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diff --git a/40923.txt b/40923.txt deleted file mode 100644 index dfb1d7d..0000000 --- a/40923.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6407 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, British Political Leaders, by Justin McCarthy - - -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: British Political Leaders - - -Author: Justin McCarthy - - - -Release Date: October 3, 2012 [eBook #40923] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRITISH POLITICAL LEADERS*** - - -E-text prepared by Charlie Howard, sp1nd, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (http://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 40923-h.htm or 40923-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40923/40923-h/40923-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40923/40923-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - http://archive.org/details/cu31924028287724 - - - - - -BRITISH POLITICAL LEADERS - - * * * * * - -_BY THE SAME AUTHOR._ - -IN THE - -"Story of the Nations" Series. - - Each volume large crown 8vo, cloth, fully Illustrated, 5s. - - MODERN ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORM BILL. - - MODERN ENGLAND UNDER QUEEN VICTORIA. - - _IN PREPARATION._ - - PORTRAITS OF THE SIXTIES. - - Demy 8vo, cloth, Illustrated, 16s. - - -LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN. - - * * * * * - - -[Illustration: Photograph copyright by Elliott & Fry - -ARTHUR JAMES BALFOUR] - - -BRITISH POLITICAL LEADERS - -by - -JUSTIN McCARTHY - -With Portraits - - - - - - - -[Illustration] - -London -T. Fisher Unwin -Paternoster Square -1903 - -[All rights reserved.] - - - - -CONTENTS - - - 1. ARTHUR JAMES BALFOUR 1 - - 2. LORD SALISBURY 25 - - 3. LORD ROSEBERY 49 - - 4. JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN 73 - - 5. HENRY LABOUCHERE 99 - - 6. JOHN MORLEY 125 - - 7. LORD ABERDEEN 151 - - 8. JOHN BURNS 177 - - 9. SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH 203 - - 10. JOHN E. REDMOND 229 - - 11. SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT 255 - - 12. JAMES BRYCE 281 - - 13. SIR HENRY CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN 307 - - - - -ARTHUR JAMES BALFOUR - - -My first acquaintance with Mr. Arthur J. Balfour, who recently became -Prime Minister of King Edward VII., was made in the earliest days of my -experience as a member of the House of Commons. The Fourth party, as it -was called, had just been formed under the inspiration of the late Lord -Randolph Churchill. The Fourth party was a new political enterprise. The -House of Commons up to that time contained three regular and recognized -political parties--the supporters of the Government, the supporters of -the Opposition, and the members of the Irish Nationalist party, of whom -I was one. Lord Randolph Churchill created a Fourth party, the business -of which was to act independently alike of the Government, the -Opposition, and the Irish Nationalists. At the time when I entered -Parliament the Conservatives were in power, and Conservative statesmen -occupied the Treasury Bench. The members of Lord Randolph's party were -all Conservatives so far as general political principles were concerned, -but Lord Randolph's idea was to lead a number of followers who should be -prepared and ready to speak and vote against any Government proposal -which they believed to be too conservative or not conservative enough; -to support the Liberal Opposition in the rare cases when they thought -the Opposition was in the right; and to support the Irish Nationalists -when they believed that these were unfairly dealt with, or when they -believed, which happened much more frequently, that to support the -Irishmen would be an annoyance to the party in power. - -The Fourth party was made up of numbers exactly corresponding with the -title which had been given to it. Four men, including the leader, -constituted the whole strength of this little army. These men were Lord -Randolph Churchill, Arthur J. Balfour, John Gorst (now Sir John Gorst), -and Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, who has during more recent years withdrawn -altogether from parliamentary life and given himself up to diplomacy, in -which he has won much honorable distinction. Sir John Gorst has recently -held office in the Government, and is believed to have given and felt -little satisfaction in his official career. He is a man of great ability -and acquirements, but these have been somewhat thrown away in the -business of administration. - -The Fourth Party certainly did much to make the House of Commons a -lively place. Its members were always in attendance--the whole four of -them--and no one ever knew where, metaphorically, to place them. They -professed and made manifest open scorn for the conventionalities of -party life, and the parliamentary whips never knew when they could be -regarded as supporters or opponents. They were all effective debaters, -all ready with sarcasm and invective, all sworn foes to dullness and -routine, all delighting in any opportunity for obstructing and -bewildering the party which happened to be in power. The members of the -Fourth party had each of them a distinct individuality, although they -invariably acted together and were never separated in the division -lobbies. A member of the House of Commons likened them once in a speech -to D'Artagnan and his Three Musketeers, as pictured in the immortal -pages of the elder Dumas. John Gorst he described as Porthos, Sir Henry -Drummond Wolff as Athos, and Arthur Balfour as the sleek and subtle -Aramis. When I entered Parliament I was brought much into companionship -with the members of this interesting Fourth party. One reason for this -habit of intercourse was that we sat very near to one another on the -benches of the House. The members of the Irish Nationalist party then, -as now, always sat on the side of the Opposition, no matter what -Government happened to be in power, for the principle of the Irish -Nationalists is to regard themselves as in perpetual opposition to every -Government so long as Ireland is deprived of her own national -legislature. Soon after I entered the House a Liberal Government was the -result of a general election, and the Fourth party, as habitually -conservative, sat on the Opposition benches. The Fourth party gave -frequent support to the Irish Nationalists in their endeavors to resist -and obstruct Government measures, and we therefore came into habitual -intercourse, and even comradeship, with Lord Randolph Churchill and his -small band of followers. - -Arthur Balfour bore little resemblance, in appearance, in manners, in -debating qualities, and apparently in mould of intellect, to any of the -three men with whom he was then constantly allied. He was tall, -slender, pale, graceful, with something of an almost feminine -attractiveness in his bearing, although he was as ready, resolute, and -stubborn a fighter as any one of his companions in arms. He had the -appearance and the ways of a thoughtful student and scholar, and one -would have associated him rather with a college library or a professor's -chair than with the rough and boisterous ways of the House of Commons. -He seemed to have come from another world of thought and feeling into -that eager, vehement, and sometimes rather uproarious political -assembly. Unlike his uncle, Lord Salisbury, he was known to enjoy social -life, but he was especially given to that select order of aesthetic -social life which was "sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought," a -form of life which was rather fashionable in society just then. But it -must have been clear even to the most superficial observer that he had a -decided gift of parliamentary capacity. He was a fluent and a ready -speaker and could bear an effective part in any debate at a moment's -notice, but he never declaimed, never indulged in any flight of -eloquence, and seldom raised his clear and musical voice much above the -conversational pitch. His choice of language was always happy and -telling, and he often expressed himself in characteristic phrases which -lived in the memory and passed into familiar quotation. He had won some -distinction as a writer by his "Defense of Philosophic Doubt," by a -volume of "Essays and Addresses," and more lately by his work entitled -"The Foundations of Belief." The first and last of these books were -inspired by a graceful and easy skepticism which had in it nothing -particularly destructive to the faith of any believer, but aimed only at -the not difficult task of proving that a doubting ingenuity can raise -curious cavils from the practical and argumentative point of view -against one creed as well as against another. The world did not take -these skeptical ventures very seriously, and they were for the most part -regarded as the attempts of a clever young man to show how much more -clever he was than the ordinary run of believing mortals. Balfour's -style was clear and vigorous, and people read the essays because of the -writer's growing position in political life, and out of curiosity to see -how the rising young statesman could display himself as the avowed -advocate of philosophic skepticism. - -Arthur Balfour took a conspicuous part in the attack made upon the -Liberal Government in 1882 on the subject of the once famous Kilmainham -Treaty. The action which he took in this instance was avowedly inspired -by a desire to embarrass and oppose the Government because of the -compromise into which it had endeavored to enter with Charles Stewart -Parnell for some terms of agreement as to the manner in which -legislation in Ireland ought to be administered. The full history of -what was called the Kilmainham Treaty has not, so far as I know, been -ever correctly given to the public, and it is not necessary, when -surveying the political career of Mr. Balfour, to enter into any -lengthened explanation on the subject. Mr. Parnell was in prison at the -time when the arrangement was begun, and those who were in his -confidence were well aware that he was becoming greatly alarmed as to -the state of Ireland under the rule of the late W. E. Forster, who was -then Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, and under whose operations -leading Irishmen were thrown into prison on no definite charge, but -because their general conduct left them open in the mind of the Chief -Secretary to the suspicion that their public agitation was likely to -bring about a rebellious movement. Parnell began to fear that the state -of the country would become worse and worse if every popular movement -were to be forcibly repressed at the time when the leaders in whom the -Irish people had full confidence were kept in prison and their guidance, -control, and authority withdrawn from the work of pacification. The -proposed arrangement, whether begun by Mr. Parnell himself or suggested -to him by members of his own party or of the English Radical party, was -simply an understanding that if the leading Irishmen were allowed to -return to their public work the country might at least be kept in peace -while English Liberalism was devising some measures for the better -government of Ireland. The arrangement was in every sense creditable -alike to Parnell and to the English Liberals who were anxious to -cooperate with him in such a purpose. But it led to some disturbance in -Mr. Gladstone's government and to Mr. Forster's resignation of his -office. In 1885, when the Conservatives again came into power and formed -a government, Balfour was appointed President of the Local Government -Board and afterwards became Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant--in -other words, Chief Secretary for Ireland. He had to attempt a difficult, -or rather, it should be said, an impossible task, and he got through it -about as well as, or as badly as, any other man could have done whose -appointed mission was to govern Ireland on Tory principles for the -interests of the landlords and by the policy of coercion. - -Balfour, it should be said, was never, even at that time, actually -unpopular with the Irish National party. We all understood quite well -that his own heart did not go with the sort of administrative work which -was put upon him; his manners were always courteous, agreeable, and -graceful; he had a keen, quiet sense of humor, was on good terms -personally with the leading Irish members, and never showed any -inclination to make himself needlessly or wantonly offensive to his -opponents. He was always readily accessible to any political opponent -who had any suggestion to make, and his term of office as Chief -Secretary, although of necessity quite unsuccessful for any practical -good, left no memories of rancor behind it in the minds of those whom he -had to oppose and to confront. More lately he became First Lord of the -Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons, and the remainder of his -public career is too well known to call for any detailed description -here. My object in this article is rather to give a living picture of -the man himself as we all saw him in public life than to record in -historical detail the successive steps by which he ascended to his -present high position, or rather, it should be said, of the successive -events which brought that place within his reach and made it necessary -for him to accept it. For it is only fair to say that, so far as outer -observers could judge, Mr. Balfour never made his career a struggle for -high positions. So clever and gifted a man must naturally have had some -ambition in the public field to which he had devoted so absolutely his -time and his talents. But he seemed, so far as one could judge, to have -in him none of the self-seeking qualities which are commonly seen in the -man whose purpose is to make his parliamentary work the means of -arriving at the highest post in the government of the State. On the -contrary, his whole demeanor seemed to be rather that of one who is -devoting himself unwillingly to a career not quite congenial. He always -appeared to me to be essentially a man of literary, scholarly, and even -retiring tastes, who has a task forced upon him which he does not feel -quite free to decline, and who therefore strives to make the best of a -career which he has not chosen, but from which he does not feel at -liberty to turn away. Most men who have attained the same political -position give one the idea that they feel a positive delight in -parliamentary life and warfare, and that nature must have designed them -for that particular field and for none other. The joy in the strife -which men like Palmerston, like Disraeli, and like Gladstone evidently -felt never showed itself in the demeanor of Arthur Balfour. There was -always something in his manner which spoke of a shy and shrinking -disposition, and he never appeared to enter into debate for the mere -pleasure of debating. He gave the idea of one who would much rather not -make a speech were he altogether free to please himself in the matter, -and as if he were only constraining himself to undertake a duty which -most of those around him were but too glad to have an opportunity of -attempting. - -There are instances, no doubt, of men gifted with an absolute genius for -eloquent speech who have had no natural inclination for debate and would -rather have been free from any necessity for entering into the war of -words. I have heard John Bright say that he would never make a speech if -he did not feel it a duty imposed upon him, and that he would never -enter the House of Commons if he felt free to keep away from its -debates. Yet Bright was a born orator and was, on the whole, I think, -the greatest public and parliamentary orator I have ever heard in -England, not excluding even Gladstone himself. Bright had all the -physical qualities of the orator. He had a commanding presence and a -voice of the most marvelous intonation, capable of expressing in musical -sound every emotion which lends itself to eloquence--the impassioned, -the indignant, the pathetic, the appealing, and the humorous. Then I can -recall an instance of another man, not, indeed, endowed with Bright's -superb oratorical gifts, but who had to spend the greater part of his -life since he attained the age of manhood in the making of speeches -within and outside the House of Commons. I am thinking now of Charles -Stewart Parnell. I know well that Parnell would never have made a speech -if he could have avoided the task, and that he even felt a nervous -dislike to the mere putting of a question in the House. But no one -would have known from Bright's manner when he took part in a great -debate that he was not obeying in congenial mood the full instinct and -inclination of a born orator. Nor would a stranger have guessed from -Parnell's clear, self-possessed, and precise style of speaking that he -was putting a severe constraint upon himself when he made up his mind to -engage in parliamentary debate. There is something in Arthur Balfour's -manner as a speaker which occasionally reminds me of Parnell and his -style. The two men had the same quiet, easy, and unconcerned fashion of -utterance, always choosing the most appropriate word and finding it -without apparent difficulty; each man seemed, as I have already said of -Balfour, to be thinking aloud rather than trying to convince the -listeners; each man spoke as if resolved not to waste any words or to -indulge in any appeal to the mere emotions of the audience. But the -natural reluctance to take any part in debate was always more -conspicuous in the manner of Balfour than even in that of Parnell. - -Balfour is a man of many and varied tastes and pursuits. He is an -advocate of athleticism and is especially distinguished for his devotion -to the game of golf. He obtained at one time a certain reputation in -London society because of the interest he took in some peculiar phases -of fanciful intellectual inventiveness. He was for a while a leading -member, if not the actual inventor, of a certain order of psychical -research whose members were described as The Souls. More than one -novelist of the day made picturesque use of this singular order and -enlivened the pages of fiction by fancy portraits of its leading -members. Such facts as these did much to prevent Balfour from being -associated in the public mind with only the rivalries of political -parties and the incidents of parliamentary warfare. One sometimes came -into social circles where Balfour was regarded chiefly as the man of -literary tastes and somewhat eccentric intellectual developments. All -this cast a peculiar reflection over his career as a politician and -filled many observers with the idea that he was only playing at -parliamentary life, and that his other occupations were the genuine -realities for him. Even to this day there are some who persist in -believing that Balfour, despite his prolonged and unvarying attention to -his parliamentary duties, has never given his heart to the prosaic and -practical work of administrative office and the business of maintaining -his political party. Yet it has always had to be acknowledged that no -man attended more carefully and more closely to such work when he had to -do it, and that the most devoted worshiper of political success could -not have been more regular and constant in his attention to the business -of the House of Commons. People said that he was lazy by nature, that he -loved long hours of sleep and of general rest, and that he detested the -methodical and mechanical routine of official work. But I have not known -any Minister of State who was more easy of approach and more ready to -enter into the driest details of departmental business than Arthur -Balfour. I may say, too, that, whenever appeal was made to him to -forward any good work or to do any act of kindness, he was always to be -found at his post and was ever ready to lend a helping hand if he could. - -I remember one instance of this kind which I have no hesitation in -mentioning, although I am quite sure Mr. Balfour had little inclination -for its obtaining publicity. Not very many years ago it was brought to -my knowledge that an English literary woman who had won much and -deserved distinction as a novel-writer had been for some time sinking -into ill health, had been therefore prevented from going on with her -work, and had in the mean time been perplexed by worldly difficulties -and embarrassments which interfered sadly with her prospects and made -her a subject of well-merited sympathy. Some friends of the authoress -were naturally anxious, if possible, to give her a helping hand, and the -idea occurred to them that she would be a most fitting recipient of -assistance to be bestowed by a department of the State. One of her -friends, himself a distinguished novelist, who happened to be also a -friend of mine, spoke to me with this object, assuming that, as an old -parliamentary hand, I knew more than most writers of books would be -likely to know about the manner in which such help might be obtained. -There is in England a fund--a very small fund, truly--at the disposal of -the Government for the help of deserving authors who happen to be in -distress. This fund is at the disposal of the First Lord of the -Treasury, the office which was then, as now, held by Arthur Balfour. I -was still at that time a member of the House of Commons, and my friend -suggested that, as I knew something about the whole business, I might be -a suitable person to represent the case to the First Lord of the -Treasury and make appeal for his assistance. My friend's belief was that -the application might come with more effect from one who had been for a -long time a member of Parliament, and whose name would therefore be -known to the First Lord of the Treasury, than from a literary man who -had nothing to do with parliamentary life. Nothing could give me greater -pleasure than to become the medium through which the appeal might be -brought under the notice of the First Lord, but I felt some difficulty -and doubt because of the conditions of the time. England was then in the -most distracting period of the South African war. We were hearing every -day of fresh mishaps and disasters in the campaign. Arthur Balfour was -Leader of the House of Commons, and had to deal every day with -questions, with demands for explanation, with arguments and debates -turning on the events of the war. It seemed to me to be rather a -venturesome enterprise to attempt to gain the attention of a minister -thus perplexingly occupied for a matter of merely private and individual -concern. I feared that an overworked statesman might feel naturally -inclined to remit the subject to the care of some mere official, and -that time might thus be lost and the needed helping hand be long -delayed. I undertook the task, however, and I wrote to Mr. Balfour at -once. I received the very next day a reply written in Mr. Balfour's own -hand, expressing his cordial willingness to consider the subject, his -sympathy with the purpose of the appeal, and his hope that some help -might be given to the distressed novelist. Mr. Balfour promptly took the -matter in hand, and the result was that a grant was made from the State -fund to secure the novelist against any actual distress. Now, I do not -want to make too much of this act of ready kindness done by Mr. Balfour. -The appeal was made for a most deserving object; the fund from which -help was to be given was entirely at Mr. Balfour's disposal; and it is -probable that any other First Lord in the same circumstances would have -come to the same decision. But how easy it would have been for Mr. -Balfour to put the whole matter into the hands of some subordinate, and -not to add a new trouble to his own intensely busy life at such an -exciting crisis by entering into the close consideration of a mere -question of State beneficence! I certainly should not have been -surprised if I had not received an answer to my letter for several days -after I had sent it, and if even then it had come from some subordinate -in the Government department. But in the midst of all his incessant and -distracting occupations at a most exciting period of public business Mr. -Balfour found time to consider the question himself, to reply with his -own hand, and to see that the desired help was promptly accorded. I must -say that I think this short passage of personal history speaks highly -for the kindly nature and the sympathetic promptitude of Arthur Balfour. - -For a long time there had been much speculation in these countries -concerning the probable successor to Lord Salisbury, whenever Lord -Salisbury should make up his mind to resign the position of Prime -Minister. We all knew that that resignation was sure to come soon, -although very few of us had any idea that it was likely to come quite so -soon. The general opinion was that the country would not be expected, -for some time at least, to put up again with a Prime Minister in the -House of Lords. If, therefore, the new Prime Minister had to be found in -the House of Commons, there seemed to be only a choice between two men, -Arthur Balfour and Joseph Chamberlain. It would be hard to find two men -in the House of Commons more unlike each other in characteristic -qualities and in training than these two. They are both endowed with -remarkable capacity for political life and for parliamentary debate, -"but there," as Byron says concerning two of whom one was a Joseph, "I -doubt all likeness ends between the pair." Balfour is an aristocrat of -aristocrats; Chamberlain is essentially a man of the British middle -class--even what is generally called the lower middle class. Balfour has -gone through all the regular course of university education; Chamberlain -was for a short time at University College School in London, a popular -institution of modern origin which does most valuable educational work, -but is not largely patronized by the classes who claim aristocratic -position. Balfour is a constant reader and student of many literatures -and languages; "Mr. Chamberlain," according to a leading article in a -London daily newspaper, "to put it mildly, is not a bookworm." Balfour -loves open-air sports and is a votary of athleticism; Chamberlain never -takes any exercise, even walking exercise, when he can possibly avoid -the trouble. Balfour is an aesthetic lover of all the arts; Chamberlain -has never, so far as I know, given the slightest indication of interest -in any artistic subject. Balfour is by nature a modest and retiring man; -Chamberlain is always "Pushful Joe." The stamp and character of a -successful municipal politician are always evident in Chamberlain, while -Balfour seems to be above all other things the university scholar and -member of high society. I suppose it must have been a profound -disappointment to Chamberlain that he was not offered the place of Prime -Minister, but it would be hardly fair to expect that such a place would -not be offered to the First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House -of Commons, even if that First Lord did not happen to be a nephew of the -retiring Prime Minister. - -It would be idle just now to enter into any speculation as to whether -Mr. Arthur Balfour will long continue to hold the office. If he should -make up his mind, as was at one time thought possible by many observers, -to accept a peerage and become Prime Minister in the House of Lords, -such a step would undoubtedly be a means of pacifying the partisans of -Chamberlain, for Chamberlain would then become, almost as a matter of -course, the leader of the Conservative government in the House of -Commons, and this elevation might well satisfy his ambition and give his -pushful energy work enough to do. But the country has of late become -less and less satisfied with the practice of having a Prime Minister -removed from the centre of active life and hidden away in the enervating -atmosphere of the House of Lords. The friends of Mr. Balfour are -naturally inclined to hope and believe that he will not bury himself in -such a living tomb. His path will in any case be perplexed by many -difficulties and obstructions. My own impression is that the inevitable -reaction is destined to come before long. The next general election may -prove that the country at large is tired of a Conservative -administration. The public mind will soon get over the feverish -excitement created by the South African war, and people will begin to -remember that England had won battles and annexed territory before there -ever was a Transvaal Republic, and found then, as she will find now, -that successes abroad do not relieve her from the necessity of managing -successfully her business at home. It has to be borne in mind, too, that -the House of Commons does not really originate anything in the work of -important legislation. The best business of the Liberal party begins -outside the House of Commons--begins with the people and with those who -take an interest in the welfare of the people and have brains and -foresight enough to find out how it can be most thoroughly promoted. All -great reforms have their origin outside the House of Commons and are -only taken up by the House of Commons when it is felt that the popular -demand is so earnest that it must receive serious consideration. The -country will soon begin to realize the fact that, shamefully mismanaged -as the War Department may have been during the recent campaigns, the War -Department is not by any means the only national institution which needs -the strong hand of reform. The spirited foreign policy has had its -innings, and the condition of the people at home must have its turn very -soon. The Liberal party has its work cut out for it, and where there is -the work to be done a Liberal party will be found to do it. So far as I -can read the signs of the times, I am encouraged to hope that a great -opportunity is waiting for the Liberal party, and I cannot see the -slightest reason to doubt that a Liberal party will be found ready for -the opportunity and equal to it. A Tory Prime Minister has, indeed, -before now had the judgment and the energy to forestall the Liberal -party in the great work of domestic reform, but I do not believe that -even the warmest admirers of Mr. Balfour imagine that he is quite the -man to undertake such an enterprise. Arthur Balfour is, according to my -judgment, the best man for the place to be found in the Conservative -ranks at present, but I do not suppose that he is destined just now to -be anything more than a stop-gap. I admire his great and varied -abilities, I recognize his brilliant debating powers, and I have felt -the charm of his genial and graceful manners, but I do not believe him -capable of maintaining the present administration against the rising -force of a Liberal reaction. - - - - -[Illustration: From a painting by Hubert von Herkomer - -LORD SALISBURY] - - - - -LORD SALISBURY - - -The retirement of Lord Salisbury from the position of Prime Minister and -the leadership of the Conservative Government withdraws into comparative -obscurity the most interesting and even picturesque figure in the -English Parliamentary life of the present day. Even the most -uncompromising opponents of the Prime Minister and of his political -party felt a sincere respect for the character, the intellect, and the -bearing of the man himself. Every one gave Lord Salisbury full credit -for absolute sincerity of purpose, for superiority to any personal -ambitions or mere self-seeking, for an almost contemptuous disregard of -State honors and political fame. - -Yet it was not that Lord Salisbury was habitually careful and measured -in his speech, that he was never hurried into rash utterances, that he -was guided by any particular anxiety to avoid offending the -susceptibilities of others, or, indeed, that, as a rule, he preferred to -use soothing words in political controversy. He has, on the contrary, a -marvelous gift of sarcasm and of satirical phrase-making, and he was -only too ready to indulge occasionally this peculiar capacity at the -expense of political friend as well as of political foe. In his early -days of public life, when he sat in the House of Commons as a nominal -follower of Mr. Disraeli, he was once described in debate by his nominal -leader as "a master of flouts and jeers." On another occasion Disraeli -spoke of him, although not in Parliamentary debate, as a young man whose -head was on fire. In later days, and even when he had held high -administrative office, Lord Salisbury often indulged in sudden outbursts -of contemptuous humor which for a time seemed likely to provoke -indignant remonstrance even from his own followers. One illustration of -this unlucky tendency towards contemptuous utterance may be found in his -famous allusion several years ago to a native of Hindustan, who had been -elected to a seat in the House of Commons, as "a black man." That was a -time when every English public man recognized the great importance of -indulging in no expression which might seem calculated to wound the -susceptibilities of the many races who have been brought under the rule -of the Imperial system in the Indian dominions of the sovereign. The -member of Parliament thus scornfully alluded to was no more a black man -than Lord Salisbury himself. He was one of the Parsee races chiefly -found in the Bombay regions, almost European in the color of their skin, -and he looked more like a German scholar than a native of any sunburnt -land. No one defended Lord Salisbury's rash utterance, but many people -excused it on the ground that it was only Lord Salisbury's way; that he -never meant any harm, but could not resist the temptation of saying an -amusing and sarcastic thing when it came into his mind. The truth is -that Lord Salisbury's odd humor is a peculiarity without which he could -not be the complete Lord Salisbury, and an unlucky expression was easily -forgiven because of the many brilliant flashes of genuine and not unfair -sarcasm with which he was accustomed to illumine a dull debate. When he -succeeded to his father's title, and had, therefore, to leave the House -of Commons and take his place in the House of Lords, every one felt that -the representative chamber had lost one of its most attractive figures, -and that the hereditary chamber was not exactly the place in which such -a man could find his happiest hunting-ground. Yet even in the somber and -unimpressive House of Lords, Lord Salisbury was able, whenever the humor -took him, to brighten the debates by his apt illustrations and his witty -humor. - -Lord Salisbury resigns his position as Prime Minister at a time of life -when, according to the present standards of age, a man is still supposed -to have long years of good work before him. Lord Palmerston's career as -Prime Minister was cut short only by his death, an event which occurred -when Palmerston was in his eighty-first year. Gladstone was more than -ten years older than Lord Salisbury is now when he voluntarily gave up -his position as head of a Liberal administration. Lord Beaconsfield's -time of birth is somewhat uncertain, but he must have been some -seventy-seven years of age and had lost none of his powers as a debater -when his brilliant life came to its close. We may take it for granted -that Lord Salisbury had been for a long time growing tired of the -exalted political position which had of late become uncongenial with his -habits and his frame of mind. By the death of his wife he had lost the -most loved companion of his home, his intellectual tastes, and his -political career. A pair more thoroughly devoted to each other than Lord -and Lady Salisbury could hardly have been found even in the pages of -romance. The whole story of that marriage and that married life would -have supplied a touching and a telling chapter for romance. Early in his -public career Lord Salisbury fell in love with a charming, gifted, and -devoted woman, whom a happy chance had brought in his way. She was the -daughter of an eminent English judge, the late Baron Alderson; and -although such a wife might have been thought a suitable match even for a -great aristocrat, it appears that the Lord Salisbury of that time, the -father of the late Prime Minister, who was then only Lord Robert Cecil, -did not approve of the marriage, and the young pair had to take their -own way and become husband and wife without regard for the family -prejudices. Lord Robert Cecil was then only a younger brother with a -younger brother's allowance to live on, and the newly wedded pair had -not much of a prospect before them, in the conventional sense of the -words. Lord Robert Cecil accepted the situation with characteristic -courage and resolve. There seemed at that time no likelihood of his -ever succeeding to the title and the estates, for his elder brother was -living, and was, of course, heir to the ancestral title and property. -Lord Robert Cecil had been gifted with distinct literary capacity, and -he set himself down to work as a writer and a journalist. He became a -regular contributor to the "Saturday Review," then at the height of its -influence and fame, and he wrote articles for some of the ponderous -quarterly reviews of the time, brightening their pages by his animated -and forcible style. He took a small house in a modest quarter of London, -where artists and poets and authors of all kinds usually made a home -then, far removed from West End fashion and courtly splendor, and there -he lived a happy and productive life for many years. He had obtained a -seat in the House of Commons as a member of the Conservative party, but -he never pledged himself to support every policy and every measure -undertaken by the Conservative leaders, whether they happened to be in -or out of office. Lord Robert always acted as an independent member, -although he adhered conscientiously to the cardinal principles of that -Conservative doctrine which was his political faith throughout his life. -He soon won for himself a marked distinction in the House of Commons. -He was always a brilliant speaker, but was thoughtful and statesmanlike -as well as brilliant. He never became an orator in the higher sense of -the word. He never attempted any flights of exalted eloquence. His -speeches were like the utterances of a man who is thinking aloud and -whose principal object is to hold and convince his listeners by the -sheer force of argument set forth in clear and telling language. Many of -his happy phrases found acceptance as part of the ordinary language of -political and social life and became in their way immortal. Up to the -present day men are continually quoting happy phrases drawn from Lord -Robert Cecil's early speeches without remembering the source from which -they came. - -Such a capacity as that of Lord Robert Cecil could not long be -overlooked by the leaders of his party, and it soon became quite clear -that he must be invited to administrative office. I ought to say that, -after Lord Robert had completed his collegiate studies at Oxford, he -devoted himself for a considerable time to an extensive course of -travel, and he visited Australasia, then but little known to young -Englishmen of his rank, and he actually did much practical work as a -digger in the Australian gold mines, then newly discovered. He had -always a deep interest in foreign affairs, and it was greatly to the -advantage of his subsequent career that he could often support his -arguments on questions of foreign policy by experience drawn from a -personal study of the countries and States forming successive subjects -of debate. Suddenly his worldly prospects underwent a complete change. -The death of his elder brother made him heir to the family title and the -great estates. He became Viscount Cranborne in succession to his dead -brother. I may perhaps explain, for the benefit of some of my American -readers, that the heir to a peerage who bears what is called a courtesy -title has still a right to sit, if elected, in the House of Commons. It -is sometimes a source of wonder and puzzlement to foreign visitors when -they find so many men sitting in the House of Commons who actually bear -titles which would make it seem as if they ought to be in the House of -Lords. The eldest sons of all the higher order of peers bear such a -title, but it carries with it no disqualification for a seat in the -House of Commons, if the bearer of it be duly elected to a place in the -representative chamber. When the bearer of the courtesy title succeeds -to the actual title belonging to the house, he then, as a matter of -course, becomes a peer, has to enter the House of Lords, and would no -longer be legally eligible to sit in the representative chamber. Lord -Palmerston's presence in the House of Commons was often a matter of -wonder to foreign visitors, for in all the days to which my memory goes -back, Lord Palmerston seemed too old a man to have a father alive and in -the House of Lords. I have had to explain the matter to many a stranger, -and it only gives one other illustration of the peculiarities and -anomalies which belong to our Parliamentary system. Palmerston's was not -a courtesy title; the noble lord was a peer in his own right; but then -he was merely an Irish peer, and only a certain number of Irish peers -are entitled to sit in the House of Lords. The more fortunate, for so I -must describe them, of the Irish peers not thus entitled to sit in the -hereditary chamber are free to seek election for an English constituency -in the House of Commons and to obtain it, as Lord Palmerston did. Lord -Viscount Cranborne, therefore, continued for a time to hold the place in -the House of Commons which he had held as Lord Robert Cecil. In 1866 -Lord Cranborne entered office, for the first time, as Secretary of State -for India during the administration of Lord Derby. - -The year following brought about a sort of crisis in Lord Cranborne's -political career, and probably showed the general public of England, for -the first time, what manner of man he really was. Up to that period he -had been regarded by most persons, even among those who habitually gave -attention to Parliamentary affairs, as a brilliant, independent, and -somewhat audacious free-lance whose political conduct was usually -directed by the impulse of the moment, and who made no pretensions to -any fixed and ruling principles. That was the year 1867, when the -Conservative Government under Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli took it into -their heads to try the novel experiment, for a Conservative party, of -introducing a Reform Bill to improve and expand the conditions of the -Parliamentary suffrage. Disraeli was the author of this new scheme, and -it had been suggested to him by Mr. Gladstone's failure in the previous -year with his measure of reform. Gladstone's reform measure did not go -far enough to satisfy the genuine Radicals, while it went much too far -for a considerable number of doubtful and half-hearted Liberals, and it -was strongly opposed by the whole Tory party. As usually happens in the -case of every reform introduced by a Liberal administration, a secession -took place among the habitual followers of the Government. The secession -in this case was made famous by the name which Bright conferred upon it -as the "Cave of Adullam" party; and by the co-operation of the seceding -section with the Tory Opposition, the measure was defeated, and Mr. -Gladstone went out of office. Disraeli saw, with his usual sagacity, -that the vast mass of the population were in favor of some measure of -reform, and when Lord Derby and he came into office he made up his mind -that, as the thing had to be done, he and his colleagues might as well -have the advantage of doing it. The outlines of the measure prepared for -the purpose only shaped a very vague and moderate scheme of reform, but -Disraeli was quite determined to accept any manner of compromises in -order to carry some sort of scheme and to keep himself and his party in -power. But then arose a new difficulty on which, with all his sagacity, -he had not calculated. Lord Cranborne for the first time showed that he -was a man of clear and resolute political principle, and that he was not -willing to sacrifice any of his conscientious convictions for the sake -of maintaining his place in a Government. He was sincerely opposed to -every project for making the suffrage popular and for admitting the mass -of the workingmen of the country to any share in its government. I need -hardly say that I am entirely opposed to Lord Cranborne's political -theories, but I am none the less willing to render full justice to the -sincerity, not too common among rising public men, which refused to make -any compromise on a matter of political principle. Lord Cranborne was -then only at the opening of his administrative career, and he must have -had personal ambition enough to make him wish for a continuance of -office in a powerful administration. But he put all personal -considerations resolutely aside, and resigned his place in the -Government rather than have anything to do with a project which he -believed to be a surrender of constitutional principle to the demands of -the growing democracy. Lord Carnarvon and one or two other members of -the administration followed his lead and resigned their places in the -Government. I need not enter into much detail as to the progress of the -Disraeli reform measure. It is enough to say that Disraeli obtained the -support of many Radicals by the Liberal amendments which he accepted, -and the result was that a Tory Government carried to success a scheme of -reform which practically amounted to the introduction of household -suffrage. Lord Cranborne and those who acted with him held firmly to -their principles, and steadily opposed the measure introduced by those -who at the opening of the session were their official leaders and -colleagues. I am convinced that even the most advanced reformers were -ready to give a due meed of praise to the man who had thus made it -evident that he preferred what he believed to be a political principle, -even though he knew it to be the principle of a losing cause, to any -consideration of personal advancement. - -Some of us felt sure that we had then learned for the first time what -manner of man Lord Cranborne really was. We had taken him for a bold and -brilliant adventurer, and we found and were ready to acknowledge that he -was a man of deep, sincere, and self-sacrificing convictions. I have -never from that time changed my opinions with regard to Lord Cranborne's -personal character. His career interested me from the first moment that -I had an opportunity of observing it, and I may say that from an early -period of my manhood I had much opportunity of studying the ways and the -figures of Parliamentary life. But until Lord Cranborne had taken this -resolute position on the reform question, I had never given him credit -for any depth of political convictions. The impression I formed of him -up to that time was that he was merely a younger son of a great -aristocratic family, who had a natural aptitude alike for literature and -for politics, and that he was following in Parliament the guidance of -his own personal humors and argumentative impulses, and that he was -ready to sacrifice in debate not only his friends but his party for the -sake of saying a clever thing and startling his audience into reluctant -admiration. From those days of 1867 I knew him to be what all the world -now knows him to be, a man of deep and sincere convictions, ever -following the light of what he believes to be political wisdom and -justice. I can say this none the less readily because I suppose it has -hardly ever been my fortune to agree with any of Lord Salisbury's -utterances on questions of political importance. - -In 1868 the career of Lord Cranborne in the House of Commons came to an -end by the death of his father. He succeeded to the title of Marquis of -Salisbury, and became, as a matter of course, a member of the House of -Lords. He was thus withdrawn while still a comparatively young man from -that stirring field of splendid debate where his highest qualities as a -speaker could alone have found their fitting opportunity. I need not -trace out his subsequent public career with any sequence of detail. We -all know how from that time to this he has held high office, has come to -hold the highest offices in the State whenever his political party -happened to be in power. He has been Foreign Secretary; he has been -Prime Minister in three Conservative administrations. For a time he -actually combined the functions of Prime Minister and those of Foreign -Secretary. He was envoy to the great conference at Constantinople in -1876 and 1877, and he took part in the Congress of Berlin, that -conference which Lord Beaconsfield declared brought to England peace -with honor. Everything that a man could have to gratify his ambition -Lord Salisbury has had since the day when he succeeded to his father's -title and estates. His own intellectual force and his political -capacity must undoubtedly have made a way for him to Parliamentary -influence and success even if he had always remained Lord Robert Cecil, -and his elder brother had lived to succeed to the title. But from the -moment when Lord Robert Cecil became the heir, it was certain that his -party could not venture to overlook him. He might have made eccentric -speeches, he might have indulged in sarcastic and scornful allusions to -his political leaders, he might have allowed obtrusive scruples of -conscience to interfere with the interests of his party, but none the -less it became absolutely necessary that the Conservative politicians -should accept, when opportunity came, the leadership of the Marquis of -Salisbury. "Thou hast it all"--the words which Banquo applies to -Macbeth--might have been said of Lord Salisbury when he became for the -first time Prime Minister. - -Lord Salisbury certainly did not achieve his position by any of the -arts, even the less culpable arts, which for a time secured to Macbeth -the highest reach of his ambition. Lord Salisbury's leadership came to -him and was not sought by him. I cannot help thinking, however, that, -after he had once attained that supreme position in his party, the -remainder of his public career has been something in the nature of an -anticlimax. Was it that the chill and deadening influence of the House -of Lords proved too depressing for the energetic and vivacious spirit -which had won celebrity for Lord Robert Cecil in the House of Commons? -Was it that Lord Salisbury, when he had attained the height of his -ambition, became a victim to that mood of reaction which compels such a -man to ask himself whether, after all, the work of ascent was not much -better than the attained elevation? Lord Salisbury's years of high -office coming now thus suddenly to an end give to me at least the -melancholy impression of an unfulfilled career. The influence of the -Prime Minister, so far as mere outsiders can judge of it, has always -been exerted in foreign affairs for the promotion of peace. Even the -late war in South Africa is not understood to have been in any sense a -war of his seeking. The general belief is that the policy of war was -pressed upon him by influences which at the time he was not able to -control--influences which would only have become all the stronger if he -had refused to accept the responsibility of Prime Minister and had left -it to others to carry on the work of government. However this may be, -it can hardly be questioned that of late years Lord Salisbury had become -that which nobody in former days could ever suppose him likely to -become, the mere figurehead of an administration. Lord Salisbury's whole -nature seems to have been too sincere, too free from mere theatrical -arts, to allow him to play the part of leader where he had no heart in -the work of leadership. A statesman like Disraeli might have disapproved -of a certain policy and done his best to reason his colleagues out of -it, but nevertheless, when he found himself likely to be overborne, -would have immersed himself deliberately in all the new-born zeal of the -convert and would have behaved thenceforward as if his whole soul were -in the work which had been put upon him to do. Lord Salisbury is most -assuredly not a man of this order, and he never would or could put on an -enthusiasm which he did not feel in his heart. We can all remember how, -at the very zenith of British passion against China during the recent -political convulsions and the intervention of the foreign allies, Lord -Salisbury astonished and depressed some of his warmest admirers by a -speech which he made at Exeter Hall, a speech which, metaphorically at -least, threw the coldest of cold water on the popular British ardor for -forcing Western civilization on the Chinese people. - -Lord Salisbury's frame of mind was one which could never allow him to -become even for a moment a thorough Jingo, and through all the later -years of his power he held the office of Prime Minister at a time when -Jingoism was the order of the day among the outside supporters of the -Conservative Government. He never had a fair chance for the full -development of his intellectual faculties while he remained at the head -of a Conservative administration. Under happier conditions he might have -been a great Prime Minister and a leading force in political movement, -but his intellect, his tastes, and his habits of life did not allow him -to pay much deference to the prejudices and passions of those on whom he -was compelled to rely for support. There was too much in him of the -thinker, the scholar, and the recluse to make him a thoroughly effective -leader of the party who had to acknowledge his command. He loved -reading, he loved literature and art, and he took no delight in -the formal social functions which are in our days an important -part of successful political administration. He could not be -"hail-fellow-well-met" with every pushing follower who made it a pride -to be on terms of companionship with the leader of the party. I have -often heard that he had a singularly bad memory for faces, and that many -a devoted Tory follower found his enthusiasm chilled every now and then -by the obvious fact that the Prime Minister did not seem to remember -anything about the identity of his obtrusive admirer. Much the same -thing has been said over and over again about Mr. Gladstone, but then -Gladstone had the inborn genius of leadership, threw his soul into every -great political movement, and did not depend in the slightest degree on -his faculty for appreciating and conciliating every individual follower. -Lord Salisbury's tastes were for the society of his close personal -friends, and I believe no man could be a more genial host in the company -of those with whom he loved to associate; but he had no interest in the -ordinary ways of society and made no effort to conciliate those with -whom he found himself in no manner of companionship. He did not even -take any strong interest in the study of the most remarkable figures in -the political world around him, if he did not feel drawn into sympathy -with their ways and their opinions. On one occasion, when a report had -got about in the newspapers that Lord Salisbury was often seen in -friendly companionship with the late Mr. Parnell in the smoking-room of -the House of Commons, Lord Salisbury publicly stated that he had never, -to his knowledge, seen Parnell, and had never been once in the House of -Commons smoking-room. - -No man has been better known, so far as personal appearance was -concerned, to the general English public than Lord Salisbury. He has -been as well known as Mr. Gladstone himself, and one cannot say more -than that. He was a frequent walker in St. James's Park and other places -of common resort in the neighborhood of the Houses of Parliament. Every -one knew the tall, broad, stooping figure with the thick head of hair, -the bent brows, and the careless, shabby costume. No statesman of his -time was more indifferent than Lord Salisbury to the dictates of fashion -as regarded dress and deportment. He was undoubtedly one of the -worst-dressed men of his order in London. In this peculiarity he formed -a remarkable contrast to Lord Beaconsfield, who down to the very end of -his life took care to be always dressed according to the most recent -dictates of fashion. All this was strictly in keeping with Lord -Salisbury's character and temperament. The world had to take him as he -was--he could never bring himself to act any part for the sake of its -effect upon the public. My own impression is that when he was removed by -the decree of fate into the House of Lords and taken away from the -active, thrilling life of the House of Commons, he felt himself excluded -from his congenial field of political action and had but little interest -in the game of politics any more. He does not seem destined to a place -in the foremost rank of English Prime Ministers, even of English -Conservative Prime Ministers. But his is beyond all question a -picturesque, a deeply interesting, and even a commanding figure in -English political history, and the world will have reason to regret if -his voluntary retirement from the position of Prime Minister should mean -also his retirement from the field of political life. - - - - -[Illustration: Photograph copyright by Elliott & Fry - -THE EARL OF ROSEBERY] - - - - -LORD ROSEBERY - - -Lord Rosebery was for a prolonged season the man in English political -life upon whom the eyes of expectation were turned. He is a younger man -than most of his political colleagues and rivals, but it is not because -of his comparative youth that the eyes of expectation were and still are -turned upon him. Not one of those who stand in the front ranks of -Parliamentary life to-day could be called old, as we reckon age in our -modern estimate. Palmerston, Gladstone, and Disraeli won their highest -political triumphs after they had passed the age which Lord Salisbury -and Sir William Harcourt have now reached; Mr. Balfour is still regarded -in politics as quite a young man, and Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman has -but lately been elected leader of the Liberal party in the House of -Commons. Lord Rosebery has already held the highest political offices. -He has been Foreign Secretary and he has been Prime Minister. He has -been leader of the Liberal party. No other public man in England has so -many and so varied mental gifts, and no other public man has won success -in so many distinct fields. We live in days when, for the time at least, -the great political orator seems to have passed out of existence. The -last great English orator died at Hawarden a few short years ago. We -have, however, several brilliant and powerful Parliamentary debaters, -and among these Lord Rosebery stands with the foremost, if he is not, -indeed, absolutely the foremost. As an orator on what I may call great -ceremonial occasions he is, according to my judgment, the very foremost -we now have. As an after-dinner speaker--and after-dinner speaking -counts for a great deal in the success of an English public man--he has -never had an equal in England during my time. Then Lord Rosebery has -delivered lectures or addresses in commemoration of great poets and -philosophers and statesmen which may even already be regarded as certain -of an abiding place in literature. Lord Rosebery is a literary man, an -author as well as a statesman and an orator; he has written a life of -Pitt which is already becoming a sort of classic in our libraries. There -are profounder students, men more deeply read, than he, but I doubt if -there are many men living who have so wide an acquaintance with general -literature. He is a lover as well as a student and a connoisseur of art, -he is an accomplished yachtsman, has a thorough knowledge of horses, is -famous on the turf, and the owner of two horses which won the Derby. The -legendary fairy godmother seems to have showered upon him at his birth -all her richest and most various gifts, and no malign and jealous sprite -appears to have come in, as in the nursery stories, to spoil any of the -gifts by a counteracting spell. He was born of great family and born to -high estate; he married a daughter of the house of Rothschild; he has a -lordly home near Edinburgh in Scotland, a noble house in the finest West -End square of London, and a delightful residence in one of our most -beautiful English counties. - -Lord Rosebery is one of the most charming talkers whom it has ever been -my good fortune to meet. He has a keen sense of humor, a happy art of -light and delicate satire, and, in private conversation as well as in -Parliamentary debate, he has a singular facility for the invention of -expressive and successful phrases which tell their whole story in a -flash. One might well be inclined to ask what the kindly fates could -have done for Lord Rosebery that they have left undone. Nevertheless, -the truth has to be told, that up to this time Lord Rosebery has not -accomplished as much of greatness as most of us confidently expected -that he would achieve. - -I have been, perhaps, somewhat too hasty in saying that no counteracting -spell had in any way marred the influence of the gifts which the fairies -had so lavishly bestowed on Lord Rosebery. One stroke of ill -fortune--ill fortune, that is, for an English political leader--was -certainly directed against him. Nature must have meant him to be a -successful Prime Minister, and yet fortune denied him a seat in the -House of Commons. He succeeded to his grandfather's peerage at an early -period of his life, and he had to begin his political career as a member -of the House of Lords. He therefore missed all that splendid training -for political warfare which is given in the House of Commons. It would -not, perhaps, be quite easy for an American reader to understand how -little the House of Lords counts for in the education of fighting -statesmen. - -When Charles James Fox was told in his declining years that the King, as -a mark of royal favor, intended to make him a peer and thus remove him -from the House of Commons into the House of Lords, he struck his -forehead and exclaimed: "Good Heaven! he does not think it has come to -that with me, does he?" Fox had had all the training that his genius -needed in the House of Commons, and he was not condemned to pass into -the House of Lords. Nothing but the inborn consciousness of a genius for -political debate can stimulate a man to great effort in the House of -Lords. Nothing turns upon a debate in that House. If a majority in the -House of Lords were to pass a vote of censure three times a week on the -existing Government, that Government would continue to exist just as if -nothing had happened, and the public in general would hardly know that -the Lords had been expressing any opinion on the subject. An ordinary -sitting of the House of Lords is not expected to last for more than an -hour or so, and the whole assembly often consists of some half a dozen -peers. Now and again, during the course of a session, there is got up -what may be called a full-dress debate when some great question is -disturbing the country, and the peers think that they ought to put on -the appearance of being deeply concerned about it, and some noble lord -who has a repute for wisdom or for eloquence gives notice of a formal -motion, and then there is a lengthened discussion, and perhaps, on some -extraordinary occasion, the peers may sit to a late hour and even take a -division. But on such remarkable occasions the peer who induces the -House to come together and listen to his oration is almost sure to be -one who has had his training in the House of Commons and has made his -fame as an orator there. - -Now, I cannot but regard it as a striking evidence of Lord Rosebery's -inborn fitness to be an English political leader that he should have got -over the dreary discouragement of such a training-school, and should -have practiced the art of political oratory under conditions that might -have filled Demosthenes himself with a sense of the futility of trying -to make a great speech where nothing whatever was likely to come of it. -Lord Rosebery, however, did succeed in proving to the House of Lords -that they had among them a brilliant and powerful debater who had -qualified himself for success without any help from the school in which -Lord Brougham and the brilliant Lord Derby, Lord Cairns, and Lord -Salisbury had studied and mastered the art of Parliamentary eloquence. - -But, indeed, Lord Rosebery appears to have had a natural inclination to -seek and find a training-school for his abilities in places and pursuits -that might have seemed very much out of the ordinary British -aristocrat's way. Until a comparatively recent period, we had nothing -that could be called a really decent system of municipal government in -the greater part of London. We had, of course, the Lord Mayor and the -municipality of the City of London, but then the City of London is only -a very small patch in the great metropolis that holds more than five -millions of people. London, outside the City, was governed by the -old-fashioned parish vestries, and to some extent by a more recent -institution which was called the Metropolitan Board of Works. Now, the -Metropolitan Board of Works did not manage its affairs very well. There -were disagreeable rumors and stories about contracts and jobbing and -that sort of thing, and although matters were never supposed to have -been quite so bad as they were in New York during days which I can -remember well, the days of Boss Tweed, there was enough of public -complaint to induce Parliament, at the instigation of Lord Randolph -Churchill, to abolish the Board of Works altogether and set up the -London County Council, a thoroughly representative body elected by -popular suffrage and responsible to its constituents and the public. -Lord Rosebery threw himself heart and soul into the promotion of this -better system of London municipal government. He became a member of the -London County Council, was elected its first Chairman, and later on was -re-elected to the same office. Now, I think it would be hardly possible -for a man of Lord Rosebery's rank and culture and tastes to give a more -genuine proof of patriotic public spirit than he did when he threw -himself heart and soul into the work of a municipal council. - -Up to that time the business of a London municipality had been regarded -as something belonging entirely to the middle class or the lower middle -class, something with which peers and nobles could not possibly be -expected to have anything to do. A London Alderman had been from time -out of mind a sort of figure of fun, a vulgar, fussy kind of person, -who bedizened himself in gaudy robes on festive occasions, and was -noted for his love of the turtle in quite a different sense from that -which Byron gives to the words. Lord Rosebery set himself steadily to -the work of London municipal government at a most critical period in its -history; his example was followed by men of rank and culture, and some -of the most intellectual men of our day have been elected Aldermen of -the London County Council. Only think of Frederic Harrison, the -celebrated Positivist philosopher, the man of exquisite culture and -refinement, the man of almost fastidious ways, the scholar and the -writer, becoming an Alderman of the London County Council, and devoting -himself to the duties of his position! Lord Rosebery undoubtedly has the -honor of having done more than any other Englishman to raise the -municipal government of London to that position which it ought to have -in the public life of the State. - -All that time Lord Rosebery was not neglecting any of the other -functions and occupations which had been imposed upon him, or which he -had voluntarily taken upon himself. He held the office of First -Commissioner of Works in one of Mr. Gladstone's administrations, an -office involving the care of all the State buildings and monuments and -parks of the metropolis. He was always to be seen at the private views -of the Royal Academy and the other great picture galleries of the London -season. He was always starting some new movement for the improvement of -the breed of horses, and, indeed, there is a certain section of our -community among whom Lord Rosebery is regarded, not as a statesman, or a -London County Councilor, or a lover of literature, but simply and -altogether as a patron of the turf. Meanwhile we were hearing of him -every now and then as an adventurous yachtsman, and as the orator of -some great commemoration day when a statue was unveiled to a Burke or a -Burns. - -A more delightful host than Lord Rosebery it would not be possible to -meet or even to imagine. I have had the honor of enjoying his -hospitality at Dalmeny and in his London home, and I shall only say that -those were occasions which I may describe, in the words Carlyle employed -with a less gladsome significance, as not easily to be forgotten in this -world. No man can command a greater variety of topics of conversation. -Politics, travel, art, letters, the life of great cities, the growth of -commerce, the tendencies of civilizations, the art of living, the -philosophy of life, the way to enjoy life, the various characteristics -of foreign capitals--on all such topics Lord Rosebery can speak with the -clearness of one who knows his subject and the vivacity of one who can -put his thoughts into the most expressive words. I suppose there must be -some eminent authors with whose works Lord Rosebery is not familiar, but -I can only say that if there be any such, I have not yet discovered who -they are--and I have spent a good deal of my time in reading. I have -seen Lord Rosebery in companies where painters and sculptors and the -writers of books and the writers of plays formed the majority, where -political subjects were not touched upon, and I have observed that Lord -Rosebery could hold his own with each practitioner of art on the -artist's special subject. Lord Rosebery does not profess to be a -bookworm or a great scholar, but I do not know any man better acquainted -with general literature. Such a man must surely have got out of life all -the best that it has to give. - -Yet it is certain that the eyes of expectation are still turned upon -Lord Rosebery. There is a general conviction that he has something yet -to do--that, in fact, he has not yet given his measure. He has been -Prime Minister, and he has been leader of the English Liberal party, but -in neither case had he a chance of proving his strength. When Mr. -Gladstone made up his mind to retire finally from political life, the -Queen sent for Lord Rosebery and invited him to form an administration. -Now, it is no secret that at that time there were men in the Liberal -party whose friends and admirers believed that their length of service -gave them a precedence of claims over the claims of Lord Rosebery. There -were those who thought Sir William Harcourt had won for himself a right -to be chosen as the successor to Mr. Gladstone. On the other side--for -there was grumbling on both sides--there were members of the Liberal -administration who positively declined to continue in office if Sir -William Harcourt were made Prime Minister. These men did not object to -serve under Sir William Harcourt as leader of the House of Commons, but -they objected to his elevation to the supreme place of Prime Minister. -Also, there were Liberals of great influence, who, while they had the -fullest confidence in Lord Rosebery and were not fanatically devoted to -Sir William Harcourt, objected to the idea of having a Prime Minister -in the House of Lords, and a Prime Minister, too, who had never sat in -the House of Commons. Now, it would be idle to deny that there was some -practical reason for this objection. The House of Commons is the field -on which political battles are fought and won. The Commander-in-Chief -ought always to be within reach. A whole plan of campaign may have to be -changed at a quarter of an hour's notice. It must obviously often be -highly inconvenient to have a Prime Minister who cannot cross the -threshold of the House of Commons in order to get into instant -communication with the leading men of his own party who are fighting the -battle. - -At all events, I am now only concerned to say that these doubts and -difficulties and private disputations did arise, and that, although Lord -Rosebery did accept the position of Prime Minister, he must have done so -with some knowledge of the fact that certain of his colleagues were not -quite satisfied with the new conditions. Lord Rosebery had been most -successful as Foreign Secretary during each term when he held the -office, but it was well known, before Mr. Gladstone's retirement, that -there were some questions of foreign policy on which the old leader and -the new were not quite of one opinion. In English political life, and I -suppose in the political life of every self-governing country, there are -seasons of inevitable action and reaction which must be observed and -felt, although they cannot always be explained. - -To a distant observer the policy of the Liberal party might have seemed -just the same after Mr. Gladstone had retired from politics as it was -when he was in the front of political life. But just as the policy which -sustained him in his early days as Prime Minister was helped by the -reaction which had set in against the aggressive policy of Lord -Palmerston, so there came, with the close of Gladstone's Parliamentary -career, a kind of reaction against his counsel of peace and moderation. -Lord Rosebery was believed to have more of what is called the -Imperialist spirit in him than had ever guided the policy of his great -leader. Certainly some of Mr. Gladstone's former colleagues in the House -of Commons appear to have thought so, and there began to be signs of a -growing division in the party. Lord Rosebery's Prime Ministership lasted -but a short time. The Government sustained one or two Parliamentary -discomfitures, and there followed upon these a positive defeat in the -nature of a sort of vote of censure carried by a small majority against -a department of the administration, on the ground of an alleged -insufficiency in some of the supplies of ammunition for military -service. Many a Government would have professed to think little of such -a defeat, would have treated it only as a mere question of departmental -detail, and would have gone on as if nothing had happened. But Lord -Rosebery refused to take things so coolly and so carelessly. Probably he -was growing tired of his position under the peculiar circumstances. -Perhaps he thought the most manly course he could take was to give the -constituencies the opportunity of saying whether they were satisfied -with his administration or were not. The Government appealed to the -country. Parliament was dissolved, and a general election followed. Then -was seen the full force of the reaction which had begun to set in -against the Gladstone policy of peace, moderation, and justice. The -Conservatives came into power by a large majority. Lord Rosebery was now -merely the leader of the Liberal party in Opposition. Even this -position he did not long retain. Some of the most brilliant speeches he -ever made in the House of Lords were made during this time, but somehow -people began to think that his heart was not in the leadership, and -before long it was made known to the public that he had ceased to be the -Liberal Commander-in-Chief. - -Everybody, of course, was ready with an explanation as to this sudden -act, and perhaps, as sometimes happens in such cases, the less a man -really knew about the matter the more prompt he was with his -explanation. Two reasons, however, were given by observers who appeared -likely to know something of the real facts. One was that Lord Rosebery -did not see his way to go as far as some of his colleagues would have -gone in arousing the country to decided action against the Ottoman -Government because of the manner in which it was allowing its Christian -subjects to be treated. The other was that Lord Rosebery was too -Imperialistic in spirit for such men as Sir William Harcourt and Mr. -John Morley. No one could impugn Lord Rosebery's motives in either case. -He might well have thought that too forward a movement against Turkey -might only bring on a great European war or leave England isolated to -carry out her policy at her own risk, and in the other case he may have -thought that the policy bequeathed by Mr. Gladstone was tending to -weaken the supremacy of England in South Africa. - -Lord Rosebery then ceased to lead a Government or a party, and became -for the time merely a member of the House of Lords. I do not suppose his -leisure hung very heavy on his hands. I cannot imagine Lord Rosebery -finding any difficulty in passing his day. The only difficulty I should -think such a man must have is how to find time to give a fair chance to -all the pursuits that are dear to him. Lord Rosebery spent some part of -his leisure in yachting, gave his usual attention to the turf, was to be -seen at picture galleries, and occasionally addressed great public -meetings on important questions, and was a frequent visitor to the House -of Commons during each session of Parliament. The peers have a space in -the galleries of the House of Commons set apart for their own -convenience, and, although that space can hold but a small number of the -peers, yet on ordinary nights its benches are seldom fully occupied. But -when some great debate is coming on, then the peers make a rush for the -gallery space in the House of Commons, and those who do not arrive in -time to get a seat have to wait and take their chance, each in his turn, -of any vacancy which may possibly occur. I am not a great admirer of the -House of Lords as a legislative institution, and I must say that it has -sometimes soothed the rancor of my jealous feelings as a humble Commoner -to see a string of peers extending across the lobby of the House of -Commons, each waiting for his chance of filling some sudden vacancy in -the peers' gallery. - -Lord Rosebery continued to attend the debates when he had ceased to be -Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal party just as he had done -before. His fine, clearly cut, closely shaven face, with features that a -lady novelist of a past age would have called chiseled, and eyes lighted -with an animation that seemed to have perpetual youth in it, were often -objects of deep interest to the members of the House, and to the -visitors in the strangers' galleries, and no doubt in the ladies' -gallery as well. The appearance of Lord Rosebery in the peers' gallery -was sure to excite some talk among the members of the House of Commons -on the green benches below. We were always ready to indulge in -expectation and conjecture as to what Lord Rosebery was likely to do -next, for there seemed to be a general consent of opinion that he was -the last man in the world who could sit down and do nothing. But what -was there left for him to do? He had held various administrative -offices: he had twice been Foreign Secretary; he had twice been Chairman -of the London County Council; he had been Prime Minister; he had been -leader of the Liberal party; he had been President of all manner of -great institutions; he had been President of the Social Science -Congress; he had been Lord Rector of two great Universities; he had -twice won the Derby. What was there left for him to do which human -ambition in our times and in the dominions of Queen Victoria could care -to accomplish? Yet the general impression seemed to be that Lord -Rosebery had not yet done his appointed work, and that impression has -grown deeper and stronger with recent events. - -Since the day when Lord Rosebery withdrew from the leadership of the -Liberal party the division in that party has been growing wider and -deeper. The war in South Africa has done much to broaden the gulf of -separation. Lord Rosebery is an Imperialist, Sir William Harcourt and -Mr. John Morley are not Imperialists. The opponents of Sir William -Harcourt and Mr. Morley call them Little Englanders. The opponents of -Lord Rosebery and those who think with him would no doubt call them -Jingoes. The Imperialist, or, as his opponents prefer to call him, the -Jingo, accepts as the ruling principle of his faith the right and the -duty of England to spread her civilization and her supremacy as far as -she can over all those parts of the world which are still lying in -disorganization and in darkness. The Little Englander, as his opponents -delight to describe him, believes that England's noblest work for a long -time to come will be found in the endeavor to spread peace, education, -and happiness among the peoples who already acknowledge her supremacy. I -am not going to enter into any argument as to the relative claims of the -two political schools. It has been said that a man is born either of the -school of Aristotle or of the school of Plato. Perhaps an Englishman of -modern times is born a Jingo or a Little Englander. I am not an -Englishman, and therefore am not called upon to rank myself on either -side of the controversy, but I know full well which way my instincts -and sympathies would lead me if I were compelled to choose. I could not, -therefore, account myself a political follower of Lord Rosebery; and, -indeed, on the one great question which concerned me most as a member of -the House of Commons, that of Irish Home Rule, Lord Rosebery is not -quite so emphatic as I should wish him to be. I am therefore writing the -eulogy, not of Lord Rosebery the politician, but of Lord Rosebery the -orator, the scholar, the man of letters and arts and varied culture, the -man who has done so much for public life in so many ways, the helpful, -kindly, generous friend. - -The common impression everywhere is that the Conservative Government, as -it is now constituted, cannot last very long. The sands of the present -Parliament are running out; the next general election may be postponed -for some time yet, but it cannot be very far off. Are the Liberals to -come back to power with Lord Rosebery at their head? Can the Liberal -party become so thoroughly reunited again, Jingoes and Little -Englanders, as to make the formation of a Liberal Government a possible -event so soon? Or is it possible, as many observers believe, that Lord -Rosebery may find himself at the head of an administration composed of -Imperialist Liberals and the more enlightened and generally respected -members of the present Government? I shall not venture upon any -prediction, having seen the unexpected too often happen in politics to -have much faith in political prophecy. I note it as an evidence of the -position Lord Rosebery has won for himself that, although he became -Prime Minister only to be defeated, and leader of the Liberal party only -to resign, he is still one of the public men in England about whom -people are asking each other whether the time for him to take his real -position has not come at last. - - - - -[Illustration: Photograph copyright by Elliott & Fry - -JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN] - - - - -JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN - - - - - -Mr. Chamberlain was once described by an unfriendly critic as the -Rabagas of English political life. We all remember Rabagas, the hero of -Sardou's masterpiece of dramatic satire, who begins his public career -and wins fame among certain classes as a leveler and a demagogue of the -most advanced views, an unsparing enemy of the aristocracy, a man who -will make no terms with the privileged orders, and will bow to no -sovereign but the sovereign people. Now, I have said that it was an -unfriendly critic who likened Mr. Chamberlain to Sardou's creation, but -it was not in the earlier career of the real or the imaginary politician -that the resemblance was especially to be traced. Rabagas is brought by -tempting conditions under the influence of the privileged classes, the -aristocracy, and the reigning sovereign of the small state in which he -lives; and his leveling and revolutionary tendencies melt away under the -genial influence of his new associations. He becomes, before long, the -admirer of the aristocracy and the Prime Minister of the Prince, and is -ready to devote all his energies to the defense of the privileged -orders, to the repression of the vile democracy, and the silencing of -Radical orators. - -In this contrast between the earlier and the later parts of the -political career the malevolent critic, no doubt, found the materials -for his comparison between Rabagas and Mr. Chamberlain. For there can be -no denying that Mr. Chamberlain began his public life as an eloquent, an -unsparing, and apparently a convinced champion of democracy against the -aristocracy, the privileged orders, and the Conservative party, and that -he is now a leading member of a Conservative Government, and goes -further than most of his colleagues would be likely to go in his -hostility to Radical measures and to Radical men. - -Moreover, Mr. Chamberlain, who during the earlier part of his public -life belonged to the party most strenuously opposed to all unnecessary -wars, and especially wars which had annexation for their object, has -been the chief Ministerial promoter of the late war in South Africa, a -war which had for its object the subjugation of two independent -republics in order to bring them under the Imperial flag of England. No -one, therefore, could have been much surprised when the unfriendly -critic fancied that he could discover at least a certain superficial -resemblance between the career of Rabagas and the career of Mr. -Chamberlain. - -I have been a close observer of much of Mr. Chamberlain's public life, -and for some time we were thrown a good deal into Parliamentary and -political association. He came into the House of Commons not very long -before I had the honor of obtaining a seat there, and his fame had -preceded him so far that his entrance into Parliament was looked upon by -everybody as a coming event, in the days when he had not yet been -elected to represent the constituency of Birmingham. Birmingham was at -that time one of the most thoroughly Radical cities in England. John -Bright once said that as the sea, wherever you dip a cup into it, will -be found to be salt, so the constituency of Birmingham, wherever you -test it, will be found to be Radical. Birmingham could claim the merit -of being one of the best organized municipalities in England. Its -popular educational institutions were excellent; its free libraries -might have won the admiration of a citizen of Boston, Massachusetts; its -police arrangements were efficient; its sanitation might well have been -the envy of London, and the general intelligence of its citizens was of -the highest order. Now, it was in this enlightened, progressive, and -capable community that Mr. Chamberlain won his first fame. He is not a -Birmingham man by birth. He was, I believe, born and brought up on the -south side of London, and was educated at University College School, -London. But at an early age he settled in Birmingham, and became a -member of his father's manufacturing firm there. Very soon he rose to -great distinction as a public speaker and as a member of the local -corporation, and three times was elected chief magistrate of Birmingham. -We began soon to hear a great deal of him in London. It must have been -clear to anybody who knew anything of Birmingham that a man could not -have risen to such distinction in that city without great intelligence -and a marked capacity for public life. All this time he was known as a -Radical of the Radicals. The Liberal party in London began to look upon -him as a coming man, and as a coming man who was certain to take his -place, and that probably a leading place, in the advanced Radical -division of the Liberals. His political speeches showed him to be a -democrat of the leveling order--a democrat, that is to say, of views -much more extreme than had ever been professed by John Bright or Richard -Cobden. He was an unsparing assailant of the aristocracy and the -privileged classes, and, indeed, went so far in his Radicalism that the -Conservatives in general regarded him as a downright Republican. - -I can well remember the sensation which his first speech in the House of -Commons created among the ranks of the Tories after his election to -Parliament as one of the representatives of Birmingham. The good Tories -made no effort to conceal their astonishment at the difference between -the real Chamberlain as they saw and heard him and the Chamberlain of -their earlier imaginings. I talked with many of them at the time, and -was made acquainted with their emotions. Judging from his political -speeches, they had set him down as a wild Republican, and they expected -to see a rough and shaggy man, dressed with an uncouth disregard for the -ways of society, a sort of Birmingham Orson who would probably scowl -fiercely at his opponents in the House and would deliver his opinions -in tones of thunder. The man who rose to address the House was a pale, -slender, delicate looking, and closely shaven personage, very neatly -dressed, with short and carefully brushed hair, and wearing a dainty -eyeglass constantly fixed in his eye. "He looks like a ladies' doctor," -one stout Tory murmured. "Seems like the model of a head clerk at a West -End draper's," observed another. Certainly there was nothing of the -Orson about this well-dressed, well-groomed representative of the -Birmingham democracy. Mr. Chamberlain's speech made a distinct -impression on the House. It was admirably delivered, in quietly -modulated tones, the clear, penetrating voice never rising to the level -of declamation, but never failing to reach the ear of every listener. -The political opinions which it expressed were such as every one might -have expected to come from so resolute a democrat, but the quiet, -self-possessed delivery greatly astonished those who had expected to see -and hear a mob orator. Mr. Chamberlain's position in the House was -assured after that first speech. Even among the Tories everybody felt -satisfied that the new man was a man of great ability, gifted with a -remarkable capacity for maintaining his views with ingenious and -plausible argument, a man who could hold his own in debate with the -best, and for whom the clamors of a host of political opponents could -have no terrors. - -I may say at once that Mr. Chamberlain has, ever since that time, proved -himself to be one of the ablest debaters in the House of Commons. He is -not and never could be an orator in the higher sense, for he wants -altogether that gift of imagination necessary to the composition of an -orator, and he has not the culture and the command of ready illustration -which sometimes lift men who are not born orators above the mere -debater's highest level. But he has unfailing readiness, a wide -knowledge of public affairs, a keen eye for all the weak points of an -opponent's case, and a flow of clear and easy language which never fails -to give expression, at once full and precise, to all that is in his -mind. He was soon recognized, even by his extreme political opponents, -as one of the ablest men in the House of Commons, and it seemed plain to -every one that, when the chance came for the formation of a Liberal -Ministry, the country then being in the hands of a Tory Government, Mr. -Chamberlain would beyond question find a place on the Treasury Bench. - -Meanwhile Mr. Chamberlain's democratic views seemed to have undergone no -modification. He was as unsparing as ever in his denunciation of the -aristocracy and the privileged classes, and he was especially severe -upon the great landowners, and used to propound schemes for buying them -out by the State and converting their land into national property. His -closest ally and associate in Parliamentary politics was Sir Charles -Dilke, who had entered the House of Commons some years before Mr. -Chamberlain, and who was then, as he is now, an advanced and determined -Radical. Sir Charles Dilke, in fact, was at that time supposed to be -something very like a Republican, at least in theory, and he had been -exciting great commotion in several parts of the country by his -outspoken complaints about the vast sums of money voted every year for -the Royal Civil List. It was but natural that Sir Charles Dilke and Mr. -Chamberlain should become close associates, and there was a general -conviction that the more advanced section of the Liberal party was -destined to take the command in Liberal politics. - -Outside the range of strictly English politics there was a question -arising which threatened to make a new division in the Liberal party. -This was the question of Home Rule for Ireland as it presented itself -under the leadership of Charles Stewart Parnell. For years the subject -of Home Rule had been the occasion, under the leadership of Mr. Butt, of -nothing more formidable to the House of Commons than an annual debate -and division. Once in every session Mr. Butt brought forward a motion -calling for a measure of Home Rule for Ireland, and, after some eloquent -speeches made in favor of the motion by Irish members, a few speeches -were delivered on the other side by the opponents of Home Rule, Liberals -as well as Tories, and then some leading member of the Government went -through the form of explaining why the motion could not be accepted. A -division was taken, and Mr. Butt's motion was found to have the support -of the very small Irish Nationalist party, as it then was, and perhaps -half a dozen English or Scotch Radicals; and the whole House of Commons, -except for these, declared against Home Rule. About the time, however, -of Mr. Chamberlain's entrance on the field of politics a great change -had taken place in the conditions of the Home Rule question. Charles -Stewart Parnell had become in fact, although not yet in name, the leader -of the Irish National party, and Parnell's tactics were very different -indeed from those of his nominal leader, Mr. Butt. Butt was a man who -had great reverence for old constitutional forms and for the traditions -and ways of the House of Commons, and he had faith in the power of mere -argument to bring the House some time or other to see the justice of his -cause. Parnell was convinced that there was only one way of compelling -the House of Commons to pay any serious attention to the Irish demand, -and that was by making it clear to the Government and the House that -until they had turned their full attention to the Irish national claims, -they should not be allowed to turn their attention to any other business -whatever. Therefore he introduced that policy of obstruction which has -since become historical, and which for a time literally convulsed the -House of Commons. Now, I am not going again into the oft-told tale of -Home Rule and the obstruction policy, and I touch upon the subject here -only because of its direct connection with the career of Mr. -Chamberlain. Sir Charles Dilke and Mr. Chamberlain supported Mr. Parnell -in most of his assaults upon the Tory Government. It was Parnell's -policy to bring forward some motion, during the discussion of the -estimates for the army and navy or for the civil service, which should -raise some great and important question of controversy connected only in -a technical sense with the subject formally before the House, and thus -to raise a prolonged debate which had the effect of postponing to an -indefinite time the regular movement of business. Thus he succeeded in -stopping all the regular work of the House until the particular motion -in which he was concerned had been fully discussed and finally settled, -one way or the other. It was by action of this kind that he succeeded in -prevailing upon the House of Commons to condemn the barbarous system of -flogging in the army and the navy, and finally to obtain its abolition. -In this latter course he was warmly supported by Mr. Chamberlain and Sir -Charles Dilke, and by many other Liberal members. - -But it was not only in obstructive motions which concerned the common -interests of the country that Parnell obtained the support of Sir -Charles Dilke and Mr. Chamberlain. These two men boldly and vigorously -maintained him in his policy of obstruction when it only professed to -concern itself with Irish national questions. They identified themselves -so thoroughly with his Irish policy that it became a familiar joke in -the House of Commons to describe Dilke and Chamberlain as the -Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General of the Home Rule party. I was -then a member of the House, and had been elected Vice-President of the -Irish party, Parnell being, of course, the President. Naturally, I was -brought closely into association with Mr. Chamberlain, and I had for -many years been a personal friend of Sir Charles Dilke. Again and again -I heard Mr. Chamberlain express his entire approval of the obstructive -policy adopted by Parnell, and declare that that was the only way by -which Parnell could compel the House of Commons to give a hearing to the -Irish claims. Mr. Chamberlain, indeed, expressed, on more than one -occasion, in speeches delivered during a debate in the House, just the -same opinion as to Parnell's course which I had heard him utter in -private conversation. In one of these speeches I remember well his -generous declaration that he was sorry he had not had an opportunity of -expressing that opinion to the House of Commons long before. Now, of -course, I always thought, and still think, that all this was much to the -credit of Mr. Chamberlain's political intelligence, courage, and manly -feeling, and I regarded him as one of the truest English friends the -Home Rule cause had ever made. I had the opportunity, on more than one -occasion, of hearing Dilke and Chamberlain define their respective -positions on the subject of Home Rule. Dilke regarded Home Rule as an -essential part of a federal system, which he believed to be absolutely -necessary to the safety, strength, and prosperity of the British Empire. -He would have made it a Federal system, by virtue of which each member -of the Imperial organization governed its own domestic affairs in its -own way, while the common wishes and interests of the Empire were -represented, discussed, and arranged in a central Imperial Parliament. -Therefore, even if the Irish people had not been themselves awakened to -the necessity for a Home Rule Legislature in Ireland, Dilke would have -been in favor of urging on them the advantages of such an arrangement. -This, in point of fact, is the system which has made the Canadian and -the Australasian provinces what they are at this day, contented, loyal, -and prosperous members of the Imperial system. Chamberlain was not so -convinced an advocate of the general system of Home Rule as Dilke, but -he was always emphatic in his declarations that, if the large majority -of the Irish people desired Home Rule, their desire should be granted to -them by the Imperial Parliament. - -When I first entered the House of Commons, the Conservative party was in -office. About a year after, the general election of 1880 came on, almost -in the ordinary course of events, and the result of the appeal to the -country was that the Liberals came back to power with a large majority. -Mr. Gladstone was at the head of the Liberal party, and he became Prime -Minister. Everybody assumed that two such prominent Radicals as Dilke -and Chamberlain could not be overlooked by the new Prime Minister in his -arrangements to form an administration. I think I am entitled to say, as -a positive fact, that Dilke and Chamberlain entered into an -understanding between themselves that unless one at least of them was -offered a place in the Cabinet, neither would accept office of any kind. -Of course when a new Government is in process of formation all these -arrangements are matters of private discussion and negotiation with the -men at the head of affairs; and the result of interchange of ideas in -this instance was that Chamberlain became President of the Board of -Trade, with a seat in the Cabinet, and Dilke accepted the office of -Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, without a place in the inner -Ministerial circle. This was done, not only with Dilke's cordial -consent, but at his express wish, for it was his strong desire that the -higher place in the administration should be given to his friend. - -Now, at this time Mr. Gladstone was not a convinced Home Ruler. I know -that the importance of the question was entering his mind and was -absorbing much of his attention. I know that he was earnestly -considering the subject, and that his mind was open to conviction; but I -know also that he was not yet convinced. Chamberlain, therefore, would -apparently have had nothing to gain if he merely desired to conciliate -the favor of his leader by still putting himself forward as the friend -and the ally of the Home Rule party. But he continued, when in office, -to be just as openly our friend as he had been in the days when he was -only an ordinary member of the House of Commons. There were times when, -owing to the policy of coercion pursued in Ireland by the then Chief -Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant, the relations between the Liberal -Government and the Home Rule party were severely strained. We did battle -many a time as fiercely against Mr. Gladstone's Government as ever we -had done against the Government of his Tory predecessor. Yet Mr. -Chamberlain always remained our friend and our adviser, always stood by -us whenever he could fairly be expected to do so in public, and always -received our confidences in private. When Mr. Parnell and other members -of our party were thrown into Dublin prison, Mr. Chamberlain did his -best to obtain justice and fair treatment for them and for the Home Rule -cause and for the Irish people. - -Many American readers will probably have a recollection of what was -called the Kilmainham Treaty--the "Treaty" being an arrangement which it -was thought might be honorably agreed upon between Mr. Gladstone and the -leaders of the Irish party, and by virtue of which an improved system -of land-tenure legislation was to be given to Ireland, on the one hand, -and every effort was to be made to restore peace to Ireland on the -other. I do not intend to go into this old story at any length, my only -object being to record the fact that the whole arrangements were -conducted between Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Parnell, and that Chamberlain -was still understood to be the friend of Ireland and of Home Rule. These -negotiations led to the resignation of office by the late Mr. William -Edward Forster, Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland; and -then came the important question, Who was likely to be put in Mr. -Forster's place? I believe that, as a matter of fact, the place was -offered, in the first instance, to Sir Charles Dilke, but was declined -by him on the ground that he was not also offered a seat in the Cabinet, -and Dilke was convinced that unless he had a seat in the Cabinet he -could have no chance of pressing successfully on the Government his -policy of Home Rule for Ireland. - -Mr. Chamberlain then had reason to believe that the office would be -tendered to him, and he was willing to accept it and to do the best he -could. I know that he believed that the place was likely to be offered -to him and that he was ready to undertake its duties, for he took the -very frank and straightforward course of holding a conference with -certain Irish Nationalist members to whom he made known his views on the -subject. The Irish members whom he consulted understood clearly from him -that if he went to Ireland in the capacity of Chief Secretary he would -go as a Home Ruler and would expect their co-operation and their -assistance. There was no secret about this conference. It was held -within the precincts of the House of Commons, and Mr. Chamberlain's -action in suggesting and conducting it was entirely becoming and proper -under the conditions. For some reason or other, which I at least have -never heard satisfactorily explained, the office of Chief Secretary was -given, after all, to the late Lord Frederick Cavendish. Then followed -the terrible tragedy of the Phoenix Park, Dublin, when Lord Frederick -and Mr. Thomas Burke, his official subordinate, were murdered in the -open day by a gang of assassins. When the news of this appalling deed -reached London, Mr. Parnell and I went at once, and as a matter of -course, to consult with Sir Charles Dilke and Mr. Chamberlain as to the -steps which ought to be taken in order to vindicate the Irish people -from any charge of sympathy with so wanton and so atrocious a crime. We -saw both Dilke and Chamberlain and consulted with them, and I can well -remember being greatly impressed by the firmness with which Mr. -Chamberlain declared that nothing which had happened would prevent him -from accepting the office of Chief Secretary in Ireland if the -opportunity were offered to him. I go into all this detail with the -object of making it clear to the reader that, up to this time, Mr. -Chamberlain had the full confidence of the Irish Nationalist party and -was understood by them to be in thorough sympathy with them as to -Ireland's demand for Home Rule. - -Mr. Chamberlain did not, however, become Irish Secretary, but retained -his position as President of the Board of Trade, and many foreign -troubles began in Egypt and other parts of the world which diverted the -attention of Parliament and the public for a while from questions of -purely domestic policy. Mr. Gladstone, however, succeeded in carrying -through Parliament a sort of new reform bill which reconstructed the -constituencies, expanded the electorate, and, in fact, set up in the -three countries something approaching nearly to the old Chartist idea of -equal electoral division and universal suffrage. The foreign troubles, -however, were very serious, the Government lost its popularity, and at -last was defeated on one of its financial proposals and resigned office. -The Tories came into power for a short time. Mr. Chamberlain stumped the -country in his old familiar capacity as a Radical politician of the -extreme school, and he started a scheme of policy which was commonly -described afterwards as the unauthorized programme, in which he -advocated, among other bold reforms, a peasant proprietary throughout -the country by the compulsory purchase of land, the effect of which -would be to endow every deserving peasant with at least three acres and -a cow. The Tories were not able to do anything in office, owing to the -combined attacks made upon them by the Radicals and the Irish Home -Rulers, and in 1886 another dissolution of Parliament took place and a -general election came on. The effect of the latest reform measure -introduced by Mr. Gladstone now told irresistibly in Mr. Gladstone's -favor, and the newly arranged constituencies sent him back into office -and into power. Mr. Chamberlain once again joined Mr. Gladstone's -Government, and became President of the Local Government Board. - -Then comes a sudden change in the story. The extension of the suffrage -gave, for the first time, a large voting power into the hands of the -majority of the Irish people, for in Ireland up to that date the right -to vote had been enjoyed only by the landlord class and the well-to-do -middle class; and the result of the new franchise was that Ireland sent -into Parliament an overwhelming number of Home Rule Representatives to -follow the leadership of Parnell. Gladstone then became thoroughly -satisfied that the vast majority of the Irish people were in favor of -Home Rule, and he determined to introduce a measure which should give to -Ireland a separate domestic Parliament. Thereupon Mr. Chamberlain -suddenly announced that he could not support such a measure of Home -Rule, and it presently came out that he could not support any measure of -Home Rule. He resigned his place in Mr. Gladstone's Government, and he -became from that time not only an opponent of Home Rule but a proclaimed -Conservative and anti-Radical. When a Tory Government was formed, after -the defeat of Mr. Gladstone's first Home Rule measure, Mr. Chamberlain -became a member of the Tory Government, and he is one of the leading -members of a Tory Government at this day. - -Now, it is for this reason, I suppose, that the unfriendly critic, of -whom I have already spoken more than once, thought himself justified in -describing Mr. Chamberlain as the Rabagas of English political life. It -is, indeed, hard for any of us to understand the meaning of Mr. -Chamberlain's sudden change. At the opening of 1886 he was, what he had -been during all his previous political life, a flaming democrat and -Radical. In the early months of 1886 he was a flaming Tory and -anti-Radical. During several years of frequent association with him in -the House of Commons I had always known him as an advocate of Home Rule -for Ireland, and all of a sudden he exhibited himself as an -uncompromising opponent of Home Rule. Many English Liberal members -objected to some of the provisions of Mr. Gladstone's first Home Rule -Bill, but when these objections were removed in Mr. Gladstone's second -Home Rule Bill they returned at once to their places under his -leadership. But Mr. Chamberlain would have nothing to do with any -manner of Home Rule measure, and when he visited the province of Ulster -in the north of Ireland he delighted all the Ulster Orangemen by the -fervor of his speeches against Home Rule. Moreover, it may fairly be -asked why an English Radical and democrat of extreme views must needs -become an advocate of Toryism all along the line simply because he has -ceased to be in favor of Home Rule for Ireland. These are questions -which I, at least, cannot pretend to answer. - -Of course we have in history many instances of conversions as sudden and -as complete, about the absolute sincerity of which even the worldly and -cynical critic has never ventured a doubt. There was the conversion of -Constantine the Great, and there was the sudden change brought about in -the feelings and the life of Ignatius of Loyola. But then somehow Mr. -Chamberlain does not seem to have impressed on his contemporaries, -either before or after his great change, the idea that he was a man cast -exactly in the mold of a Constantine or an Ignatius. Only of late years -has he been dubbed with the familiar nickname of "Pushful Joe," but he -was always set down as a man of personal ambition, determined to make -his way well on in the world. We had all made up our minds, somehow, -that he would be content to push his fortunes on that side of the -political field to which, up to that time, he had proclaimed himself to -belong, and it never occurred to us to think of him as the associate of -Tory dukes, as a leading member of a Tory Government, and as the -champion of Tory principles. Men have in all ages changed their -political faith without exciting the world's wonder. Mr. Gladstone began -as a Tory, and grew by slow degrees into a Radical. Two or three public -men in our own days who began as moderate Liberals have gradually turned -into moderate Tories. But Mr. Chamberlain's conversion was not like any -of these. It was accomplished with a suddenness that seemed to belong to -the days when miracles were yet worked upon the earth. Mr. Chamberlain -may well feel proud in the consciousness that the close attention of the -political world will follow with eager curiosity his further career. - - - - -[Illustration: Photograph copyright by Elliott & Fry - -HENRY LABOUCHERE] - - - - -HENRY LABOUCHERE - - -Henry Labouchere is the most amusing speaker in the House of Commons. -Eclipse is first and there is no second--to adopt the words once used by -Lord Macaulay--at least, if there be a second, I do not feel myself -qualified for the task of designating him. It is hardly necessary to say -that whenever Labouchere rises in the House of Commons--and he rises -very often in the course of a session--he is sure of an immediate -hearing. He seldom addresses himself to any subject with the outward -appearance of seriousness. He always puts his argument in jesting form; -sends a shower of sparkling words over the most solemn controversy; puts -on the manner of one who has plunged into the debate only for the mere -fun of the thing; and brings his display to an end just at the time when -the House hopes that he is only beginning to exert himself for its -amusement. I do not know that he has ever made what could be called a -long speech, and I think I may fairly assume that he has never made a -speech which his audience would not have wished to be a little longer. - -Now, I must say at once that it would be the most complete -misappreciation of Henry Labouchere's character and purpose to regard -him as a mere jester, or even a mere humorist endowed with the faculty -of uttering spontaneous witticisms. Labouchere is very much in earnest -even when he makes a joke, and his sharpest cynicism is inspired by a -love of justice and a desire to champion the cause of what he believes -to be the right. I heard him once make a speech in the House of Commons -on behalf of some suffering class or cause, and when coming to a close -he suddenly said: "I may be told that this is a sentimental view of the -case; but, Mr. Speaker, I am a man of sentiment." The House broke into a -perfect chorus of laughter at the idea thus presented of Labouchere as a -man of sentiment. Probably many, or most, of his listeners thought it -was only Labouchere's fun, and merely another illustration of his love -for droll paradox. I have no doubt that Labouchere knew very well in -advance what sort of reception was likely to be given to his -description of himself, and that he heartily enjoyed the effect it -produced. But, all the same, there was a good deal of truth in the -description. I have always regarded Labouchere as a man of intensely -strong opinions, whose peculiar humor it is to maintain these opinions -by sarcasm and witticism and seeming paradox. - -Certainly no public man in England has given clearer evidence of his -sincerity and disinterestedness in any cause that he advocates than -Labouchere has done again and again. I remember hearing it said many -years ago in New York of my old friend Horace Greeley that whereas some -other editors of great newspapers backed up their money with their -opinions, Greeley backed up his opinions with his money. The meaning, of -course, was that while some editors shaped their opinions in order to -make their journals profitable, Horace Greeley was ready to sacrifice -his money for the sake of maintaining the newspaper which expressed his -sincere convictions. Something of the same kind might fairly be said of -Henry Labouchere. He is the proprietor and editor of the weekly -newspaper "Truth," in which he expresses his own opinions without the -slightest regard for the commercial interests of the paper, or, indeed, -for the political interests of the party which he usually supports in -the House of Commons. I believe that, as a matter of fact, "Truth" is a -most successful enterprise, even as a commercial speculation, for -everybody wants to know what it is likely to say on this or that new and -exciting question, and nobody can tell in advance what view Labouchere's -organ may be likely to take. Labouchere has, however, given proof many -times that he keeps up his newspaper as the organ of his individual -opinions, and not merely as a means of making money or sustaining the -interests of a political party. He has again and again hunted out and -hunted down evil systems of various kinds, shams and quacks of many -orders, abuses affecting large masses of the poor and the lowly, and has -rendered himself liable to all manner of legal actions for the recovery -of damages. If, because of some technical or other failure in his -defense to one of those legal actions, Labouchere is cast in heavy -damages, he pays the amount, makes a jest or two about it, and goes to -work at the collection of better evidence and at the hunting out of -other shams with as cheery a countenance as if nothing particular had -happened. Fortunately for himself, and, I think, also very fortunately -for the public in general, Labouchere is personally a rich man, and is -able to meet without inconvenience any loss which may be brought upon -him now and then by his resolute endeavors to expose shams. - -Labouchere spent ten years of his earlier manhood in the diplomatic -service, and was attache at various foreign courts and at Washington. He -had always a turn for active political life, and entered the House of -Commons in 1865, and in 1880 was elected as one of the representatives -for the constituency of Northampton. His colleague at that time in the -representation of the constituency was the once famous Charles -Bradlaugh. It would not be easy to find a greater contrast in appearance -and manners, in education and social bringing up, than that presented by -the two representatives of Northampton. Labouchere is a man of barely -medium stature; Bradlaugh's proportions approached almost to the -gigantic. One could not talk for five minutes with Labouchere and fail -to know, even if they had never met before, that Labouchere was a man -born and trained to the ways of what is called good society; Bradlaugh -was evidently a child of the people, who had led a hard and roughening -life, and had had to make his way by sheer toil and unceasing exertion. -Bradlaugh as a public speaker was powerful and commanding in his -peculiar style--the style of the workingman's platform and of the -open-air meetings in Hyde Park. He had tremendous lungs, a voice of -surprising power and volume, and his speeches were all attuned to the -tone of open-air declamation. Most observers, even among those who -thoroughly recognized his great intellectual power and his command of -language, would have taken it for granted beforehand that he never could -suit himself to the atmosphere of the House of Commons. Labouchere's -speeches, even when delivered to a large public meeting, were pitched in -a conversational key, and he never attempted a declamatory flight. His -speeches within the House of Commons and outside it always sparkled with -droll and humorous illustrations, and when he was most in earnest he -seemed to be making a joke of the whole business. Bradlaugh was always -terribly in earnest, and seemed as if he were determined to bear down -all opposition by the power of his arguments and the volume of his -voice. In Labouchere you always found the man accustomed to the polished -ways of diplomatic circles; in Bradlaugh one saw the typical champion of -the oppressed working class. Labouchere comes, as his name would -suggest, from a French Huguenot family of old standing; Bradlaugh was -thoroughly British in style even when he advocated opinions utterly -opposed to those of the average Briton. - -The House of Commons is, on the whole, a fair-minded assembly, and even -those who were most uncompromising in their hostility to some of -Bradlaugh's views came soon to recognize that by his election to -Parliament the House had obtained a new and powerful debater. Both men -soon won recognition from the House for their very different -characteristics as debaters, and at one time I think that the -college-bred country gentlemen of the Tory ranks were inclined, on the -whole, to find more fault with Labouchere than with Bradlaugh. They -seemed willing to make allowances for Bradlaugh which they would not -make for his colleague in the representation of Northampton. One can -imagine their reasoning out the matter somewhat in this way: This man -Bradlaugh comes from the working class, is not in any sense belonging to -our order, and we must take all that into account; while this other man, -Labouchere, is of our own class, has had his education at Eton, has been -trained among diplomatists in foreign courts, is in fact a gentleman, -and yet is constantly proclaiming his hostility to all the established -institutions of his native country. Even the Tory country gentlemen, -however, found it impossible wholly to resist the wit, the sarcasms, and -the droll humors of Labouchere, and whenever he spoke in the House he -was sure to have attentive listeners on all the rows of benches. - -Bradlaugh's actual Parliamentary career did not last very long. When he -was first elected for Northampton, he refused to take the oath of -allegiance, on the ground that he could not truthfully make that appeal -to the higher power with which the oath concludes. He was willing to -make an affirmation, but the majority of the House would not accept the -compromise. A considerable period of struggle intervened. The seat was -declared to be vacant, but Mr. Bradlaugh was promptly re-elected by the -constituents of Northampton, and then there set in a dispute between -the House and the constituency something like that which, in the days of -Daniel O'Connell, ended in Catholic emancipation. Bradlaugh was enabled -to enter the House in 1886, and he made himself very conspicuous in -debate. His manners were remarkably courteous, and he became popular -after a while even among those who held his political and religious -opinions in the utmost abhorrence. His career was closed in 1891 by -death. - -I can well remember my first meeting with Henry Labouchere. It was at a -dinner party given by my friend Sir John R. Robinson, then and until -quite lately manager of the London "Daily News." The dinner was given at -the Reform Club, and took place, I think, some time before Labouchere's -election for Northampton. I had never seen Labouchere before that time, -and had somehow failed to learn his name before we sat down to dinner. -We were not a large party, and the conversation was general. I was soon -impressed by the vivid and unstrained humor of Labouchere's talk and by -the peculiarity of his manner. He spoke his sentences in quiet, slow, -and even languid tones; there was nothing whatever of the "agreeable -rattle" in his demeanor; he had no appearance of any determination to be -amusing, or even consciousness of any power to amuse. He always spoke -without effort and with the air of one who would just as soon have -remained silent if he did not happen to have something to say, and -whatever he did say in his languorous tones was sure to hold the -attention and to delight the humorous faculties of every listener. My -curiosity was quickly aroused and promptly satisfied as to the identity -of this delightful talker, and thus began my acquaintanceship with -Labouchere, which has lasted ever since, and is, I hope, likely to last -for some time longer. Labouchere is a wonderful teller of stories drawn -from his various experiences in many parts of the world, and, unlike -most other story-tellers, he is never heard to repeat an anecdote, -unless when he was especially invited to do so for the benefit of some -one who had not had an opportunity of hearing it before. If he were only -a teller of good stories and an utterer of witty sayings, he would well -deserve a place in the social history of England during our times; but -Labouchere's skill as a talker is one of his least considerable claims -upon public attention. Nature endowed Labouchere with what might be -called a fighting spirit, and I believe that whenever he sees any -particular cause or body of men apparently put under conditions of -disadvantage, his first instinctive inclination is to make himself its -advocate, so far at least as to insist that the cause or the men must -have a fair hearing. - -In the House of Commons it could not have happened very often that Henry -Labouchere was found on the side of the strong battalions. I know that -during the heaviest and the fiercest struggles of the Irish National -party against coercive laws and in favor of Ireland's demand for Home -Rule, Henry Labouchere was always found voting with us in the division -lobby. Some of those days were very dark indeed. Before Gladstone had -become converted to the principle of Home Rule for Ireland, and before -the later changes in the system of Parliamentary representation had -given an extended popular suffrage to the Irish constituencies, the -number of Irish representatives who followed the leadership of Charles -Stewart Parnell was for many sessions not more than seven or eight. -There were some English members who always voted with us, and -conspicuous and constant among these were Sir Wilfred Lawson and Henry -Labouchere. Unquestionably neither Labouchere nor Lawson had anything -whatever to gain in Parliamentary or worldly sense by identifying -himself with our efforts in the House of Commons. As soon as Ireland got -her fair share of the popular franchise, Parnell was followed by some -eighty or ninety members out of the hundred and three who constitute the -whole Irish representation. This was the very fact which first brought -Gladstone, as I heard from his own lips, to see that the demand of -Ireland was in every sense a thoroughly national demand, and that the -whole principle of the British constitution claimed for it the -consideration of genuine statesmanship. Labouchere had identified -himself with the national cause in the days before that cause had yet -found anything like representation in the House of Commons. Through all -his political career he remained faithful to that principle of -nationality, and in the time--I hope not distant--when the Irish claim -for Home Rule is recognized and accepted by the British Parliament, -Ireland is not likely to forget that Henry Labouchere was one of the -very few English members who recognized and championed her claim in the -hour when almost every man's hand was against it. - -Perhaps the inborn spirit of adventure which makes itself so apparent in -Labouchere's temperament and career may have had something to do with -his championship of the oppressed. I do not say this with any intention -to disparage Labouchere's genuine desire to uphold what he believes to -be the right, but only to illustrate the peculiarities of his nature. -Certainly his love of adventure has made itself conspicuous and -impressive at many stages of his varied career. There is a legend to the -effect that Labouchere joined at one time the company of a traveling -circus in the United States for the novelty and amusement of the -enterprise. I do not know whether there is any truth in this story, but -I should certainly be quite prepared to believe it on anything like -authentic evidence. The adventure would seem quite in keeping with the -temper of the man. Most of us know what happened when the Germans were -besieging Paris during the war of 1870. It suddenly occurred to -Labouchere that it would be a most interesting chapter in a man's life -if he were to spend the winter in the besieged city. No sooner said, or -thought, than done. Labouchere was then one of the proprietors of the -London "Daily News," and he announced his determination to undertake the -task of representing that journal in Paris as long as the siege should -last. Of course he obtained full authority for the purpose, and he -contrived to make his way into Paris, and when there he relieved the -regular correspondent of the "Daily News" from his wearisome and -perilous work by sending him off, in a balloon, I believe, to Tours, -where he was out of the range of the German forces, and could continue -his daily survey of events in general. Then Labouchere set himself down -to enjoy all the hardships of the siege, to live on the flesh of horse -and donkey and even cat and rat, to endure the setting in of utter -darkness when once the sun had gone down, and to chronicle a daily -account of his strange experiences. This was accomplished in his "Diary -of a Besieged Resident," which appeared from day to day in the columns -of the "Daily News," and was afterwards published as a volume, and a -most entertaining, humorous, realistic, and delightful volume it made. -The very difficulties of its transmission by means of balloons and -pigeons and other such floating or flying agencies must have been a -constant source of amusement and excitement to the adventurous besieged -resident. - -Labouchere has always been in the habit of seeking excitement by -enterprises on the Stock Exchange. I do not believe that these ventures -have been made with the commonplace desire to make money, but I can -quite understand that they are prompted by the very same desire for new -experiences which prompted the residence in besieged Paris. I remember -meeting Labouchere one day many years ago in a West End London street, -and being told by him that he had just incurred a very heavy loss by one -of his financial ventures on the Stock Exchange. He told me in his usual -tones of almost apathetic languor the amount of his loss, and it seemed -to my modest experiences in money affairs to be a positive fortune -sacrificed. He was smiling blandly while recounting his adventure, and I -could not help asking him how he had felt when the loss was first made -known to him. "Well," he replied, in the same good-humored tone, "it was -an experience, like another." That, I think, is a fair illustration of -Labouchere's governing mood. The great thing was to get a new -sensation. At one time Labouchere became the founder and the owner of a -new theater in London, and he took part in many a newspaper enterprise. -He was, as I have said, for a long time one of the proprietors of the -"Daily News," and he entered into that proprietorship at the very time -when the "Daily News" was making itself most unpopular in capitalist -circles and in what is known as society, by its resolute and manly -adherence to the side of the Federal States during the great American -Civil War. It suited Labouchere's pluck and temper to join in such an -undertaking at the time when the odds seemed all against it; and it is -only fair to say that I am sure no love for a new sensation could induce -Labouchere to take up any cause which he did not believe to be the cause -of right. - -Labouchere was one of those who went in with the late Edmund Yates in -founding "The World," then quite a new venture as a society journal. -Labouchere, however, did not long remain a sharer in this enterprise. -Yates was the editor of the paper, and Yates went in altogether for -satirical or at least amusing pictures of West End life, and did not -care anything about politics and the struggles of this or that -political movement. Labouchere could not settle down to any interest in -a newspaper which dealt only with changes of fashion and the -whimsicalities of social life. His close interest in political questions -filled him with the resolve to start a journal which, while dealing with -the personages and the ways of society, should also be the organ of his -own views on graver subjects. He therefore withdrew from all concern in -Edmund Yates's "World" and started his own weekly newspaper, "Truth," -which has since enjoyed a life of vigor and success. There is room -enough for both papers apparently. The "World" has not lost its circle -of readers, while "Truth" is beyond question a great power in political -and financial as well as in social movements. - -One of Labouchere's special delights is to expose in "Truth" some -successful adventurer in pretentious financial schemes, some -hypocritical projector of sham philanthropic institutions, some -charlatan with whom, because of his temporary influence and success, -most other people are unwilling to try conclusions. Such an impostor is -just the sort of man whom Labouchere is delighted to encounter. -Labouchere's plan is simple and straightforward. He publishes an -article in "Truth" containing the most direct and explicit charges of -imposture and fraud against the man whom he has determined to expose, -and he invites this man to bring an action against him in a court of law -and obtain damages, if he can, for slander. Labouchere usually intimates -politely that he will not avail himself of any preliminary and technical -forms which might interpose unnecessary delay, and that he will do all -in his power as defendant to facilitate and hasten the trial of the -action. It happens in many or most cases that the personage thus invited -to appeal to a court of law cautiously refrains from accepting the -invitation. He knows that Labouchere has plenty of money, perceives that -he is not to be frightened out of his allegations, and probably thinks -the safest course is to treat "Truth" and its owner with silent -contempt. Sometimes, however, the accused man accepts battle in a court -of law, and the attention of the public is riveted on the hearing of the -case. Perhaps Labouchere fails to make out every one of his charges, and -then the result is formally against him and he may be cast in damages, -but he cares nothing for the cost and is probably well satisfied with -the knowledge that he has directed the full criticism of the public to -the general character of his opponent's doings and has made it -impossible for the opponent to work much harm in the future. Even the -strongest political antagonists of Labouchere have been found ready to -admit that he has rendered much service to the public by his resolute -efforts to expose shams and quackeries of various kinds at whatever -pecuniary risk or cost to himself. - -I do not know whether it would be quite consistent with the realities of -the situation if I were to describe Labouchere as a favorite in the -House of Commons. He has provoked so many enmities, he has made so many -enemies by his sharp sarcasms, his unsparing ridicule, and his sometimes -rather heedless personalities, that a great many members of the House -must be kept in a state of chronic indignation towards him. A man who -arouses a feeling of this kind and keeps it alive among a considerable -number of his brother members could hardly be described with strict -justice as a favorite in the House of Commons. Yet it is quite certain -that there is no man in the House whose sayings are listened to with a -keener interest, and whose presence would be more generally missed if -he were to retire from public life. - -One of the many stories which I have heard about Labouchere's peculiar -ways when he was in the diplomatic service is worth repeating here. It -has never been contradicted, so far as I know. When Labouchere was -attache to the British Legation at Washington--it was then only a -Legation--his room was invaded one day by an indignant John Bull, fresh -from England, who had some grievance to bring under the notice of the -British Minister. That eminent personage was not then in the house, and -the man with the grievance was shown into Labouchere's room. Labouchere -was smoking a cigarette, according to his custom, and he received the -visitor blandly, but without any effusive welcome. John Bull declared -that he must see the Minister at once, and Labouchere mildly responded -that the British Minister was not in the Legation buildings. "When will -he return?" was the next demand, to which Labouchere could only make -answer that he really did not know. "Then," declared the resolute -British citizen, "I have only to say that I shall wait here until he -returns." Labouchere signified his full concurrence with this proposal, -and graciously invited his countryman to take a chair, and then went on -with his reading and noting of letters and his cigarette just as before. -Hours glided away, and no further word was exchanged. At last the hour -came for closing the official rooms, and Labouchere began to put on his -coat and make preparations for a speedy departure. The visitor thereupon -saw that the time had come for some decided movement on his part, and he -sternly put to Labouchere the question, "Can you tell me where the -British Minister is just now?" Labouchere replied, with his usual -unruffled composure, "I really cannot tell you exactly where he is just -now, but I should think he must be nearly halfway across the Atlantic, -as he left New York for England last Saturday." Up rose John Bull in -fierce indignation, and exclaimed, "You never told me that he had left -for England." "You never asked me the question," Labouchere made answer, -with undisturbed urbanity, and the visitor had nothing for it but to go -off in storm. - -Labouchere is the possessor of a beautiful and historic residence on the -banks of the Thames--Pope's famous villa at Twickenham. There he is in -the habit of entertaining his friends during the summer months, and -there one is sure to meet an interesting and amusing company. I have had -the pleasure of being his guest many times, and I need hardly say that I -have always found such visits delightful. Labouchere is a most charming -host, and although he is himself a wonderful talker, full of anecdote -and reminiscence, he never fails to see that the conversation is -thoroughly diffused, and that no guest is left out of the talk. In -London he always mixes freely with society, and his London home is ever -hospitable. Many of his friends were strongly of opinion that he ought -to have been invited to become a member of a Liberal administration. I -suppose, however, that most of the solid and steady personages who form -a Cabinet would have been rather alarmed at the idea of so daring and -damaging a free lance being appointed to a high place in the official -ranks of a Government, and it would have been out of the question to -think of offering any subordinate position to so brilliant a master of -Parliamentary debate. For myself I do not feel any regret that -Labouchere, so far, has not taken any place in an administration. He has -made his fame as a free lance, and has done efficient public work in -that capacity, such as he could hardly have accomplished if he had been -set down to the regular and routine duties of an official post. He has -made a name for himself by his independent support of every cause and -movement which he believed to have justice on its side, and I could not -think with any satisfaction of a so-called promotion which must submerge -his individuality in the measured counsels and compromises of a number -of administrative colleagues. I prefer still to think of him as Henry -Labouchere, and not as the Right Honorable Gentleman at the head of -this, that, or the other department of State. - - - - -[Illustration: Photograph copyright by London Stereoscopic Co. - -JOHN MORLEY] - - - - -JOHN MORLEY - - -No English public man of the present day has had a more remarkable -political career than that of John Morley. Almost everything that could -be against success in political life was against John Morley when he -arose from the student's desk to take his place on the political -platform. I am not now making any allusion to the difficulties set in a -man's way by those accidents which the first Lord Lytton described -grandiloquently as the "twin gaolers of the human heart, low birth and -iron fortune." I am not quite certain what iron fortune may be, but if I -assume it to be early poverty I do not regard it as a very formidable -obstruction to human genius in our times. We have many successful men in -public life just now who were born in humble station and had to struggle -hard for a long time against poverty. John Morley was not born in humble -life, as the phrase goes, and had not, so far as I know, to struggle -against early poverty. He had an Oxford University education and was -called to the bar, but did not make any effort after success in that -profession. The difficulties to which I have alluded as standing in his -way when he determined to seek a career in political and Parliamentary -life had nothing to do with birth and with poverty--they were of quite a -different order. - -Morley had taken to literature as a profession, and had made for himself -a distinguished name as a writer of books and an editor of reviews and -newspapers before he obtained a seat in the House of Commons. Now, there -is, or used to be, a sort of fixed belief in the British public mind -that a literary man is not, in the nature of things, qualified for -success in Parliamentary work. We are somewhat getting over this idea of -late, and indeed there were at all times living evidences enough to -shake such a faith. The generation which recognized the success won in -Parliamentary debate by a Macaulay, a Disraeli, and a Bulwer-Lytton -might well have got over the notion that literary men cannot succeed in -Parliament; but even up to the time of John Morley's election to the -House of Commons the idea found still a very general acceptation. -Another and much more serious difficulty in John Morley's way was the -fact that he was a proclaimed agnostic in questions of religious faith. -Now, the average Englishman can hardly be described as one imbued with -profound and exalted religious convictions, but it may be taken for -granted that he thinks every respectable person who is fit to be a -member of Parliament ought to conform to some recognized creed and to -attend some authorized place of worship. John Morley was at one time not -merely an agnostic, but an avowed and somewhat aggressive agnostic, and -his brilliant pen had often been employed to deal satirically with some -established doctrine. - -In England there is little or no general objection to freedom of opinion -so long as it is a question merely of opinion. We may know that a man -holds free-thinking opinions, but we feel no wish to inflict any manner -of punishment or deprivation on him so long as he keeps his opinions to -himself and does not endeavor to make them prevail with others. This, -however, was what John Morley had got into the way of doing. When he -felt a strong conviction on any subject which seemed to him important, -he always endeavored to justify his faith by argument and to bring -others round to his views of the question. - -I can well remember that many of Morley's admirers and friends were but -little gratified when it was first made known that he intended to seek -for a seat in the House of Commons. Their impression was that he was -just then doing in effective and admirable style the very kind of work -for which he was best qualified, and that it was a pity he should run -the risk of marring such a career for the sake of entering a political -field in which he might possibly win no success, and in which success, -even if won, would be poor compensation for the sacrifice of better -work. Morley, however, seems to have made up his mind, even at an early -period of his career, that he would try his chance in Parliament. So -long ago as 1865 he became a candidate for a constituency in the North -of England, but was not successful; and in 1880, after he had won -genuine celebrity by his biography of Edmund Burke, that of Voltaire, -that of Rousseau, and other books of the same order, he became a -candidate for the great metropolitan division of Westminster. Here -again he was unsuccessful, and it was only in 1883 that he first -obtained a seat in the House of Commons as the representative of -Newcastle-on-Tyne. I can well remember listening with the deepest -interest to his maiden speech in the House of Commons. The general -impression of the House was that the speech would prove a failure, for -only too many members had already made up their minds, according to the -usual fashion of the day, that a successful literary man was not likely -to become a Parliamentary success. There was a common impression also -that, despite his great gifts as a writer and his proved capacity as a -journalist and editor, John Morley must be an impracticable sort of -person. He had been at one time well known as an associate of the famous -Positivist order of thinkers--the order to which men like Frederic -Harrison and Richard Congreve belonged. The average member of Parliament -could see no chance for a disciple of that school, which this average -member regarded merely as a group of dreamers, to make any mark in a -practical assembly where the routine business of legislation had to be -carried on. Morley's speech was, however, a distinct and unmistakable -success. - -What first impressed the House of Commons was the ready, quiet force of -Morley's delivery. He had a fine, clear voice, he spoke without notes -and without any manifest evidence of preparation, every sentence -expressed without effort the precise meaning which he wished to convey, -and his style had an eloquence peculiarly its own. What most men -expected of him was the philosophical discourse of a student and a -thinker no longer in his fitting place, and what was least expected of -him was just that which he delivered, a ready, telling, and powerful -Parliamentary speech. He had some unexpected difficulties to encounter, -because he gave out his opinions so forcibly and so boldly that their -utterance called forth frequent interruptions--an unusual event in the -case of a maiden speech, which is generally regarded as a mere -introductory ceremonial and is taken politely as a necessary matter of -form. The House soon found, however, that John Morley's speech did not -by any means belong to the ordinary category of maiden performances, and -the very interruptions were therefore a positive tribute to the -importance of the new member's argument. The interruptions were in every -sense fortunate for Morley, because they enabled him at this very first -opportunity to prove his ready capacity for debate. He replied on the -spur of the moment to every interruption and every interjected question, -and he showed all the composure, all the promptitude and the command, of -a practiced Parliamentary debater. Every man in the House whose opinion -was worth having at once recognized the fact that a new force had come -up in Parliamentary debate, and when John Morley resumed his seat he -must have known that he had accomplished a complete success. From that -time onward John Morley has always been recognized as one of the most -powerful speakers in the House of Commons. His voice is clear, resonant, -and musical, the light of intellect gleams in his earnest eyes, his -argument is always well sustained and set off with varied and -appropriate illustration, and whenever he rises to speak he is sure to -have a deeply attentive audience. - -Morley is not in the highest sense one of the orators of Parliament. He -is not to be classed, and has never sought to be classed, with such men -as Gladstone and Bright. But, short of the highest gift of eloquence, he -has every quality needed to make a great Parliamentary debater. When he -addresses the House of Commons, one ceases to think of him merely as -the scholar and the author, and he becomes the man who can command the -House by the arguments and the eloquence which the House best -understands. There are many men of high intellectual capacity who -occasionally take part in a Parliamentary debate and who are always -regarded as in the House but not of it. John Morley proved from his very -first effort that he was of the House as well as in it. I have heard him -make great platform speeches, and I think he comes nearer to the highest -order of eloquence when addressing an ordinary political meeting than -even when addressing the House, but it is quite certain that at the -present time the House of Commons has no member who can more completely -command its attention. It must be said, too, that the character of the -man himself, his transparent sincerity, his absolute devotedness to -principle, his fearless and unselfish consistency, count for much in the -commanding position which he has obtained. The integrity of Morley's -career is absolutely beyond criticism or cavil. It never entered into -the mind of his bitterest opponent to suspect for a moment that Morley -could be influenced by any personal consideration in the course which he -took or the words which he uttered. Other men of high position in -Parliament are commonly set down as having taken this or that course, -modified or suppressed this or that opinion, for the sake of personal -advancement, or at least for the sake of maintaining the interests of a -party. But everybody knows that John Morley has never sought for office, -and could never be induced to make any compromise of political principle -even for the sake of maintaining in power the political party to which -he belongs. The universal recognition of that great quality in him has -added unspeakably to his influence in Parliament. He was not at any time -a frequent speaker in the House of Commons, and of course he never was a -mere talker. He speaks only when he has something to say which he -believes ought to be said and to be said by him, and he never seems to -have any temptation to enter into debate for the mere pleasure of taking -part in the controversy. If a man is really a good speaker, the House is -always ready to listen to him no matter how often he may speak, for the -plain reason that debate has to go on for a certain number of hours each -day, and it is more pleasant to listen to a member who talks well than -to one who talks badly. But, no matter how effective and eloquent a -speaker may be, it is quite certain that the House will give him a more -attentive ear if it knows beforehand that whenever he rises to take part -in debate it is sure to hear something which up to that moment has not -been spoken. John Morley, therefore, very soon became one of that small -body of men in the House of Commons whose rising to speak is always -regarded as an event of interest and importance. - -In the retrospect of John Morley's career one is brought up with -something approaching to a shock of surprise when he remembers that at -the opening of Morley's Parliamentary life he was closely associated -with Joseph Chamberlain. I remember having heard people say at the time -that Chamberlain took much credit to himself on the ground that he had -urged and prevailed upon John Morley to persevere in seeking a seat in -the House of Commons. Mr. Chamberlain was at that time an extreme and -uncompromising Radical. He was an avowed and constant supporter of the -Home Rule party; was in close alliance with Parnell; took a leading part -in the arrangement of the so-called Kilmainham Treaty, and delivered a -warm panegyric on Parnell himself and Parnell's policy to a crowded and -for the most part an indignant House of Commons. There was, therefore, -nothing surprising in the fact that Morley and Chamberlain were at that -time friends and allies in political affairs, nor had any one then the -faintest reason to believe that Chamberlain was ever destined to undergo -a sudden and miraculous conversion to ultra-Tory principles. When Mr. -Gladstone came into office in 1886 with what was known to be a Home Rule -administration, John Morley obtained the position of Chief Secretary to -the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, with a seat in the Cabinet. It is not by -any means a matter of course that the Irish Chief Secretary should be a -Cabinet Minister. Sometimes the Lord-Lieutenant himself has a place in -the Cabinet and the Chief Secretary is merely an ordinary member of the -Government; sometimes, when the Chief Secretary is regarded as a very -strong man, he is invited to a seat in the Cabinet and his official -master remains outside. John Morley was recognized from the first by -Gladstone as a man of the highest political capacity and character, and -when the new administration came to be formed Gladstone made evident -this estimate of Morley by offering him a place in the Cabinet. The -keenest interest was felt alike both by political friends and political -enemies in Morley's management of Irish affairs. The new Secretary for -Ireland was entering bravely on an enterprise the immediate success of -which was, under the conditions, absolutely impossible. I have no doubt -whatever that success could have been easily and completely accomplished -if John Morley had been allowed his own way in dealing with the whole -Irish question--if, for instance, he had been placed in such a position -of dictatorship as that which was given to Lord Durham when Durham was -sent out to deal with the rebellion in Canada. Durham saw but one remedy -for the long discontents and troubles of the Canadian populations, and -that remedy he found in the system of Home Rule which has since made -Canada peaceful, prosperous, and well content with the place she holds -in the British Empire. If John Morley could have been invested with such -powers as those given to Lord Durham, he might have made of Ireland -another prosperous and contented Canada. But Morley had to administer -the affairs of Ireland at a time when the opinion of the English -majority had not yet risen to the principle of Home Rule, at least so -far as Ireland was concerned, and without such recognition it was beyond -the reach of statesmanship to satisfy the national demands of the Irish -people. Every Irish Nationalist knew perfectly well that John Morley's -heart and intellect alike were with the cause of Irish Home Rule. All -that Morley could do to mitigate the troubles of the country and the -people he did bravely and steadfastly. Ireland was then the victim of an -accumulation of coercion laws which made almost every popular movement, -every attempt to maintain an oppressed tenant against an oppressive -landlord, every protest against despotic legislation, liable to be -treated as an offense calling for the interference of the police. John -Morley did all that could be done to mitigate the rigors of such a -system, and to administer Ireland on something like the principles of -civilization and freedom. He had in this task the full support, -encouragement, and sympathy of the statesman who was then -Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland--the Earl of Aberdeen, a man of the most -thoroughly Liberal principles and a sincere friend to Ireland. But, of -course, neither Lord Aberdeen nor John Morley could abolish at a word -of command a whole system of penal legislation, and all that could be -done was to take care that the laws should be administered in a -temperate and reasonable spirit, and that the rulers of Ireland should -show themselves to be at heart the friends of Ireland. - -There comes back to my memory a somewhat curious illustration of the -difficulties which then stood in the way of any cordial intercourse -between the representatives of English rule in Ireland and the -representatives of the Irish national cause, and I cannot resist the -temptation to tell the story here. During Morley's first term of office -as Chief Secretary I made some visits to Dublin. I had many meetings -with Morley, of course, and he invited me to dine with him at the Chief -Secretary's Lodge in Phoenix Park. Now, there had been during all my -time a rigorous rule among Irish Nationalists not to accept any of the -hospitalities of those who exercised imperial authority in Dublin. No -true Nationalist would make one at any social gathering in the official -residence of the Viceroy or the Chief Secretary. There were more than -merely sentimental reasons for such a principle. In former days the -Irish people had in several well-remembered instances seen some vehement -advocate of the Irish National cause won over by the promises and the -blandishments of Dublin Castle to take office under the Government and -to renounce the political faith the profession of which had won for him -his seat in Parliament. Therefore it was above all things necessary, in -order to maintain the confidence of the Irish people, that the national -representatives should show themselves determined not to be drawn into -any familiar social relations with the representatives of English rule -in Ireland. This was especially a part of Parnell's policy, and on it -Parnell laid much stress. John Morley came over to Ireland in a spirit -of full friendship towards the Irish people, and he had every reason to -believe that the Irish people thoroughly understood his feelings and his -hopes. He and I had known each other during many years in London, and -when we met in Dublin, he, being still new to the conditions of the -place, invited me to dine with him. I explained to him that, however -delighted I should be to dine with my friend John Morley, it was quite -impossible that I should dine with the Chief Secretary at his official -residence in Dublin. I assured him that if I were to accept such an -invitation the Tory papers of Dublin would be certain to make -characteristic comments on the fact that the Chief Secretary to the -Lord-Lieutenant and the Vice-Chairman of the Irish Parliamentary party -had been dining together in the Chief Secretary's official home, and -that we should both alike find ourselves the objects of something -approaching to a public scandal. Morley was surprised at first and then -a good deal amused, but he accepted my explanation, and thoroughly -understood that it was not any want of friendly feeling which led me to -decline his invitation. So we parted as good friends as ever. We still -met frequently and talked over questions relating to Irish -administration. One day Morley came to see me at the Shelburne Hotel, -which was then my home in Dublin. We had a long talk, and, as the hour -was growing late, I asked him to stay and dine with me, not remembering -at the time that the eye of the public was supposed to be on our -movements. One of Morley's happiest gifts is a delightful sense of -humor. He rose to the situation at once. Addressing me in solemn tones, -but with a gleam of the comic in his eyes, he informed me that if my -principles did not allow me to dine with the Chief Secretary in Dublin, -so neither did the Chief Secretary's principles allow him to dine there -with me. Thus, as some newspaper writers would say, the incident -terminated, and we made no further effort at convivial meetings in -Dublin. - -John Morley's quick sense of humor is not one of the qualities which a -stranger would naturally look for in him. Those who have not met him and -have known him only through his writings are apt to think of him as a -grave and even an austere man, a man wholly immersed in the serious -contemplation of life and history, and, if endowed with any sense of -humor, only with a sense of its more grim and saturnine aspects. The man -himself is altogether and curiously unlike the impression thus formed of -him very commonly by those to whom he is not personally known. John -Morley has a quick, keen, and delightful sense of humor. He can talk on -any subject from grave to gay, from lively to severe. He is one of the -most charming of companions, and he is a great favorite among women, -even among those who do not greatly concern themselves with the question -of woman's political emancipation. There is nothing of the stern -philosopher about his manner of comporting himself in social life. -Indeed, for all the clear composure of his philosophic contemplations, -he has a temperament far too quick and sensitive to allow of his meeting -all life's vexatious questions in the mood of stoical endurance. He is -by nature somewhat nervous, is decidedly quick in temper, frankly -acknowledges that he is rather impatient of contradiction, and is likely -to become overheated in the course of an eager argument. I feel the less -hesitation in noticing these little peculiarities on the part of my -friend because I have heard Morley himself speak of them with perfect -frankness as some of his troubles in political controversy. I must say -that, so far as I know, these unphilosophical qualities of Morley's -temperament only tend to make him all the more a charming friend to his -friends. We may admire the marble-like composure of the stern -philosopher who yields to no passing human weaknesses of temper, but it -must be very hard to keep always on friendly terms with so superhuman a -personage. - -Mr. Morley goes into society a good deal in London, is often to be seen -at the theaters on first nights, seems to enjoy a dinner party or an -evening party as well as the most commonplace among us might do, but I -do not believe that he has any liking for great shows and pompous -celebrations and the other formal demonstrations of Court festivity and -Ministerial display. In his quiet London home he leads the life of a man -of culture, a scholar and a writer, so far as his political and -Parliamentary engagements allow him leisure for such recreation, and he -neither seeks the madding crowd nor shuns it. It has always been a -wonder to me how such a man can find time for his many and diverse -studies and occupations, and should never either neglect the work of his -life or shut himself away from its reasonable enjoyments. John Morley is -indeed a rare and almost unique combination of the philosophical -thinker, the vivid biographer, the Parliamentary debater, and the -practical administrator. His life of Richard Cobden is one of the most -complete and characteristic pieces of biography accomplished during our -time. There would not seem to have been much that was congenial between -the temperament of Richard Cobden and that of John Morley. Cobden was -not a laborious student of the past; he had no widespread and varied -literary or artistic sympathies; he did not concern himself much with -any scientific studies except those which have to do with the actual -movements of man's working lifetime; he was a great practical reformer, -not a scholar, a philosopher, or even a devoted lover of books. I do not -know that John Morley was personally well acquainted with Cobden, and I -am rather inclined to believe that in his biography of the great -free-trader he relied mainly on Cobden's correspondence and on the -information given to him by members of Cobden's family. Yet he has -created a perfect living picture of Cobden as Cobden's friends all knew -him, and he has shown to coming generations, not merely what Cobden said -and did, what great reforms he accomplished, and what further reforms he -ever had in view, but he has shown what Cobden actually was, and made -the man himself a familiar figure to all who read the book. So far as I -can judge, he has achieved the same success when telling us of Burke, of -Voltaire, and of Rousseau, and has made us feel that with his guidance -we come to know the men themselves as well as the parts they performed -in politics or in literature. - -Morley has for a long time been engaged in preparing his life of -Gladstone, and the mind of England, which has lately been distracted by -the vicissitudes of war, is now free to turn to quieter thoughts, and to -look with eager expectation for the completion of the book. No other -living man could have anything like John Morley's qualifications as the -biographer of Gladstone. He is one of the greatest masters of lucid and -vigorous English prose. He has been what I may call a professional -student of the lives of great men; he is a profound political thinker; -and he has the faculty of describing to the life and making his subject -live again. In addition to all these claims to the position of -Gladstone's authorized biographer comes the fact that Morley was for -many years intrusted with Gladstone's fullest confidence. To no one did -Gladstone make his feelings and his purposes on all political questions -more fully known than to John Morley; and I think I am justified in -saying that at more than one critical period in his later political -history Gladstone chose Morley as his especial and, for the time, his -only confidant. I can say of my own knowledge that in the later years of -Gladstone's active political life there were momentous occasions when -John Morley acted as the one sole medium of private communication -between Gladstone and the leaders of the Irish party. I know, too, how -careful and methodical Morley showed himself on all such occasions, and -with what ample and accurate notes he preserved the exact record of -every day's intercommunications. This is, indeed, one of Morley's -characteristic peculiarities--the combination of exalted thought with -the most minute attention to the very routine of practical work. That -combination of qualities will display itself, I feel quite certain, with -complete success in Morley's history of Gladstone's life. John Morley -has still, we may well hope, a long political career before him. When -the Liberal party next comes into power, John Morley will unquestionably -have one of its most commanding offices placed at his disposal. -Meanwhile he has ample work on hand even for his energy and -perseverance. He is just finishing his life of Gladstone, and is to take -charge of the magnificent library which belonged to the late Lord Acton, -the greatest English scholar and book-lover of our time. Mr. Carnegie's -gift of this great library, lately bought by him, to John Morley, is an -act which does honor to the intellect as well as to the heart of the -generous donor. Whatever positions, honors, or responsibilities maybe -yet before John Morley, it may be taken for granted that he has already -won for himself a secure place in the literature and the political life -of his country, and that his name will live in its history. - - - - -[Illustration: Photograph by William Notman & Son - -THE EARL OF ABERDEEN] - - - - -THE EARL OF ABERDEEN - - -The Earl of Aberdeen will always be associated in my mind with a most -hopeful season of our political life, a season none the less cherished -in memory and none the less auspicious because its hopes were doomed to -temporary disappointment. That bright season was the time when Mr. -Gladstone was endeavoring to carry out his policy of Home Rule for -Ireland. I need hardly tell my American readers that Gladstone's policy -was condemned to failure, partly because of a secession of Liberals who -went over to the Conservative ranks for the purpose of opposing the -measure, and then because of the attitude taken by the House of Lords, -who, thus encouraged, rejected the bill after it had passed the House of -Commons. The season, therefore, which I am now recalling to memory was -that which came between Mr. Gladstone's promulgation of his Home Rule -policy and the rejection of his second measure of Home Rule. The -interval was one full of the brightest hopes for all true British -Liberals and all Irish Nationalists. For the first time during my -recollection, British Liberalism and Irish Nationalism were in true -companionship and concord. We fraternized as English and Irish -politicians had probably never fraternized before. On both sides we were -filled with the fond belief that the disunion of Great Britain and -Ireland was soon to come to an end, and that the true and lasting union -of the two peoples would be accomplished by Gladstone's policy of giving -to Ireland her national self-government. It was a season of much -festivity in London, and the Irish Nationalist members of Parliament -were welcome guests in all the great Liberals' houses. No figures are -more thoroughly associated in my memory with that time than those of -Lord Aberdeen and his gifted and noble-minded wife. - -Lord Aberdeen is the grandson of that Earl of Aberdeen whose coalition -ministry, a luckless effort at a temporary compromise between hostile -political forces, came to a disastrous end during the Crimean War. The -present Earl succeeded to the title in 1870. He was educated at the -University of St. Andrews, in Scotland, and afterwards at University -College, Oxford. Lord Aberdeen was a Conservative in his political -principles when he entered the House of Lords. But he had too much -intellect and too much independence of mind to remain long in -subserviency to the traditional creed of a mere party. He differed from -his leaders on several important questions before he had fully seen his -way to take up his position as a recognized member of the Liberal -organization. Most of us who had followed his career thus far with any -attention felt sure that the Conservatives would not long be able to -keep such a man among their slow-going and unenlightened ranks, and no -surprise was felt on either side when he took his natural place as a -follower of Mr. Gladstone. Lord Aberdeen became an earnest advocate of -the Home Rule policy, and all the noble influence that he and his wife -could bring to bear publicly and privately was exerted in support of the -cause. Then it was that I first came to know Lord and Lady Aberdeen. I -have before me just now a book called "Notables of Britain," described -on its title-page as "An Album of Portraits and Autographs of the Most -Eminent Subjects of Her Majesty in the Sixtieth Year of Her Reign." This -book was published at the office of the "Review of Reviews," and was -understood to be the production of Mr. W. T. Stead. It contains an -excellent full-length photograph of Lord Aberdeen, who, I may say, has a -face and figure well worthy to be preserved by painter and photographer -for the benefit of those who in coming days are interested in the -notables of Britain. The portrait, like all the other portraits in the -volume, is accompanied by an autograph line or two. Lord Aberdeen's -written words seem to me peculiarly characteristic of the writer's -bright and hopeful spirit. I quote his words--the writing is clear and -well formed:-- - - I think this is a good motto: - "_Transeunt nubes--manet caelum._" - ABERDEEN. - -The temper in which Lord Aberdeen conducted all his political -intercourse during this period of promise was one of unchanging courage -and hopefulness. He was one of the most active and ready among the -supporters of Mr. Gladstone, and he found an untiring and invaluable -companion in his charming wife. At that time we used to hold political -gatherings in private houses as well as in public halls, and I have -taken part in more than one Home Rule demonstration held in the private -dwellings of some of Mr. Gladstone's colleagues in office. We used to -have many social meetings for the purpose of bringing Englishmen and -Irishmen into close association. Even Parnell himself was prevailed upon -to abandon for the time his rule of seclusion from society, and to meet -Mr. Gladstone and Lord Spencer and other leading Englishmen at private -dinner parties. Lord Aberdeen was one of the most conspicuous and one of -the most attractive figures in these political and social gatherings, -and I could not, indeed, recall that period to memory for a moment -without finding his figure photographed prominently in it. It was an -interesting sight during all that time to see some of the most extreme -and most aggressive members of the Irish Parliamentary party mingling in -social life with British peers and magnates who only a few years before -would probably have regarded those Irish members as traitors to the -Queen and fitting inmates of the prison cell. On the other hand, too, it -must be said that only a very few years before the Irish Nationalist -member who was known to make his appearance in the London drawing-rooms -of English aristocracy would have been set down by the majority of his -countrymen as a flunkey in spirit and a traitor to his cause. There was -a time not long before when an Irish Nationalist member would have -needed some courage to enable him to meet his constituents on election -day if the local papers had made it known that he was in the habit of -showing himself in the drawing-rooms of English peers. All this sudden -and complete change had been brought about by the genius and policy of -Gladstone when he came to see the true meaning and the true claims of -the demand for Irish Home Rule. My memory goes back with a somewhat -melancholy pleasure to those days of hope and confidence when the true -union of Great Britain and Ireland seemed actually on the verge of -consummation. Nor have I the slightest doubt that the lessons taught -during that season will have their full influence once again when the -period of reaction is over, and that Gladstone's policy of 1886 will -come to life again before very long and will accomplish its work once -for all. - -In that year, 1886, Gladstone appointed Lord Aberdeen to the office of -Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. The position was given to Lord Aberdeen with -the frankly proclaimed purpose that he was to be the Lord-Lieutenant of -a Home Rule policy, and, indeed, on no other conditions would Lord -Aberdeen have consented to accept the office. Lord Aberdeen's short term -of rule in Ireland was a complete success. There was not much that the -most Liberal Lord-Lieutenant could do in the way of positive -administration for the benefit of the island. There was already in -existence a whole code of repressive legislation compiled during -successive ages of despotic government, and this existing code it was -not in the power of Lord Aberdeen or any other Viceroy to abolish or -even to modify. All that the new Lord-Lieutenant could do in the way of -political relief to the Irish people was to discourage as much as -possible the too frequent application of the coercive laws and to make -it known that the sympathies of the new Government were in favor of -political freedom for Ireland, as well as for England and Scotland. Lord -Aberdeen fulfilled this part of his public duty with a brave heart and -with all the success possible to the task. Every one who had any -acquaintance with the state of Ireland at the time must have known what -difficulties were likely to be set in the way of Lord Aberdeen's -endeavor to mitigate the severities of the coercion system. The most -serious of those difficulties would in all probability have come from -the permanent official staff in Dublin Castle. American readers in -general can have but little idea as to the peculiarities of that -singular institution Dublin Castle, the center and fortress of Irish -government. It has become, from generations of usage, a very bulwark -against the progress of Irish national sentiment. The fresh current of -feeling from the outside seems to make little impression on its stagnant -and moldy atmosphere. It is ruled by tradition, and to that tradition -belongs the rule of hostility to every popular feeling and every -national demand. Lord Aberdeen had to encounter all the resistance which -the dead weight of Dublin Castle's antiquated systems could bring to -bear against his liberal and enlightened efforts at the pacification of -the country. He carried out his purpose with unflinching resolve and -unruffled temper, and, so far as the existing laws allowed him, he -mitigated the harshnesses of the system under which Ireland had been -governed since the Act of Union. But there was, of course, much more -within Lord Aberdeen's capacity to accomplish than the mere mitigation -of existing laws which it was not in his power to abolish. His presence -and the entire conduct of his viceroyalty were as a proclamation to the -Irish people that the whole sympathies of the Gladstone Government went -with the national demands. - -Then, indeed, a strange sight was to be seen in Dublin--the sight of a -thoroughly popular welcome, a national welcome, given to the -representative of English rule in Ireland. A new chapter in Irish -history seemed to open, and the heart of Ireland was filled with hope. -It is told of Swift that when Carteret, Earl Granville, was appointed -Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland--Swift afterwards became one of Granville's -close friends--he exclaimed in his sarcastic fashion that he could not -understand why such a man should be appointed to such an office, and he -thought the Government ought to keep on sending its bullies and -blockheads just as before. A satirical Nationalist might have been -expected to break forth into a similar expression of wonder when a man -like Lord Aberdeen was sent to Ireland to carry on the rule of Dublin -Castle. Lord Aberdeen and his wife made themselves popular everywhere -among the Irish people, showed a living and a constant interest in -everything that concerned the welfare of the population, and did all -they could to break down the long-existing barricades which made England -and Ireland hostile nations. When Mr. Gladstone failed in carrying his -Home Rule Bill through the House of Commons and his Government came to -an end, Lord Aberdeen took his leave of Ireland amid demonstrations of -popular regard, affection, and regret which must have deeply touched his -generous heart. In 1893, when the Liberals were again in power, Lord -Aberdeen was made Governor-General of Canada, and he held that position -until 1898. His term of service in Canada was as successful as might -have been expected, and the French as well as the other provinces looked -up to him with admiration and gratitude. Then, for the time, his -official career came to an end. In the interval between the Irish and -the Canadian appointment Lord Aberdeen and his wife made a tour round -the world, visiting on their way India and most of the British colonies. -The name of Lady Aberdeen is associated with all great movements which -have to do with the education and the general advancement of women, and -with many good works undertaken for the benefit of the Irish peasantry. -Lady Aberdeen, it should be said, is the youngest daughter of the first -Lord Tweedmouth, and is sister of the Lord Tweedmouth who, as Edward -Marjoribanks, was so well known for a long time as one of the leading -Whips of the Liberal party. Lady Aberdeen's name is Ishbel Maria, and I -may ask my American readers not to make the mistake, sometimes made even -in England, of assuming her name to be the more familiar one of Isabel. -She has always been one of the most prominent, influential, and graceful -figures in English society, and every charitable association which -deserves her support has the advantage of her help, her protection, and -her guidance. I know from my own experience what valuable and untiring -service she has given to the promotion of the lace-making and the -cottage industries of Ireland. I had the great honor of being associated -with her in some of these efforts, and I never can forget her unsparing -devotion to the best interests of every such effort. I have among my -books a series of large and handsome volumes devoted to a record of the -proceedings which took place at the International Council of Women held -in London during July of 1899 and presided over by the Countess of -Aberdeen. This series, published by Mr. Fisher Unwin, is edited by Lady -Aberdeen and has an introduction written by her. I may quote the closing -paragraph of the introduction:-- - - It is a great inspiration to be bound together in the pursuance - of high ideals; it is also a grave responsibility--and during - our recent Council meeting both these thoughts have been made - very real to us. I pray God that they may abide within the - hearts of all who, in every country, are the guardians of the - honor of our Council, so that it may prove true to the lofty - profession it has made. - -The series contains seven volumes, every one of which has been carefully -edited by Lady Aberdeen, and is enriched with many commentaries of her -own. One can easily imagine the amount of time and trouble which such a -work must have imposed on a busy woman, and those who know anything of -her will know the thought and care and devotion which she must have -given to such a labor of love. - -Not a few persons are still apt to associate the idea of a woman -advocating the advancement of women with something unfeminine, -ungracious, self-assertive, and overbearing. When Lady Aberdeen first -began to be known in social movements, the memory of the late Mrs. Lynn -Linton's diatribes about "the Shrieking Sisterhood" was still fresh in -the public mind, and much prejudice yet lingered against the women who -publicly devoted themselves to the advancement of their sex. Lady -Aberdeen might have seemed as if she were specially created to be a -living refutation of all such absurd ideas. No fashionable woman given -up to social success and distinction in drawing-rooms, dining-rooms, -balls, and Court ceremonials could have been more feminine, graceful, -and charming in her ways and her demeanor than this noble-hearted woman, -who was not afraid to advocate the genuine rights of women, and who -stood by her husband's side in all his efforts for political reform. One -might adopt the words which Sheridan has made the opening of a song in -"The Duenna," and proclaim that a pair was never seen more justly formed -to meet by nature than Lord and Lady Aberdeen. Such an impression was -assuredly formed in Ireland and in Canada, and indeed in every place -where Lord and Lady Aberdeen were able to assert their unostentatious -and most beneficent influence. - -Lord Aberdeen succeeded to the title and its responsibilities at too -early an age to allow him any opportunity of proving his capacity for -Parliamentary life in the House of Commons. His elder brother was -drowned on a voyage from Boston to Melbourne, and the subject of this -article then became Earl of Aberdeen, with, as a matter of course, a -seat in the House of Lords. There is nothing like a real Parliamentary -career to be found in the House of Lords. A man of great natural gifts -can, of course, give evidence even there that he is born for -statesmanship and can command attention by his eloquence. Lord Aberdeen -made it certain even in the House of Lords that he was endowed with -these rare qualifications. But the House of Lords has no influence over -the country, unless, indeed, when it exerts itself to stay for the time -the progress of some great and popular measure. Even this is only for -the time, and if the measure be really one of national benefit and -deserving of public support, it is sure to be carried in the end, and -the Lords have to give in and to put up with their defeat. But the -hereditary chamber is not even a commanding platform from which an -eloquent speaker can address and can influence the whole country, and -the temptations there to apathy and indolence must often be found to be -almost irresistible. On rare occasions, two or three times in a session, -perhaps, there comes off what is popularly called a full-dress debate, -and then the red benches of the House, on which the peers have their -seats, are sure to be crowded, and the galleries where members of the -House of Commons are entitled to sit and the galleries allotted to -strangers are also well occupied. The Lords have even the inspiriting -advantage, denied to the House of Commons, of open galleries where -ladies can sit in the full glare of day or of gaslight, and can -encourage an orator by their presence and their attention. In the House -of Commons, as everybody knows, the small number of ladies for whom -seats are provided are secreted behind a thick grating, and thus become -an almost invisible influence, if, indeed, they can hope to be an -influence at all. Yet even this inspiration does not stir the peers to -anything more than the rarest attempts at a great debate. On ordinary -occasions--and these ordinary occasions constitute nearly the whole of a -session--the peers sit for only an hour or so every day, and then mutter -and mumble through some formal business, and the outer public does not -manifest the slightest interest in what they are doing or trying to do. -There are many men now in the House of Lords who proved their eloquence -again and again during some of the most important and exciting debates -in the representative chamber, and who now hardly open their lips in the -gilded chamber, as the House of Lords has been grandiloquently titled. A -rising member of the House of Commons succeeds to the family title and -estates, and as a matter of course he is transferred to the House of -Lords, and there, in most cases, is an end to his public career. Or -perhaps a rising member of the House of Commons has in some way or other -made himself inconvenient to his leading colleagues who have now come -into power and are forming an administration, and as they do not know -how to get rid of him gracefully in any other way, they induce the -Sovereign to confer on him a peerage, and so he straightway goes into -the House of Lords. Perhaps, as he had been an active and conspicuous -debater in the House of Commons, he cannot bring himself to settle down -into silence when he finds himself among the peers. So he delivers a -speech every now and then on what are conventionally regarded in the -House of Lords as great occasions, but his career is practically at an -end all the same. I have in my mind some striking instances of this -curious transition from Parliamentary prominence in the House of Commons -to Parliamentary nothingness in the House of Lords. I know of men who -were accounted powerful and brilliant debaters in the House of Commons, -where debates are sometimes great events, who, when, from one cause or -other, translated to the House of Lords, were hardly ever heard of as -debaters any more. Probably there seemed no motive for taking the -trouble to seek the opportunity of delivering a speech in the hereditary -assembly, where nothing particular could come of the speech when -delivered, and the new peer allows the charms of public speaking to lose -their hold over him, to pass with the days and the dreams of his youth. - -Lord Aberdeen would in all probability have made a deep mark as a -Parliamentary debater if the kindly fates had left to him the -possibility of a career in the House of Commons. He has a fine voice, an -attractive presence, and a fluent delivery; he has high intellectual -capacity, wide and varied culture, and much acquaintance with foreign -States and peoples. Probably the best services which Lord Aberdeen -could render to his country would be found in such offices as Ireland -and Canada gave him an opportunity of undertaking; viceroyalty of some -order, it would seem, must be the main business of his career. But I -must say that I should much like to see his great intellectual -qualities, his varied experience, and his noble humanitarian sympathies -provided with some opportunity of exercising themselves in the work of -domestic government. I may explain that I do not call the administration -of Ireland under the old conditions a work of domestic government in the -true sense. The vice-regal system in Ireland is a barbaric anachronism, -and the abilities and high purposes of a man like Lord Aberdeen were -wholly thrown away upon such work. There is much still in the social -condition of England which could give ample occupation to the -administrative abilities and the philanthropic energies of Lord -Aberdeen. The work of decentralization in England is rapidly going on. -The development of local self-government is becoming one of the most -remarkable phenomena of our times. Parliament is becoming more and more -the fount and origin of national rule, but it is wisely devoting its -energies to the creation of a system which shall leave the working out -of that national rule more and more to localities and municipalities. At -one time, and that not very long ago, it was believed even by many -social reformers that, while self-government might easily be developed -in the cities and towns, it would not be possible, during the present -generation at least, to infuse any such principle of vitality into the -country districts. - -Of late years, however, it is becoming more and more apparent that the -principle of local government is developing itself rapidly and -effectively in the rural districts, and that the good old times when the -squire and the rector could manage by divided despotism the whole -business of a parish are destined soon to become a curious historical -memory. The system of national education, established for the first time -in England by Gladstone's Government in 1870, has naturally had much to -do with the quickening of intelligent activity all over the British -Islands. A new generation has grown up, in which localities are no -longer content to have all their business managed for them by their -local magnates, and the recent statutes passed by Parliament for the -extension everywhere of the local government principle are a direct -result of the legislation which has made education compulsory in these -countries. All over the agricultural districts we now find county boards -and parish councils conducting by debates and divisions the common -business of each district, just as it is done in the great cities and -towns. It seems to me that this spread of the principle of local -self-government opens a most appropriate field for the intellect and the -energies of such statesmen as Lord Aberdeen. Only in recent times have -great noblemen condescended to trouble themselves much, so far at least -as their Parliamentary careers were concerned, with municipal or other -local affairs. A peer, if he happened to have any taste or gift for -Parliamentary and official work, was willing to become Foreign -Secretary, Viceroy of India, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, or Governor of -a Colony. Not infrequently, too, he consented to devote his energies to -the office of Postmaster-General. But he was not likely to see any scope -for a Parliamentary career in the management of local business. In his -own particular district, no doubt, he was accustomed to direct most of -the business in his own way and might be a local benefactor or a local -mis-manager, according as his tastes and judgment qualified him. But the -general business of localities did not create any Parliamentary -department which seemed likely to deserve his attention. The condition -of things is very different now, and Lord Aberdeen is one of the men to -whom the country is mainly indebted for that quickening and outspreading -of the local self-governing principle which is so remarkable and so -hopeful a phenomenon of our national existence at present. In every -movement which pretends to the development and the strengthening of that -principle Lord Aberdeen has always taken a foremost part. - -I am not myself an unqualified admirer of that part of the British -constitutional system which makes the House of Lords one of three great -ruling powers. I should very much doubt whether Lord Aberdeen himself, -if he were set to devise a constitutional system for these countries, -would make the House of Lords as at present arranged a component part of -our legislative system. But I am quite willing to admit that, since we -have a House of Lords and while we have a House of Lords, a man like the -Earl of Aberdeen does all that can be done to turn the existing -constitution to good account and make it in some degree worthy of -national toleration. While there exists an aristocracy of birth, even -the most uncompromising advocate of democracy and the equal rights of -men might freely admit that a career like the political and social -career of Lord Aberdeen does much to plead in defense of the system. -Lord Aberdeen has always proved that he thoroughly understands the -responsibilities as well as the advantages of his high position. Not one -of the Labor Members, as they are called, of the House of Commons--the -chosen representatives of the working classes--could have shown a deeper -and more constant sympathy with every measure and every movement which -tends to improve the condition and expand the opportunities of those who -have to make a living by actual toil. Lord Aberdeen has yet, I trust, a -long and fruitful career before him. The statesmanship of England will -soon again have to turn its attention to the social movements which -concern the interests of the lowly-born and the hard-working in these -islands. If a better time is coming for the statesmen of England, -whether in office or in opposition, who love peace and who yearn to -take a part in measures which lead to genuine national prosperity, we -may safely assume that in such a time Lord Aberdeen will renew his -active career, to the benefit of the people whom he has served so -faithfully and so well. - - - - -[Illustration: Photograph copyright by W. & D. Downey - -JOHN BURNS] - - - - -JOHN BURNS - - -John Burns stands out a distinct and peculiar figure in the House of -Commons. He is the foremost representative of that working class which -is becoming so great a power in the organization of English political -and industrial life. "Be not like dumb driven cattle," says Longfellow -in his often-quoted lines--"Be a hero in the strife." The British -workingmen were until very lately little better than dumb driven cattle; -in our days and under such leadership as that of John Burns they have -proved themselves capable of bearing heroic part in the struggle for -great reforms. I can remember the time when the House of Commons had not -in it any member actually belonging to the working classes. At that time -the working classes had no means of obtaining Parliamentary -representation, for it may be said with almost literal exactness that no -workingman had a vote, or the means of obtaining a vote, at a -Parliamentary election. The conditions of the franchise were too -limited in the constituencies to enable men who worked for small daily -or weekly wages to become voters at elections. In order to become a -voter a man must occupy a house rated at a certain yearly amount, and he -must have occupied it for a specified and considerable space of time, -and there were very few indeed of the working class who could hope to -obtain such legal qualifications. In more recent days the great -reformers of these islands have succeeded in establishing what may be -fairly described as manhood suffrage in these countries, and have also -secured a lodger franchise; have established the secret ballot as the -process of voting; and by these and other reforms have put the -workingman on a level with his fellow-citizens as a voter at -Parliamentary elections. My own recollection goes back to the time when -the law in Great Britain and Ireland insisted on what was called a -"property qualification" as an indispensable condition to a candidate's -obtaining a seat in the House of Commons. I have known scores of -instances in which clever and popular candidates got over this -difficulty by prevailing on some wealthy relative or friend to settle -legally on them an amount of landed property necessary to qualify them -for a seat in the House. It was perfectly well known to every one that -this settlement was purely a formal arrangement, and that the new and -nominal possessor of the property was no more its real owner than the -child who is allowed for a moment to hold his father's watch in his hand -becomes thereby the legal owner of the valuable timepiece. In our days -no property qualification of any kind is needed either for a vote at a -Parliamentary election or for a seat in the House of Commons, and -therefore the workingmen form an important proportion of the voters at -Parliamentary elections and are enabled in certain constituencies to -choose men of their own class to represent them in the House of Commons. - -I have thought it well to make the short explanation of the changes -which have taken place in the condition of the British workingmen during -recent years as a prelude to what I have to say concerning that foremost -of British workingmen, John Burns. It is only fair to say that the -workingmen of these countries have made judicious and praiseworthy use -of the new political powers confided to them, and have almost invariably -sent into Parliament as the representatives of their class men of -undoubted ability and of the highest character, men who win the respect -of all parties in the House of Commons. Of these men John Burns is the -most conspicuous. He has never, indeed, held a place in an -administration, as two, I think, of his order have already done; but -then John Burns is a man of resolutely independent character, and it -would not be easy thus far to form even a Liberal Government which -should be quite up to the level of his views on many questions of -domestic and foreign policy. - -John Burns would hardly be taken personally as a typical representative -of the British workingman. He is short in stature, very dark in -complexion and in the color of his hair, and a stranger seeing him for -the first time might take him for an Italian or a Spaniard. His physical -strength is something enormous, and I have seen him perform with the -greatest apparent ease some feats of athletic vigor which might have -seemed to demand the proportions of a giant. His whole frame is made up -of bone and muscle, and although he is broadly and stoutly built, he -does not appear to have any superfluous flesh. If I had to make my way -through a furious opposing crowd, I do not know of any leader whom I -should be more glad to follow than John Burns. But although Burns is -physically made for a fighting man, there is nothing pugnacious or -aggressive in his temperament. He is by nature kind, conciliatory, and -generous, tolerant of other men's opinions, and only anxious to advance -his own by fair argument and manly appeals to men's sense of humanity -and justice. I have seen him carry a great big elderly man who had -fainted at a public meeting and take him to a quiet spot with all the -ease and tenderness of a mother carrying her child. But if I were an -overbearing giant who was trying his strength upon a weaker mortal, I -should take good care not to make the experiment while John Burns was -anywhere within reach. He is an adept at all sorts of athletic sports -and games, skating, rowing, foot-racing, boxing, cricket, and I know not -what else. He is essentially a man of the working class, and has, I -believe, some Scottish blood in his veins, but he is a Londoner by -birth, and passed all his early life in a London district. He was born -to poverty, and received such education as he had to begin with at a -humble school in the Battersea region on the south side of London. - -Now, I should think that a boy born in humble life who had in him any -gift of imagination and any faculty for self-improvement could hardly -have begun life in a better place than Battersea. The Battersea region -lies south of the Thames, and is a strange combination of modern -squalidness and picturesque historical associations and memorials. The -homes of the working class poor stand under the very shadow of that -famous church in Old Battersea where Bolingbroke, the high-born, one of -the most eloquent orators known to English Parliamentary life, and one -of the most brilliant writers who adorn English literature, lies buried, -and where strangers from all parts of the world go to gaze upon his -tombstone. Everywhere throughout the little town or village one comes -upon places associated with the memory of Bolingbroke and of other men -famous in history. Cross the bridge that spans the Thames and you are in -the Chelsea region, which is suffused with historical and literary -associations from far-off days to those recent times when Thomas Carlyle -had his home in one of its quiet streets. To a boy with any turn for -reading and any taste for history and literature, all that quarter of -London on both sides of the Thames must have been filled with -inspiration. John Burns had always a love of reading, and I can easily -fancy that the memories of the place must have been a constant stimulant -and inspiration to his honorable ambition for self-culture. His school -days finished when he was hardly ten years old, and then he was set to -earn a living, first in a candle factory and afterwards in the works of -an engineer. Thus he toiled away until he had reached manhood's age, and -all the time he was steadily devoting his spare hours or moments to the -task of self-education. He read every book that came within his reach, -and studied with especial interest the works of men who set themselves -to the consideration of great social problems. - -Burns naturally became very soon impressed with the conviction that all -could not be quite right under a political and social system which made -the workingman a mere piece of living mechanism and gave him no share -whatever in the constitutional government of the country. At that time -there was no system of national education in England, and the child of -poor parents had to get his teaching through some charitable -institution, or to go without any teaching whatever. So far as the -education of the poorest classes was concerned, England was at that time -far below Scotland, below Germany and Holland, and below the United -States. - -As regards the political system, a man of the class to which John Burns -was born had little chance indeed of obtaining the right to vote at a -Parliamentary election, which was given only to men who had certain -qualifications of income and of residence not often to be found among -the working classes. The English system of national education is little -more than thirty years old, and the extension of the voting power which -makes it now practically a manhood suffrage is likewise of very modern -date. It was natural that an intelligent and thoughtful boy like John -Burns should, under such conditions, become filled with socialistic -doctrines and should find himself growing into a mood of impatience and -hostility towards the rule of aristocrats, landlords, and capitalists, -by which the country was then dominated. Soon after he had reached his -twenty-first year he obtained employment as a foreman engineer on the -Niger in Africa, and there he had his first experience of a climate and -a life totally unlike to anything that could be found in the Battersea -regions. I have often heard it said that during his employment in -English steamers on the Niger he was known among his British companions -as "Coffee-pot Burns," in jocular recognition of his devotion to total -abstinence principles. He spent about a year in his African occupation, -and during that time he had managed to save up a considerable amount of -his pay, a saving which we may be sure was in great measure due to his -practice of total abstinence from any drinks stronger than that which -was properly contained in the coffee-pot. When he left Africa, he -invested his savings in a manner which I cannot but regard as peculiarly -characteristic of him, and which must have given to such a man a -profitable return for his investment--he spent his savings, in fact, on -a tour of several months throughout Europe. Thus he acquired an -invaluable addition to his stock of practical observation and a fresh -impulse to his studies of life and of books. He settled down in England -as a working engineer, and he soon began to take a deep interest and an -active share in every movement which had for its object the welfare of -the classes who live by daily labor. - -Obviously, there are many improvements in the condition of such men -which could only be brought about by legislation, and John Burns -therefore became a political agitator. His voice was heard from the -platforms of great popular meetings held in and around London and in -many other parts of the country, and he was one of the leaders of the -great agitation which secured for the public the right of holding -open-air meetings in Trafalgar Square. John Burns was meant by nature to -be a popular orator. He has a physical frame which can stand any amount -of exertion, and his voice, at once powerful and musical, can make -itself heard to the farthest limit of the largest outdoor meeting in -Hyde Park or Trafalgar Square. But he is in no sense whatever a mere -declaimer. He argues every question out in a practical and reasonable -way, and although he has some views on political and industrial subjects -which many of his opponents would condemn as socialistic, there is -nothing in him of the revolutionist or the anarchist. His object is to -bring about by free and lawful public debate those reforms in the -political and industrial systems which he regards as essential to the -well-being of the whole community. The Conservative party in this -country used to have for a long time one particular phrase which was -understood to embody the heaviest accusation that could be brought -against a public man. To say that this or that public speaker was -endeavoring to "set class against class" was understood to mean his -utter condemnation in the minds of all well-behaved citizens. We do not -hear so much of this accusation in later days, partly because some of -the very measures demanded by those setters of class against class have -been adopted by Conservative Governments and carried into law by -Conservative votes. But there was a period in the life of John Burns -when he must have found himself denounced almost every day in speech or -newspaper article as one whose main endeavor was to set class against -class. John Burns does not seem to have troubled himself much about the -accusation. Perhaps he reasoned within himself that if the endeavor to -obtain for workingmen the right of voting at elections and the right to -form themselves into trades-unions for the purpose of bettering their -lives were the endeavor to set class against class, then there is -nothing for it but to go on setting class against class until the -beneficent result be obtained. So John Burns went on setting class -against class, with the result that he became recognized all over the -country as one of the most eloquent, capable, and judicious leaders whom -the workingmen could show, and his unselfishness and integrity were -never disparaged even by his most extreme political opponents. - -A remarkable evidence was soon to be given of the solid reputation which -he had won for himself in public life. A complete change was made by -Parliamentary legislation in the whole system of London's municipal -government. The vast metropolis which we call London was up to that time -under the control for municipal affairs of the various parish boards and -local vestries, each of them constructed on some representative system -peculiarly its own, and none of them, it may be justly said, under any -direct control from the great mass of the community. The greater part of -the West End of London was under the management of a body known as the -Metropolitan Board of Works; the City of London was dominated by its own -historic Corporation; each other district of the metropolis had its -governing vestry or some such institution. Apart from all other -objections to such a system, one of its obvious defects was that no -common principle was recognized in the municipal arrangements of the -metropolis; there were no common rules for their regulation of traffic, -for the levying of rates, for the management of public institutions, and -a Londoner who changed his residence from one part of the town to -another, or even from one side of a street to another, might find -himself suddenly brought under the control of a system of municipal -regulations with which he was totally unfamiliar. Appeals were -constantly made by enlightened Londoners for some uniform system of -London government, but for a long time nothing was done in the way of -reform. At last, however, it happened--luckily, in one sense, for the -community--that the Metropolitan Board of Works, which ruled the West -End districts, became the cause of much public scandal because of its -mistakes and mismanagement, not to use any harsher terms, in the dealing -with public contracts. The excitement caused by these discoveries made -it impossible for the old system to be maintained any longer, and the -result was the passing of an Act of Parliament which created an -entirely new governing body for the metropolis. This new governing body -was styled the London County Council, and it was to have control of the -whole metropolis, with the exception of that comparatively small extent -of municipal territory which we know as the City of London. The members -of the new County Council were to be chosen, for the most part, as are -the members of the House of Commons, by direct popular suffrage. Some of -the foremost men in England became members of the new County Council. -One of these was Lord Rosebery, another was Sir Thomas Farrer (who has -since become Lord Farrer), a third was Frederic Harrison, one of the -most eminent writers and thinkers of his time, and another was John -Burns, the working engineer. I mention this fact only to show how -thoroughly John Burns must have established his reputation as a man well -qualified to take a leading place in the municipal government of London. -Since that time he has been elected again and again to the same -position. - -When the great dispute broke out in London between the dock-laborers and -the ship-owners, John Burns took an active and untiring part in the -endeavor to obtain fair terms for the workers, and by his moderation -and judgment, as well as by his inexhaustible energy, he did inestimable -service in the bringing about of a satisfactory settlement. The late -Cardinal Manning took a conspicuous part in the effort to obtain good -terms for the workingmen, and he was recognized on both sides of the -dispute as a most acceptable mediator, and I remember that he expressed -himself more than once in the highest terms as to the services rendered -by John Burns during the whole of the crisis. Burns made one or two -unsuccessful attempts to obtain a seat in the House of Commons--or -perhaps, to put it more correctly, I should say that he consented, in -obedience to the pressure of his friends and followers, to become a -candidate for a seat. In 1892 he was elected to Parliament as the -representative of that Battersea district where his life began, and he -has held the seat ever since. In the House of Commons he has been a -decided success. It is only right to say that the workingmen -representatives, who now form a distinct and influential section in the -House, have fully vindicated their right to hold places there, and have, -with hardly any exception, done honor to the choice of their -constituents. John Burns is among the foremost, if not the very -foremost, of the working class representatives. He has won the good -opinions of all parties and classes in the House of Commons. He has won -especial merit which counts for much in the House--he never makes a -speech unless when he has something to say which has a direct bearing on -the debate in progress and which it is important that the House should -hear. He is never a mere declaimer, and he never speaks for the sake of -making a speech and having it reported in the newspapers. The House -always knows that when John Burns rises he has some solid argument to -offer, and that he will sit down as soon as he has said his say. - -The first time I had the honor of becoming personally acquainted with -John Burns was in the House of Commons, shortly after his first -election, and I was introduced to him by my friend Michael Davitt. I -could not help feeling at the time that it was a remarkable event in -one's life to be introduced to John Burns by Michael Davitt. Both these -men were then honored members of the House of Commons, and both had for -many years been regarded by most of what are called the ruling classes -as disturbers of the established order of things and enemies of the -British Constitution. Davitt had spent years in prison as a rebel, and -Burns had been at least once imprisoned, though but for a short time, as -a disturber of public order. Every one came to admit in the end that -each man was thoroughly devoted to a cause which he believed rightful, -and that the true and lasting prosperity of a State must depend largely -on men who are thus willing to make any sacrifice for the maintenance of -equal political rights in the community. I have had, since that time, -many opportunities of meeting with Burns in public and private and -exchanging ideas with him on all manner of subjects, and I can only say -that the better I have known him the higher has been my opinion of his -intelligence, his sincerity, and his capacity to do the State some -service. - -John Burns has made himself very useful in the committee work of the -House of Commons. The House hands over the manipulation and arrangement -of many of its measures on what I may call technical subjects--measures -concerning trade and industry, shipping and railways, and other such -affairs of business--to be discussed in detail and put into working -shape by small committees chosen from among the members; and these -measures, when they have passed through this process of examination, are -brought up for full and final settlement in the House itself. It will be -easily understood that there are many subjects of this order, on which -the practical experience and the varied observation of a man like Burns -must count for much in the shaping of legislation. Burns has genial, -unpretending manners, and although he was born with a fighting spirit, -he is not one of those who make it their effort to cram their opinions -down the throats of their opponents. Although his views are extreme on -most of the questions in which he takes a deep interest, he is always -willing to admit that there may be something to be said on the other -side of the controversy; he is ever ready to give a full consideration -to all the arguments of his fellow-members, and if any one in the -committee can show him that he is mistaken on this or that point, he -will yield to the force of argument, and has no hesitation about -acknowledging a change in his views. Fervent as he is in his devotion to -any of the great principles which have become a faith with him, there is -nothing of the fanatic about him, and I do not think his enemies would -ever have to fear persecution at his hands. There is no roughness in -his manners, although he has certainly not been brought up to the ways -of what is generally known as good society; and his smile is winning and -sweet. He has probably a certain consciousness of mental strength, as he -has of physical strength, which relieves him from any inclination -towards self-assertion. I should find it as difficult to believe that -John Burns countenanced a deed of oppression as I should find it to -believe that he sought by obsequiousness the favor of the great. - -John Burns was, it is almost needless to say, an opponent from the very -beginning of the policy which led to the war against the South African -Republics. When the general election came on, about midway in the course -of the war, the war passion had come upon the country like an epidemic, -and some of the most distinguished English representatives lost their -seats in the House of Commons because they refused to sanction the Jingo -policy. Many men who were rising rapidly into Parliamentary distinction -were defeated at the elections by Imperialist candidates. Nor were the -men thus shut out from Parliament for the time all members of the -Liberal party. In some instances, although few indeed, there were men -belonging to the Conservative, the Ministerial, side, who could not see -the justice of the war policy and would not conceal their opinions, and -who therefore had to forfeit their seats when some thoroughgoing Tory -Imperialists presented themselves as rivals for the favor of the local -voters. So great was the influence of the war passion that even among -the constituencies where the workingmen were strong there were examples -of an Imperialist victory over the true principles of liberty and -democracy. But the Battersea constituents of John Burns remained -faithful to their political creed and to him, and he was sent back in -triumph to the House of Commons to carry on the fight for every good -cause there. He took part in many debates during the continuance of the -campaign, and he never made a speech on the subject of the war which was -not listened to with interest even by those most opposed to his -opinions. He has the gift of debate as well as the gift of declamation, -and he knows his part in Parliamentary life far too well to substitute -declamation for debate. The typical demagogue, as he is pictured by -those who do not sympathize with democracy, would on such occasions -have merely relieved his mind by repeated denunciations of that war in -particular and of wars in general, and would soon have lost any hold on -the attention of the House, which is, to do it justice, highly practical -in its methods of discussion. John Burns spoke in each debate on the war -when he had something to say which could practically and precisely bear -on the subject then under immediate consideration--a question connected -with the administration of the campaign, with the manner in which the -War Office or the Colonial Office was conducting some particular part of -its administrative task, with the immediate effects of this or that -movement, and in this way he compelled attention and he challenged -reply. I remember, for instance, that when the spokesmen of the -Government were laying great stress on the severity and injustice of the -Boer State's dealings with the native populations of South Africa, John -Burns gave from his own experience and observation instances of the -manner in which African populations had been dealt with by British -authorities, and demanded whether such actions would not have justified -the intervention of some European State if the conduct of the Boer -Government, supposing it to be accurately described, was a -justification for England's invasion of the Boer territory. Whenever he -took part in the debate, he met his opponents on their own ground, and -he challenged their policy in practical detail, instead of wasting his -time in mere declamatory appeals to principles of liberty and justice -which would have fallen flat upon the minds of those who held it as -their creed that Imperial England was free to dictate her terms to all -peoples of inferior strength and less highly developed civilization. - -John Burns has fairly won for himself an honorable place in the history -of our time. If he had done nothing else, he would have accomplished -much by demonstrating in his own person the right of the workingman to -have a seat in Parliament. One finds it hard now to understand how the -English House of Commons could ever have been regarded as the -representative ruling body of England, when it held no members who were -authorized by position and by experience to speak for the working -populations of the country. I mean no disparagement to the other -representatives of the working classes when I say that I regard John -Burns as the most distinguished and the most influential among them. -Others of the same order have rendered valuable service, not merely to -their own class, but to the State in general since they came to hold -seats in the House of Commons; some have even held administrative office -in a Liberal Government, and have shown themselves well qualified for -the duties. Not any of them, so far as I can recollect, has ever shown -himself the mere declaimer and demagogue whom so many Conservative -observers and critics used to tell us we must expect to meet if the -workingmen were enabled to send their spokesmen into the House of -Commons. I do not know whether John Burns has any ambition to hold a -seat in some future Liberal Ministry, but I venture to think that if -such should be his fortune, he will prove himself more useful than ever -to the best interests of his country. He has never sought to obtain the -favor and the support of his own order by flattering their weaknesses, -by encouraging them in their errors, or by allowing them to believe that -the right must always be on their side and the wrong on the side of -their opponents. I fully believe that he has good and great work yet to -do. - - - - -[Illustration: Photograph copyright by W. & D. Downey - -SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH] - - - - -SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH - - -Sir Michael Hicks-Beach is now, as everybody knows, out of office. _Il -reviendra_, no doubt, and in a happier sense, we may trust, than fate -allowed to the once famous personage concerning whom the words I have -quoted were said and sung throughout France. _Il reviendra_ was the -burden of the chant composed to the honor of the late General Boulanger -and echoed through all the French music-halls at the time when Boulanger -got into trouble with the existing government. But Sir Michael -Hicks-Beach is a man of very different order from Boulanger, with whom -he has, so far as I know, nothing whatever in common except the fact -that they were both born in the same year, 1837. - -The admirers of Sir Michael Hicks-Beach may take it for granted that he -will some time or other return to a high position in an English -administration. Whether that administration is to be Liberal or -Conservative we must wait for events to show. One can imagine the -formation of a Conservative Government which might rise to the level of -Hicks-Beach; or one might imagine the formation of a Liberal Government -in which Hicks-Beach could see his way to take office; but I think it -would be hard to realize the idea of such a man being left out of office -or kept out of office for many years. He was, according to my judgment, -the most efficient and capable member of the Conservative Government now -in office, the Government from which he felt himself compelled to -withdraw, or in which, at all events, he was not pressed to continue. He -was not a brilliant figure in that Government. He had not the push and -the energy and the impressive debating powers of Mr. Chamberlain, and he -had not the culture, the grace, and the literary style of Mr. Arthur -Balfour. He made no pretensions whatever to the gift of oratory, -although he had some at least of the qualities which are needed for -oratorical success. His style of speaking is remarkably clear and -impressive. No question, however complex and difficult, seems hard to -understand when explained by Hicks-Beach. He compels attention rather -than attracts it. There are no alluring qualities in his eloquence, -there are no graces of manner or exquisite forms of expression; there is -a cold, almost harsh clearness enforcing itself in every speech. The -speaker seems to be telling his hearers that, whether they agree with -him or not, whether they like him or not, they must listen to what he -has to say. There is a certain quality of antagonism in his manner from -first to last, and he conveys the idea of one who feels a grim -satisfaction in the work of hammering his opinions into the heads of men -who would rather be thinking of something else if the choice were left -to them. "Black Michael" is the nickname familiarly applied to Sir -Michael Hicks-Beach in private conversation by the members of the House -of Commons, and the nickname has found its way into the columns of -"Punch" and other periodicals. The term "Black Michael" does not, we may -assume, refer merely to the complexion of Hicks-Beach, to the color of -his hair; but means to suggest a grim dark-someness about his whole -expression of countenance and bearing. Certainly any one who watches Sir -Michael Hicks-Beach as he sits during a debate in the House of Commons, -waiting for his turn to reply to the attacks on some measure of which he -is a supporter, will easily understand the significance of the -appellation. Hicks-Beach follows every sentence of the speaker then -addressing the House with a stern and ironical gaze of intensity which -seems already to foredoom the unlucky orator to a merciless castigation. -I must say that if I were a member of the House of Commons devoted to -the championship of some not quite orthodox financial theory, I should -not like to know that my exposition of the doctrine was to be publicly -analyzed by Sir Michael Hicks-Beach. - -Yet Hicks-Beach is not by any means an ungenial man, according to my -observation. Some of his colleagues say that he has a bad temper, or at -least a quick temper; and I must say that I can easily understand how a -man of vigorous intelligence and expansive views might occasionally be -brought into a mood of unphilosophic acrimony by the goings-on of the -present Conservative administration. During my many years of service in -the House of Commons I had opportunities of coming into personal -intercourse with Hicks-Beach, and I have always found him easy of -approach and genial in his manners. At different times while he was -holding office I had to make representations to him privately with -regard to some difficulty arising between an administrative department -and certain localities which felt themselves oppressed, or at least put -at a disadvantage, by the working of new regulations. I always found Sir -Michael Hicks-Beach ready to give a full and fair consideration to every -complaint and to exercise his authority for the removal of any genuine -grievance. But I can easily understand that observers who have not had -personal dealings with Hicks-Beach and have only observed him as he sits -silent, dark, and grim during some debate in the House of Commons, may -well have formed some very decided impressions as to his habitual moods -and tempers. A member of the House once asked me whether I was aware of -the fact that a certain line in one of Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome" -was supposed to contain a prophetic description of Sir Michael -Hicks-Beach. I gave up the puzzle, and then my friend told me that the -description was contained in the lines describing the Roman trumpet-call -which tell that - - "The kite knows well the long stern swell." - -I hope my American readers will not have quite forgotten the meaning of -the term "swell," now somewhat falling into disuse, but at one time -very commonly employed in England to describe a member of what would now -be called "smart society." - -Sir Michael Hicks-Beach has held many offices. He has been -Under-Secretary for the Home Department, and Secretary to the Poor Law -Board; he has been twice Chief Secretary for Ireland, or, to speak more -strictly, Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland; and he has -been twice Chancellor of the Exchequer. I need hardly say that he was -not able to accomplish much during the periods of his Irish -administration. I have said in preceding articles that it is not -possible for the Chief Secretary of a Conservative Government to -accomplish anything worth attempting in the work of Irish -administration. What Ireland demands is the right to manage her own -national affairs in her own domestic Parliament, and there is nothing -worth doing to be done by any government which will not take serious -account of her one predominant claim. No patronage of local charities, -local flower shows, and local racecourses, no amount of Dublin Castle -hospitalities, no vice-regal visits to public schools and municipal -institutions, can bring about any real improvement in the relations -between Great Britain and Ireland. I have no doubt that Hicks-Beach did -all in his power to see that the business of his department was -efficiently and honestly conducted in Dublin Castle, but under the -conditions imposed upon him by Conservative principles it was impossible -for him to accomplish any success in the administration of Irish -affairs. It has often come into my mind that a certain sense of his -limitations in this way was sometimes apparent in the bearing and manner -of Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, when he had to take any prominent part in -the business of Dublin Castle. He has an active mind and a ready faculty -of initiative, and there was no place for such a man in the sort of -administrative work which mainly consists in the endeavor to keep things -going as they have been going, and striving after an impossible -compromise between despotic principles and a free constitutional system. - -Hicks-Beach, of course, was more in his place when at the head of the -financial department of the administration. He is admitted to have been -one of the most skillful and enlightened among modern Chancellors of the -Exchequer. His financial statements were always thoroughly clear, -symmetrical, and interesting from first to last. He never got into any -entanglement with his figures, and his array of facts was always -marshaled with something like dramatic skill. I do not profess to be -very strong upon financial questions, but I could always understand and -follow with the deepest interest any financial exposition made by -Hicks-Beach. He seemed to me to be distinctly above the level of his -party and his official colleagues on all such questions, and it has -often occurred to me that such a man was rather thrown away upon a -Conservative Government. Whatever else might be said against them, it -could not be said that his speeches at any time sank to the level of the -commonplace. There was something combative in his nature, and his style -of speaking, with its clear, strong, and sometimes almost harsh tones, -appeared as if it were designed in advance to confront and put down all -opposition. The House of Commons had for a long time got into the way of -regarding Hicks-Beach as a man in advance of his colleagues on all -subjects of financial administration. Every Tory in office, or likely to -be in office, now professes himself a free-trader, in the English sense -of the phrase, but Sir Michael Hicks-Beach was evidently a genuine -free-trader, and never could have been anything else since he first -turned his attention seriously and steadily to financial questions. I -should describe him as one of the foremost debaters in the House of -Commons among the men who made no pretensions to the higher order of -eloquence; and probably an additional attraction was given to his -speeches by that aggressive and combative tone which I have just -noticed. I have sometimes fancied that his combativeness of manner and -his dictatorial style were less intended for the discomfiture of his -recognized political opponents than for that of his own colleagues in -office. Long before there was any rumor of incompatibility between -Hicks-Beach and the members of the present Government, I have often -found myself wondering how the man who expressed such enlightened ideas -on so many financial and political questions could possibly get on with -a somewhat reactionary Conservative administration. Of course I have no -means of knowing anything beyond that which is known to the general -public concerning the causes which led to Hicks-Beach's withdrawal or -exclusion from his place in the present Government. Even those London -journals which profess to know everything about the inner councils of -the Cabinet did not, and do not, tell us anything more on this -particular subject than the news, impossible to be concealed, that Sir -Michael Hicks-Beach had ceased to be a member of the Conservative -administration. We were all left to make any conjectures we pleased as -to the cause of this remarkable change, and I feel, therefore, no -particular diffidence in expounding my own theory. During the long -debates on Hicks-Beach's latest Budget proposals, which I had to follow -only through the medium of the newspaper reports, I became possessed -with the idea that Hicks-Beach was performing reluctantly an uncongenial -and almost intolerable task. - -Let me recall to the minds of my readers some of the conditions amid -which Hicks-Beach found himself compelled of late to carry on his work. -It should be said, in the first instance, that he never showed himself, -and, as I believe, never could have been, a genuine Tory of the old -school. He never exhibited himself as an uncompromising partisan on any -of the great subjects which arouse political antagonism. He must have -had very little sympathy indeed with the dogmas and the watchwords and -the war-cries of old-fashioned militant Toryism. He never identified -himself with the cause of the Orangemen in Ireland or the principles of -the Jingoes in England. He seldom addressed the House of Commons on any -subjects but those which belonged to his own department, and these were -for the most part questions of finance. When, however, he had -occasionally to take part in debates on subjects connected with -England's foreign policy, he generally spoke with an enlightenment, a -moderation, and a conciliatory tone which would have done credit to any -statesman and seemed little in keeping with the policy and the temper of -modern Toryism. But Hicks-Beach had fallen upon evil days for a man of -his foresight, his intellect, and his temperament generally who had -found a place in a Conservative Cabinet. The policy which led to the -outbreak of the war in South Africa aroused a passion in the English -public mind which found its utmost fury among the partisans of Toryism. -Tory and Jingo became for the time synonymous terms. The man who did not -allow his heart and soul to be filled with the war spirit must have -seemed to most of his friends unworthy to be called a Conservative. Even -among certain sections of the Liberals it required much courage for any -man to condemn or even to criticise with severity the policy which had -led to the war. Any one who ventured on such a course, whether he were -Liberal or Conservative, was straightway branded with the opprobrious -epithet of pro-Boer, and that title was supposed to carry his complete -condemnation. England had come back suddenly to the same kind of -passionate temper which prevailed during the earlier part of the Crimean -War. "He who is not with us is against us," cried the professing -patriots at both times--he who does not glorify the war is a traitor to -his own country and a pro-Boer, or a pro-Russian, as the case might be. -This was the temper with which Hicks-Beach found that he had to deal -during the later years of his financial administration. - -It would be out of place to enter into any speculation as to what -Hicks-Beach's own views may have been with regard to the whole policy of -the war. It is now well known that Queen Victoria was entirely opposed -to that policy, although she did not feel that her position as a -constitutional sovereign gave her authority to overrule it by a decision -of her own. There is very good reason to believe that peace was brought -about at last by the resolute exercise of King Edward's influence. It is -at least not unlikely that a man of Hicks-Beach's intellect and -temperament may have been opposed at first to the policy which brought -on the war, but may have, nevertheless, believed that his most patriotic -course would be to remain in the Government and do the best he could for -the public benefit. He soon found himself compelled to perform as -disagreeable a task as an enlightened financial statesman could have to -undertake--the task of extracting from the already overburdened -taxpayers the means of carrying on a war of conquest with which he had -little sympathy. It was perfectly evident that the needed revenue could -not be extracted from the country without some violation of those -financial principles to which Hicks-Beach had long been attached. There -was no time for much meditation--the money had to be found somehow--and -a great part of it could only be found by the imposition of a duty on -foreign imports. We now know from public statements made by Sir Michael -Hicks-Beach himself that while the war was going on he became impressed -with the conviction that the whole administration of the military -department was grossly mismanaged, and that the money of the nation was -thrown away when the War Office came to spend it. The conviction thus -forced upon him could not have tended to make the task of providing -means for such further expenditure any the more agreeable to him. We may -assume that he saw no other course before him than to make the best of a -bad job and try to find in the least objectionable way the amount of -money necessary to carry on the business of the State. It was evident to -him that the principles of free trade must be put aside for the present, -and he found himself driven to the odious necessity of imposing a duty -on the importation of foreign corn, a duty which in fact amounted to a -tax on bread. Hicks-Beach well knew that no tax could be more odious to -the poorer classes of the British Islands; but we may presume that in -his emergency he could see no other way of raising the money, and he -accepted the situation with a dogged resolve which made no pretense at -any concealment of his personal dislike for the task. His manner of -delivering the speech in which he set forth his scheme of finance was -that of a man who has to discharge an odious duty, or what he finds -himself by the force of circumstances compelled to regard as a duty, -but will utter no word which might seem to make out that he has any -excuse other than that of hateful necessity. The substance of -Hicks-Beach's explanations on this part of his budget might be summed up -in such words as these: "We have got to pay for this war, and we have no -time to spare in finding the money; we must cast aside for the time the -principles of free trade; but do not let us further degrade ourselves by -hypocritical attempts to make out that what we are doing is in -accordance with the free-trade doctrine." I remember well that on -reading Hicks-Beach's budget speech I became deeply impressed with the -conviction that his task was becoming so intolerable to him that we -might expect before long to see a change in the composition of the -Government. But it appeared to me that, as the debate went on and the -days went on, the position of Hicks-Beach was becoming more and more -difficult. Some of the members of the Cabinet became to all appearance -suddenly possessed with an inspiration that the time had arrived for a -bold movement of reaction against the long-accepted doctrines of free -trade. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had already receded so far from -the established policy as to propose the imposition of a tax on the -imported materials for making bread; and why, therefore, should we not -take advantage--thus at least I construed their ideas--of this tempting -opportunity to introduce a system of preferential duties and an -imitation Zollverein for England and some of her colonies, and to break -away from the creed and dogmas of men like Gladstone, Cobden, and -Bright? These proposals must have opened to the eyes of Hicks-Beach a -vista of financial heresies into which he could not possibly enter. He -probably thought that he had gone far enough in the way of compromise -when he consented to meet immediate emergencies by the imposition of a -bread-tax. Is it possible that he may have felt some compunctious -visiting because of his having yielded so far to the necessities of the -moment? However that may be, I take it for granted, and took it for -granted at the time, that Hicks-Beach found the incompatibility between -his own views as to the raising of revenue and the views beginning to be -developed by some of his colleagues becoming more and more difficult to -reconcile. - -Let me venture on an illustration, although it be not by any means -photographic in its accuracy, of the difficulty with which the -Chancellor of the Exchequer found himself confronted. Let us suppose -Hicks-Beach to be the leader of a pledged society of total abstainers. -At a moment of sudden crisis he feels called upon to relax so far the -rigidity of the society's governing principle as to allow one of its -members who is threatened with utter physical prostration a few drops of -alcoholic stimulant. He finds his course cordially approved by some of -his most influential colleagues, and at first he is proud of their -support. But it presently turns out that they regard his reluctant -concession as the opening up of a new practice in their regulations, and -they press upon him all manner of propositions for the toleration and -even the encouragement of what my friend Sir Wilfrid Lawson, the great -English champion of total abstinence, would term "moderate drunkenness." -Fancy what the feelings of Sir Wilfrid Lawson would be if by some -temporary and apparently needful concession he found himself regarded by -those around him as an advocate of moderate drunkenness! Such, I cannot -help thinking, must have been, in its different way, the condition to -which Sir Michael Hicks-Beach felt himself brought down, when he -discovered that his introduction of an import duty on foreign grain was -believed by his principal colleagues to be but the opening of a -reactionary movement against the whole policy of free trade. - -The Government of Lord Salisbury seemed to be in the highest good -spirits at the prospects before them. Mr. Chamberlain in especial seemed -to believe that the time had come for him to develop an entirely new -system of his own for the adjustment of import and export duties. For -many weeks the English newspapers were filled with discussions on Mr. -Chamberlain's great project for the new British Imperial Zollverein, of -which England was to be the head. Numbers of Mr. Chamberlain's -Conservative admirers were filled with a fresh enthusiasm for the man -who thus proposed to reverse altogether the decisions of all modern -political economy laid down by Liberal statesmen and Radical writers. -Stout old Tory gentlemen representing county constituencies began to be -full of hope that the good old times were coming back. - -That was the crisis--so far at least as the official career of Sir -Michael Hicks-Beach was concerned for the time. What may have happened -in the private councils of the Government we of the outer world were not -and are not permitted to know. All that we actually do know is that Lord -Salisbury resigned his place as Prime Minister, that Arthur Balfour was -called to succeed him in office, and that a new administration was -formed in which the name of Hicks-Beach did not appear. There were other -changes also made in the administration, but with these I shall not for -the present concern myself. The important fact for this article is that -Sir Michael Hicks-Beach was no longer Chancellor of the Exchequer. All -manner of conjectures were made as to the reasons why Lord Salisbury so -suddenly withdrew from the position of Prime Minister, and why he could -not be prevailed upon to hold the place even nominally until after King -Edward's coronation. I do not suppose that the resignation of Lord -Salisbury had anything to do with the fact that Sir Michael Hicks-Beach -ceased to be Chancellor of the Exchequer. The vacancies were not made -simultaneously, nor did there appear any reason to believe that -Hicks-Beach was so closely identified with the political fortunes of -Lord Salisbury as to be unable to remain in office when his leader had -ceased to hold the place of command. So far as an outsider can judge, it -must have been that Hicks-Beach could not get on with the new -administration, or that the new administration could not get on with -him. My own theory, and I only offer it to my readers as the theory of a -mere observer from the outside, is that Hicks-Beach could not stand any -more of the reaction towards protection principles--thought he had gone -quite as far as any sense of duty to his party could exact from him, and -made up his mind that if his colleagues were anxious to go any farther -in what he believed to be the wrong direction they must do so without -any help or countenance from him. - -This theory has taken a firmer hold than ever of my mind since I read -the report of a speech lately made by Hicks-Beach weeks and weeks after -he had ceased to be Chancellor of the Exchequer. That recent speech -might have been made by a member of the Liberal Opposition. Certainly in -some of its most important and striking passages it enunciated opinions -and laid down doctrines which might have come from almost any of Sir -Henry Campbell-Bannerman's colleagues on the front Opposition bench. It -denounced extravagant war expenditure at a time when Imperialist -politicians were calling out for something very like military -conscription, and it insisted that the defense of England by the -strength of her navy ought to be the main consideration of English -statesmanship. That is a doctrine which used to be proclaimed in distant -days by such men as Cobden and Bright, which soon became an accepted -principle among all genuine Liberals, but has lately been repudiated by -all Imperialists, Liberal or Tory, who seem to think that the one great -business of English statesmanship is to turn England into a military -encampment. The natural and reasonable conclusion to be drawn from such -a speech is that during the last session or two of Parliament -Hicks-Beach found it impossible to put up any longer with the reign of -Jingo principles in the Cabinet, and made up his mind to set himself -free from such a domination. The Tory Government has lost its ablest -financial administrator, and Sir Michael Hicks-Beach has regained his -position of independence. - -The future must tell the story of Hicks-Beach's remaining career. That -he has yet an important career before him may be taken for granted if -only the fates allow him the ordinary length of man's life. Nothing but -absolute retirement from Parliamentary work could reduce such a man to a -position of complete neutrality, or could prevent him from having an -influence which the leaders of both political parties must take into -consideration. He is too strong in debate, too well trained in the -business of administration, and too quick in observing the real import -of growing political changes, and in distinguishing between them and the -mere displays of ephemeral emotion, not to make his influence felt at -any great crisis in the conditions of political parties. I hold, -therefore, to the hope expressed at the opening of this article, that -_il reviendra_--that Sir Michael Hicks-Beach will come back before long -to an important place in some administration. The House of Commons could -not afford just now to lose the services of such a man, and I take it -for granted that Hicks-Beach could not remain long in the House of -Commons without being called upon to accept an official position. He is -beyond question one of the very ablest men on the side of the Government -in that House, and his integrity, his moderation, his capacity to -understand the significance of new facts, and his disinterestedness -have won for him the respect of all parties in Parliament and outside -it. We are, to all appearance, on the eve of great changes in the -composition of our political parties. With the close of the war has come -to an end that season of Jingoism which brought so many weak-minded -Liberals into fascinated co-operation with the Tories. The reaction -against Toryism must come, and it will probably bring with it a -reconstitution of both parties on the principles which each may consider -essential to its character at a time when peace at home gives our -legislators a chance of studying the domestic welfare of the people in -these islands. It will not be enough then for a public man to proclaim -himself Imperialist in order to win the votes of a constituency, or to -denounce his rival as a pro-Boer in order to secure defeat for that -unlucky personage. The constituencies will begin to ask what each -candidate proposes to do for the domestic prosperity of our populations -at home, and to demand an explicit answer. Under such conditions, -whatever be the reconstitution of parties, I am strongly of opinion that -Sir Michael Hicks-Beach will before long begin a new administrative -career. - - - - -[Illustration: Photograph copyright by Elliott & Fry - -JOHN E. REDMOND] - - - - -JOHN E. REDMOND - - -John Edward Redmond is one of the leading men in the House of Commons -just now. He is one of the very few really eloquent speakers of whom the -House can boast at the present time. His eloquence is, indeed, of a kind -but rarely heard in either House of Parliament during recent years. The -ordinary style of debate in the House of Commons is becoming more and -more of the merely conversational order, and even when the speaker is -very much in earnest, even when he is carried away by the fervor of -debate, his emotion is apt to express itself rather in an elevation of -the voice than in an exaltation of the style. Among members of the House -who may be still regarded as having a career before them I do not think -there are more than three or four who are capable of making a really -eloquent speech--a speech which is worth hearing for its style and its -language as well as for its information and its argument. John Redmond -is one of these gifted few; Lloyd-George is another. I have heard some -critics depreciate John Redmond's eloquence on the ground that it is -rather old-fashioned. If it be old-fashioned to express one's meaning in -polished and well-balanced sentences, in brilliant phrasing, and with -melodious utterance, then I have to admit that John Redmond is not, in -his style of eloquence, quite up to the present fashion, and I can only -say that it is so much the worse for the present fashion. It is quite -certain that Redmond is accepted by the House of Commons in general as -one of its most eloquent speakers and one of its ablest party leaders. - -Redmond has already been some twenty years in the House of Commons. He -was a very young man when first chosen to represent an Irish -constituency in the House. I have noticed that our biographical -dictionaries of contemporary life do not agree as to the date of -Redmond's birth. Some of the books set him down as born in 1851, while -others give the year of his birth as 1856. I think I have good reason -for knowing that the latter date is the correct one. Perhaps it ought to -bring a sense of gratification to a public man when a dispute arises as -to the date of his birth. It may give him a complacent reminder of the -fact that certain cities disputed as to Homer's birthplace. - -John Redmond comes of a good family, and his father was for a long time -a member of the House of Commons. I can remember the elder Redmond very -well, and he was a man of the most courteous bearing and polished -manners, a man of education and capacity, who, whenever he spoke in -debate, spoke well and to the point, and was highly esteemed by all -parties in the House. John Redmond was educated at Trinity College, -Dublin, studied for the law and was called to the bar, but did not -practice in the profession. He was elected to the House of Commons in -1881, and became a member of that National party which had been formed -not long before under the guidance of Charles Stewart Parnell. From the -time when he first took part in a Parliamentary debate it was evident -that John Redmond had inherited his father's graceful manner of -speaking, and it was soon discovered that he possessed a faculty of -genuine eloquence which had not been displayed by the elder Redmond. -John Redmond had and still has a voice of remarkable strength, volume, -and variety of intonation, and he was soon afforded ample opportunity -of testing his capacity for public speech. It was a great part of -Parnell's policy that there should be a powerful Home Rule organization -extending itself over all parts of Great Britain, founding institutions -in all the principal cities and towns, and addressing audiences indoors -and out on the subject of Ireland's demand for domestic self-government. -John Redmond soon became one of the most effective organizers of this -new movement and one of the most powerful pleaders of the cause on -public platforms. The first time I ever heard him make a speech in -public was at a great open-air meeting held in Hyde Park. He had to -address a vast crowd, and I felt naturally anxious to know what his -success might be under such trying conditions for a young speaker. He -had then but a slender frame, and his somewhat delicately molded -features did not suggest the idea of great lung-power. After his first -sentence I felt no further doubt as to his physical capacity. He had a -magnificent voice, clear, resonant, and thrilling, which made itself -heard all over the crowd without the slightest apparent effort on the -part of the speaker. I could not help being struck at the time by the -seeming contrast between the boyish, delicate figure and the easy -strength of the resonant voice. - -During his earlier sessions in the House of Commons Redmond did not -speak very often, but when he did speak he made it clear that he had at -his command a gift of genuine eloquence. He held office as one of the -whips of the Irish National party--that is to say, as one of the chosen -officials whose duty it is to look after the arrangements of the party, -to see that its members are always in their places at the right time, to -settle as to the speakers who are to take part in each debate, and to -enter into any necessary communications with the whips of the other -parties in the House. Redmond was a man admirably suited for such work. -He had had an excellent education; he had the polished manners of good -society; he belonged to what I may call the country gentleman order, and -could ride to hounds with a horsemanship which must have won the respect -of the Tory squires from the hunting counties; and he had an excellent -capacity and memory for all matters of arrangement and detail. He -attended to his duties as one of the party whips with unfailing -regularity, and could exercise with equal skill and effect the -influence of persuasiveness and that of official command. - -In the early days of the Parnell party there was not, to be sure, any -great demand on the marshaling power of the whips over the rank and file -of the little army. For a considerable time the whole Parnellite party -did not consist of more than ten or a dozen members. These members, -however, were compelled to do constant duty, and to maintain the great -game of Parliamentary obstruction revived by Parnell at all hours of the -day and the night. It was quite a common thing for a member of the party -to deliver a dozen or fifteen speeches in the course of a single -sitting, and John Redmond had all his work to do in endeavoring to keep -exhausted colleagues up to their business and to see that they did not -leave the precincts of the House until Mr. Speaker should have formally -announced that the day's sitting was over. Redmond's services were of -inestimable value during such a period of trial. As the days went on, -the Irish constituencies became more and more aroused to the necessity -of increasing as far as possible the number of thoroughgoing Parnellites -in the House by getting rid, at every election, of the Irish -members--Irish Whigs as they were called--who did not go in thoroughly, -heart and soul, for the policy of Parnell. Under such conditions the -influence and the eloquence of John Redmond were of the most substantial -service to his party in the work of stirring up the national sentiment -among the Irish populations in the cities and towns of England and -Scotland. Before many years had passed, John Redmond was one of the -whips of an Irish National party in the House of Commons which numbered -nearly ninety members. The increase of official duties thus put upon him -and his brother whips did not seem to trouble him in the slightest -degree. He was always on duty in the House, unless when he had to be on -duty at some public meeting outside its precincts; he was ever in good -spirits; could always give his chief the fullest and most exact -information as to the conditions of each debate, and the best methods of -getting full use of the numbers and the debating strength of the Irish -party at any given moment. - -During the greater part of this time he had not had much opportunity of -cultivating his faculty as a debater, for the whip of a party is -understood to be occupied rather in putting other men up to speak than -in displaying eloquence of his own, and it was for several years not -quite understood by the party that John Redmond was qualified to be and -was destined to be one of its most commanding spokesmen. I ought to say -that among other duties discharged by John Redmond was the trying and -responsible task of traveling on more than one occasion over the United -States and Canada and Australia to preach the Home Rule gospel to the -Irish populations in those countries and to all others who would listen, -and thus to obtain the utmost possible support for the great movement at -home. For many sessions, however, John Redmond was regarded by his -colleagues in the House as a speaker best heard to advantage on some -great public platform outside the Parliamentary precincts, and very few -of them indeed had yet formed the idea that he was also qualified to -become one of the foremost orators in the representative chamber itself. - -I may mention here that Mr. Redmond's intimate knowledge of the rules -and practices of the House and his thorough acquaintance with its -business ways were, in great measure, due to his having held for a time -a place in one of the offices belonging to the House of Commons. He was -appointed, before he became a member of the House, a clerk in the Vote -Office, a department which has to do with the preparation of -Parliamentary documents, the distribution of Parliamentary papers, and -other such technical work. The clerkships in these offices are in the -gift of the Speaker, are an avenue towards the highest promotions in the -official staff of the House, and are usually given to young men who, in -addition to high education and a promise of capacity, can bring some -Parliamentary or family influence to bear on their behalf. John Redmond -had some experience in this Vote Office, and it made him a thorough -master of Parliamentary business. I had enjoyed his personal -acquaintance for some time before he came into the House as a member, -and I had been in the House myself some two years before his election. I -remember often seeing him and exchanging a word with him as he stood -within the House itself, but just below the line which marks the place -where the bar of the House is erected when there is occasion, for any -public purpose, to admit a stranger thus far and no farther, in order -that he may plead some cause before the House or present some petition. -Officials employed in any of the offices belonging to the House are -allowed the proud privilege of advancing up the floor of the chamber as -far as the chair occupied by the Sergeant-at-Arms, the point at which -the bar would be drawn across if occasion should require. Thus I had the -opportunity of conversing with John Redmond on the floor of the House -itself, before he had yet obtained the right of passing beyond the -sacred line of the bar. - -I am quite certain that Parnell himself did not, until the great crisis -came in the Irish National party, fully appreciate the political -capacity of John Redmond. Parnell always regarded him as both useful and -ornamental--useful in managing the business of the party, and ornamental -as a brilliant speaker on a public platform. But he did not appear to -know, and had indeed no means of knowing, that Redmond had in himself -the qualifications of a party leader and the debating power which could -make him an influence in the House of Commons. The speeches which -Redmond made, or rather was "put up" by his leader to make, in the -House, had often for their object merely to fill up time and keep a -debate going until the moment arrived when Parnell thought a division -ought to be taken. But when the great crisis came in the affairs of the -party, then Redmond was soon able to prove himself made of stronger -metal than even his leader had supposed. The crisis was, of course, when -the Parnell divorce case came on, and Gladstone and the Liberal leaders -generally became filled with the conviction that it would be impossible -to carry a measure of Home Rule if Parnell were to retain the leadership -of the Irish National party. I need not go over this old and painful -story again; it is enough to say that the great majority of Parnell's -own followers found themselves compelled to believe that it would be -better for Ireland if Parnell were to resign the leadership and retire -into private life for a certain time. This Parnell refused to do, and, -in opposition to the earnest wishes of the majority of his followers, he -published a sort of manifesto in denunciation of Gladstone. Then came -the famous meetings of the Irish party in Committee-Room No. 15--one of -the committee-rooms belonging to the House of Commons--and, after long -days of angry and sometimes even fierce debate, the great majority of -the party declared that they could no longer follow the leadership of -Parnell. The minority made up their minds to hold with Parnell for good -or evil. - -I am willing and always was willing to render full justice to the -motives which inspired the action of the minority. They did not feel -themselves called upon to justify every act of Parnell's private life, -but they took the position that his private life had nothing to do with -his political career, and that they could not abandon the leader who had -done such service to Ireland merely because his name had become -associated with a public scandal. On the other hand, the majority of the -party, of whom I was one, held that their first duty was to their -country, and that if the continued leadership of Parnell rendered it -impossible for Gladstone to carry his Home Rule measure, they had to -think only of their country and its national cause. During all these -debates in Committee-Room No. 15, John Redmond took the leading part on -the side of the minority. He became the foremost champion of Parnell's -leadership. This position seemed to come to him as if in the nature of -things. I well remember the ability and eloquence which he displayed in -these debates, and the telling manner in which he put his arguments and -his appeals. The course he took was all the more to his credit because -Parnell had never singled him out as an object of especial favors and, -indeed, in the opinion of many among us, had not done full justice to -his services in the House of Commons. Then came the formal division of -the party. The majority met together and reconstituted the party with a -new Chairman, while the minority associated themselves with Parnell as -their leader for the purpose of going over to Ireland and endeavoring to -organize the country in his support. When the end of the fierce open -controversy was brought about at last by Parnell's sudden death, John -Redmond was made the leader of the minority, and from that time forth he -began to give more and more distinct evidences of his capacity for a -Parliamentary leader's position. He and his group of followers kept -themselves in the House of Commons entirely apart from their former -colleagues. John Redmond had often to take a part in the debates of the -House, and every one could see that the serious responsibility imposed -on him was developing in him qualities of leadership, and even of -statesmanship, which very few indeed had previously believed to be among -his gifts. - -Meanwhile the state of things created in Ireland by the split and the -setting up of two opposing parties was becoming intolerable. Every man -of patriotic feeling on either side of the controversy was coming to see -more keenly every day that the maintenance of such a division must be -fatal to the cause, for at least another generation. Some efforts were -made by the leading men on both sides to bring about a process of -reconciliation. John Dillon on the one side, and John Redmond on the -other, lent every help they could to these patriotic efforts. John -Dillon had by this time become leader of the more numerous party, having -been chosen to that position when the leader elected after the severance -from Parnell had been compelled by ill health to resign the place. Every -reasonable man among the Irish Nationalists, inside and outside -Parliament, was coming more and more to see that there was no longer any -occasion whatever for further severance, and that the country demanded a -return to the old principle of union in the National ranks. John Dillon -became impressed with the conviction that it might tend to smooth -matters and to open a better chance for reconciliation if he, as one of -the most conspicuous anti-Parnellites, were to resign his position, and -to invite the whole party to come together again and elect a leader. -Dillon was strongly of opinion that, as all matter of controversy had -been buried in the early grave of Parnell, it would be better for the -cause of future union that the new leader should be chosen from among -the small number of men who had always adhered to Parnell's side. Dillon -prevailed upon most of his friends to adopt his views on this subject. -It was the custom of the Irish National party--indeed, of both the -parties--to elect their leader at the opening of each session, and John -Dillon had been re-elected more than once to the position of command in -his own party. Accordingly, at the close of a session Dillon announced -his intention to resign the place of leader, and he added to the -announcement that he would not then accept re-election, even if it -should be offered to him by a vote of his party. This patriotic course -of action was most happy in its results. The Irish National members met -together once again as a united party, and the leadership was conferred -on John Redmond as an evidence alike of the confidence which was felt in -his capacity and his sincerity, and a proof of the desire entertained by -the majority for a thorough and cordial reunion of the whole party. - -John Redmond was therefore the first leader of the whole party since the -events of Committee-Room No. 15. John Dillon and his immediate -predecessor had been only leaders of a majority, and now John Redmond -was chosen as the leader of the whole party representing the Irish -National cause in the House of Commons. He settled down at once to his -new position with a temper and spirit admirably suited to the work he -had to undertake. He seemed to have put away from his mind all memory of -disunion in the party, and he became once more the friend as well as the -leader of every member enrolled in its ranks. Many of those who formed -the majority had in the first instance only yielded to the persuasion of -John Dillon and others in the election of Redmond as leader merely -because they believed that by such a course the interests of the cause -could best be served just then. But I know that some of these men -accepted with personal reluctance what seemed to be the necessity of the -hour, and looked forward with anything but gratification to the prospect -of having to serve under the new chief. John Redmond, while defending -the cause of the still living Parnell, had shown in the service of his -chief an energy and a passion which few of us could have expected of -him, and was often utterly unsparing in his denunciation of the men who -maintained the other side of the controversy. It was not unnatural that -many of his former opponents should feel some doubt as to the -possibility of working harmoniously under the leadership of a man who -had been but lately so bitter an opponent. I had, at the time of the new -leadership, been compelled by ill health to give up all active part in -public life, but I talked with many members of the majority in the Irish -party who told me frankly that they feared it would not be possible to -get on under the leadership of John Redmond. Before long, however, these -same men spontaneously assured me that they had changed their opinions -on that subject, and were glad to find that they could work with Redmond -in perfect harmony, and that his manner and bearing showed no sign -whatever of any bitter memories belonging to the days of internal -dispute. Redmond devoted himself absolutely to the House of Commons and -the business of leadership, unless indeed when some pressing national -interests compelled him to leave his place in St. Stephen's in order to -see to the organization of the National cause in Ireland or in the -United States. At the time when I am writing this article he has but -lately returned from a visit of that kind to some of the great cities of -the American Republic. - -Fortunately for his country as well as for himself, John Redmond is a -man of private means, is not compelled to earn a living, and can devote -the whole of his time to the service of the National cause. He is always -to be found at his post while the House of Commons is sitting, and I -believe that his morning ride in Hyde Park with his wife every day is -one of the few recreations in which he allows himself to indulge. I had -not long ago a visit from a well-known member of the Irish Parliamentary -party who holds one of its official positions and was at the time of the -internal dispute an uncompromising opponent of Parnell's continued rule. -This friend of mine I know was decidedly opposed at first to the -election of John Redmond as leader, for the reason that he did not -believe such an arrangement could possibly work with smoothness and -satisfaction to the party. But when I saw him lately, he assured me that -he had entirely changed his opinions and that he did not believe any -party could possibly have a better leader than John Redmond had already -proved himself to be. He had nothing but praise for Redmond's bearing -and ways, for the manner in which he appeared to have banished from his -mind all memory of past disunion, and for the unremitting attention with -which he devoted himself to the work of the party inside and outside the -House of Commons. - -Since then I have heard and read nothing but good accounts of the manner -in which Redmond has reorganized the party. It has under his guidance -become once again a powerful force in political life. The House of -Commons, as a whole, has thoroughly recognized Redmond's position, -influence, and capacity. The Prime Minister has given many proofs of the -importance which he attaches to Redmond's decisions and movements. The -new leader of the Irish party has won a much higher rank as a -Parliamentary debater than he ever had attained to in the days before he -had become invested with a really grave responsibility. The newspaper -critics on all sides of political life are agreed in describing him as -one of the foremost living debaters. Indeed, there are but three or four -men in the House of Commons who could possibly be compared with him for -eloquence and skill in debate, and there is a quality of grace and -artistic form in his style of eloquence which often recalls the memories -of brighter days, when the art of oratory was still cultivated in -Parliament. The success with which he has conducted the movements of his -party has compelled Ministerialists and Opposition alike to take serious -account of Redmond and his followers when the chances of any great -political measure are under consideration. Only quite lately, during the -passage of the Education measure, he adopted a policy which at first -greatly puzzled his opponents, and at the last moment succeeded in -impressing the Government and the Ministerial party generally with the -conviction that Redmond understands when and how to strike a decisive -blow. - -Of course we hear sometimes, and of late rather often, about differences -in the Irish party itself, and about a threatened secession from John -Redmond's leadership. The Tory papers in England, and even some of the -journals which are professedly Liberal, made eager use of this supposed -dissension, and endeavored to persuade themselves and their readers that -Redmond has not a full hold over his followers and over the Irish -people. I may tell my American readers that they will do well not to -attach the slightest importance to these stories about a threatened -secession from the lately reunited Irish National party. In the first -place, I never heard of any political party which did not inclose in its -ranks some men who could not always be reckoned on as amenable to the -discipline which is found necessary in every political organization. -There is a considerable number of Liberal members who cannot be counted -on to follow at all times the guidance of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. -There are many Ministerialists, and some of them very clever men, who -have lately been proving that at times they would just as soon vote -against Arthur Balfour as with him. But in regard to the Irish party and -the members who do not always fall in with the wish of its leader, the -actual facts are peculiar. The only members of the party who have lately -been showing a tendency to mutiny are, with one exception, men of no -account whatever in Ireland's political life. I do not wish to name any -names, but I can state with deliberation that almost every one of the -mutinous members just now is a man who has not the slightest chance of -ever again being sent to represent an Irish constituency in the House of -Commons. These men have long since forfeited the confidence of their -constituents and their fellow-countrymen. They are perfectly aware of -this fact; they know quite well that the next general election will see -them put out of Parliamentary life; and, in despair of re-election, they -probably think that they might as well make the most of the opportunity -for rendering themselves conspicuous or for indulging in eccentricities -which now can do them no further harm. It may be taken for granted that -at the next general election the National constituencies of Ireland will -send to the House of Commons no men who are not prepared to work in -complete union with the National party, and to recognize the authority -of the leader who has the confidence of his people. I do not care to -waste many words on this subject, but I think it right to assure my -American readers that they need not attach any serious importance to the -doings of five or six men, most of whom are either mere "cranks" or are -driven to desperation by disappointed personal ambition. - -John Redmond has the confidence of his countrymen in England and -Scotland, as well as in Ireland, and we have seen that within the last -few months he has obtained full assurance that he enjoys the confidence -of his countrymen in the United States, in Canada, and in Australasia. I -feel all the more ready to bear my testimony to his merits and his -success because of the fact that I was, during a crisis which lasted for -some years, in direct opposition to the policy which he felt himself -conscientiously bound to adopt. The change of events has released him -from any obligation to adhere to such a policy, and I do him the justice -to believe that he accepted with the sincerest and most disinterested -good will the first genuine opportunity offered for a complete reunion -of Irish Nationalists. John Redmond is still young enough to have a -career before him, and I feel the fullest confidence in his future. - - - - -[Illustration: Photograph copyright by Elliott & Fry - -SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT] - - - - -SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT - - -Every friend and admirer of Sir William Harcourt must have been glad -when it was made known that the late leader of the Liberal party in the -House of Commons had declined to accept the King's offer of a peerage -and was determined to remain in that representative chamber where he had -made his political name and won his place of command. Sir William -Harcourt would have been thrown away in the House of Lords. He could not -have done anything to arouse that apathetic chamber to living importance -in the affairs of state, and the House of Commons would have lost its -most impressive figure. Sir William Harcourt's political fame was made -in the House of Commons, and he is even yet its most distinguished -member. I say "even yet" because Harcourt is growing old, and has passed -that age of threescore years and ten authoritatively set down as the -allotted space of man's life. But he shows no appearance of old age, -seems full of energy and vital power, and is as well able to command -the listening House of Commons by argumentative speech and impressive -declamation as he was twenty years ago. Harcourt's bearing is one of -superabundant physical resources, and he has a voice of resonant tone -which imposes no tax on the listening powers of the stranger in the -farthest gallery. He is a very tall man, would be one of the tallest men -in any political assembly, and his presence is stately and commanding. -After Gladstone's death he became the leader of the Liberal party in the -House of Commons, and he resigned that position only because he could -not cordially accept the policy and plans of action undertaken by his -leader in the House of Lords, Lord Rosebery. I do not propose to enter -at any length into the differences of opinion which separated these two -men, but it was generally understood that Lord Rosebery did not see his -way to carry out Gladstone's policy for the maintenance of Greece and -the Christian populations generally against the blood-stained domination -of the Ottoman power in the southeast of Europe. The result of these -differences was that Lord Rosebery applied himself to form a Liberal -party of his own, which should be what is called Imperialist in its -policy, and that Harcourt became merely a member of the Liberal -Opposition in the House of Commons. To have won the place of Liberal -leader in the representative chamber might well have satisfied the -ambition of any man, and to withdraw from that place rather than -contribute to any further disagreement in the party did not in any sense -detract from Harcourt's influence and fame. - -Sir William Harcourt won his earliest distinctions in law and literature -rather than in politics. He comes of a family which has a history of its -own and had members who won reputation during many generations. He was -educated at Cambridge University and obtained high honors there. He was -called to the bar in 1854, and became Queen's Counsel in 1866. In the -meantime he had accomplished some important literary work. He was a -writer for the "Saturday Review," then at the zenith of its reputation, -and under the title of "Historicus" he contributed a series of letters -on important public subjects to the "Times" newspaper which attracted -universal attention, were afterwards collected and published in a -volume, and found readers in every part of the world where men take -interest in the public life of England. He was a leading advocate in -some legal causes which excited the profound attention of the whole -country, and was already regarded as a man of mark, who might be safely -assumed to have a successful career before him. It was generally taken -for granted at the time that such a man was certain to seek and find a -place in the House of Commons, which of course offers an opening for -rising legal advocates as well as for rising politicians. I can remember -quite distinctly that to all of us who were watching the careers of -promising men it appeared quite certain that Harcourt was not likely to -content himself with professional distinction, and that when he entered -the House of Commons he would devote himself for the most part to the -business of political life. He made one unsuccessful attempt to obtain a -seat in the House of Commons as representative of a Scottish -constituency, and was more fortunate in his second endeavor, when he was -elected to Parliament by the city of Oxford as a Liberal in 1868. Then -for a while I personally lost sight of him, for towards the close of -that year I began a lengthened visit to the United States, and only -learned through the newspapers that he was already winning marked -distinction as a Parliamentary debater. When I returned to England in -1871, I found that Harcourt was already regarded as certain to hold high -office in a Liberal administration. His first step in that direction was -to obtain the office of Solicitor-General in Gladstone's Government. - -A story was told of Harcourt at the time--this was in 1873--which I -believe to be authentic and is worth repeating. Up to this time he was -merely Mr. William Vernon Harcourt, but the usage in Parliamentary life -is that the leading law officers of the Crown, the Attorney-General and -the Solicitor-General, shall receive the honor of knighthood. It was -therefore a matter of course that Mr. Harcourt should become Sir William -Harcourt, and bear the title by which he is still known everywhere. The -story goes, however, that Harcourt was not much delighted with the offer -of a distinction which is commonly conferred upon the mayors of English -cities and towns and other such personages of municipal position. -Harcourt, as I have said, came of a distinguished English family which -had contributed Lord Chancellors and other such exalted dignitaries to -the business of the State. He probably had also in his mind the fact -that rising men in his own profession who happened to be sons of peers -were specially exempted by constitutional usage from the necessity of -putting up with knighthood when accepting one of the two legal offices -under the Crown. The manner in which this very fact proclaimed the -comparative insignificance of the title may have still further -influenced Harcourt's objections. Anyhow, he did endeavor to impress -upon Gladstone his claim to be exempted from the proffered dignity. -Gladstone, however, assured him that it was the recognized -constitutional practice to confer a knighthood upon a new -Solicitor-General, and that there was no reason why Harcourt should seek -dispensation from the honor. "Then," demanded Harcourt--so at least the -story is told--"why don't you confer knighthoods on all the members of -your Cabinet, and see how some of them would receive the proposition?" I -cannot vouch for this story as historical truth, but I can vouch for the -fact that it was told everywhere at the time, and received, so far as I -know, no contradiction. - -Harcourt made his way almost at once to the front rank of Parliamentary -debaters. His style was somewhat rhetorical and declamatory, but it was -distinctly argumentative, and his speeches contained few passages of -mere declamation. He was a hard hitter, one of the hardest in the House, -but he hit straight from the shoulder and never gave an unfair blow. He -was often very happy in his sarcastic touches, and there was a certain -robust and self-satisfied good humor even in his severest attacks on his -Parliamentary opponents. The general impression of observers at first -was that Harcourt would go in merely for the reputation of a powerful -debater in the House of Commons, and would not show any ambition for the -steady and severe work of Ministerial office. The public had yet to -learn that the highest reputation of the man was to be made by his -success as the head of a great Ministerial department. Many observers -also formed the opinion that Harcourt had no clear political views of -his own, and was merely a sort of free lance ready to accept employment -under the most convenient leader. He had entered the House of Commons as -a Liberal, and even before he accepted office had always ranked himself -as a regular supporter of the Liberal party, but he often made speeches -in opposition to the views of extreme Liberals or Radicals--speeches -such as might well have been made by some eloquent member of the Tory -party. Many of the more advanced Liberals had for some time no -confidence whatever in Harcourt's Liberalism, and were often engaged in -sharp controversy with him. My own impression is that, up to a certain -period in his career, Harcourt had not formed, or troubled himself to -form, any very settled opinions on the rising political questions of the -day. Upon all the old subjects of political debate, on the controversies -which divided political parties in a former generation, his views were, -no doubt, quite settled, but then there were many new subjects coming up -for discussion, bringing with them new occasions for political division, -and it is quite probable that on some of these at least the new -Solicitor-General had not quite made up his mind. He had been a close -student at Cambridge, and had been elected professor of international -law by that University; he had practiced law as an advocate, and had -begun to make a reputation for himself as a writer. It is quite probable -that he had not yet given any special attention to some of the new -questions which the growing development of social and political -conditions was calling up for Parliamentary consideration. - -Harcourt appears to have accepted as a matter of course, when he entered -the House of Commons, the recognized principles inherited by the Liberal -party. But there was then, as at most other periods of England's -constitutional history, a new and advancing Liberal party beginning to -make its influence felt, and not satisfied to abide by the mere -traditions and established canons of the older Liberalism. Only a very -few even of the advanced Liberals were yet prepared to support and -encourage the Irish demand for Home Rule, and on such domestic -questions, for instance, as the regulation of the liquor traffic, the -Liberal party in general had not made up its mind to any policy other -than a policy of mere inaction. I mention these two subjects in -particular because they have an especial value in throwing light upon -the change which took place more lately in Harcourt's political -attitude. Probably at the time when he first entered the House of -Commons he had not concerned himself much with the Home Rule question, -and had allowed himself to take it for granted, as so many even among -Liberal politicians and newspapers would have told him, that the Irish -Home Rulers were aiming at the break-up of the Empire. In the same way -it is quite possible that he may have given little or no attention to -the demand for some new regulation of the liquor traffic, and dismissed -the whole subject as a crotchet of Sir Wilfrid Lawson. When, however, he -began to study the political life of the House of Commons as an active -and a rising member, and when he found that his inclinations and his -instincts were leading him into politics and away from law, we can -easily understand that he set himself to study with candid judgment the -new questions which were beginning to divide the Liberal party. I have -often heard Sir William Harcourt accused of inconsistency and even of -time-serving, because of his sudden conversion to the principle of some -political movement which was at last coming to be accepted by the great -Liberal leaders. I do not see any reason whatever to believe that -Harcourt can fairly be reproached with inconsistency, or justly accused -of any ignoble motive for his adoption of the newer and more advanced -opinions. The explanation seems to me quite clear. The university -student, the practicing advocate, the professor of international law, -adopted a new career and devoted himself to an active part in the work -of the House of Commons. Then it was that he studied for the first time -with earnestness and impartiality some great developing questions which -had previously been mere names and shadows to him, and thus he came to -form the conclusions which guided his subsequent career. If Harcourt had -been thinking chiefly of his own political advancement, he might have -done better for himself by following the example of Disraeli, and taking -a place among the Tories, where intellect and eloquence were more rare -than on the other side of the House, and where promotion was therefore -more easily to be won. - -Harcourt had probably not given much attention to great financial -questions until he came under the influence of Gladstone. Up to that -time he had, perhaps, not assumed that such subjects were likely to come -within the scope of his practical work; but when he had to study them, -he began to discover that he had within him the capacity for a thorough -comprehension of their real meaning and development, and as the result -of the study he became, when the opportunity offered itself, one of the -most successful and enlightened financial Ministers of his time. In the -same way he may never have given any serious thought to the question of -Irish Home Rule, and may have fallen quietly into the way of regarding -it, in accordance with the common opinion of most Englishmen just then, -as something naturally associated with a rebellious desire for the -breaking up of the Empire. When, however, he was led to study it as a -question of reasonable import, he grew to be a convinced and a hopeful -advocate of the cause. For a long time after he had taken office under -Gladstone he found himself brought into an incessant opposition and even -antagonism to the small group of Irish members, who then represented the -Irish national demand, and compelled to fight against the obstruction -which these Irish members were raising night after night, as their only -means of enforcing public attention to a serious consideration of -Ireland's national complaints and claims. He became converted to the -cause of Home Rule, just as Gladstone did, by having the question forced -upon his consideration, and thus being compelled to ask himself whether -there was not some real sense of justice inspiring the Irish agitation. - -I shall always remember a conversation I once had with Gladstone on -this subject of Irish Home Rule. It was in one of the inner lobbies of -the House of Commons, and Mr. Gladstone began it by asking me how I -could regard Home Rule as a national demand, seeing that only a very -small number of the Irish representatives in the House were actively in -favor of such a measure. Gladstone called my attention to the fact that -out of the whole body of Irish representatives elected by the -constituencies on the same basis of voting, less than a dozen members -declared themselves uncompromising advocates of Home Rule. I drew -Gladstone's attention to the fact that the suffrage in Ireland was so -high and so restricted that the whole bulk of the Irish population were -disqualified by law from giving a vote at any election. Gladstone -appealed to me to say whether he had not long been in favor of an -expanded suffrage for the whole Kingdom, and I told him that I cordially -recognized his sincere purpose, and that whenever we got a really fair -and popular suffrage he would then find ample proof that the great bulk -of the Irish people were united in their demands for Home Rule. Not long -after, it came about that Gladstone and his Government saw their way to -a measure of reform which gave the whole Kingdom an expanded and popular -suffrage, and at the next general election the great majority of Irish -members opposed to or lukewarm about Home Rule disappeared altogether -from Parliament, and their places were taken by avowed and -uncompromising Home Rulers elected mainly because they were earnest -advocates of Home Rule. Out of the hundred and three members who -constitute the Irish representation, we had then nearly ninety who were -proclaimed and consistent Home Rulers. This result did much of itself to -make Gladstone a convert to Home Rule, and it had naturally the same -effect on Harcourt, who was far too intelligent a man not to accept the -lesson taught by the Irish constituencies, and to admit that the demand -for Home Rule was a genuine national demand, and as such entitled to the -serious consideration of real statesmen. The conversion of Harcourt I -have always, therefore, regarded as sincere and statesmanlike, and of -the same order as the conversion of Gladstone himself. The first -business of statesmanship is to recognize established facts and to act -upon their evidence. Once the demand had been proved to be national, -neither Gladstone nor Harcourt was the man to deny it a full -consideration; and the same full consideration made the one man and the -other an advocate of Home Rule. - -In the days before the great constitutional change which I have -described, the change which resulted in the adoption of a popular -suffrage, in the days when our small band of Irish Nationalists was -still doing battle inch by inch against the Government, we had many -fierce struggles with Harcourt, then a leading member of the Liberal -administration. We had to admit that we found in him a powerful -antagonist. He was ready in reply, resolute in maintaining his position, -and he gave us, to say the least of it, as good as we brought. He was -ever alert, he could answer attack by attack, he could carry the battle -into the enemy's ranks, and the ablest of our debaters had his best work -to do when compelled to stand up in Parliamentary contest against -Harcourt. But I observed that in our private dealings with Harcourt, on -questions which came within the range of his administrative functions, -we always found him considerate, kind, and even generous. There were -frequent occasions when a Minister of the Crown had to be applied to by -an Irish member for justice in the dealings of his official department, -where individual questions of right and wrong having nothing to do with -the general subject of Home Rule came up for consideration. I am now -speaking of questions which were not to be settled by mere debate in the -House of Commons, but which belonged to the ordinary and practical -dealings of the department with this or that individual case. I can -remember many instances in which I had to make some such appeal to Sir -William Harcourt, and I ever found him most ready and willing to -consider fairly the nature of any individual grievance, and to prevent -the administration of the law from being perversely turned into an -engine of oppression. I know that many of my colleagues as well as -myself felt thankful to Harcourt for his prompt interference where a -real grievance had been brought under his notice, and for his resolve to -see that justice must be done to the obscure sufferer from official -tyranny. When the Liberal Government and the Irish National party came -to work together for Home Rule, we, the Irish National members, had -nothing on our memory which could prevent us from regarding Harcourt as -a genuine Liberal and a sincere friend who had never shown any -inclination to abuse his power when he was strong and we were at our -weakest. My recollection of the days when we were fighting against -Harcourt is tinged with no bitterness. He was always a formidable -fighter, but he fought fairly when he still had to fight against us. - -It is not surprising that Harcourt should have been for some time -regarded as a powerful debater and nothing more. He was one of the -foremost debaters in the House of Commons, even at a time when that -House had more commanding debaters in it than it can claim to have just -at present. He cannot be ranked among the great orators of the House. He -is wanting in imagination, and without the gift of imagination there -cannot be eloquence of the highest order. Even in the mere making of -phrases he has seldom shown originality, and it has often been remarked -of him, as it was remarked by Disraeli of Sir Robert Peel, that he never -ventures on any quotation which has not already well established its -popularity. Sir William Harcourt's best qualities as a speaker consist -in his clearness of exposition, his unfailing fluency, his masterly -array of forcible argument, and the fact that he never allows his -eloquence to soar over the heads of his audience. I should be inclined -to say of him that, although he is unquestionably a great Parliamentary -debater, yet his intellectual capacity, his faculty for balancing -evidence, acquiring and comparing facts, appreciating tendencies, and -coming to just conclusions, are greater even than his powers of speech. -I may say that one who listened to Sir William Harcourt during the -earlier stages of his Parliamentary career might very naturally have -been led to quite a different conclusion, and might have set him down as -a clever maker of speeches and not a statesman. But such an observer, -supposing him to be endowed with a fair amount of intelligence, would -have gradually changed his opinion as he followed Harcourt's political -career. Every time that Harcourt has been in office he has more and more -given proof that there is in him the true quality of statesmanship. He -served as Home Secretary under Gladstone, and was afterwards Chancellor -of the Exchequer, first in one of Gladstone's Administrations and -afterwards in the Government of Lord Rosebery. There can be no question -that he proved himself to be one of the greatest financial Ministers -England has had in recent times. His famous Death Duties budget, -introduced while Lord Rosebery was Prime Minister, created one of the -most vehement controversies known to the political life of the present -generation. Yet the great principle which Harcourt embodied in his -dealing with the question of death duties must now be regarded even by -his political opponents as resting on a basis of absolute morality and -justice. The principle merely was that the amount of taxation which any -individual pays to the State in consideration of his having obtained -property by bequest shall be greater in proportion according as the -acquired property is great in amount. In other words, Harcourt's policy -maintained that a man who comes in for a large property as a bequest -shall pay a larger proportion of taxation to the State than a man who -comes in for a small property, and that the same principle ought to -prevail through our other systems of direct taxation. The whole -controversy simply turns on the question whether the rich man ought or -ought not to pay a larger proportion of his income to defray the -national expenses than the poor man--whether the citizen who has only -income enough to enable him to maintain his family decently ought to be -called upon to pay towards the maintenance of the State on just the same -scale as that ordained for the man who can live in lavish luxury. The -boldness and originality of Sir William Harcourt's venture in his budget -of 1893, the energy and argumentative power with which he carried it to -success, have undoubtedly secured for him a place in the front rank of -England's financial Ministers. The later years of Harcourt's career -offer a strange commentary on the estimate generally formed of him when -he began to be conspicuous in Parliament. At the former period he was -commonly regarded as a clever but somewhat superficial man, as one whose -qualities were rather flashy than sound, as a ready maker of telling -speeches designed to produce an immediate effect and destined to be -utterly forgotten the day after to-morrow. Harcourt's later years of -public work have proved him to be a serious Parliamentary leader, a man -of strong and deep convictions, a man who thinks before he speaks and -speaks because he thinks. - -Indeed, the seriousness of Harcourt's convictions on some subjects of -national importance has brought him more than once into disfavor with -his constituents. He holds very strong and advanced views on the -subject of local option--that is to say, on the right of localities to -say whether they will or will not allow the sale of intoxicating drinks -within their confines, and to state what conditions are to be imposed on -the traffic if it is permitted at all. Sir William Harcourt went further -on this subject than some even among his colleagues who were in favor of -the general principle as a principle, but did not see the necessity for -pressing it to immediate action. One of those colleagues said to me that -in his opinion Harcourt might very well have allowed the question to -stand over for eight or ten years, and perhaps by the end of that time -the habits of the population would have improved so far as to render the -passing of any strong restrictive law unnecessary. I am quite certain -that Harcourt's earnest resolve to deal boldly with this subject if he -should be allowed the opportunity had much to do with the condition of -feeling in the Liberal party which led to his resignation of its -leadership. We may look forward with confidence to the formation of a -new Liberal Government in which Harcourt will have a commanding -position, and when that time comes we may take it for granted that, in -spite of whatever opposition on either side of the House of Commons, he -will once more attempt to deal with the question of local option. - -Most of my American readers know that Sir William Harcourt's second wife -was the daughter of Lothrop Motley, the famous historian who was for a -time Minister to Great Britain, and who died at Harcourt's country -residence in 1877. The eldest son, Louis Vernon Harcourt, who was born -in 1863, has also married an American lady. Louis Harcourt, whom I have -known since his boyish days, is endowed with much of his father's -talents, and I have always thought that if he had devoted himself -entirely to political life he might make for himself such a career as -his father has already accomplished. During contested elections I have -been more than once associated with Louis Harcourt in "stumping" some -parts of the country on behalf of the Liberal Government then engaged in -the cause of Home Rule, and I have the clearest memories of his -remarkable organizing capacity, his ready eloquence, and his skill in -replying to questions and arguments and in convincing skeptical voters. -I take it for granted that every one who has known Louis, or, as he is -commonly called, "Lulu" Harcourt, must have delightful recollections of -his bright companionship. We have all heard that Sir William Harcourt -studiously consulted his son when the offer of a peerage was made to him -by King Edward, and that "Lulu" was resolute in supporting his father's -desire to refuse the honor, even although his acceptance of it would -have made "Lulu" the heir to a peerage. Sir William Harcourt, we may -well hope, has yet good work to do in the House of Commons. There is -nothing about him which suggests the idea of advanced years or of -decaying powers, whether mental or physical. The curious attack of -weakness which lately came over so many members of the Liberal party -never touched his robust intellect and resolute character. No man could -render more valuable services than he may be expected to do in turning -to account for genuine Liberalism the reaction already beginning to set -in against the reign of the Tories and the Jingoes. I cherish the belief -that the best of Sir William Harcourt's work is yet to be done by -him. - - - - -[Illustration: Photograph copyright by London Stereoscopic Co. - -JAMES BRYCE] - - - - -JAMES BRYCE - - -James Bryce is universally recognized as one of the intellectual forces -in the British House of Commons. When he rises to make a speech, every -one listens with the deepest interest, feeling sure that some ideas and -some instruction are sure to come which no political party in the House -can well afford to lose. Some men in the House of Commons have been -orators and nothing else; some have been orators and instructors as -well; some have been Parliamentary debaters more or less capable; and a -good many have been bores. In every generation there have been a few who -are especially regarded as illuminating forces. The House does not think -of measuring their influence by any estimate of their greater or less -capacity for mere eloquence of expression. It values them because of the -lessons which they teach. To this small order of members James Bryce -undoubtedly belongs. Now, I do not mean to convey the idea that such men -as these are not usually endowed with the gift of eloquence, or that -they cannot deliver speeches which would entitle them to a high rank -among Parliamentary debaters, no matter what the import of the speeches -might be. My object is to describe a certain class of men whose -Parliamentary speeches are valued by members in general without any -special regard for their form, but only with regard to their substance, -for the thoughts they utter and not for the manner of the utterance. -James Bryce would be considered an effective and even a commanding -speaker in any public assembly, but nevertheless, when the House of -Commons and the public think of his speeches, these are thought of -mainly for the truths they tell and the lessons they convey, and not for -any quality of mere eloquence which adorns them. In a certain sense -James Bryce might be described as belonging to that Parliamentary order -in the front of which John Morley stands just now; but of course John -Morley has thus far had more administrative experience than James Bryce, -and has taken a more distinct place as a Parliamentary and popular -leader. Of both men, however, I should be inclined to say that their -public speeches lose something of the praise fairly due to them as mere -displays of eloquence, because of the importance we all attach to their -intellectual and educational influence. - -I may say also that James Bryce is not first and above all other things -a public man and a politician. He does not seem to have thought of a -Parliamentary career until after he had won for himself a high and -commanding position as a writer of history. Bryce is by birth an -Irishman and belongs to that northern province of Ireland which is -peopled to a large extent by Scottish immigrants. We are all rather too -apt to think of this Ulster province as essentially un-Irish, or even -anti-Irish in tone and feeling, although some of the most extreme among -Irish Nationalists, men like John Mitchell for instance, were born and -brought up in Ulster, and in more recent days some conspicuous Home -Rulers have sat in the House of Commons as representatives of Ulster -constituencies. James Bryce has always been an Irish Nationalist since -he came into public life, and has shown himself, whether in or out of -political office, a steady and consistent supporter of the demand for -Irish Home Rule. Indeed, I should be well inclined to believe that a -desire to render some personal service in promoting the just claims of -Ireland for a better system of government must have had much influence -over Bryce's decision to accept a seat in the House of Commons. - -Bryce began his education in the University of Glasgow, from which he -passed on to Oxford, where he won many honors and has left the memory of -a most successful career, not merely as student, but also as professor. -He studied for a while at Heidelberg, where he cultivated to the full -his previously acquired knowledge of German; and I have heard in later -years on good authority that while Bryce was a member of Mr. Gladstone's -Government he became a great favorite with Queen Victoria because of his -capacity for fluent speech in the language which the late Queen loved -especially to hear. Before he turned his attention to active political -life Bryce studied for the bar, became a member of the profession, and -actually practiced in the Law Courts for some years. Thus far, however, -he had hardly given indication of the gifts which were destined to -secure for him a high and enduring place in English literature. Thus far -his life may be regarded as that of a student and a scholar; he had yet -to give to the world the fruits of his scholarship. James Bryce is -probably above all things a scholar. He is, I may venture to say, the -most scholarly man in the House of Commons. I doubt whether there is in -England so widely read a man in all departments of literature, art, and -science as Bryce, now that Lord Acton has been removed from us by death. -Long before his entrance into Parliamentary life Bryce had obtained the -highest distinction as a writer of history. It is not too much to say -that his great historical work, "The Holy Roman Empire," is destined to -be an English classic and a book for all countries and all times. The -author could hardly add to the reputation he won by this masterpiece of -historical study, insight, and labor, but it is only mere justice to say -that every work of importance which he afterwards gave to the world has -maintained his position in literature. His turn of mind has been always -that which distinguishes the practical student--the student of -realities, not the visionary or the dreamer, the man who, according to -Goethe's phrase, is occupied more by the physical than by the -metaphysical. In 1877 he published a narrative of his travels in -Transcaucasia, with an account of his ascent of Mount Ararat. I believe -no other traveler has ever accomplished such a practical study of Mount -Ararat as that which was made by Mr. Bryce, and during a part of his -explorings he was absolutely alone, as he could not prevail upon the -guides belonging to that region to overcome their superstitious dread of -an intrusion on certain parts of the mountain. He was always fond of -travel, and was able to bring some fresh ideas out of places long -familiar to tourists, and he gave to the world in English periodicals -the results of his experiences as a traveler. His descriptions of -Icelandic scenery and of some rarely visited regions of Hungary and of -Poland have a genuine literary as well as a genuine geographical value. - -His most important work, after his great history of the Holy Roman -Empire, is undoubtedly his book on "The American Commonwealth," -published in 1888. This work has been read as generally and studied as -closely on the one side of the Atlantic as on the other. I have heard it -spoken of with as thorough appreciation in New York, Boston, and -Washington as in London, Manchester, and Liverpool. Many years have -passed since an eminent English public man, not now living, expressed -to me an earnest wish that some European writer would take up the story -of the great American Commonwealth just where De Tocqueville left it in -his "De la Democratie en Amerique." I joined cordially in his ideas and -his wishes, and we discussed the qualifications of certain Englishmen -for the task if any of them could see his way to undertake it, but -neither of us seemed to be quite satisfied that we had named the right -man for the work. At the time it did not occur to either of us that the -historian of "The Holy Roman Empire" would be likely to turn his -attention to the story of the American Commonwealth. Indeed, the two -studies seemed to me so entirely different and uncongenial that if the -name of James Bryce had been suggested to me at the time I should -probably have put it aside without much hesitation. One could hardly -have looked for so much versatility even in Mr. Bryce as to favor the -expectation that he could accomplish, with something like equal success, -two historical works dealing with such totally different subjects and -requiring such different methods of analysis and contemplation. - -More lately still Mr. Bryce brought out his "Impressions of South -Africa." This book was published in 1897, and the time of its -publication was most appropriate. It appeared when the prospects of a -war with the Transvaal Republic were opening gloomily for the lovers of -peace and fair dealing in England. If Mr. Bryce's impressions of South -Africa could only have been appreciated, and allowed to have their just -influence with the leaders of the Conservative party at that critical -time, England might have been saved from a long and futile war, and from -much serious discredit in the general opinion of the civilized world. -But if Bryce had spoken with the tongue of an angel, he could not at -such a time have prevailed against the rising passion of Jingoism and -the overmastering influence of mining speculators. It is only right to -say that the book was in no sense a mere distended political pamphlet. -It was not meant as a counterblast to Jingoism, or as a glorification of -the Boer Republic. It was a fair and temperate statement of the author's -observations in South Africa, and of the general conclusions to which -his experience and his study had brought him. Bryce pointed out with -perfect frankness the defects and dangers he saw in the Boer system of -government, and even the most ferocious Jingo could hardly have felt -justified in describing the author by that most terrible epithet, a -"pro-Boer." The warning which Bryce gave, and gave in vain, to the -English Government and the English majority, was a warning against the -credulous acceptation of one-sided testimony, against the fond belief -that the proclamation of Imperialism carried with it the right to -intervene in the affairs of every foreign State, and against the theory -that troops and gold mines warrant any enterprise. - -The Parliamentary career of James Bryce began in 1880, when he was -elected as Liberal representative for a London constituency. He did -great work in the cause of national education, and took an important -part in two State Commissions appointed to conduct inquiries into the -working of the public schools. At a later period he was chosen to -represent a Scottish constituency, and when Mr. Gladstone came into -power as the head of a Government Bryce received the important office of -Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs. At that time his chief, the -Secretary for Foreign Affairs, was a member of the House of Lords, and -therefore the whole work of representing the department in the House of -Commons, where alone any important debates on foreign questions are -conducted, fell on Mr. Bryce, who had the entire conduct of such -discussions on behalf of the administration. The department was one -which gave an effective opportunity for the display of Bryce's intimate -knowledge of foreign countries, and he acquitted himself with all the -success which might have been expected from one of his intellect, his -experience, and his enlightened views. Later still he became Chancellor -of the Duchy of Lancaster, and for the first time had a seat in the -Cabinet. The Chancellorship of the Duchy of Lancaster is one of a small -order of English administrative offices which have comparatively -unimportant duties attached to their special administration, and leave -the man in possession ample time to lend his assistance, both in the -Cabinet and in the House of Commons, to all the great public questions -which occupy the attention of the Government. In 1894 he became -President of the Board of Trade, one of the most important positions in -any administration. Bryce's official career came to a close for the -present when the Liberal party lost their majority in the representative -chamber, and the Conservatives got into power and secured the -administrative position they are holding at the present day. Nothing can -be more certain than that the first really Liberal administration which -is again formed will assign to Mr. Bryce one of the highest places in -its Cabinet and in its work. Since he has come to sit on the benches of -Opposition he has taken part in many great debates, and is always -listened to with the most profound attention. He is one of the few -leaders of the Liberal party who were manful and outspoken in their -opposition to the policy which originated and carried on the late South -African war. He has taken a conspicuous part in every debate upon -subjects of foreign policy, of national education, and of political -advancement. He has never acted as a mere partisan, and his intervention -in debate is all the more influential as it is well understood that he -advocates a policy because he believes it to be right and not because of -any effect it may have in bringing himself and his Liberal colleagues -back again into power. - -I have often noticed the effect produced in the libraries and -committee-rooms, in the rooms assigned to those who dine and to those -who smoke, when the news is passed round that Mr. Bryce is on his feet. -A member who is reading up some subject in the library, or writing his -letters in one of the lobbies, or enjoying himself in a dining-hall or a -smoking-room, is not likely to hurry away from his occupation or his -enjoyment in order to rush into the debating chamber merely because he -is told that some leading member of the Government or the Opposition has -just begun to address the House. The man who is addressing an audience -in the debating chamber may hold an important office in the Government -or may have an important place on the Front Bench of Opposition, but -then he may be a personage who feels bound to take part in a debate -merely because of the position he holds, and every one knows in advance -what views he is certain to advocate and what line of argument he is -likely to adopt, and our reading or dining or smoking friend may not -think that there is any pressing necessity for his presence as a -listener in the House. But there are some leading men on both sides of -Mr. Speaker who are always sure to have something to say which -everybody wants to hear, and Mr. Bryce is unquestionably one of that -happily endowed order. When the word goes round that Bryce is up, -everybody knows that something will be said on which he cannot exactly -calculate beforehand, something to which it is important that he should -listen, and there is forthwith a rush of members into the debating -chamber. There can hardly be a higher tribute to a man's importance as a -debater than the fact that his rising to address the House creates such -an effect, and I have seen it created again and again whenever the news -went round that "Bryce is on his legs." I have many a time heard -Conservative members murmur, in tones not altogether expressing absolute -satisfaction at the disturbing information, "Bryce is up--I must go in -and hear what he has to say." The tribute is all the higher in this case -because Bryce is not one of the showy and fascinating debaters whom -everybody wants to listen to for the mere eloquence and fascination of -their oratorical displays. Everybody knows that when he speaks it is -because he has something to say which ought to be spoken and therefore -ought to be heard. It is known that Bryce will not make a speech merely -because he thinks the time has come when some leader of Opposition -ought to take part in the debate, if only to show that the Opposition is -attending to its business. - -This command over the House Bryce has always held since he became one of -its members, and no man can hold a more desirable and a more honorable -position. It is all the more to his credit because he does not aim at -mere originality and never makes it a part of his ambition to say -something astonishing and thus to excite and delight the mere curiosity -of his audience. There have been and still are many members of the House -who have made a reputation of this kind and are therefore always sure to -command a full attendance merely because everybody expects that when -they rise to their feet they are sure to make the House "sit up," if I -may use this somewhat colloquial, not to say vulgar, phrase. Take such a -man, for instance, as the late John Arthur Roebuck, a man of great -intellect, master of a peculiar style of eloquence, who made himself -only too often a splendid specimen of what might be called in American -phraseology "a crank." All that could be said with certainty beforehand -of Roebuck was that whenever he rose to speak he would say something -calculated to startle or to puzzle the House. There are men of the same -order, if not perhaps of quite the same debating qualifications, in the -House at present--men who always draw a rush of members when they rise -to speak because nobody can tell in advance what side they are likely to -advocate or what sort of bewildering paradox they may set up and make -interesting if not convincing by the force of their peculiar style of -eloquence. Bryce is emphatically not a man of this order. He is no lover -of paradox; he has no desire to create a sensation; he merely wants to -impress the House with what he believes to be the truth, and his great -quality is that of a beacon and not of a flashlight. His arguments -appeal to the intellect and the reasoning power; he speaks of what he -knows; he has large resources of thought, experience, and observation to -draw upon, and the listeners feel convinced beforehand that he will tell -them something they did not know already, or will put his case in some -new and striking light. - -The House of Commons well knows that it would lose one of its most -valuable instructors if Bryce were no longer to occupy a place on its -benches or were to condemn himself to habitual inactivity and silence. -When the Conservative Government under Lord Salisbury came into power, -and more especially after the late general election which brought them -back with added strength, many of the Liberal leaders seemed to have -grown weary of the political struggle. Something worse than mere apathy -appeared to have set in, something more than mere despondency and -disheartenment. Men on whom the Liberals of England had long been wont -to rely suddenly showed an apparent loss of faith in all the proclaimed -principles of the party, and either relapsed into utter silence or spoke -in language which suggested an inclination to cross over to the enemy's -camp. The two principal impulses to this mood of mind were the South -African war and the Irish Home Rule question. The majority in the -constituencies had become inflamed with the spirit of Jingoism, and -could think of nothing but the war and the Imperial glory of annexing -new territory. Feeble-hearted and weak-kneed Liberals began to think -that the party could never hope for a return to power unless it too -could blow the Imperial trumpet. Other Liberals made it manifest that -they were becoming alarmed by the unpopularity of the Home Rule -question, and were repenting the enthusiasm which had carried them too -far along the path marked out by the genius and the patriotic resolve of -Gladstone. A species of dry-rot appeared to have broken out in -Liberalism. Before long a new section of Liberalism was formed, the -principle of which appeared to be that its members should call -themselves Imperial Liberals, and at the same time should support the -Tories on the only important questions then under discussion--the policy -of the South African campaign and the Irish National claim for Home -Rule. Some of the men who had held high office when Gladstone was in -power, who had made themselves conspicuous by the ardor and the -eloquence with which they supported his policy of peace abroad and -justice to Ireland, now openly avowed their renunciation of his great -principles. There were others among the foremost Liberals in the House -of Commons who, if they did not thus openly take the renegade part, kept -themselves quietly out of the active political field and allowed the -movement of reaction to go on without a word of protest. Three at least -among the Liberal leaders took a very different course. Three of them, -at least, not merely nailed their colors to the mast, but stood -resolutely in fighting attitude beneath the colors and proved themselves -determined to maintain the struggle. These three men were Sir Henry -Campbell-Bannerman, John Morley, and James Bryce. There were others, -too, it must be said, who stood up manfully with these three in defense -of that losing cause of Liberalism which they could never be brought to -regard as a lost cause. But the dauntless three whom I have just -mentioned were the most prominent and the most influential who went -forth against that great array of Toryism and Jingoism. Bryce was in his -place as regularly as ever during the whole of that depressing time, and -he never failed to raise his voice when the occasion demanded his -intervention on behalf of the true principles and practices of -Liberalism. During that long, dreary, and disheartening season when -despondent men were often disposed to ask whether there was any longer a -Liberal party, Bryce made some of the ablest speeches he has ever -delivered in arraignment of the Jingo policy, of the War Office -maladministration, and the rule of renewed coercion in Ireland. The -Liberal cause in England owes a debt that never can be forgotten to the -three men whom I have named, for their unflinching resolve and activity -in the House of Commons; and of the three none did better service than -that which was rendered by James Bryce. - -Bryce has, in face and form, the characteristics of a stalwart fighter. -His forehead is high and broad, with strongly marked eyebrows, -straightly drawn over deep and penetrating eyes. The features are all -finely modeled, the nose is straight and statuesque, the hair is -becoming somewhat thinner and more gray than it was when I first knew -Mr. Bryce, but the mustache and beard, although they too show some -fading in color, are still thick and strong as in that past day. The -face does not look Irish; its expression is perhaps somewhat too sedate -and resolute; but on the other hand, it does not seem quite Scotch, for -there is at moments a suggestion of dreaminess about it which we do not -usually associate with the shrewd North Briton. Bryce is a man of the -most genial temperament, thoroughly companionable, and capable of -enjoying every influence that helps to brighten existence. Always a -student of books and of men, he is never a recluse, and I do not know of -any one who seems to get more out of life than does this philosophic -historian. Bryce's London home is noted for its hospitality, and his -dinner parties and evening parties give much delight to his large circle -of friends. Mr. and Mrs. Bryce are not lion-hunters, and do not rate -their friends according to the degree of celebrity each may have -obtained. But they have no need to engage in a hunt after lions, for the -celebrities seek them out as a matter of course, and I know of no London -house where one is more certain to meet distinguished men and women from -all parts of the civilized world. Bryce's travels have made him -acquainted with interesting and eminent persons everywhere, and an -admission to his circle is naturally sought by strangers who visit -London. Representatives of literature, science, and art, of scholarly -research, of political movement, and of traveled experience are sure to -be met with in the home of the Bryces. I had the good fortune to meet -there, for the first time, many distinguished men and women whose -acquaintance it was a high and memorable privilege to make. Among -Bryce's especial recreations is mountain-climbing, and he was at one -time President of the Alpine Club. He can converse upon all subjects, -can give to every topic some illustration from his own ideas and his own -experiences, and the intelligent listener always finds that he carries -away something new and worthy of remembrance from any talk with him. -Although his strong opinions and his earnest desire to maintain what he -believes to be the right side of every great controversy have naturally -brought him into frequent antagonism with the representatives of many an -important case, I do not know of any public man who has made fewer -enemies or who is more generally spoken of with respect and admiration. -A man must have very high conceit indeed of his own knowledge and his -own judgment who does not feel that he has a great deal to learn from -conversation with a master of so many subjects. Yet Bryce never -oppresses a listener, as some intellectual leaders are apt to do, with a -sense of the listener's inferiority, and the least gifted among us is -encouraged to express himself with frankness and freedom while -discoursing with Bryce on any question which happens to come up. I think -that among his many remarkable qualities is that sincere belief which -was characteristic of Mr. Gladstone, and for which Gladstone did not -always get due credit--the belief that every man, however moderate his -intellectual qualifications, has something to tell which the wisest -would be the better for knowing. We must all of us have met scholars and -thinkers and political leaders whose inborn sense of their own capacity -had an overbearing and even oppressive effect on the ordinary mortal, -and made him shy of expressing himself fully lest he should only be -displaying his ineptitude or his ignorance in such a presence. But there -is nothing of this to be observed in the genial ways of James Bryce, and -the listener finds himself unconsciously brought for the time to the -level of the master and emboldened to give free utterance to his own -ideas and opinions. - -Bryce has been made a member of most of the great intellectual and -educational institutions of the world, has held degrees and honors of -various kinds from the universities of Europe and the United States, and -could hardly travel anywhere abroad or at home without finding himself -in recognized association with some school of learning in every place -where he makes a stay. The freemasonry of intellect and education all -over the world gives him rank among its members, and receives him with a -welcome recognition wherever he goes. I presume that in the political -sphere of action he is henceforward likely to find his congenial -career, but he must always have the knowledge that, if for any reason he -should give up his political occupation, he can at any moment return to -some pursuit in which he has already won an established fame. There are -not many political leaders of our time about whom the same could fairly -be said. For myself I may frankly say that I hope James Bryce will -henceforward devote himself especially to that political career in which -he has accomplished such great things. English public life cannot well -afford to lose his services just now or for some time to come. A man who -can bring to political work such resources of thought and of experience, -who can look beneath the surface and above the mere phrases and -catchwords of political parties, who can see that Liberalism in its true -sense must mean progress, and who can at the same time see clearly for -himself what progress really means, and in what direction and by what -methods it is to be made--such a man could ill be spared by the -Liberalism of our generation. The historical work he has already done -is, in its way, complete and imperishable. But the Liberal party has yet -to recover its place and to regain the leadership of England's -political life. Every effort the Conservatives in office have lately -been making to hold their full mastery over the country has shown more -and more clearly that they have not kept up with the movements of -thought and are not able to understand the true requirements of the -time. On the other hand, the limp and shattered condition of the -existing Liberal party only shows the absolute necessity for the -recognized leadership of men who understand the difference between the -work of guiding the country and the ignoble function of competing for -power by imitation and by compromise. In the new effort now so sorely -needed to create once more a true Liberal party, the country requires, -above all things else, the constant service of such men as James -Bryce. - - - - -[Illustration: Photograph copyright by London Stereoscopic Co. - -SIR HENRY CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN] - - - - -HENRY CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN - - -Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman has but lately come to hold that position -in the House of Commons and in the political world which those who knew -him well always believed him destined to attain. He is now not merely -the nominal leader of the Liberal Opposition in the House of Commons, -but he is universally regarded as one of the very small number of men -who could possibly be chosen for the place. Sir William Harcourt and Mr. -John Morley are the only Liberal members of the House who could compare -with Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman for influence with the Liberal party, -the House of Commons, and the general public. Yet the time is not far -distant when he was commonly regarded in the House as a somewhat heavy, -not to say stolid, man, one of whom nothing better could be said than -that he would probably be capable of quiet, steady work in some -subordinate department. I remember well that when Campbell-Bannerman -was appointed Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in 1884, -a witty Irish member explained the appointment by the suggestion that -Gladstone had made use of Campbell-Bannerman on the principle -illustrated by the employment of a sand-bag as part of the defenses of a -military fort. Campbell-Bannerman has, in fact, none of the temperament -which makes a man anxious to display himself in debate, and whenever, -during his earlier years of Parliamentary life, he delivered a speech in -the House of Commons, his desire seemed to be to get through the task as -quickly as possible and be done with it. He appears to be a man of a -naturally reserved habit, with indeed something of shyness about him, -and a decided capacity for silence wherever there is no pressing -occasion for speech, whether in public or in private. - -Many whom I knew were at one time inclined to regard Campbell-Bannerman -as a typical specimen of his Scottish compatriots, who are facetiously -said to joke with difficulty. As a matter of fact, Campbell-Bannerman -has a keen and delightful sense of humor, and can illustrate the -weakness of an opponent's case, better than some recognized wits could -do, by a few happy touches of sarcasm. He is in every sense of the word -a strong man, and, like some other strong men, only seems to know his -own strength and to be capable of putting it into action when hard -fortune has brought him into political difficulties through which it -appears well-nigh impossible that he can make his way. Schiller's hero -declares that it must be night before his star can shine, and although -Campbell-Bannerman is not quite so poetic and picturesque a figure as -Wallenstein, yet I think he might fairly comfort himself by some such -encouraging reflection. He had gone through a long and hard-working -career in the House of Commons before the world came to know anything of -his strength, his judgment, and his courage. He got his education at the -University of Glasgow and afterwards at Trinity College, Cambridge, and -he obtained a seat in the House of Commons for a Scottish constituency -as a Liberal when he was still but a young man. He has held various -offices in Liberal administrations. He was Secretary to the Admiralty in -1882, and was Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland for a -short time a little later. There is not much to be said about his Irish -administration. He governed the country about as well as any English -Minister could have done under such conditions, for this was before -Gladstone and the Liberal party had been converted to the principle of -Home Rule for Ireland; and, at all events, he made himself agreeable to -those Irishmen with whom he came into contact by his unaffected manners -and his quiet good humor. When Gladstone took office in 1886, -Campbell-Bannerman became Secretary for War, and he held the same -important position in Gladstone's Ministry of 1892. - -The story of that administration tells of a most important epoch in the -career of Gladstone and the fortunes of the Liberal party. In 1893 -Gladstone brought in his second Home Rule measure for Ireland. His first -measure of Home Rule was introduced in 1886, and was defeated in the -House of Commons by means of a coalition between the Liberal -secessionists and the Conservative Opposition. The Liberal secessionists -in the House of Commons, as most of my readers will remember, were led -by Joseph Chamberlain. Then there came an interval of Conservative -government, and when Gladstone returned to power in 1892 he introduced -before long his second measure of Home Rule. The second measure was in -many ways a distinct improvement on the first, and in the meantime some -of the Liberal secessionists, including Sir George Trevelyan, whose -opposition was directed only against certain parts of the first measure, -had returned to their allegiance and were ready to give Gladstone all -the support in their power for his second attempt. The Home Rule measure -was carried through the House of Commons by what we call a substantial -although not a great majority, and then it had to go to the House of -Lords. Everybody knew in advance what its fate must be in the hereditary -chamber. Every great measure of genuine political reform is certain to -be rejected in the first instance by the House of Lords. This is the old -story, and is repeated again and again with monotonous iteration. The -House of Lords always gives way in the end, when the pressure of public -opinion from without makes it perilous for the hereditary legislators to -maintain their opposition. Therefore the Liberals in general were not -much disconcerted by the defeat of the Home Rule measure in the House of -Lords. Home Rule for Ireland had been sanctioned by the decisive vote -of the House of Commons, and the general impression was that it would -only have to be brought in again and perhaps again, according to the -usual process with all reform measures, until the opposition of the -Lords had been completely borne down. But before the introduction of the -second Home Rule measure, some events had taken place which made a great -change in the condition of Irish political affairs and put fresh -difficulties in the way of Gladstone's new administration. - -The Parnell divorce case came on, and led to a serious division in the -ranks of the Irish National party and in Irish public opinion. The great -majority of Parnell's followers refused to regard him as their leader -any longer, and those who determined to support him and to follow him -through thick and thin were but a very small minority. Gladstone was -firmly convinced, as were the majority of the Irish Nationalist members, -that Parnell ought to retire, for a time at least, from the leadership -of his party, if not indeed from public life, and keep aloof from active -politics until the scandal of the divorce court should have been atoned -for by him and should have passed to some extent from public memory. -Gladstone was convinced that if Parnell remained the leader of the -Irish party it would be almost impossible to arouse in the British -constituencies any enthusiasm in the cause of Home Rule strong enough to -bring back the Liberals to power and to carry a Home Rule measure. This -was a reasonable and practical view of the question, but Parnell and his -followers resented it as a positive insult, and Parnell issued a -manifesto denouncing Gladstone, the immediate result of which was that -break-up of the Home Rule party I have already mentioned. Not very long -after came Parnell's early death. It may well be supposed that such -events as these must have made a deep and discouraging impression on -Gladstone's hopes for the success of the second Home Rule measure. The -Irish National party had been broken up for the time, and some even of -Gladstone's colleagues in office had allowed themselves to be mastered -by the old familiar idea that as Irishmen could not be brought to agree -for long on any plan of action, it was futile for English Liberals to -put themselves to any inconvenience for the sake of an Irish National -cause. Such men might have found it difficult to point out any great -measure of political reform in England concerning which the English -people had always been in absolute agreement and about which there was -no conflict of angry emotion in any section of English representatives. -But the fact remained all the same that the dispute in the Irish party -had brought a chill to the zeal of many influential English Liberals for -the Home Rule cause, and we have had in much more recent days abundant -evidence that the chilling influence is with them still. - -Among Gladstone's official colleagues there were some who held that the -time had come when an appeal ought to be made to the country by means of -a dissolution and a general election against the domination of the House -of Lords. This appears to have been the opinion of Gladstone himself. -Others of his colleagues, however, held back from such an issue, and -contended that the moment did not seem favorable for an appeal to the -country on the distinct question of Irish Home Rule. The general -impression on the public mind was that the decision of the Cabinet was -certain to be in favor of an appeal to the country on the one issue or -the other, and much surprise was felt when it began to be more and more -evident that the Government intended to go on with the ordinary -business of the State, as if nothing had happened. The outer world has -as yet had no means of knowing what the reasons or the influences were -which induced Gladstone and his colleagues to come to this -determination. The whole truth will probably never be known until John -Morley's "Life of Gladstone" shall make its appearance. We may safely -assume in the meantime that Gladstone had the best of reasons for taking -the course which he adopted, and that he would have made an appeal to -the country against the decision of the House of Lords if he had -believed the conditions were favorable for such a challenge just then. -Probably Gladstone knew only too well that even among his own colleagues -there were some who were turning cold upon the question of Home Rule, -who had never accepted his views on that subject with whole-hearted -willingness, and could not have been relied upon as steadfast adherents -in the struggle. I think I shall be fully justified by any revelations -which history or biography has yet to make, when I say that -Campbell-Bannerman was among those who would have faithfully followed -the great leader to the very last in whatever struggle he had made up -his mind to engage. There were, of course, many others of Gladstone's -colleagues--men like Sir William Harcourt and John Morley and James -Bryce--on whom their leader could have safely reckoned for the same -unswerving fidelity and courage. But, whatever were the reasons, there -was no appeal made to the country, and the administration went on with -its ordinary work in a dull, mechanical fashion. The effect upon the -Liberal party was most depressing. Men could not understand why nothing -decisive had been done, and at the same time were haunted by a -foreboding that some great change was impending over the Liberal party. - -The foreboding soon came to be justified. On the 1st of March, 1894, -Gladstone delivered his last speech in the House of Commons. The speech -dealt with the action of the House of Lords on a subject of -comparatively slight importance. The Lords had rejected a measure -dealing with the constitution of parish councils, which had been passed -by the House of Commons. Gladstone spoke with severity in condemnation -of the course taken by the House of Lords. Towards the close of his -speech he said: "My duty terminates with calling the attention of this -House to a fact which it is really impossible to set aside, that we are -considering a part--an essential and inseparable part--of a question -enormously large, a question which has become profoundly a truth, a -question that will demand a settlement, and must at an early date -receive that settlement, from the highest authority." No one who was -present in the House when this declaration was made is ever likely to -lose the memory of the scene, although not all or even most of those -then present quite realized the full significance of Gladstone's words. -There were many in the House who did not at once understand that in the -words I have quoted the greatest Parliamentary leader of modern times -was speaking his farewell to public life. I remember well that a few -moments after Gladstone had finished his speech I met John Morley in one -of the lobbies, and I asked him if this was really to be taken as the -close of Gladstone's career, and he told me, with as much composure as -he could command, that in that speech we had heard the last of -Gladstone's Parliamentary utterances. That was indeed a memorable day in -the history of England, and a day at least equally memorable in the -history of Ireland. - -I have had to dwell for a while on these historical facts, facts of -course known already to all my readers, as a prelude to the most -important passages in the Parliamentary career of Campbell-Bannerman. -When Gladstone resigned office and withdrew from public life, the -question of reconstituting the Liberal administration had to be taken -into account. There could be no doubt whatever that the Liberal -administration had been much weakened and even discredited by the manner -in which it had put up with the domineering action of the House of -Lords. The effect on public opinion was all the greater and the more -disheartening because it was generally understood that the absence of -any such action must have been due to the fact that some of Gladstone's -leading colleagues were not prepared to sustain him in the policy he was -anxious to carry out. There was therefore a state of something like -apathy in the minds of advanced Radicals with regard to any arrangements -which seemed likely to be made for the reconstruction of the Ministry. -The new administration was formed under the leadership of Lord Rosebery, -as Prime Minister, in the House of Lords, and that of Sir William -Harcourt, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the House of Commons. There -can be little doubt that the composition of the new Ministry was -regarded as unsatisfactory by the more advanced Liberals in and outside -Parliament. The Liberal party is never of late years quite content with -an administration which has its Prime Minister in the House of Lords. -The real work must always be done in the House of Commons, and it is -obviously most inconvenient that the leader of the Government should be -one whose position will not allow him to have a seat in the -representative chamber. The condition of things is something like that -of an army whose Commander-in-Chief can never make his appearance in the -encampment or take part in any of the great battles. Even at that time -Lord Rosebery, although a most brilliant debater and a capable -administrator, was beginning to be regarded as one whose Liberalism -was somewhat losing color and whose whole heart was by no means in -the advanced policy of Gladstone. There was nothing better to be -done, however, at the time than to make the most of the altered -conditions, and the new Ministry went to work as well as it could. -Campbell-Bannerman, as Secretary for War, had an opportunity of proving -his genuine capacity for the duties of his important office. He -introduced a new and complete scheme of army reform, which, among other -and even more important changes, proposed to bring about the retirement -of the Duke of Cambridge from the post of Commander-in-Chief. The Duke -of Cambridge was even then a man far advanced in years, who had never in -his life shown any real capacity for the work of commanding an army, and -whose chief recommendation for so great a position must have been found -in the fact that he was a member of the royal family. The new measure -was making its way steadily enough through the House of Commons, and -every one was beginning to see that in Campbell-Bannerman the country -had found an administrator of a very high order. Suddenly, however, the -progress of the measure was interrupted by what seemed to be at first -only a trivial accident, of which the public in general were inclined to -take but little account. The army reform scheme had arrived at what is -known as the committee stage of its progress. - -I do not desire to occupy the attention of my readers more than is -actually necessary with the mere technical details of Parliamentary -procedure, and I shall only explain that when a Bill reaches the -committee stage its general principle must have been already accepted by -the majority in the House, and the House then forms itself into -Committee for the purpose of discussing the mere details of the proposed -arrangements. During one of the sittings a Conservative member proposed -a motion declaring that the Government, or at least the War Office, had -not made proper provision for the supply of the material of cordite to -the army. This was so purely a technical question, concerning which only -soldiers and scientific men could be supposed to have had any means of -forming an opinion, that the House troubled itself very little about the -whole discussion. But when the House came to take a division on the -proposal, the Government was defeated by a majority of seven. This -defeat produced at first only a very slight effect on the House in -general. During the committee stage of a measure it is quite a matter of -ordinary occurrence that a Ministry should be defeated on some question -of mere arrangement and detail, and very few in the House of Commons -suspected on that occasion that such a vote was likely to bring with it -an important Parliamentary crisis. Campbell-Bannerman, however, took a -very different view of the event. He appears to have made up his mind -that the decision of the House was a distinct vote of censure on his -administration, and that he could not continue to hold office after so -marked a declaration of disapproval. Now, it may be taken for granted -that Campbell-Bannerman was not merely actuated by any personal feeling, -by any sense of mere grievance to himself, when he made up his mind to -this resolve. He saw clearly that the Government had lost the confidence -and the support of the country, and that the sooner the whole futile -attempt at administration under such conditions came to an end the -better it would be for the business of the State. He knew perfectly well -that the Liberal administration was falling to pieces, that its leading -members were no longer inspired alike by one great policy, that some of -its leaders had ceased to be Liberals in the traditional meaning of the -word, and that sooner or later the catastrophe must come. Those of -Campbell-Bannerman's colleagues who were as genuine and stanch Liberals -as he soon came into agreement with him as to the course that ought to -be pursued, and it was known before long in the House of Commons that -the Liberal Ministers had resigned their offices and that the -long-postponed appeal to the country was to be made at last. Thus for -the first time it became known to the public that Campbell-Bannerman was -already a power in political life. - -Parliament was dissolved and the appeal to the country was made at the -general election which necessarily followed. Few Liberals had the -slightest doubt as to the result of the appeal. Some of the very -measures introduced by the fallen Government which had the strong -approval of many advanced Liberals had put certain powerful interests -and classes against those who represented this policy. Sir William -Harcourt's "death duties" had aroused the indignation of rich men here, -there, and everywhere. The measures which the same statesman had -endeavored to carry for putting the liquor trade under the control of -"local option" had turned the publicans into an organized opposition -against Liberal administrators. The result of the general election was -the defeat of the Liberal party, and the formation of a Conservative -Government with Lord Salisbury at its head holding office as Prime -Minister and Foreign Secretary at once, and with Arthur Balfour as First -Lord of the Treasury and leader of the House of Commons. The Liberals -were weakened in every sense, not merely by the fact that they had come -back to Parliament no longer as a Government but only as an Opposition. -They were rendered by their internal divisions too weak for effective -work as an Opposition. Lord Rosebery continued for the time to act as -leader of the Liberal party, while Sir William Harcourt of course became -leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons. It soon was quite -clear that the Liberal party could not work together so far as its -leaders were concerned. It was evident that men like Harcourt and John -Morley and Campbell-Bannerman could not act in any cordial union with -Lord Rosebery and those Liberals who accepted Lord Rosebery's policy. -The result of all this was that Lord Rosebery resigned the leadership of -the party and has ever since seemed inclined to start a Liberal party of -his own, and that Sir William Harcourt did not believe he was likely to -receive such a united support in the House of Commons as would enable -him to maintain the leadership of the party with any satisfaction to -himself or the country. Harcourt therefore ceased to hold that position; -and now came for the first time the opportunity for Campbell-Bannerman. -He was chosen leader of the Liberal party in the House of Commons, and -he had before him, under all the conditions, a task which might well -have seemed hopeless. Lord Rosebery has, from that time to this, -delivered speeches all over the country which could only be interpreted -as the expression of his desire to call into being a new Liberal party -professing a political creed differing in its main characteristics from -that which had been proclaimed and carried on by Gladstone. Rosebery -renounced Home Rule for Ireland, and refused to act on Gladstone's -principles with regard to the protection of Christians in the East -against the alternating tyranny and neglect of the Ottoman Government. - -Never within my recollection had any leader of a Liberal party in -the House of Commons come into a position of such difficulty and -disheartenment as that which Campbell-Bannerman had now to maintain. It -has often been the lot of the Liberal party to come into the House -of Commons with diminished numbers, and have to carry on as best -it could be done the battle against a Conservative Government of -overwhelming numerical strength. But the peculiar trouble which beset -Campbell-Bannerman was that he could not count upon the allegiance of -all his nominal followers. He knew that so long as he showed himself -determined to maintain the policy of Gladstone he could reckon without -fear on the support of such men as Harcourt and John Morley and Bryce. -But there were able men among those who occupied the front bench of -Opposition on whom he could not always count, men who were publicly -displaying themselves as the political associates or followers of Lord -Rosebery. Campbell-Bannerman went boldly and steadfastly on, never -faltering in the least. He upheld the time-honored creed of genuine -Liberalism, "never doubted clouds would break," and by his words and his -bearing inspired with fresh courage many a true Liberal whose faith was -not faltering, but whose hopes were sinking low. He proved himself quite -equal to the incessant work put upon him by his new position as leader -of the Liberal party in the House of Commons. He developed a capacity -for debate which only those who knew him well had ever before believed -him to possess. During all the wild excitement of Jingoism which -followed the movements of the war against the two South African -Republics, he never yielded to the temptation which overcame so many -other Liberals, the temptation to evade a passing unpopularity by -suppressing for the time his opinions on the policy of the war. He must -have been sorely tried again and again by the sayings and doings of some -who still professed to be members of the Liberal party in Parliament. A -new Liberal League was actually formed under the inspiration of Lord -Rosebery, and its object apparently was to create a new school of -Liberalism which should have nothing to do with the traditions of the -party and with the doctrines of men like Gladstone. - -Now, if all this had been done in open and avowed antagonism to the -existing Liberal party, Campbell-Bannerman might have had a -comparatively easy task to undertake. He could have braced himself to do -sturdy battle against the promoters of internal disunion; could have set -the whole question plainly and squarely before the Liberal public -opinion of the country, and demanded a decisive judgment. But the -promoters of the new Liberal League did nothing of the kind. They -disclaimed any intention to create disunion in the party. They declared -that they were the very best of Liberals, and that nothing could exceed -their loyalty to the elected leaders of the Liberal party, and protested -that in whatever they did they were only trying to help and not to -hinder the work of these leaders. When one of the seceders, or supposed -seceders, delivered a speech at some public meeting in which he appeared -to repudiate the main principles of the Liberal creed, and an open split -in the party seemed to be imminent, some other member of the Liberal -League hastened to explain that the meaning of his noble friend or his -right honorable colleague had been totally misunderstood. He insisted -that the only motive of the previous orator was to promote the cordial -union of the Liberal party, and, to paraphrase the words of the medical -student in "Pickwick" after his quarrel with a fellow-student, that he -rather preferred Campbell-Bannerman to his own brother. - -Campbell-Bannerman took all these performances with serene good humor. -As I have already said, those who know him are well aware that he has a -keen, quiet sense of humor, and I feel sure that he must often have -been much amused by the odd vagaries of those who would neither fall -into the ranks nor admit that they wanted to keep out of the ranks. He -has gone steadily on as he began since it became his duty to lead the -Liberal Opposition in the House of Commons. He has done the work of -leader honorably, patiently, consistently, and fearlessly, and he is -recognized as leader by all true Liberals, English, Scotch, and Welsh. -He has never fallen away in the slightest degree from the principles of -Gladstone where Home Rule and the other just claims of the Irish people -are concerned. He has kept the Liberal flag flying, and the whole -Liberalism of the country is already beginning to rally round him and to -recognize his leadership. Increasing responsibility has only developed -in him new capacity to maintain the responsible place. We may well -believe that he is destined to do great service yet to the Liberal -cause, and to win an honorable place in British history. When he first -became leader of the Liberal party in the House of Commons, he might -almost have seemed to be the leader of a lost cause, but he has fought -the fight bravely and will see the victory before long. - - - The Gresham Press, - UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, - WOKING AND LONDON - - - * * * * * - - - - -BOOKS FOR RECREATION AND STUDY - - - PUBLISHED BY - T. FISHER UNWIN, - 11, PATERNOSTER - BUILDINGS, LONDON - E.C. - - - - -F. C. GOULD'S FROISSART. - - -[Illustration: SIR BLUNDELL DE MAPLE PROTESTETH THAT TOWEL-HORSES WOULD -HAVE BETTER SERVED THE ARMY THAN THE HORSES THAT HAD BEEN BOUGHT IN -HUNGARY.] - -TWO VOLUMES. - - 1. FROISSART'S MODERN CHRONICLES, 1901. - - 2. FROISSART'S MODERN CHRONICLES, 1902. - -TOLD AND PICTURED BY F. C. GOULD. - -_Each volume Cloth, foolscap 4to, 3s. 6d._ - -_Also a Fine Edition of Vol. II., limited to 50 copies, on Japan Paper, -numbered and signed, 21s. net._ - - "The second volume of Mr. F. C. 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FISHER UNWIN, 11 PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, LONDON, E.C. - - - - -Recent Volumes in the - -STORY OF THE NATIONS - -A SERIES OF POPULAR HISTORIES. - - -_Each Volume complete with Maps, many Illustrations, and an Index. Large -crown 8vo, fancy cloth, gold lettered, or Library Edition, dark cloth, -burnished red top, 5s. each. Or may be had in half Persian, cloth sides, -gilt tops: Price on Application._ - - -49. Austria. By SIDNEY WHITMAN - -50. Modern England before the Reform Bill. By JUSTIN McCARTHY. - -51. China. With a New Chapter on Recent Events. By Prof. R. K. -DOUGLAS. - -52. Modern England under Queen Victoria. By JUSTIN McCARTHY. - -53. Modern Spain, 1878-1898. By MARTIN A. S. HUME, F.R.H.S., Author of -"Sir Walter Ralegh," &c. - -54. Modern Italy, 1758-1898. By PIETRO ORSI, Professor of History in -the R. Liceo Foscarini, Venice. With over 40 Illustrations and Maps. - -55. Norway. By Professor HJALMAR H. BOYESEN, Author of "Idylls of -Norway." - -56. Wales. 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Yet his publisher never -announces a new story by the Author of 'Mark Rutherford's -Autobiography,' and 'The Revolution in Tanner's Lane,'--which we believe -to be one of the most remarkable bits of writing that these times can -boast of--without strongly exciting the interest of many who know books -as precious stones are known in Hatton Garden.... 'Clara Hopgood' is -entirely out of the way of all existing schools of novel-writing.... Had -we to select a good illustration of 'Mark's way' as distinguished from -the way of modern storytellers in general, we should point to the -chapter in which Baruch visits his son Benjamin in this narration. -Nothing could be more simple, nothing more perfect."--_Pall Mall -Gazette._ - - - - -A FIRST FLEET FAMILY: BEING A HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED NARRATIVE OF CERTAIN -REMARKABLE ADVENTURES COMPILED FROM THE PAPERS OF SERGEANT WILLIAM DEW, -OF THE MARINES - -BY - -LOUIS BECKE and WALTER JEFFERY - -_Second Edition. 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Crown 8vo., cloth_, 6s. - - - "The cleverness of them all is extraordinary."--_Guardian._ - - "The volume proves how little and how great a thing it is to - write a 'Pseudonym.' Four whole 'Pseudonyms' ... are easily - contained within its not extravagant limits, and these four - little books have given John Oliver Hobbes a recognized position - as a master of epigram and narrative comedy."--_St. James's - Gazette._ - - "As her star has been sudden in its rise so may it stay long - with us! Some day she may give us something better than these - tingling, pulsing, mocking, epigrammatic morsels."--_Times._ - - "There are several literary ladies, of recent origin, who have - tried to come up to the society ideal; but John Oliver Hobbes is - by far the best writer of them all, by far the most capable - artist in fiction.... She is clever enough for - anything."--_Saturday Review._ - - - - -THE HERB MOON - -BY JOHN OLIVER HOBBES - -_Third Edition, Crown 8vo., cloth_, 6s. - - - "The jaded reader who needs sauce for his literary appetite - cannot do better than buy 'The Herb Moon.'"--_Literary World._ - - "A book to hail with more than common pleasure. The epigrammatic - quality, the power of rapid analysis and brilliant presentation - are there, and added to these a less definable quality, only to - be described as charm.... 'The Herb Moon' is as clever as most - of its predecessors, and far less artificial."--_Athenaeum._ - - - - -THE STICKIT MINISTER AND SOME COMMON MEN - -BY S. R. CROCKETT - -_Eleventh Edition. Crown 8vo., cloth_, 6s. - - - "Here is one of the books which are at present coming singly and - at long intervals, like early swallows, to herald, it is to be - hoped, a larger flight. When the larger flight appears, the - winter of our discontent will have passed, and we shall be able - to boast that the short story can make a home east as well as - west of the Atlantic. There is plenty of human nature--of the - Scottish variety, which is a very good variety--in 'The Stickit - Minister' and its companion stories; plenty of humour, too, of - that dry, pawky kind which is a monopoly of 'Caledonia, stern - and wild'; and, most plentiful of all, a quiet perception and - reticent rendering of that underlying pathos of life which is to - be discovered, not in Scotland alone, but everywhere that a man - is found who can see with the heart and the imagination as well - as the brain. Mr. Crockett has given us a book that is not - merely good, it is what his countrymen would call 'by-ordinar - good,' which, being interpreted into a tongue understanded of - the southern herd, means that it is excellent, with a somewhat - exceptional kind of excellence."--_Daily Chronicle._ - - - - -THE LILAC SUN-BONNET - -BY S. R. CROCKETT - -_Sixth Edition. Crown 8vo., cloth_, 6s. - - - "Mr. Crockett's 'Lilac Sun-Bonnet' 'needs no bush.' Here is a - pretty love tale, and the landscape and rural descriptions carry - the exile back into the Kingdom of Galloway. Here, indeed, is - the scent of bog-myrtle and peat. After inquiries among the - fair, I learn that of all romances, they best love, not - 'sociology,' not 'theology,' still less, open manslaughter, for - a motive, but just love's young dream, chapter after chapter. - From Mr. Crockett they get what they want, 'hot with,' as - Thackeray admits that he liked it."--Mr. ANDREW LANG in - _Longman's Magazine_. - - - - -THE RAIDERS - -BY S. R. CROCKETT - -_Eighth Edition. Crown 8vo., cloth_, 6s. - - - "A thoroughly enjoyable novel, full of fresh, original, and - accurate pictures of life long gone by."--_Daily News._ - - "A strikingly realistic romance."--_Morning Post._ - - "A stirring story.... Mr. Crockett's style is charming. My - Baronite never knew how musical and picturesque is - Scottish-English till he read this book."--_Punch._ - - "The youngsters have their Stevenson, their Barrie, and now a - third writer has entered the circle, S. R. Crockett, with a - lively and jolly book of adventures, which the paterfamilias - pretends to buy for his eldest son, but reads greedily himself - and won't let go till he has turned over the last page.... Out - of such historical elements and numberless local traditions the - author has put together an exciting tale of adventures on land - and sea."--_Frankfurter Zeitung._ - - _SOME SCOTCH NOTICES._ - - "Galloway folk should be proud to rank 'The Raiders' among the - classics of the district."--_Scotsman._ - - "Mr. Crockett's 'The Raiders' is one of the great literary - successes of the season."--_Dundee Advertiser._ - - "Mr. Crockett has achieved the distinction of having produced - the book of the season."--_Dumfries and Galloway Standard._ - - "The story told in it is, as a story, nearly - perfect."--_Aberdeen Daily Free Press._ - - "'The Raiders' is one of the most brilliant efforts of recent - fiction."--_Kirkcudbrightshire Advertiser._ - - - - -TROOPER PETER HALKET OF MASHONALAND - -BY OLIVE SCHREINER - -Author of "Dreams," "Real Life and Dream Life," &c. - -_Crown 8vo., cloth_, 2s. 6d. - - - "We advise our readers to purchase and read Olive Schreiner's - new book 'Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland.' Miss Schreiner - is one of the few magicians of modern English literature, and - she has used the great moral, as well as the great literary, - force of her style to great effect."--_Daily Chronicle._ - - "The story is one that is certain to be widely read, and it is - well that it should be so, especially at this moment; it grips - the heart and haunts the imagination. To have written such a - book is to render a supreme service, for it is as well to know - what the rough work means of subjugating inferior - races."--_Daily News._ - - "Some of the imaginative passages are very fine.... The book is - powerfully written."--_Scotsman._ - - "Is well and impressively written."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ - - - - -THE MERMAID SERIES - -The Best Plays of the Old Dramatists. - -Literal Reproductions of the Old Text. - -_Post 8vo., each Volume containing about 500 pages, and an etched -Frontispiece, cloth_, 3s. 6d. _each_. - - -1. The Best Plays of Christopher Marlowe. Edited by HAVELOCK -ELLIS, and containing a General Introduction to the Series by JOHN -ADDINGTON SYMONDS. - -2. The Best Plays of Thomas Otway. Introduction by the HON. RODEN -NOEL. - -3. The Best Plays of John Ford.--Edited by HAVELOCK ELLIS. - -4 and 5. The Best Plays of Thomas Massinger. Essay and Notes by -ARTHUR SYMONS. - -6. The Best Plays of Thomas Heywood. Edited by A. W. VERITY. -Introduction by J. A. SYMONDS. - -7. The Complete Plays of William Wycherley. Edited by W. C. WARD. - -8. Nero, and other Plays. Edited by H. P. HORNE, ARTHUR SYMONS, -A. W. VERITY, and H. ELLIS. - -9 and 10. The Best Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher. Introduction -by J. ST. LOE STRACHEY. - -11. The Complete Plays of William Congreve. Edited by ALEX C. -EWALD. - -12. The Best Plays of Webster and Tourneur. Introduction by JOHN -ADDINGTON SYMONDS. - -13 and 14. The Best Plays of Thomas Middleton. Introduction by -ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE. - -15. The Best Plays of James Shirley. Introduction by EDMUND -GOSSE. - -16. The Best Plays of Thomas Dekker. Notes by ERNEST RHYS. - -17, 19, and 20. The Best Plays of Ben Jonson. Vol I. edited, with -Introduction and Notes, by BRINSLEY NICHOLSON and C. H. HERFORD. - -18. The Complete Plays of Richard Steele. Edited, with -Introduction and Notes, by G. A. AITKEN. - -21. The Best Plays of George Chapman. Edited by WILLIAM LYON -PHELPS, Instructor of English Literature at Yale College. - -22. The Select Plays of Sir John Vanbrugh. Edited, with an -Introduction and Notes, by A. E. H. 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