that he had never done any +work all his life. The value of this mastery of details was seen when +a bill came to be debated in Committee. It was impossible to catch Mr. +Gladstone tripping on a point of fact, or unprepared with a reply to +the arguments of an opponent. He seemed to revel in the toil of +mastering a tangle of technical details. + +It is long since England, in this respect not favoured by her +parliamentary system, has produced a great foreign minister, nor has +that title been claimed for Mr. Gladstone. But he showed on several +occasions both his independence of tradition and his faith in broad +principles as fit to be applied in international relations; and his +action in that field, though felt only at intervals, has left abiding +results in European history. In 1851, he being then still a Tory, his +pamphlet denouncing the cruelties of the Bourbon government of Naples, +and the sympathy he subsequently avowed with the national movement in +Italy, gave that movement a new standing in Europe by powerfully +recommending it to English opinion. In 1870 the prompt action of his +ministry in arranging a treaty for the neutrality of Belgium on the +outbreak of the war between France and Germany, averted the risk that +Belgium might be drawn into the strife. In 1871, by concluding the +treaty of Washington, which provided for the settlement by arbitration +of the _Alabama_ claims, he not only set a precedent full of promise +for the future, but delivered England from what would have been, in +case of her being at war with any European power, a danger fatal to +her ocean commerce. And, in 1876, his onslaught upon the Turks, after +the Bulgarian massacres, roused an intense feeling in England, turning +the current of opinion so decisively that Disraeli's ministry were +forced to leave the Sultan to his fate, and thus became a cause of the +ultimate deliverance of Bulgaria, Eastern Rumelia, Bosnia, and +Thessaly from Mussulman tyranny. Few English statesmen have equally +earned the gratitude of the oppressed. + +Nothing lay nearer to his heart than the protection of the Christians +of the East. His sense of personal duty to them was partly due to the +feeling that the Crimean War had prolonged the rule of the Turk, and +had thus imposed a special responsibility on Britain, and on the +members of Lord Aberdeen's cabinet which drifted into that war. Twenty +years after the agitation of 1876, and when he had finally retired +from Parliament and political life, the massacres perpetrated by the +Sultan on his Armenian subjects brought him once more into the field, +and his last speech in public (delivered at Liverpool in the autumn of +1896) was a powerful argument in favour of British intervention to +rescue the Eastern Christians. In the following spring he followed +this up by a pamphlet on behalf of the freedom of Crete. In neither of +these two cases did success crown his efforts, for the Government, +commanding a large majority in Parliament, pursued the course upon +which it had already entered. Poignant regrets were expressed that Mr. +Gladstone was no longer able to take effective action in the cause of +humanity; yet it was a consolation to be assured that age and +infirmity had not dulled his sympathies with that cause. + +That he was right in 1876-78 in the view he took of the line of +conduct England should adopt towards the Turks has been now virtually +admitted even by his opponents. That he was also right in 1896, when +urging action to protect the Eastern Christians, will probably be +admitted ten years hence, when the facts of the case and the nature of +the opportunity that existed for taking prompt action without the risk +of a European war have become better known. In both cases it was not +merely religious sympathy, but also a far-sighted view of policy that +governed his judgment. He held that the faults of Turkish rule are +incurable, and that the Powers of Western and Central Europe ought to +aim at protecting the subject nationalities and by degrees extending +self-government to them, so that they may grow into states, and in +time be able to restore prosperity to regions ruined by long +misgovernment, while constituting an effective barrier to the advance +of Russia. The jealousies of the Powers throw obstacles in the way of +this policy, but it is a safe policy for England, and offers the best +hope for the peoples of the East. + +The facts just noted prove that he possessed and exerted a capacity +for initiative in foreign as well as in domestic affairs. In the +Neapolitan case, in the _Alabama_ case, in the Bulgarian case, he +acted from his own convictions, with no previous suggestion of +encouragement from his party; and in the last-mentioned instance he +took a course which did not at the moment promise any political gain, +and which seemed to the English political world so novel and even +startling that no ordinary statesman would have ventured on it. + +His courage was indeed one of the most striking parts of the man.[68] +It was not the rashness of an impetuous nature, for, impetuous as he +was when stirred by some sudden excitement, he showed an Ulyssean +caution whenever he took a deliberate survey of the conditions that +surrounded him. It was the proud self-confidence of a strong +character, which was willing to risk fame and fortune in pursuing a +course it had once resolved upon; a character which had faith in its +own conclusions, and in the success of a cause consecrated by +principle; a character which obstacles did not affright, but rather +roused to a higher combative energy. Few English statesmen have done +anything so bold as was Mr. Gladstone's declaration for Irish Home +Rule in 1886. He took not only his political power but the fame and +credit of his whole past life in his hand when he set out on this new +journey at seventy-seven years of age; for it was quite possible that +the great bulk of his party might refuse to follow him, and he be left +exposed to derision as the chief of an insignificant group. As it +happened, the bulk of the party did follow him, though many of the +most influential refused to do so. But neither he nor any one else +could have foretold this when his intentions were first announced. + +We may now, before passing away from the public side of Mr. +Gladstone's career, return for a moment to the opposite views of his +character which were indicated some pages back. He was accused of +sophistry, of unwisdom, of want of patriotism, of lust for power. +Though it is difficult to sift these charges without discussing the +conduct which gave rise to them, a task impossible here, each of them +must be briefly examined. + +The first charge is the most plausible. His ingenuity in discovering +arguments and stating fine verbal distinctions, his subtlety in +discriminating between views or courses apparently similar, were +excessive, and invited misconstruction. He had a tendency to persuade +himself, quite unconsciously, that the course he desired to take was a +course which the public interest required. His acuteness soon found +reasons for that course; the warmth of his emotions enforced the +reasons. It was a dangerous tendency, but it does not impeach his +honesty of purpose, for the influence which his predilections +unconsciously exerted upon his judgment appeared also in his +theological and literary inquiries. I can recall no instance in which +he wilfully misstated a fact, or simulated a feeling, or used an +argument which he knew to be unsound. He did not, as does the sophist, +attempt "to make the worse appear the better reason." + +His wisdom will be differently judged by those who condemn or approve +the chief acts of his policy. But it deserves to be noted that all the +legislation he passed, even the measures which, like the Irish Church +Disestablishment Bill, exposed him to angry attacks at the time, have +now been approved by the all but unanimous judgment of Englishmen.[69] +The same may be said of two acts which brought much invective upon +him--his settlement of the _Alabama_ claims, one of the wisest strokes +of foreign policy ever accomplished by a British minister, and his +protest against a support of the Turks in and after 1876. I pass by +Irish Home Rule, because the wisdom of the course he took must be +tested by results that are yet unborn, as I pass by his Egyptian +policy in 1882-85, because it cannot be fairly judged till the facts +have been fully made public. He may be open to blame for his +participation in the Crimean War, for his mistaken view of the +American Civil War, for his neglect of the Transvaal question when he +took office in 1880, and for his omission during his earlier career to +recognise the gravity of Irish disaffection and to study its causes. I +have heard him lament that he had not twenty years earlier given the +same attention to that abiding source of the difficulties of England +which he gave from 1866 onwards. If in these instances he erred, it +must be remembered that he erred in company with nine-tenths of +British statesmen in both political parties. + +Their admiration did not prevent his friends from noting tendencies +which sometimes led him to miscalculate the forces he had to deal +with. Being, like the younger Pitt, extremely sanguine, he was prone +to underrate difficulties. Hopefulness is a splendid quality. It is +both the child and the parent of faith. Without it neither Mr. Pitt +nor Mr. Gladstone could have done what they did. But it disposes its +possessor not sufficiently to allow for the dulness or the prejudice +of others. So too the intensity of Mr. Gladstone's own feeling made +him fail to realise how many of his fellow-countrymen did not know of, +or were not shocked by, acts of cruelty and injustice which had roused +his indignation. If his hatred of ostentation suffered him to perceive +that a nation, however well assured of the reality of its power and +influence in the world, may also desire that this power and influence +should be asserted and proclaimed to other nations, he refused to +humour that desire. He had a contempt for what is called "playing to +the gallery," with a deep sense of the danger of stimulating the +passions which lead to aggression and war. To national honour, as he +conceived it, national righteousness was vital. His spirit was that of +Lowell's lines-- + + I love my country so as only they + Who love a mother fit to die for may. + I love her old renown, her ancient fame: + What better proof than that I loathe her shame? + +It was this attitude that brought on him the charge of wanting +patriotism, a charge first, I think, insinuated at the time of the +_Alabama_ arbitration, renewed when in 1876 he was accused of +befriending Russia and neglecting "British interests," and sedulously +repeated thereafter, although in those two instances the result had +proved him right. There was this much to give a kind of colour to the +charge, that he had scrupulously, perhaps too scrupulously, refrained +from extolling the material power of England, preferring to insist +upon her responsibilities; that he was known to regret the constant +increase of naval and military expenditure, and that he had several +times taken a course which honour and prudence seemed to him to +recommend, but which had offended the patriots of the music-halls. But +it was an unjust charge, for no man had a warmer pride in England, a +higher sense of her greatness and her mission. + +Was he too fond of power? Like other strong men, he enjoyed it.[70] +That to secure it he ever either adopted or renounced an opinion, +those who understood and watched the workings of his mind could not +believe. He was not only too conscientious, but too proud to forego +any of his convictions, and there were not a few occasions when he +took a course which considerations of personal interest would have +forbidden. He did not love office, feeling himself happier without its +cares, and when he accepted it did so, I think, in the belief that +there was work to be done which it was laid upon him individually to +do. His changes sprang naturally from the development of his own ideas +or (as in the case of his Irish policy) from the teaching of facts. He +sometimes so far yielded to his colleagues as to sanction steps which +he thought not the best, and may in this have sometimes erred; yet +compromises are unavoidable, for no Cabinet could be kept together if +its members did not now and then, in matters not essential, yield to +one another. When all the facts of his life come to be known, +instances may be disclosed in which he was the victim of his own +casuistry or of his deference to Peel's maxim that a minister should +not avow a change of view until the time has come to give effect to +it. But it will also be made clear that he strove to obey his +conscience, that he acted with an ever-present sense of his +responsibility to the Almighty, and that he was animated by an +unselfish enthusiasm for humanity, enlightenment, and freedom. + +Whether he was a good judge of men was a question much discussed +among his friends. With all his astuteness, he was in some ways +curiously simple; with all his caution, he was by nature unsuspicious, +disposed to treat all men as honest till they gave him strong reasons +for thinking otherwise. Those who professed sympathy with his views +and aims sometimes succeeded in inspiring more confidence than they +deserved. But where this perturbing influence was absent he showed +plenty of insight, and would pass shrewd judgments on the politicians +around him, permitting neither their behaviour towards himself nor his +opinion of their moral character to affect his estimate of their +talents. In making appointments in the Civil Service, or in the +Established Church, he rose to a far higher standard of public duty +than Palmerston or Disraeli had reached or cared to reach, taking +great pains to find the fittest men, and giving little weight to +political considerations.[71] + +His public demeanour, and especially his excitability and vehemence of +speech, made people attribute to him an overbearing disposition and an +irritable temper. In private one did not find these faults. Masterful +he certainly was, both in speech and in action. His ardent manner, the +intensity of his look, the dialectical vigour with which he pressed an +argument, were apt to awe people who knew him but slightly, and make +them abandon resistance. A gifted though somewhat erratic politician +of long bygone days told me how he once fared when he had risen in the +House of Commons to censure some act of his leader. "I had not gone on +three minutes when Gladstone turned round and gazed at me so that I +had to sit down in the middle of a sentence. I could not help it. +There was no standing his eye." But he neither meant nor wished to +beat down his opponents by mere authority. One who knew him as few +people did observed to me, "When you are arguing with Mr. Gladstone, +you must never let him think he has convinced you unless you are +really convinced. Persist in repeating your view, and if you are +unable to cope with him in skill of fence, say bluntly that for all +his ingenuity and authority you think he is wrong, and you retain your +own opinion. If he respects you as a man who knows something of the +subject, he will be impressed by your opinion, and it will afterwards +have due weight with him." In his own Cabinet he was willing to listen +patiently to everybody's views, and, indeed, in the judgment of some +of his colleagues, was not, at least in his later years, sufficiently +strenuous in asserting and holding to his own. It is no secret that +some of the most important decisions of the ministry of 1880-85 were +taken against his judgment, though, when they had been adopted, he +was, of course, bound to defend them in Parliament as if they had +received his individual approval. Nor, though tenacious, did he bear +malice against those who had baffled him. He would exert his full +force to get his own way, but if he could not get it, accepted the +position with good temper.[72] He was too proud to be vindictive, too +completely master of himself to be betrayed into angry words. +Impatient he might sometimes be under a nervous strain, but never rude +or rough. It was less easy to determine whether he was overmindful of +injuries, but those who had watched him most closely held that mere +opposition or even insult did not leave a permanent sting, and that +the only thing he could not forget or forgive was faithlessness. +Himself a model of loyalty to his colleagues, he followed his +favourite poet in consigning the _traditori_ to the lowest pit, +although, like all statesmen, he often found himself obliged to work +with those whom he distrusted. + +He was less sensitive than Peel, as appeared from his attitude toward +his two chief opponents. Disraeli's attacks did not seem to gall him, +perhaps because, although he recognised the ability and admired the +courage of his adversary, he did not respect Disraeli's character, +remembering his behaviour to Peel, and thinking him habitually +untruthful. Yet he never attacked Disraeli personally. There was +another of his opponents of whom he entertained a specially +unfavourable opinion, but no one could have told from his speeches +what that opinion was. Against Lord Salisbury, his chief antagonist +from 1881 onwards, he showed no resentment, though Lord Salisbury had +more than once spoken discourteously of him. In 1890 he remarked to me +_apropos_ of some attack, "I have never felt angry at what Salisbury +has said about me. His mother was very kind to me when I was quite a +young man, and I remember Salisbury as a little fellow in a red frock +rolling about on the ottoman." + +That his temper was naturally hot, no one who looked at him could +doubt. But he had it in such tight control, and it was so free from +anything acrid or malignant, that it had become a good temper, worthy +of a fine nature. However vehement his expressions, they did not wound +or humiliate, and those younger men who had to deal with him were not +afraid of a sharp answer or an impatient repulse. He was cast in too +large a mould to have the pettiness of ruffled vanity or to abuse his +predominance by treating any one as an inferior. His manners were the +manners of the old time, easy but stately. Like his oratory, they +were in what Matthew Arnold used to call the grand style; and the +contrast in this respect between him and some of those who crossed +swords with him in literary or theological controversy was apparent. +His intellectual generosity was a part of the same largeness of +nature. He cordially acknowledged his indebtedness to those who helped +him in any piece of work, received their suggestions candidly, even +when opposed to his own preconceived notions, did not hesitate to +confess a mistake. Those who know the abundance of their resources, +and have conquered fame, can doubtless afford to be generous. Julius +Caesar was, and George Washington, and so, in a different sphere, were +Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. But the instances to the contrary are +so numerous that one may say of magnanimity that it is among the +rarest as well as the finest ornaments of character. + +The essential dignity of Mr. Gladstone's nature was never better seen +than during the last few years of his life, after he had finally +retired (in 1894) from public life. He indulged in no vain regrets, +nor was there any foundation for the rumours, so often circulated, +that he thought of re-entering the arena of strife. He spoke with no +bitterness of those who had opposed, and sometimes foiled, him in the +past. He gave vent to no criticisms of those who from time to time +filled the place that had been his in the government of the country or +the leadership of his party. Although his opinion on current questions +was frequently solicited, he scarcely ever allowed it to be known, +lest it should embarrass his successors in the leadership of the +party, and never himself addressed the nation, except (as already +mentioned) on behalf of what he deemed a sacred cause, altogether +above party--the discharge by Britain of her duty to the victims of +the Turk. As soon as an operation for cataract had enabled him to +resume his habit of working for seven hours a day, he devoted himself +with his old ardour to the preparation of an edition of Bishop +Butler's works, resumed his multifarious reading, planned (as he told +me in 1896) a treatise on the Olympian religion, and filled up the +interstices of his working-time with studies on Homer which he had +been previously unable to complete. No trace of the moroseness of old +age appeared in his manners or his conversation, nor did he, though +profoundly grieved at some of the events which he witnessed, and +owning himself disappointed at the slow advance made by a cause dear +to him, appear less hopeful than in earlier days of the general +progress of the world, or less confident in the beneficent power of +freedom to promote the happiness of his country. The stately +simplicity which had always charmed those who saw him in private, +seemed more beautiful than ever in this quiet evening of a long and +sultry day. His intellectual powers were unimpaired, his thirst for +knowledge undiminished. But a placid stillness had fallen upon him and +his household; and in seeing the tide of his life begin slowly to ebb, +one thought of the lines of his illustrious contemporary and +friend:-- + + Such a tide as moving seems asleep, + Too full for sound and foam, + When that which drew from out the boundless deep + Turns again home. + +Adding to his grace of manner a memory of extraordinary strength and +quickness and an amazing vivacity and variety of mental force, any one +can understand how fascinating Mr. Gladstone was in society. He +enjoyed it to the last, talking as earnestly and joyously at +eighty-seven as he had done at twenty on every topic that came up, and +exerting himself with equal zest whether his interlocutor was an +archbishop or a youthful curate. Though his party used to think that +he overvalued the political influence of the great families, allotting +them rather more than their share of honours and appointments, no one +was personally more free from that taint of snobbishness which is +frequently charged upon Englishmen. He gave the best he had to +everybody alike, paying to men of learning and letters a respect +which in England they seldom receive from the magnates who lead +society. And although he was scrupulously observant of the rules of +precedence and conventions of social life, it was easy to see that +neither rank nor wealth had that importance in his eyes which the +latter nowadays commands. Dispensing titles and decorations with a +liberal hand, his pride always refused such so-called honours for +himself. + +It was often said of him that he lacked humour; but this was only so +far true that he was apt to throw into small matters more force and +moral earnestness than were needed, and to honour with a refutation +opponents whom a little light sarcasm would have better reduced to +their insignificance.[73] In private he was wont both to tell and to +enjoy good stories; while in Parliament, though his tone was generally +earnest, he could display such effective powers of banter and ridicule +as to make people wonder why they were so rarely put forth. Much of +what passes in London for humour is mere cynicism, and he hated +cynicism so heartily as to dislike even humour when it had a cynical +flavour. Wit he enjoyed, but did not produce. The turn of his mind was +not to brevity, point, and condensation. He sometimes struck off a +telling phrase, but seldom polished an epigram. His conversation was +luminous rather than sparkling; you were interested and instructed +while you listened, but it was not so much the phrases as the general +effect that dwelt in your memory. An acute observer once said to me +that Mr. Gladstone showed in argument a knack of hitting the nail not +quite on the head. The criticism was so far just that he was less +certain to go straight to the vital issue in a controversy than one +expected from his force and keenness. + +After the death of Thomas Carlyle he was probably the best talker in +London, and a talker in one respect more agreeable than either Carlyle +or Macaulay, inasmuch as he was no less ready to listen than to speak, +and never wearied the dinner-table by a monologue. His simplicity, his +spontaneity, his geniality and courtesy, as well as the fund of +knowledge and of personal recollections at his command, made him so +popular in society that his opponents used to say it was dangerous to +meet him, because one might be forced to leave off hating him. He was, +perhaps, too prone to go on talking upon the subject which filled his +mind at the moment; nor was it easy to divert his attention to +something else which others might deem more important.[74] Those who +stayed with him in the same country house sometimes complained that +the perpetual display of force and eagerness tired them, as one tires +of watching the rush of Niagara. His guests, however, did not feel +this, for his own home life was quiet and smooth. He read and wrote a +good many hours daily, but never sat up late, almost always slept +soundly, never seemed oppressed or driven to strain his strength. With +all his impetuosity, he was regular, systematic, and deliberate in his +habits and ways of doing business. A swift reader and a surprisingly +swift writer, he was always occupied, and was skilful in using even +the scraps and fragments of his time. No pressure of work made him +fussy, nor could any one remember to have seen him in a hurry. + +The best proof of his swiftness, industry, and skill in economising +time is supplied by the quantity of his literary work, which, +considering the abstruse nature of the subjects to which much of it is +related, would have been creditable to the diligence of a German +professor sitting alone in his study. The merits of the work have been +disputed. Mankind are slow to credit the same person with eminence in +various fields. When they read the prose of a great poet, they try it +by severer tests than would be applied to other writers. When a +painter has won credit by his landscapes or his cattle pieces, he is +seldom encouraged to venture into other lines. So Mr. Gladstone's +reputation as an orator stood in his own light when he appeared as an +author. He was read by thousands who would not have looked at the +article or book had it borne some other name; but he was judged by the +standard, not of his finest printed speeches, for his speeches were +seldom models of composition, but rather by the impression which his +finest speeches made on those who heard them. Since his warmest +admirers could not claim for him as a writer of prose any such +pre-eminence as belonged to him as a speaker, it followed that his +written work was not duly appreciated. Had he been a writer and +nothing else, he would have been eminent and powerful by his pen. + +He might, however, have failed to secure a place in the front rank. +His style was forcible, copious, rich with various knowledge, warm +with the ardour of his temperament. But it suffered from an inborn +tendency to exuberance which the long practice of oratory had +confirmed. It was diffuse, apt to pursue a topic into details, when +these might have been left to the reader's own reflection. It was +redundant, employing more words than were needed to convey the +substance. It was unchastened, indulging too freely in tropes and +metaphors, in quotations and adapted phrases even when the quotation +added nothing to the sense, but was suggested merely by some +association in his own mind. Thus it seldom reached a high level of +purity and grace, and though one might excuse the faults as natural to +the work of a swift and busy man, they were sufficient to reduce the +pleasure to be derived from the form and dress of his thoughts. +Nevertheless there are not a few passages of rare merit, both in the +books and in the articles, among which may be cited (not as +exceptionally good, but as typical of his strong points) the striking +picture of his own youthful feeling toward the Church of England +contained in the _Chapter of Autobiography_, and the refined criticism +of _Robert Elsmere_, published in 1888. Almost the last thing he +wrote, a pamphlet on the Greek and Cretan question, published in the +spring of 1897, has the force and cogency of his best days. Two things +were never wanting to him: vigour of expression and an admirable +command of appropriate words. + +His writings fall into three classes: political, theological, and +literary--the last chiefly consisting of his books and articles upon +Homer and the Homeric question. All the political writings, except +the books on _The State in its Relations to the Church_ and _Church +Principles considered in their Results_, belong to the class of +occasional literature, being pamphlets or articles produced with a +view to some current crisis or controversy. They are valuable chiefly +as proceeding from one who bore a leading part in the affairs they +relate to, and as embodying vividly the opinions and aspirations of +the moment, less frequently in respect of permanent lessons of +political wisdom, such as one finds in Machiavelli or Tocqueville or +Edmund Burke. Like Pitt and Peel, Mr. Gladstone had a mind which, +whatever its original tendencies, had come to be rather practical +than meditative. He was fond of generalisations and principles, +but they were always directly related to the questions that came +before him in actual politics; and the number of weighty maxims or +illuminative suggestions to be found in his writings and speeches +is small in proportion to the sustained vigour they display. Even +Disraeli, though his views were often fanciful and his epigrams often +forced, gives us more frequently a brilliant (if only half true) +historical _apercu_, or throws a flash of light into some corner of +human character. Of the theological essays, which are mainly +apologetic and concerned with the authenticity and authority of +Scripture, it is enough to say that they were the work of an +accomplished amateur, who had been too busy to follow the progress of +critical inquiry. His Homeric treatises, the most elaborate piece +of work that proceeded from Mr. Gladstone's pen, are in one sense +worthless, in another sense admirable. Those parts of them which +deal with early Greek mythology, genealogy, and religion, and, in a +less degree, the theories about Homeric geography and the use of +Homeric epithets, have been condemned by the unanimous voice of +scholars as fantastic. The premises are assumed without sufficient +investigation, while the reasonings are fine-drawn and flimsy. +Extraordinary ingenuity is shown in piling up a lofty fabric, but +the foundation is of sand, and the edifice has hardly a solid wall +or beam in it. A conjecture is treated as a fact; then an inference, +possible but not certain, is drawn from this conjecture; a second +possible inference is based upon the first; and we are made to +forget that the probability of this second is at most only half the +probability of the first. So the process goes on; and when the +superstructure is complete, the reader is provoked to perceive how +much dialectical skill has been wasted upon a series of hypotheses +which a breath of common-sense criticism dissipates. If one is +asked to explain the weakness in this particular department of a mind +otherwise so strong, the answer would seem to be that the element +of fancifulness in Mr. Gladstone's intellect, and his tendency to +mistake mere argumentation for verification, were checked in +practical politics by constant intercourse with friends and +colleagues as well as by the need of convincing visible audiences, +while in theological or historical inquiries his ingenuity roamed +with fatal freedom over wide plains where no obstacles checked its +course. Something may also be due to the fact that his philosophical +and historical education was received at a time when the modern +critical spirit and the canons it recognises had scarcely begun to +assert themselves at Oxford. Similar defects may be discerned in other +eminent writers of his own and the preceding generation of Oxford +men, defects from which persons of inferior power in later days might +be free. In some of these writers, and particularly in Cardinal +Newman, the contrast between dialectical acumen, coupled with +surpassing rhetorical skill, and the vitiation of the argument by a +want of the critical faculty, is scarcely less striking; and the +example of that illustrious man suggests that the dominance of the +theological view of literary and historical problems, a dominance +evident in Mr. Gladstone, counts for something in producing the +phenomenon. + +With these defects, Mr. Gladstone's Homeric work had the merit of +being based on a full and thorough knowledge of the Homeric text. He +had seen, at a time when few people in England had seen it, that the +Homeric poems are an historical source of the highest value, a +treasure-house of data for the study of early Greek life and thought, +an authority all the more trustworthy because an unconscious +authority, addressing not posterity but contemporaries. This mastery +of the matter contained in the poems enabled him to present valuable +pictures of the political and social life of Homeric Greece, while the +interspersed literary criticisms are often subtle and suggestive, +erring, when they do err, chiefly through the over-earnestness of his +mind. He often takes the poet too seriously; reading an ethical +purpose into descriptive or dramatic touches which are merely +descriptive or dramatic. Passages whose moral tendency offends him are +reprobated as later insertions with a naivete which forgets the +character of a primitive age. But he has for his author not only that +sympathy which is the best basis for criticism, but a justness of +poetic taste which the learned and painstaking German commentator +frequently wants. That Mr. Gladstone was a sound scholar in that +narrower sense of the word which denotes a grammatical and literary +command of Greek and Latin, goes without saying. Men of his generation +kept a closer hold upon the ancient classics than we do to-day; and +his habit of reading Greek for the sake of his Homeric studies, and +Latin for the sake of his theological, made this familiarity more than +usually thorough. Like most Etonians, he loved and knew the poets by +preference. Dante was his favourite poet, perhaps because Dante is the +most theological and ethical of the great poets, and because the +tongue and the memories of Italy had a peculiar attraction for him. He +used to say that he found Dante's thought incomparably inspiring, but +hard to follow, it was so high and so abstract. Theology claimed a +place beside poetry; history came next, though he did not study it +systematically. It seemed odd that he was sometimes at fault in the +constitutional antiquities of England; but this subject was, until the +day of Dr. Stubbs, pre-eminently a Whig subject, and Mr. Gladstone +never was a Whig, never learned to think upon the lines of the great +Whigs of former days. His historical knowledge was not exceptionally +wide, but it was generally accurate in matters of fact, however +fanciful he might be in reasoning from the facts, however wild his +conjectures in the prehistoric region. In metaphysics strictly so +called his reading did not go far beyond those companions of his +youth, Aristotle and Bishop Butler; and philosophical speculation +interested him only so far as it bore on Christian doctrine. Keen as +was his interest in theology and in history, it is not certain that +he would have produced work of permanent value in either sphere even +had his life been wholly devoted to study. His mind seemed to need to +be steadied, his ingenuity restrained, by having to deal with concrete +matter for a practical end. Neither, in spite of his eminence as a +financier and an advocate of free trade, did he show much taste for +economic studies. On practical topics, such as the working of +protective tariffs, the abuse of charitable endowments, the +development of fruit-culture in England, the duty of liberal giving by +the rich, the utility of thrift among the poor, his remarks were full +of point, clearness, and good sense, but he seldom launched out into +the wider sea of economic theory. He took a first-class in mathematics +at Oxford, at the same time as his first in classics, but did not +pursue the subject in later life. Regarding the sciences of experiment +and observation, he seemed to feel as little curiosity as any educated +man who notes the enormous part they play in the modern world can +feel. Sayings of his have been quoted which show that he imperfectly +comprehended the character of the evidence they rely upon and of the +methods they employ. On one occasion he horrified a dinner-table of +younger friends by refusing to accept some of the most certain +conclusions of modern geology. No doubt he belonged, as Lord Derby +(the Prime Minister) once said of himself, to a pre-scientific age. +Perhaps he was unconsciously biassed by the notion that such sciences +as geology and biology, for instance, were being used by some students +to sap the foundations of revealed religion. But I can recall no sign +of disposition to dissuade free inquiry either into those among the +sciences of nature which have been supposed to touch theology, or into +the date, authorship, and authority of the books of the Bible. He had +faith not only in his creed, but in God as a God of truth, and in the +power of research to elicit truth. + +General propositions are dangerous, yet it seems safe to observe that +great men have seldom been obscurantists or persecutors. Either the +sympathy with intellectual effort which is natural to a powerful +intellect, or the sense that free inquiry, though it may be checked by +repression for a certain time or within a certain area, will +ultimately have its course, dissuades them from that attempt to dam up +the stream of thought which smaller minds regard as the obvious +expedient for saving souls or institutions. + +It ought to be added, for this was a remarkable feature of his +character, that he had the deepest reverence for the great poets and +philosophers, placing the career of the statesman on a far lower plane +than that of those who rule the world by their thoughts enshrined in +literature. He expressed in a striking letter to Tennyson's eldest +son his sense of the immense superiority of the poet's life and work. +Once, in the lobby of the House of Commons, seeing his countenance +saddened by the troubles of Ireland, I told him, in order to divert +his thoughts, how some one had recently discovered that Dante had in +his last years been appointed at Ravenna to a lectureship which raised +him above the pinch of want. Mr. Gladstone's face lit up at once, and +he said, "How strange it is to think that these great souls whose +words are a beacon-light to all the generations that have come after +them, should have had cares and anxieties to vex them in their daily +life, just like the rest of us common mortals." The phrase reminded me +that a few days before I had heard Mr. Darwin, in dwelling upon the +pleasure a visit paid by Mr. Gladstone had given him, say, "And he +talked just as if he had been an ordinary person like one of +ourselves." The two great men were alike unconscious of their +greatness. + +It was an unspeakable benefit to Mr. Gladstone that his love of +letters and learning enabled him to find in the pursuit of knowledge a +relief from anxieties and a solace under disappointments. Without some +such relief his fiery and restless spirit would have worn itself out. +He lived two lives--the life of the statesman and the life of the +student, and passed swiftly from the one to the other, dismissing when +he sat down to his books all the cares of politics. But he led a +third life also, the secret life of the soul. Religion was of all +things that which had the strongest hold upon his thoughts and +feelings. Nothing but his father's opposition prevented him from +becoming a clergyman when he quitted the University. Never thereafter +did he cease to take the warmest interest in everything that affected +the Christian Church. He lost his seat for Oxford University by the +votes of the country clergy, who formed the bulk of the constituency. +He incurred the displeasure of four-fifths of the Anglican communion +by disestablishing the Protestant Episcopal Church in Ireland, and +from 1868 to the end of his life found nearly all the clerical force +of the English establishment arrayed against him, while his warmest +support came from the Nonconformists of England and the Presbyterians +of Scotland. Yet nothing affected his devotion to the Church in which +he had been brought up, nor to the body of Anglo-Catholic doctrine he +had imbibed as an undergraduate. After an attack of influenza which +had left him very weak in the spring of 1891, he endangered his life +by attending a meeting on behalf of the Colonial Bishoprics Fund, for +which he had spoken fifty years before. His theological opinions +tinged his views upon political subjects. They filled him with dislike +of the legalisation of marriage with a deceased wife's sister; they +made him a vehement opponent of the bill which established the +English Divorce Court in 1857, and a watchfully hostile critic of all +divorce legislation in America afterwards. Some of his friends traced +to the same cause his less than adequate appreciation of German +literature (though he admired Goethe and Schiller) and even his +political coldness towards Prussia and afterwards towards the German +Empire. He could not forget that Germany had been the fountain of +rationalism, while German Evangelical Protestantism was more +schismatic and farther removed from the mediaeval Catholic Church than +it pleased him to deem the Church of England to be. He had an +exceedingly high sense of the duty of purity of life and of the +sanctity of domestic relations, and his rigid ideas of decorum +inspired so much awe that it used to be said to a person who had told +an anecdote with ever so slight a tinge of impropriety, "How many +thousands of pounds would you take to tell that to Gladstone?" When +living in the country, it was his practice to attend daily morning +service in the parish church, and on Sunday to read in church the +lessons for the day; and he rarely, if ever, transgressed his rule +against Sunday labour. Religious feeling, coupled with a system of +firm dogmatic beliefs, was the mainspring of his life, a guiding light +in perplexities, a source of strength in adverse fortune, a +consolation in sorrow, a beacon of hope beyond the failures and +disappointments of this present world. He did not make what is +commonly called a profession of religion, and talked little about it +in general society, although always ready to plunge into a magazine +controversy when Christianity was assailed. But those who knew him +best knew that he was always referring current questions to, and +trying his own conduct by, a religious standard. He believed in the +efficacy of prayer, and sought through prayer for strength and for +direction in the affairs of state. He was a remarkable example of the +coexistence together with a Christian virtue of a quality which +Catholic theologians treat as a mortal sin. He was an exceedingly +proud man, yet an exceedingly humble Christian. With a high regard for +his own dignity and a sensitiveness to any imputation on his honour, +he was deeply conscious of his imperfections in the eye of God, +realising the weakness and sinfulness of human nature with a mediaeval +intensity. The language of self-depreciation he was wont to use, +sometimes deemed unreal, expressed his genuine sense of the contrast +between the religious ideal he set up and his own attainment. And the +tolerance which he extended to those who attacked him or who had (as +he thought) behaved ill in public life was largely due to this +pervading sense of the frailty of human character, and of the +inextricable mixture in conduct of good and bad motives. "It is +always best to take the charitable view," he once observed when I had +quoted to him the saying of Dean Church that Mark Pattison had painted +himself too black in his autobiography--"always best," adding, with +grim emphasis, "especially in politics." + +In this indulgent view, more evident in his later years, and the more +remarkable because his expressions were often too vehement, there was +nothing of the cynical "man of the world" acceptance of a low standard +as the only possible standard, for his moral earnestness was as +fervent at eighty-eight as it had been at thirty, and he retained a +simplicity and an unwillingness to suspect sinister motives, singular +in one who had seen so much. Although accessible and frank in the +ordinary converse of society, he was in reality a reserved man; not +shy, stiff, and externally cold, like Peel, nor always standing on a +pedestal of dignity, like the younger Pitt, but revealing his deepest +thoughts only to a few intimate friends, and treating others with a +courteous kindliness which, though it put them at their ease, did not +encourage them to approach nearer. Thus, while he was admired by the +mass of his followers, and beloved by the small inner group of family +friends, the majority of his colleagues, official subordinates, and +political or ecclesiastical associates, would have hesitated to give +him any of friendship's confidences. Though quick to mark and +acknowledge good service, or to offer to a junior an opportunity of +distinction, many deemed him too much occupied with his own thoughts +to show interest in his disciples, or to bestow those counsels which a +young man prizes from his chief. But for the warmth of his devotion to +a few early friends and the reverence he paid to their memory, a +reverence touchingly shown in the article on Arthur Hallam which he +published near the end of his own life, sixty-five years after +Hallam's death, there might have seemed to be a measure of truth in +the judgment that he cared less for men than for ideas and causes. +Those, however, who marked the pang which the departure to the Roman +Church of his friend Hope Scott caused him, those who in later days +noted the enthusiasm with which he would speak of Lord Althorp, his +opponent, and of Lord Aberdeen, his chief, dwelling upon the +truthfulness and uprightness of the former and the amiability of the +latter, knew that the impression of detachment he gave wronged the +sensibility of his own heart. Of how few who have lived for more than +sixty years in the full sight of their countrymen, and have been as +party leaders exposed to angry and sometimes spiteful criticism, can +it be said that there stands on record against them no malignant word +and no vindictive act! This was due not perhaps entirely to natural +sweetness of disposition, but rather to self-control and to a certain +largeness of soul which would not condescend to anything mean or +petty. Pride, though it may be a sin, is to most of us a useful, to +some an indispensable, buttress of virtue. Nor should it be forgotten +that the perfectly happy life which he led at home, cared for in +everything by a devoted wife, kept far from him those domestic +troubles which have soured the temper and embittered the judgments of +not a few famous men. Reviewing his whole career, and summing up the +concurrent impressions and recollections of those who knew him best, +this dignity is the feature which dwells most in the mind, as the +outline of some majestic Alp thrills one from afar when all the lesser +beauties of glen and wood, of crag and glacier, have faded in the +distance. As elevation was the note of his oratory, so was magnanimity +the note of his character. + +The Greek maxim that no one can be called happy till his life is +closed must, in the case of statesmen, be extended to warn us from the +attempt to fix a man's place in history till a generation has arisen +to whom he is a mere name, not a familiar figure to be loved or hated. +Few reputations made in politics so far retain their lustre that +curiosity continues to play round the person when those who can +remember him living have departed. Dante has in immortal stanzas +contrasted the fame of Provenzano Salvani that sounded through all +Tuscany while he lived with the faint whispers of his name heard in +his own Siena forty years after his death.[75] So out of all the men +who have held a foremost place in English public life in the +nineteenth century there are but six or seven--Pitt, Fox, Wellington, +Peel, Disraeli, possibly Canning, or O'Connell, or Melbourne--whose +names are to-day upon our lips. The great poet or the great artist +lives as long as his books or his pictures; the statesman, like the +singer or the actor, begins to be forgotten so soon as his voice is +still, unless he has so dominated the men of his own time, and made +himself a part of his country's history, that his personal character +is indissolubly linked to the events the course of which he helped to +determine. Tried by this test, Mr. Gladstone's fame seems destined to +endure. His eloquence will soon become merely a tradition, for his +printed speeches do not preserve its charm. If some of his books +continue to be read, it will be rather because they are his than in +respect of any permanent contribution they have made to knowledge. The +wisdom of his policy, foreign and domestic, will have to be judged, +not only by the consequences we see, but also by other consequences +still hidden in the future. Yet among his acts there are some with +which history cannot fail to concern herself, and which will keep +fresh the memory of their author's energy and courage. Whoever +follows the annals of England during the memorable years from 1843 to +1894 will meet his name on almost every page, will feel how great must +have been the force of an intellect that could so interpenetrate the +story of its time, and will seek to know something of the dauntless +figure that rose always conspicuous above the struggling throng. + +There is a passage in the _Odyssey_ where the seer Theoclymenus says, +in describing a vision of death: "The sun has perished out of heaven." +To Englishmen, Mr. Gladstone had been like a sun which, sinking +slowly, had grown larger as he sank, and filled the sky with radiance +even while he trembled on the verge of the horizon. There were men of +ability and men of renown, but there was no one comparable to him in +fame and power and honour. When he departed the light seemed to have +died out of the sky. + +----- + + [63] "Gled" is a kite or hawk. The name was Gladstones till Mr. + Gladstone's father dropped the final s. + + [64] One of his most intimate friends has, I think, said that "he + never knew what it was to be bored." Fortunate, indeed, would + he have been had this been so; but that one who had watched him + long and closely should make the statement shows how gently + bores fared at his hands. + + I recollect his once remarking on the capacity for boring + possessed by a gentleman who had been introduced and had talked + for some fifteen minutes to him; but his own manner through the + conversation had betrayed no impatience. + + [65] Sermons belong to a somewhat different category, else I should + have to add the discourses of a few great preachers, such as + Robert Hall, J. H. Newman, Phillips Brooks. + + [66] Though one of Macaulay's speeches (that against the exclusion of + the Master of the Rolls from the House of Commons) had the rare + honour of turning votes. + + [67] "He said that this was the hardest battle of men he had entered," + _Iliad_ vi. 185. + + [68] His physical courage was no less evident than his moral. For two + or three years his life was threatened, and policemen were told + off to guard him wherever he went. He disliked this protection + so much (though the Home Office thought it necessary) that he + used to escape from the House of Commons by a little-frequented + exit, give the policemen the slip, and stroll home to his + residence along the Thames Embankment in the small hours of the + morning. Fear was not in his nature. + + [69] The late Protestant Episcopal Primate of Ireland said that + Disestablishment had proved a blessing to his Church; and this + would seem to be now the general view of Irish Protestants. + + [70] His abdication of leadership in 1875 was meant to be final, + though when the urgency of Eastern affairs had drawn him back + into strife, the old ardour revived, and he resumed the place + of Prime Minister in 1880. It has been often said that he would + have done better to retire from public life in 1880, or in + 1885, yet the most striking proofs both of his courage and of + his physical energy were given in the latest part of his + career. + + [71] For instance, he recommended Dr. Stubbs for a bishopric and Sir + John Holker for a lord justiceship, knowing both of them to be + Tories. + + [72] His respect and regard for Mr. Bright were entirely unaffected by + the fact that Mr. Bright's opposition to the Home Rule Bill of + 1886 had been the chief cause of its defeat. + + [73] Usually over-anxious to vindicate his own consistency, he showed + on one occasion a capacity for recognising the humorous side of + a position into which he had been brought. In a debate which + arose in 1891 frequent references had been made to a former + speech in which he had pronounced a highly-coloured panegyric + upon the Church of England in Wales, the disestablishment of + which he had subsequently become willing to support. He + replied, "Many references have been made to a former speech of + mine on this subject, and I am not prepared to deny that in + that speech, when closely scrutinised, there may appear to be + present some element of exaggeration." The House dissolved in + laughter, and no further reference was made to the old speech. + + [74] His Oxford contemporary and friend, the late Mr. Milnes Gaskell, + told me that when Mr. Gladstone was undergoing his _viva voce_ + examination for his degree, the examiner, satisfied with the + candidate's answers on a particular matter, said, "And now, Mr. + Gladstone, we will leave that part of the subject." "No," + replied the examinee, "we will, if you please, not leave it + yet." Whereupon he proceeded to pour forth a further flood of + knowledge and disquisition. + + [75] _Purgat._ xi. 100-126. + + + + +INDEX + + + Acton, John Edward Emerich Dalberg, Lord-- + career of, 382-84 + characteristics of, 399 + critical taste of, 390 + family of, 382 + history, view of, 391-92; + view of study of, 394-95 + learning of, 386-89, 392 + liberty, history of, projected by, 395-96 + libraries of, 388-89 and note + political opinions of, 384 + style of, 396-97 + thoroughness of, 390, 393-95 + University work of, 397-98 + writings of, 395 + + American Civil War, 55, 57, 90 and note. _See also_ United States + + Arnold, Dr., 343, 346 + + Austen, Jane, 127 + + + Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli, Lord-- + Cairns valued by, 186-87 + career of, 3-16 + characteristics of-- + ambition, 21-22, 26, 30-31 + _bonhomie_, 32, 34 + courage, 11, 25-26, 65 + cynicism, 30, 40-41 + debating power, 47 + intellectual congruity, 35-38, 42 + loyalty, 33 + self-confidence, 21, 26, 50, 65, 224 + tactical adroitness, 48-50 + tenacity, 11, 15, 23-24, 60, 65 + Eastern policy of, 140, 275-76, 300, 356 + education of, 39 + epigrammatic phrases of, 41-42 + estimates regarding, 1-2; + foreign, 54, 58 + family of, 3 + Gladstone compared with, 418, 429, 465; + contrasted with, 422; + Gladstone's attitude towards, 455-56 + influence of, 66-68 + literary works of, 4-5, 18-19, 29, 31-33, 35, 41, 43-45, 52 note; + quoted, 21 note, 25 note, 41, 50 note, 55 + Lowe and, 34, 302 + Northcote appreciated by, 21, 218 + political views of, 6-8; + foreign policy of (_see also above_, Eastern policy), 15, 56, 59, 67 + Stanley and, 81 + suffrage extension, policy of, 305-306, 309-10, 442 + otherwise mentioned, 107, 171, 220 + + Bentinck, Lord George, 9 + + Bishops-- + change in type of, 196-98 + House of Lords, presence in, 112 + industry of, 199 + influence of, 100-101, 103 + + Bismarck, Prince, 54 + + Black, J. Sutherland, 311 note + + Bowen, Edward Ernest-- + biography of, 343 note + career of, 345-46 + characteristics of, 360-62 + death of, 355 + games, attitude towards, 351-52 + influence of, 350; + views regarding, 353-54 + military history, fondness for, 357-58 + political interests of, 355-57 + school songs of, 343 note, 359-360 + teaching methods of, 346-47, 349-350, 354-55 + training of teachers, views on, 348 + travel, fondness for, 358 + walking tours of, 355 + + Bowen, Lord, 345, 359 + + Bright, John, 30, 98, 304, 428-29, 443, 455 note + + Bradlaugh, Mr., 437 + + Brooke, Rev. Stopford, quoted, 135-137 + + Brooks, Dr. Phillips, 209, 381 + + Brougham, Lord, 64, 428 + + Browning, Robert, 39, 126 + + Burke, Edmund, 410, 427-28, 440 + + Burney, Miss, 127 + + + Cairns, Hugh M'Calmont, Earl-- + American Civil War, attitude towards, 57 + career of, 184-86 + characteristics of, 184, 188-91 + Disraeli compared with, 47 + Gladstone compared with, 429 + Jessel compared with, 180, 193 + judicial gifts of, 192-93 + legal manner of, 191-92 + Mellish and, 176-78 + parliamentary reform opposed by, 307 + political partisanship of, 187, 194-195 + religious views and interests of, 185-86, 193-94 + + Cambridge-- + Jewish scholar at, 319 note + Sidgwick at, 327 _seq._ + Smith, W. R., at, 319 + + Canterbury, + importance of See of, 101-105; + qualifications of archbishops of, 105-107 + + Carlyle, Thomas, 40, 87, 92, 126, 277, 461 + + Celtic temperament, 403, 405 + + Chancery Bar, 170; + famous trio at, 191 + + Chancery Courts, 181-82 + + Charity Organisation Society, 133 + + Church, Dean, 251-52 + + Church-- + Anglican-- + disestablishment of, 114-15, 141 + possibilities before, 209-10 + Stanley's view of, 78-79 + Tractarian movement in, 252, 264 note, 406 + Roman Catholic-- + adaptability of, 259 + Infallibilist claims of, 256, 385 + modern research, attitude towards, 317 + + Clark, George T., quoted, 266-67 + + Clough, Miss A. J., 329 + + Clough, Arthur Hugh, 338 + + Cobden, Mr., quoted, 429-30 + + Collins, Wilkie, 116 + + Copleston, Dr. (Bishop of Llandaff), 197 + + Creighton, Bishop, 289, 387 + + + Dalgairns, 251 + + Dante, 468-69, 471 + + Darwin, Charles, 457, 471-72 + + _De la Democratie_, Scherer's, cited, 309 note + + Delane, Mr., 422 + + _Democracy and the Organisation of Political Parties_, + Ostrogorski's, cited, 309 note + + Denison, Archdeacon, 133, 271 note + + Derby, Lord, 10, 12, 28, 47, 57, 198, 429, 470 + + Dickens, Charles, 123, 127 + + Disraeli. _See_ Beaconsfield + + Dissenters. _See_ Nonconformists + + Doellinger, Dr. von, 383, 385, 392 + + Dupanloup, Archbishop, 209, 385 + + + Eastern Question (1876), 140, 275-276, 300, 356, 419 + + Editors, + types of, 363-64; + temptations of, 370, 380-81 + + Eliot, George, 124, 328 + + Equity Courts, 170, 173 + + _Essays and Reviews_, 113, 317 + + _Essays on Reform_, cited, 307 and note + + _Evening Post, The_, 365, 374-76 + + + Forster, W. E., 234, 239 and note + + Fox, Charles James, 428-29, 435 + + France, novelists of, 129 + + Franchise extension. _See_ Suffrage + + Fraser, James, Bishop of Manchester-- + biographies of, 196 note + career of, 196, 200-201 + characteristics of, 204-205 + energy of, 202 + Fraser, James, Bishop of Manchester-- + influence of, 206 + new Episcopal type created by, 196, 210 + personality of, 203-204 + popularity of, 202, 206 + ritualist illegalities, attitude towards, 208 + science, attitude towards, 207 + views of, 206-207 + + Freeman, Edward Augustus-- + biography of, 262 note + career of, 262-63 + friendships of, 290 + Green influenced by, 137 + historical work, + merits of, 276-84; + style of, 286-87 + humour of, 287 + interests of, 264-67, 271-72 + kindliness of, 278, 291 + literary preferences of, 269-70 + methodical ways of, 285 + military history, fondness for, 357 + Oxford work of, 287-89 + political views of, 272-75 + simplicity and directness of, 270-71, 275 + Trollope and, 120, 271 and note + works of, 267, 284-86, 291-92 + + Froude, J. A., 271 note + + + Gardiner, S. R., 357; + quoted, 274 + + Gibbon, 133, 169, 281, 284 + + Gladstone, William Ewart-- + Acton, Lord, relations with, 383, 399 + _Alabama_ claims, action regarding, 444, 446, 449, 451 + American Civil War, attitude towards, 57 + career of, 412 + characteristics of-- + breadth and keenness of interests, 400, 413, 459 + caution, 409, 414, 419, 447, 453 + complexity of nature, 400, 409-410, 412 + conservatism, 401, 439 + constructive power, 439-41 + conversational powers, 461 + courage, 447 and note, 451 note + courtesy, 423 and note, 455-456, 461 + dignity, 457 + emotional excitability, 405, 410-411, 433-34 + humour, 460 + impulsiveness, 401, 405, 421, 447 + independence, 418-19, 450 + ingenuity, 404, 416-17, 430-31, 466 + insight into character, 453 + intensity, 402, 405, 426, 435, 450, 453, 460, 462 + loyalty, 455 + magnanimity, 457, 477 + memory, 404, 424, 459 + for faces, 423 + open-mindedness, 416, 452, 454 + oratory, 411, 426-39, 463 + over-subtlety, 407, 432, 448, 452 + patriotism, 450-51 + pride, 416, 420, 423, 452, 455, 474, 477 + religious disposition, 472-75 + views, 401, 406-407 + reserve: + political, 409, 414-15, 419, 452 + personal, 424, 475-476 + Scottish temperament, 403-405 + self-confidence, 224 + simplicity, 453, 458, 461, 475 + sincerity, 401 + temper, 455-56 + tranquillity, 462 + voice, 430, 436-38 + Disraeli and, 11, 33, 35 + estimates of, 411, 417, 448 + continental, 444 + family of, 403 + foreign affairs, attitude towards, 443-46, 458 + Freeman's appointment by, 263 + High Church appointments of, 198 + home life of, 462, 474, 477 + Home Rule Bill of (1886), 272 + Homeric studies and views of, 401, 465-68 + hostility to, 304 + literary activities of, 401, 458, 462-68 + Lowe compared with, 293, 299, 429, 435 + Lowe's antagonism to, 295 + Lowe in Cabinet of, 299 + mistakes of, 449 + Northcote and, 212, 216 + Oxford training of, 406-408 + parliamentary abilities of, 420-21, 424-26 + Parnell's resentment against, 239-240, 247 + Peel's influence on, 10, 409, 452 + poetry, attitude towards, 471 + quoted, 56 + Reform Bill of, 13, 442 + scholarship of, 468 + science, attitude towards, 407-408, 470 + suffrage qualifications, proposed reduction of, 308 note + theological views of, tinging political, 473 + otherwise mentioned, 67, 113, 179, 187, 221, 260 + + Godkin, Edwin Lawrence-- + career of, 365-66 + courage of, 370-71 + geniality of, 376 + humour of, 368-73 + independence of, 364, 369, 381 + influence of, 378-80 + sincerity of, 367, 373, 380 + style of, 367-68, 373 + Tammany, attitude towards, 374 and note + views of, 366-67, 370, 374-76 + + Green, John Richard-- + biography of, 131 note + career of, 131-34 + conversation of, 165-66 + eloquence of, 166 + gifts and qualities of, 146, 151-52, 154, 160-62, 164-67 + ill-health of, 138, 141-46 + interests of, 151, 154-57 + letters of, 131 note, 152-53 + literary work of-- + _Saturday Review_ articles, 133, 135-37, 153; + historical, 138-39, 142-45, 155, 158-60, 163-64; + characteristics of, 139-40, 150, 152-53, 157-65, 167-69 + military history, fondness for, 357 + political activity of, 140-41 + views of, 134 + + Green, Prof. Thomas Hill-- + career of, 85 + characteristics of, 86-91 + civic activities of, 98 + influence of, 95-97, 99 + literary works of, 92-94, 98 + political keenness of, 95, 97 + views of, 93, 97, 335 + otherwise mentioned, 265, 268, 278 + + + Hardy, Gathorne, 213 + + Hardy, Thomas, 116 + + Healy, T. M., 443 + + Henry VIII., 271 note + + Herodotus, 149-51 + + Historians-- + qualifications of, 146-48, 156, 277 + two classes of, 149 + + History, Freeman's view of, 268, 274 + + Hodgkin, Dr. Thomas, 357 + + Holker, Sir John, 453 note + + House of Commons-- + character of, 48 + erroneous sketches of, 121 + lawyers in, 172 + leadership of, 217, 424 + occasional detachment of, from popular sentiment, 51 + power of, declining, 308-309 + rhetoric unpopular with, 296 + + Huxley, 207 + + + Iddesleigh. _See_ Northcote + + Ireland-- + Anglo-Irish Protestants, 229-30 + Church disestablishment in, 113, 187, 273, 407, 419, 442, 449 and note + Disraeli's attitude towards, 56-57, 67 + Green, J. R., views of, regarding, 141 + Home Rule, views regarding, of + Acton, 384; + Bowen, 356; + Bright, 455 note; + Freeman, 272; + Gladstone, 272, 414, 447; + Godkin, 375 + Land Bill of 1881, 425, 442-43 + + + James, Henry, 129 + + Jessel, Sir George-- + Cairns compared with, 180, 193 + career of, 171 + judicial methods of, 174-75, 179-181, 194 + mental powers of, 173, 181-82 + parliamentary manner of, 172 + quickness of, 173, 176, 183, 193 + + Jews-- + bigotry towards, 183 + Cambridge scholar, anecdote of, 319 note + concentration, power of, possessed by, 23 and note + conservatism of, 25 note + detachment of, 19-20 + distinctions gained by, 171 + practicality of, 182 + satirical powers of, 45 + + Jowett, 113, 150 + + + Kelvin, Lord, 184 + + Kipling, Rudyard, 129 + + + Lawrence, Lord, 184 + + Lightfoot, Bishop, 199-200, 209, 290 + + Louis Napoleon, 55, 64, 98 + + Lowe, Robert-- + biography of, 293 note + Cairns compared with, 188 + career of, 293-95, 299-300 + characteristics of, 301-304 + Disraeli and, 34, 302 + eclipse of fame of, 293, 300 + educational work of, 294-95, 304-305 + Gladstone compared with, 293, 299, 429, 435; + antagonism to Gladstone, 295; + in Gladstone's Cabinet, 299 + Oxford, at, 301 note 2 + rhetorical power of, 296-97 + shortsightedness of, 300-301 + Utilitarianism of, 304 + + Lyndhurst, Lord, 29 + + + Macaulay, 139, 169, 270, 274, 281, 427, 428 and note 2 + + Macdonald, Sir John A., 422 + + Maclennan, John F., 320 + + Magee, Archbishop, 112, 199, 429 + + Manning, Cardinal Henry Edward-- + biography of, 260-61 + career of, 250-51 + characteristics of, 251-54, 261 + conversions effected by, 255 + Infallibilist cause, work for, 256 + interests and sympathies of, 257-61 + speeches of, 255 + + Maurice, F. D., 134, 408 + + Mellish, Lord Justice, 176-79 + + Meredith, George, 116, 122 + + Mill, John Stuart, 61, 78 note, 93, 304 + + Monk, Bishop, 197 + + Mugwumps, 375 and note + + + Napoleon Bonaparte, 238 + + Napoleon, Louis, 55, 64, 98 + + _Nation, The_, 365, 368, 371-73, 378 + + Newman, Cardinal, 251-52, 428 note 1, 467 + + Newnham College, Cambridge, 329-330 + + Nonconformists-- + Disraeli's dislike of, 8, 52 + Education Act (1870) resented by, 15 + Fraser's attitude towards, 202, 206-208 and note + Gladstone trusted by, 401 + Green's dislike of, 134 + + Northcote, Sir Stafford (Lord Iddesleigh)-- + biography of, 211 note + career of, 212-13 + characteristics of, 213, 222-23, 225-26 + Gladstone compared with, 435 + parliamentary abilities of, 214-16, 218 + + Novels, types of, 122 + + + O'Connell, Daniel, 6, 8, 248 + + Oliphant, Mrs., 116 + + Oratory-- + elevation in, 433 + reputation for, nature of, 427 + + Oxford-- + Green, T. H., on municipal council of, 98-99 + Thackeray's candidature for, 120 + + Oxford University-- + Tractarian movement in, 252, 264 note, 406 + training at, characteristics of, 408, 467 + + + Palmer, Roundell (Lord Selborne), 176, 191-92, 294 + + Palmerston, Lord, 13, 28, 49, 57, 98, 294 + + Parliament. _See_ House of Commons + + Parnell, Charles Stewart-- + biography of, 227 note + career of, 228-29 + family of, 227 + leadership, aptness for, 248 + moral courage of, 239 + parliamentary tactics of, 218-19, 244; + knowledge of procedure, 242-43 + passion and self-control of, 240 + Phoenix Park murders, demeanour after, 236, 238 + Pigott affair, attitude towards, 239 + practicality of, 230-33 + pride of, 233, 235-38 + self-confidence of, 224, 236, 238 + speeches of, 241-42 + unscrupulousness of, 237-38 + unsympathetic manner of, 190 + views of, 245-46 + + Peel, Sir Robert-- + caution of, 408-409, 452 + death of, 10 + Disraeli's conduct towards, 28 and note + his view of, 55 + financial policy of, 441-42 + Gladstone compared with, 411, 439, 455, 475 + separation of, from Conservatives, 9, 61 + speeches of, 428 + + Pitt, William, 429, 435, 439, 442, 476 + + _Popular Government_, Sir H. Maine's, cited, 309 note + + Psychical Research Society, 331-32 + + Pusey, Dr., cited, 80 + + + Rhodes, Cecil, 246 + + Rolt, Lord Justice, 191-92 + + Roman Catholic Church. _See under_ Church + + Russell, Lord, 13, 28, 57, 295 + + + Salisbury, Lord, 186, 247, 295, 456 + + _Saturday Review_-- + Bowen's contributions to, 360 + Freeman's contributions to, 285 + dissociation from, 275 + Green's contributions to, 133, 135-137, 153 + + Schoolmasters, types of, 343, 346 + + Schools Inquiry Commission, 200-201 + + Scott, Sir Walter, 123, 125 + + Scottish temperament and characteristics, 315, 403-405 + + Selborne, Lord. _See_ Palmer, Roundell + + Sherbrooke, Viscount. _See_ Lowe, Robert + + Sidgwick, Henry-- + career of, 327-29 + characteristics of, 338-42 + impartiality of, 334 + literary preferences of, 338 + psychical research, interest in, 331-332 + views of, philosophical and political, 335-37 + women's education promoted by, 329 + + Sidgwick, Henry-- + works of, 332-34, 338 + + Skene, Mr., cited, 158 + + Smith, Professor Goldwin, 76, 281 + + Smith, R. Bosworth, quoted, 349-50 + + Smith, Prof. Robertson-- + Acton, Lord, and, 387 + career of, 311-12, 315, 318-320 + characteristics of, 323-25 + ecclesiastical trial of, 313-16 + _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, work on, 312-14 + versatility of, 322 + works of, 320-21; + characteristics of, 321 + + Stanley, Very Rev. Arthur Penrhyn-- + career of, 70 + characteristics of, 71, 73, 77, 82-84 + debating power of, 77 + Disraeli and, 81 + family of, 69-70 + Green influenced by, 132, 137 + literary work of, 71-74 + politics of, 78 + sermons of, 76-77 + theological position of, 80-81 + Tait, attitude towards, 113 + otherwise mentioned, 164-65, 205-206 + + Statesmanship, necessary qualifications for, 46 + + Stevenson, R. L., 129 + + Stubbs, Bishop, 138, 160, 289-90, 453 note + + Suffrage extension-- + Disraeli's view of, 52, 57-58, 67-68, 310 + Lowe's opposition to, 295-98, 305-306 + results of, 306-309 + + + Tait, Archibald Campbell, Archbishop of Canterbury-- + biography of, cited, 100 note + career of, 107 + characteristics of, 108-12, 209 + Green appointed librarian by, 133-134 + influence of, 110-12 + Irish Church Disestablishment Bill, attitude towards, 187 + policy of, 112, 114 + views of, 110 + + Temple, Archbishop, 113 and note, 199 + + Tennyson, 39, 459 + + Thackeray, W. M., 35, 120, 123-25 + + Thirlwall, Bishop, 112 + + Thucydides, 149-50 + + Tone, Wolfe, 229, 248 + + Tory party-- + nature of, 218; + (1848-1865), 60-62 + suffrage extension profitable to, 52, 57-58, 67, 310 + + Tractarian movement, 252, 264 note, 406 + + Trollope, Anthony-- + biographies of, cited, 116 note + Freeman and, 120, 271 and note + literary position of, 116-18 + personality of, 118, 126 + political activity of, 120 + travels of, 121-22 + works of, 117-20, 128; + characteristics of, 122-30 + + + United States-- + Acton's knowledge of history of, 387 + Freeman's visit to, 268 + journalism in, 379 + Presbyterianism in, 317 + religion and politics dissociated in, 100 + Trollope's account of, 122 + University influence in, 378 + + + Westbury, Lord, 303 + + Whiggism, 6, 8, 63, 298, 469 + + Wilberforce, Bishop Samuel, 111-12, 198, 254, 429 + + Women, education of, 329-31 + + Wordsworth, 301 + + Wright, William, 319 and note, 320 + + + + +THE END + + +_Printed by_ R. & R. Clark, Limited, _Edinburgh_. + + + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + + +Transcriber's note: + + The authors' archaic and variable spelling and hyphenation + are preserved. + + The authors' punctuation styles are preserved. + + Footnotes have been moved to the end of each chapter. + + Typographical errors were corrected and are listed below. + +Transcriber's Changes: (Indicated below with =equal signs=.) + + Page 218: Was 'opportunies' (in granting or refusing =opportunities= + for discussing topics he would prefer to have not discussed + at all.) + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDIES IN CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY*** + + +******* This file should be named 31677.txt or 31677.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/6/7/31677 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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