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diff --git a/old/53354-0.txt b/old/53354-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b92629a..0000000 --- a/old/53354-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5393 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Imperialism and Mr. Gladstone, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Imperialism and Mr. Gladstone - 1876-1887 - -Author: Various - -Release Date: October 23, 2016 [EBook #53354] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IMPERIALISM AND MR. GLADSTONE *** - - - - -Produced by John Campbell and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE - - Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - - Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=. - - Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been - corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within - the text and consultation of external sources. - - More detail can be found at the end of the book. - - - - - BELLS ENGLISH HISTORY SOURCE BOOKS - - _General Editors_: S. E. WINBOLT, M.A., and KENNETH BELL, M.A. - - - - - IMPERIALISM AND MR. GLADSTONE - - - - -BELL'S ENGLISH HISTORY SOURCE BOOKS. - -_Volumes now Ready. 1s. net each._ - - - =1154-1216. The Angevins and the Charter.= Edited by S. M. - TOYNE, M.A., Headmaster of St. Peter's School, York, and late - Assistant Master at Haileybury College. - - =1307-1399. War and Misrule= (special period for the School - Certificate Examination, July and December, 1913). Edited by A. - A. LOCKE. - - =1485-1547. The Reformation and the Renaissance.= Edited by F. - W. BEWSHER, Assistant Master at St. Paul's School. - - =1547-1603. The Age of Elizabeth.= Edited by ARUNDELL ESDAILE, - M.A. - - =1603-1660. Puritanism and Liberty.= Edited by KENNETH BELL, - M.A. - - =1660-1714. A Constitution in Making.= Edited by G. B. PERRETT, - M.A. - - =1714-1760. Walpole and Chatham.= Edited by K. A. ESDAILE. - - =1760-1801. American Independence and the French Revolution.= - Edited by S. E. WINBOLT, M.A. - - =1801-1815. England and Napoleon.= Edited by S. E. WINBOLT, M.A. - - =1816-1836. Peace and Reform.= Edited by A. C. W. EDWARDS, - Assistant Master at Christ's Hospital. - - =1876-1887. Imperialism and Mr. Gladstone.= Edited by R. H. - GRETTON. - - - =1535-Present-Day. Canada.= Edited by H. J. MUNRO, M.A. - - _Other volumes, covering the whole range of English History - from Roman Britain are in active preparation, and will be - issued at short intervals._ - - - LONDON: G. BELL AND SONS, LTD. - - - - - IMPERIALISM AND MR. GLADSTONE - - (1876--1887) - - - COMPILED BY - R. H. GRETTON - FORMERLY DEMY OF MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD - AUTHOR OF "A MODERN HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE" - - [Illustration: (Publisher's colophon)] - - - LONDON - G. BELL & SONS, LTD. - 1913 - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -This series of English History Source Books is intended for use -with any ordinary textbook of English History. Experience has -conclusively shown that such apparatus is a valuable--nay, an -indispensable--adjunct to the history lesson. It is capable of -two main uses: either by way of lively illustration at the close -of a lesson, or by way of inference-drawing, before the textbook -is read, at the beginning of the lesson. The kind of problems and -exercises that may be based on the documents are legion, and are -admirably illustrated in a _History of England for Schools_, Part -I., by Keatinge and Frazer, pp. 377-381. However, we have no wish -to prescribe for the teacher the manner in which he shall exercise -his craft, but simply to provide him and his pupils with materials -hitherto not readily accessible for school purposes. The very -moderate price of the books in this series should bring them within -reach of every secondary school. Source books enable the pupil to -take a more active part than hitherto in the history lesson. Here -is the apparatus, the raw material: its use we leave to teacher and -taught. - -Our belief is that the books may profitably be used by all grades -of historical students between the standards of fourth-form boys -in secondary schools and undergraduates at Universities. What -differentiates students at one extreme from those at the other is -not so much the kind of subject-matter dealt with, as the amount -they can read into or extract from it. - -In regard to choice of subject-matter, while trying to satisfy the -natural demand for certain "stock" documents of vital importance, -we hope to introduce much fresh and novel matter. It is our -intention that the majority of the extracts should be lively in -style--that is, personal, or descriptive, or rhetorical, or even -strongly partisan--and should not so much profess to give the truth -as supply data for inference. We aim at the greatest possible -variety, and lay under contribution letters, biographies, ballads -and poems, diaries, debates, and newspaper accounts. Economics, -London, municipal, and social life generally, and local history, -are represented in these pages. - -The order of the extracts is strictly chronological, each being -numbered, titled, and dated, and its authority given. The text -is modernized, where necessary, to the extent of leaving no -difficulties in reading. - -We shall be most grateful to teachers and students who may send us -suggestions for improvement. - - S. E. WINBOLT. - - KENNETH BELL. - - -NOTE TO THIS VOLUME - - I acknowledge, with thanks to the authors concerned, and to - Messrs. Macmillan and Co., their kind permission to reprint in - this volume the following passages: that on p. 102, from the - _Life of Lord Randolph Churchill_, by the Right Hon. Winston - Churchill; three extracts, on pp. 59, 62, 83, from _Mahdiism - and the Egyptian Soudan_, by Sir Francis Wingate; the passages - from Lord Morley's _Life of Gladstone_, on pp. 97, 98, 101, - 110; and the passages from Lord Cromer's _Modern Egypt_, - on pp. 68, 69, 70, 87. I acknowledge also with thanks the - permission of the proprietors of _The Times_ to reprint the - various extracts from that journal; and the permission of the - proprietors of _The Saturday Review_ to reprint the extract on - p. 35. In dealing with a period so recent, I have inevitably - been very dependent upon the courtesy of the owners of - copyright, and I wish to express my gratitude for the readiness - with which that courtesy has been extended in these important - cases. - - I am also indebted to Messrs. Longmans, Green and Co. for - permission to print extracts from Professor Mackail's _Life of - William Morris_, and from Mr. Bernard Holland's _Life of the - late Duke of Devonshire_, and to Messrs. Kegan Paul and Co. for - similar permission to quote from _General Gordon's Journal_. - - R. H. G. - - - - -TABLE OF CONTENTS - - - PAGE - INTRODUCTION v - - DATE - 1876. PURCHASE OF THE SUEZ CANAL SHARES 1 - 1876. ENGLAND, RUSSIA, AND AFGHANISTAN 3 - 1876. THE QUEEN AS EMPRESS OF INDIA 5 - 1876. BULGARIAN ATROCITIES 8 - I. THUNDER FROM MR. GLADSTONE 8 - II. COLD WATER FROM DISRAELI 11 - 1877. SIR THEOPHILUS SHEPSTONE'S COMMISSION 15 - 1877. RUSSIA DECLARES WAR ON TURKEY 16 - 1877. IRISH OBSTRUCTION IN ITS EARLY DAYS 17 - 1877. PLEVNA AFTER THE SIEGE 18 - 1878. STRAINED RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA 21 - 1878. PEACE WITH HONOUR 24 - 1878. THE SECRET AGREEMENTS IN BEACONSFIELD'S POCKETS 25 - 1878. GLADSTONE INDIGNANT AGAIN 27 - 1878. RUSSIAN INTRIGUE AT CABUL 28 - 1878. SHERE ALI 30 - 1879. DEATH OF SHERE ALI 31 - 1879. THE GANDAMAK TREATY 31 - 1879. THE CABUL MASSACRE 32 - 1879. THE MIDLOTHIAN CAMPAIGN 35 - 1880. BEACONSFIELD KEEPS COOL 37 - 1880. THE MAIWAND DISASTER 37 - 1880. THE BRADLAUGH CASE 40 - 1880. SOCIAL AMELIORATIONS 40 - EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY 40 - FUNDED MUNICIPAL DEBT 41 - ELECTRIC LIGHT, THE TELEPHONE, NEW HOTELS 42 - 1880. PARNELL AND THE LAND LEAGUE 43 - 1880. CAPTAIN BOYCOTT 44 - 1880. THE BOER RISING 45 - PROCLAMATION 46 - 1881. BEFORE MAJUBA 46 - 1881. AFTER MAJUBA 47 - 1881. RITUAL CONTROVERSY 48 - 1881. A SHORT WAY WITH OBSTRUCTION 49 - 1881. THE DEATH OF BEACONSFIELD 50 - 1881. THE WITHDRAWAL FROM CANDAHAR 51 - 1881. THE SALVATION ARMY 54 - 1881. ARABI 54 - 1882. THE FIRST CLOSURE 56 - 1882. BIMETALLISM 56 - 1882. BRIGHT'S RESIGNATION 57 - 1883. THE ILBERT BILL 58 - 1883. FENIANS AGAIN 58 - 1883. THE MAHDI 59 - 1883. END OF CAREY THE INFORMER 61 - 1883. SLAUGHTER OF HICKS PASHA'S ARMY 62 - 1884. TRANSVAAL CONVENTION 65 - 1884. GORDON'S MISSION TO KHARTOUM 66 - 1884. DIFFICULTIES OF GORDON'S CHARACTER 69 - 1884. ZOBEIR PASHA 71 - 1884. SOME OF GORDON'S TELEGRAMS 73 - 1884. CROSS PURPOSES 75 - 1884. GORDON'S POSITION 78 - 1884. GORDON'S OWN MEDITATIONS 80 - 1884. THE FRANCHISE AND REDISTRIBUTION 82 - 1884. FEEDING POOR SCHOOL CHILDREN 83 - 1885. THE DEATH OF GORDON 83 - 1885. THE GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSIBILITY 87 - 1885. THE VOTE OF CENSURE 87 - 1885. MORE FENIANISM 90 - 1885. NEW LABOUR MOVEMENTS 91 - 1885. THE UNEMPLOYED 92 - 1885. WORKING MEN MAGISTRATES 93 - 1885. TORY OLIVE-BRANCH TO IRELAND 93 - 1885. THE FIRST SUBMARINE 96 - 1885. THE UNAUTHORIZED PROGRAMME 97 - 1885. THE IRISH VOTE 98 - 1885. THE NEW ELECTORATE 100 - 1886. THE OPENING OF THE RIFT 101 - 1886. "ULSTER WILL FIGHT" 102 - 1886. SALISBURY ON HOME RULE 104 - 1886. MR. GLADSTONE'S APPEAL 106 - 1886. LIBERAL UNIONISM 107 - 1886. THE UNEMPLOYED RIOTS 107 - 1886. BIMETALLISM AND LABOUR DISPUTES 109 - 1886. PASTEUR AND HYDROPHOBIA 110 - 1886. THE FINAL HOME RULE RUPTURE 110 - 1887. THE COMING OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION 112 - 1887. THE FIRST "GUILLOTINE" CLOSURE 113 - 1887. JUBILEE RETROSPECTS 114 - 1887. "REMEMBER MITCHELSTOWN" 118 - 1887. "BLOODY SUNDAY" 119 - 1887. FIRST REPORT ON THE RAND 120 - - - - -IMPERIALISM AND MR. GLADSTONE - -(1876--1887) - - - - -PURCHASE OF THE SUEZ CANAL SHARES (1876). - -=Source.=--_Hansard_, Third Series, vol. 227, col. 95 (Debate on -the Address, February, 1876). - - -MR. DISRAELI: ... When we acceded to office two years ago an -International Commission had only just ceased its labours at -Constantinople upon the dues of the Suez Canal, and upon the means -of ascertaining and maintaining a limit of them, and it had arrived -at reasons entirely protested against by the proprietary. What was -the state of affairs there? Lord Derby had to deal with them. The -proprietary of the canal threatened, and not only threatened, but -proceeded, to stop the canal. They refused pilots; they threatened -to change the signals; they took steps which would have interrupted -that mode of intercourse with India.... From that moment it became -a matter of interest to those responsible for the government of -this country to see what could be done to remedy those relations -with the Suez Canal.... But it suddenly comes to our knowledge that -the Khedive, on whose influence we mainly depended, is going to -part with his shares. We received a telegram from Cairo informing -us that the Khedive was anxious to raise a considerable sum of -money upon his shares in the Suez Canal, and offered them to -England. We considered the question immediately, and it appeared -to us to be a complicated transaction--one to which there were -several objections; and we sent back to say that we were favourably -disposed to assist the Khedive, but that at the same time we were -only prepared to purchase the shares outright. What was the answer? -The answer was that the Khedive was resolved, if he possibly -could, to keep his shares, and that he could only therefore avail -himself of a loan. There matters seemed to end. Then suddenly -there came news to the Government of this country that a French -society--Société Générale--was prepared to offer the Khedive a -large sum of money--very little inferior to the four millions--but -on very onerous conditions. The Khedive communicated with us, and -said that the conditions were so severe that he would sooner sell -the shares outright, and--which I had forgotten to mention--that, -in deference to his promise that England should always have the -refusal of the shares if he decided to sell them, he offered them -to the English Government. It was absolutely necessary to decide at -that moment what course we should take. It was not a thing on which -we could hesitate.... To pretend that Lord Derby has treated this -business as a mere commercial speculation is idle. If he did not -act in accordance with the principles of high policy, I should like -to know what high policy is, and how a man can pursue it. - -Apart from looking upon this as an investment, if the shares had -been offered, and if there had been no arrangement of paying -interest for nineteen years, so far as I am concerned, I should -have been in favour of the purchase of the shares. I should have -agreed with Lord Derby in thinking that England would never be -satisfied if all the shares of the Suez Canal were possessed by -a foreign company. Then it is said, if any obstacles had been -put in your way by the French proprietors of the canal, you -know very well that ultimately it must come to force, and you -will then obtain at once the satisfaction of your desire. Well, -if the government of the world was a mere alternation between -abstract right and overwhelming force, I agree there is a good -deal in that observation; but that is not the way in which the -world is governed. The world is governed by conciliation, -compromise, influence, varied interests, the recognition of the -rights of others, coupled with the assertion of one's own; and, -in addition, a general conviction, resulting from explanation and -good understanding, that it is for the interests of all parties -that matters should be conducted in a satisfactory and peaceful -manner.... I cannot doubt that the moral influence of England -possessing two-fifths of the shares in this great undertaking -must have made itself felt, must have a considerable influence -upon the conduct of those who manage the company.... England -is a Mediterranean Power; a great Mediterranean Power. This is -shown by the fact that in time of war always, and frequently in -time of peace, she has the greatest force upon those waters. -Furthermore, she has strongholds upon those waters which she will -never relinquish. The policy of England, however, is not one of -aggression. It is not provinces she wants. She will not interest -herself in the redistribution of territory on the shores of the -Mediterranean, as long as the redistribution does not imperil -the freedom of the seas and the dominion which she legitimately -exercises. And therefore I look upon this, that in the great -chain of fortresses which we possess, almost from the Metropolis -to India, that the Suez Canal is a means of securing the free -intercourse of the waters, is a great addition to that security, -and one we should prize. - - - - -ENGLAND, RUSSIA, AND AFGHANISTAN (1876). - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Publications_, "Afghanistan," C 2, 190, -of 1878, p. 156. - - -_Extract from Lord Salisbury's Despatch to the Viceroy of India, -dated February 28, 1876._ - -The increasing weakness and uncertainty of British influence in -Afghanistan constitutes a prospective peril to British interests; -the deplorable interruption of it in Khelat inflicts upon them an -immediate inconvenience by involving the cessation of all effective -control over the turbulent and predatory habits of the trans-Indus -tribes. In view of these considerations, Her Majesty's Government -have ... instructed the Viceroy to find an early occasion for -sending to Cabul a temporary mission, furnished with such -instructions as may, perhaps, enable it to overcome the Ameer's -apparent reluctance to the establishment of permanent British -Agencies in Afghanistan, by convincing His Highness that the -Government of India is ... willing to afford him material support -in the defence of his territories from any actual and unprovoked -external aggression, but that it cannot practically avert or -provide for such a contingency without timely and unrestricted -permission to place its own agents in those parts of his dominions -whence they may best watch the course of events. It appears to -Her Majesty's Government that the present moment is favourable -for the execution of this last-mentioned instruction. The Queen's -assumption of the Imperial title in relation to Her Majesty's -Indian subjects, feudatories, and allies will now for the first -time conspicuously transfer to her Indian dominion, in form as well -as in fact, the supreme authority of the Indian Empire.... The -maintenance in Afghanistan of a strong and friendly power has at -all times been the object of British policy. The attainment of this -object is now to be considered with due reference to the situation -created by the recent and rapid advance of the Russian arms in -Central Asia towards the Northern frontiers of British India. Her -Majesty's Government cannot view with complete indifference the -probable influence of that situation upon the uncertain character -of an Oriental Chief whose ill-defined dominions are thus brought, -within a steadily narrowing circle, between the conflicting -pressures of two great military Empires, one of which expostulates -and remains passive, whilst the other apologizes and continues -to move forward. It is well known that not only the English -newspapers, but also all works published in England upon Indian -questions, are rapidly translated for the information of the Ameer, -and carefully studied by His Highness. Sentiments of irritation -and alarm at the advancing power of Russia in Central Asia find -frequent expression through the English press, in language which, -if taken by Shere Ali for a revelation of the mind of the -English Government, must have long been accumulating in his mind -impressions unfavourable to its confidence in British power.... Her -Majesty's Government would not, therefore, view with indifference -any attempt on the part of Russia to compete with British influence -in Afghanistan, nor could the Ameer's reception of a British Agent -(whatever be the official rank or function of that Agent) in any -part of the dominions of His Highness afford for his subsequent -reception of a Russian Agent any pretext to which the Government -of Her Majesty would not be entitled to, except as incompatible -with the assurances spontaneously offered to it by the Cabinet of -St. Petersburg. You will bear in mind these facts when framing -instructions for your mission to Cabul.... The conduct of Shere Ali -has more than once been characterized by so significant a disregard -of the wishes and interests of the Government of India that the -irretrievable alienation of his confidence in the sincerity and -power of that Government is a contingency which cannot be dismissed -as impossible. Should such a fear be confirmed by the result of -the proposed negotiation, no time must be lost in reconsidering, -from a new point of view, the policy to be pursued in reference to -Afghanistan. - - - - -THE QUEEN AS EMPRESS OF INDIA (1876). - -=Source.=--_Hansard_, Third Series, vol. 227, col. 1,736 (Debate on -Royal Titles Bill, March 9, 1876). - - -MR. GLADSTONE: ... In my opinion this is a matter of the greatest -importance. We have had some declarations in this House with -respect to India. The hon. member for West Cumberland (Mr. Percy -Wyndham), on the night when the right hon. gentleman first made -his proposal, said that an Imperial title would be the one most -suitable, because it would signify that Her Majesty governed India -without the restraints of law or constitution. - -MR. PERCY WYNDHAM: I said that the Government of India was a -despotic Government, not in the hands of one person, and not, -as in this country, a constitutional Government in the hands of -the Queen and the Houses of Lords and Commons. The Government of -India is essentially a despotic Government as administered by us, -although it includes more than one individual. - -MR. GLADSTONE: I am very much obliged, and I perceive completely -the hon. member's meaning; but I am sorry that to that meaning, -as it stands, I take the greatest objection. If it be true--and -it is true--that we govern India without the restraints of law, -except such law as we make ourselves; if it be true that we have -not been able to give to India the benefit and blessings of free -institutions, I leave it to the hon. gentleman--I leave it to the -right hon. gentleman if he thinks fit--to boast that he is about -to place that fact solemnly upon record. By the assumption of the -title of Empress, I for one will not attempt to turn into glory -that which, so far as it is true, I feel to be our weakness and -our calamity.... It is plain that the government of India--that -is, the entire India--never has yet, by statute, been vested in -Her Majesty; but that which has been vested is the government of -the countries which were held in trust for Her Majesty by the East -India Company. I would be the last man to raise this question -if it were a mere verbal quibble. It is as far as possible from -being a question merely verbal.... I am under the belief that to -this moment there are important Princes and States in India over -which we have never assumed dominion, whatever may have been our -superiority of strength. We are now going, by Act of Parliament, -to assume that dominion, the possible consequences of which no man -can foresee; and when the right hon. gentleman tells us the Princes -desire this change to be made, does he really mean to assure us -that this is the case? If so, I require distinct evidence of the -fact. There are Princes in India who, no doubt, have hitherto -enjoyed no more than a theoretical political supremacy, but do -they desire to surrender even that under the provisions of this -Bill? The right hon. gentleman is going to advise the Queen to -become Empress of India. I raise the question, What is India? I -have said that the dominion now vested in Her Majesty is limited -to the territories vested in the East India Company. I ask whether -the supremacy of certain important Native States in India ever was -vested in the Company, or whether it was not? We are bound to ask -the right hon. gentleman--and I think he is bound to answer the -question through the medium of his best legal authorities--whether -this supremacy is so vested or not, and whether he can assure us -upon his responsibility that no political change in the condition -of the Native Princes of India will be effected by this Bill. -If there is a political change effected, I do not hesitate to -say I do not think it would be possible to offer too determined -an opposition to the proposal of the Government.... I feel with -the right hon. gentleman--indeed, I feel a little more than the -right hon. gentleman--the greatness, the unsullied greatness, of -the title which is now borne by the Queen of England. I think -I use the language of moderation when I say that it is a title -unequalled for its dignity and weight, unequalled for the glory -of its historic associations, unequalled for the promise which it -offers to the future, among the titles of the Sovereigns of Europe, -among all the states and nations on earth. Sir, I have a jealousy -of touching that title, and I am not to be told that this is a -small matter. There is nothing small in a matter, in my judgment, -which touches the honour and dignity of the Crown of England.... -The right hon. gentleman has indeed manfully contended that there -is no inferiority in the title of King as compared with that of -Emperor.... I want to know why I am to be dragged into novelties, -or into comparisons on a subject of this sort?... There is one -other point on which I am anxious to make a few comments. I was, I -own, struck by what fell from my right hon. friend the member for -the University of London (Mr. Lowe) the other evening in reference -to the colonies. Whether it be desirable to make any recital with -regard to the colonies or not, it is a subject which requires much -consideration whether we can wisely introduce reference to India -in the title of the Sovereign, while we at the same time take no -notice of the colonies. - - - - -BULGARIAN ATROCITIES (1876). - -I. THUNDER FROM MR. GLADSTONE. - -=Source.=--Mr. Gladstone's pamphlet, _Bulgarian Horrors and the -Question of the East_, 1876, p. 10. - - -In default of Parliamentary action, and a public concentrated as -usual, we must proceed as we can, with impaired means of appeal. -But honour, duty, compassion, and I must add shame, are sentiments -never in a state of _coma_. The working-men of the country, whose -condition is less affected than that of others by the season, have -to their honour led the way, and shown that the great heart of -Britain has not ceased to beat. And the large towns and cities, now -following in troops, are echoing back, each from its own place, -the mingled notes of horror, pain, and indignation.... A curtain -opaque and dense, which at the prorogation had been lifted but a -few inches from the ground, has since then, from day to day, been -slowly rising. And what a scene it has disclosed! And where! - -... I have the fullest confidence in the honour and in the -intelligence of Mr. Baring, who has been inquiring on behalf of -England. But he was not sent to examine the matter until the 19th -of July, three months after the rising, and nearly one month after -the first inquiries in Parliament. He had been but two days at -Philippopolis, when he sent home, with all the despatch he could -use, some few rudiments of a future report. Among them was his -estimate of the murders, necessarily far from final, at the figure -of twelve thousand. - -We know that we had a well-manned Embassy at Constantinople, and -a network of Consulates and Vice-Consulates, really discharging -diplomatic duties, all over the provinces of European Turkey. -That villages could be burned down by scores, and men, women, and -children murdered, or worse than murdered, by thousands, in a -Turkish province lying between the capital and the scene of the -recent excitements, and that our Embassy and Consulates could know -nothing of it? The thing was impossible. It could not be. So -silence was obtained, and relief; and the well-oiled machinery of -our luxurious, indifferent life worked smoothly on.... - -It was on the 20th of April that the insurrection broke out in -Bulgaria.... On the 9th of May Sir Henry Elliot ... observing a -great Mohammedan excitement, and an extensive purchase of arms in -Constantinople, wisely telegraphed to the British Admiral in the -Mediterranean expressing a desire that he would bring his squadron -to Besika Bay. The purpose was for the protection of British -subjects, and of the Christians in general.... These measures were -substantially wise, and purely pacific. They had, if understood -rightly, no political aspect, or, if any, one rather anti-Turkish -than Turkish. But there were reasons, and strong reasons, why -the public should not have been left to grope out for itself the -meaning of a step so serious as the movement of a naval squadron -towards a country disturbed both by revolt and by an outbreak of -murderous fanaticism. In the year 1853, when the negotiations with -Russia had assumed a gloomy and almost a hopeless aspect, the -English and French fleets were sent eastwards; not as a measure -of war, but as a measure of preparation for war, and proximate to -war. The proceedings marked a transition of discussion into that -angry stage which immediately precedes a blow; and the place, to -which the fleets were then sent, was Besika Bay. In the absence -of information, how could the British nation avoid supposing that -the same act, as that done in 1853, bore also the same meaning?... -The expectation of a rupture pervaded the public mind. The Russian -funds fell very heavily, under a war panic; partisans exulted in -a diplomatic victory, and in the increase of what is called our -_prestige_, the bane, in my opinion, of all upright politics. The -Turk was encouraged in his humour of resistance. And this, as we -now know, while his hands were so reddened with Bulgarian blood. -Foreign capitals were amazed at the martial excitement in London. -But the Government spoke never a word.... And this ostentatious -protection to Turkey, this wanton disturbance of Europe, was -continued by our Ministry, with what I must call a strange -perversity, for weeks and weeks.... - -What we have to guard against is imposture--that Proteus with a -thousand forms. A few months ago the new Sultan served the turn, -and very well. Men affirmed that he must have time. And now another -new Sultan is in the offing. I suppose it will be argued that he -must have time too. Then there will be, perhaps, new constitutions; -firmans of reforms; proclamations to commanders of Turkish armies, -enjoining extra humanity. All these should be quietly set down as -simply zero. At this moment we hear of the adoption by the Turks of -the last and most enlightened rule of warfare--namely, the Geneva -Convention. They might just as well adopt the Vatican Council or -the British Constitution. All these things are not even the oysters -before the dinner. Still worse is any plea founded upon any reports -made by Turkish authority upon the Bulgarian outrages.... I return -to, and I end with, that which is the Omega as well as the Alpha -of this great and most mournful case. An old servant of the Crown -and State, I entreat my countrymen, upon whom far more than perhaps -any other people of Europe it depends, to require, and to insist, -that our Government, which has been working in one direction, -shall work in the other, and shall apply all its vigour to concur -with the other States of Europe in obtaining the extinction of the -Turkish executive power in Bulgaria. Let the Turks now carry away -their abuses in the only possible manner--namely, by carrying off -themselves. Their Zaptiehs and their Mudirs, their Bimbashis and -their Yuzbachis, their Kaimakams and their Pashas, one and all, bag -and baggage, shall, I hope, clear out from the province they have -desolated and profaned. This thorough riddance, this most blessed -deliverance, is the only reparation we can make to the memory of -those heaps on heaps of dead; to the violated purity alike of -matron, of maiden, and of child; to the civilization which has -been affronted and shamed; to the laws of God, or, if you like, -of Allah; to the moral sense of mankind at large. There is not a -criminal in a European gaol, there is not a cannibal in the South -Sea Islands, whose indignation would not rise and overboil at the -recital of that which has been done, which has left behind all -the foul and all the fierce passions that produced it, and which -may again spring up, in another murderous harvest, from the soil -soaked and reeking with blood, and in the air tainted with every -imaginable deed of crime and shame. - - -II. COLD WATER FROM DISRAELI. - -=Source.=--_Hansard_, Third Series, vol. 231, col. 1,138, August -11, 1876 (Third Reading of the Appropriation Bill; Bulgarian -Atrocities raised). - -MR. DISRAELI: ... Let me at once place before the House what I -believe is the true view of the circumstances which principally -interest us to-night, for, after the Rhodian eloquence to which -we have just listened, it is rather difficult for the House to -see clearly the point which is before it. The Queen's Ambassador -at Constantinople, who has at all times no easy duty to fulfil, -found himself at the end of April and in the first three weeks -of May in a position of extreme difficulty and danger. Affairs -in Constantinople never had assumed--at least in our time, -certainly--a more perilous character. It was difficult to ascertain -what was going to happen; but that something was going to happen, -and something of a character which might disturb the relations -of the Porte with all the Powers of Europe, and might even bring -about a revolution, the effect of which would be felt in distant -countries, there was no doubt.... In the present instance the -hon. and learned gentleman has made one assumption throughout his -speech--that there has been no communication whatever between the -Queen's Ambassador at Constantinople and Her Majesty's Ministers -upon the subject in discussion; that we never heard of those -affairs until the newspapers published accounts. The state of -the facts is the reverse. From the very first period that these -transactions occurred--from the very commencement--the Ambassador -was in constant communication with Her Majesty's Ministers. -(No, no.) Why, that may be proved by the papers on the table. -Throughout the months of May and June the Ambassador is constantly -referring to the atrocities occurring in Bulgaria and to the -repeated protests which he is making to the Turkish Government, and -informing Her Majesty's Government of interviews and conversations -with the Grand Vizier on that subject. The hon. and learned -gentleman says that when questions were addressed to me in this -House I was perfectly ignorant of what was taking place. But that -is exactly the question we have to settle to-night. I say that we -were not perfectly ignorant of what was taking place.... I agree -that even the slightest estimate of the horrors that occurred in -Bulgaria is quite enough to excite the indignation of this country -and of Parliament; but when you come to say that we were ignorant -of all that was occurring, and did nothing to counteract it, -because we said in answer to Questions that the information which -had reached us did not warrant the statements that were quoted -in the House--these are two entirely different questions. In the -newspaper which has been referred to the first account was, if I -recollect aright, that 30,000 or 32,000 persons had been slain; -that 10,000 were in prison; it was also stated that 1,000 girls had -been sold in the open market, that 40 girls had been burnt alive in -a stable; and cartloads of human heads paraded through the streets -of the cities of Bulgaria--these were some of, though not all, the -statements made; and I was perfectly justified in saying that the -information which had reached us did not justify these statements, -and therefore we believed them to be exaggerated.... Lord Derby -telegraphed to Sir Henry Elliot that it was very important that Her -Majesty's Government should be able to reply to the inquiries made -in Parliament respecting these and other statements, and directed -Sir Henry Elliot to inquire by telegram of the Consuls, and report -as soon as he could. All these statements are untrue. There never -were forty maidens locked up in a stable and burnt alive. That -was ascertained with great care by Mr. Baring, and I am surprised -that the right hon. gentleman the member for Bradford should still -speak of it as a statement in which he has confidence. I believe -it to be an entire fabrication. I believe also it is an entire -fabrication that 1,000 young women were sold in the market as -slaves. We have not received the slightest evidence of a single -sale, even in those journals on which the right hon. gentleman -the member for Bradford founded his erratic speech. I have been -attacked for saying that I did not believe it was possible to have -10,000 persons in prison in Bulgaria. So far as I can ascertain -from the papers, there never could have been more than 3,000. As -to the 10,000 cases of torture, what evidence is there of a single -case of torture? We know very well that there has been considerable -slaughter; that there must have been isolated and individual cases -of most atrocious rapine, and outrages of a most atrocious kind; -but still we have had communications with Sir Henry Elliot, and he -has always assumed from what he knew that these cases of individual -rapine and outrage were occurring. He knew that civil war there was -carried on under conditions of brutality which, unfortunately, are -not unprecedented in that country; and the question is whether the -information we had justified the extravagant statements made in -Parliament, which no one pretends to uphold and defend.... The hon. -and learned member (Sir W. Harcourt) has done full justice to the -Bulgarian atrocities. He has assumed as absolutely true everything -that criticism and more authentic information had modified, and -in some cases had proved not merely to be exaggeration but to -be absolute falsehoods. And then the hon. and learned gentleman -says--"By your policy you have depopulated a province." Well, sir, -certainly the slaughter of 12,000 individuals, whether Turks or -Bulgarians, whether they were innocent peasants or even brigands, -is a horrible event which no one can think of without emotion. -But when I remember that the population of Bulgaria is 3,700,000 -persons, and that it is a very large country, is it not a most -extravagant abuse of rhetoric to say that the slaughter of so -considerable a number as 12,000 is the depopulation of a province? -Well, the hon. and learned gentleman said also that Her Majesty's -Government had incurred a responsibility which is not possessed by -any other country as regards our relations with and our influence -with the Turks. I say that we have incurred no responsibility which -is not shared with us by all the other contracting Powers to the -Treaty of Paris. I utterly disclaim any peculiar responsibility.... -That an hon. and learned gentleman, once a member of a Government -and an ornament of that Government, should counsel as the solution -of all these difficulties that Her Majesty's Government should -enter into an immediate combination to expel the Turkish nation -from Eastern Europe does indeed surprise me. And because we are -not prepared to enter into a scheme so quixotic as that would be, -we are held up as having given our moral, not to say our material, -support to Turkey.... We are, it is true, the allies of Turkey; -so is Austria, so is Russia, so is France, and so are others. We -are also their partners in a tripartite Treaty, in which we not -only generally, but singly, guarantee with France and Austria -the territorial integrity of Turkey. And if these engagements, -renovated and repeated only four years ago by the wisdom of Europe, -are to be treated by the hon. and learned gentleman as idle wind -and chaff, and if we are to be told that our political duty is by -force to expel the Turks to the other side of the Bosphorus, then -politics cease to be an art, statesmanship becomes a mere mockery, -and instead of being a House of Commons faithful to its traditions, -and which is always influenced, I have ever thought, by sound -principles of policy, whoever may be its leaders, we had better at -once resolve ourselves into one of those revolutionary clubs which -settle all political and social questions with the same ease as the -hon. and learned member. - - -[NOTE.--This was Disraeli's last speech as a member of the House of -Commons. He was raised to the peerage on August 12, 1876.] - - - - -SIR THEOPHILUS SHEPSTONE'S COMMISSION (1877). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, January 7. - - -Whereas grievous disturbances have broken out in the territories -adjacent to Our colonies in South Africa, with war between the -white inhabitants and the native races, to the great peril of -the peace and safety of Our said colonies; and whereas, having -regard to the safety of Our said colonies, it greatly concerns -Us that full inquiry should be made into the origin, nature, and -circumstances of the said disturbances, and with respect to the -measures to be adopted for preventing the recurrence of the like -disturbances in the future; and whereas it may become requisite to -this end that the said territories, or portions of them, should be -administered in Our name and in Our behalf. - -Now know you that We, having especial trust and confidence in the -loyalty and fidelity of you, the said Sir Theophilus Shepstone, -have appointed you to be Our special Commissioner for the purpose -of making such inquiry as aforesaid ... and if the emergency seem -to you to be such as to render it necessary, in order to secure -the peace and safety of Our said colonies, and of Our subjects -elsewhere, that the said territories, or any portion or portions of -the same, should be provisionally, and pending the announcement of -Our pleasure, be administered in Our name and on Our behalf, then, -and in such case only, We do further authorize you, the said Sir -Theophilus Shepstone, by proclamation under your hand, to declare -that from and after a day to be therein named, so much of any such -territories aforesaid as to you, after due consideration, shall -seem fit, shall be annexed and form part of Our dominions. - -And We do hereby constitute and appoint you to be thereupon -Administrator of the same provisionally and until Our pleasure is -more fully known. - -Provided, first, that no such proclamation shall be issued by you -with respect to any district, territory, or state, unless you shall -be satisfied that the inhabitants thereof, or a sufficient number -of them, or the Legislature thereof, desire to become Our subjects; -nor if any conditions unduly limiting Our power and authority -therein are sought to be imposed.... - - - - -RUSSIA DECLARES WAR ON TURKEY (1877). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, April 25. - - -We have not a word to say in defence of the Porte. We admit that it -was guilty, as Lord Salisbury has confessed, of infatuation when -it defied the Conference, and that it would have accepted even the -Protocol, if it had possessed a tithe of the sagacity which was -once a better protection of its weakness than ironclads are to-day. -We may even admit that the Protocol was, what Prince Gortchakoff -styles it, the last expression of the united will of Europe. But -his story is fatally incomplete. It would have been desirable to -know whether Russia has done her best to make it easy for Turkey -to accept the undisguised tutelage of the European Powers. That -question calls to mind how much the fanaticism of the Turks was -inflamed by the covert aid which Russia gave to Servia. The Czar -refers to the famous words which he spoke in the Kremlin. They were -indeed the real declaration of war, for they prevented Russia from -accepting anything less than the complete submission of Turkey. -Russia might plead, no doubt, that as war was certain to be found -an absolute necessity in the end, it mattered little how rudely -she ruffled the Osmanli pride. But in that case the negotiations -of the past two years have been a series of hypocrisies. As it -is, the general judgment is expressed by what Lord Derby said -last night. While he found it hopeless to bend the will of Turkey -towards submission, he equally found on the part of her Government -"a deeply seated conviction that, do what they would, sooner or -later war would be forced upon them." He believed that he and -his colleagues have throughout been "engaged in the solution of -a hopeless problem." Such, we fear, is the prosaic truth, and, -whatever be the measure of Turkish obstinacy, Russia cannot escape -condemnation. She has sometimes acted as if she wished to cut off -a way of retreat both from herself and her foe.... Russia has -hastened to stop all further negotiations, and to act as if she -and she alone had an interest in the tranquillity of the Turkish -Empire. Thus she has forfeited any right to speak in the name -of Europe. Nor has she given the Powers assurances which they -had a right to expect. Nothing is said in the same strain as the -declarations at Livadia, that Russia had no objects of territorial -ambition.... The Czar has committed a grave error by neglecting to -proclaim that in no event would he seize Turkish territory. - - - - -IRISH OBSTRUCTION IN ITS EARLY DAYS (1877). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, August 1. - - -Mr. Parnell and his special friends greatly distinguished -themselves in the House of Commons last night by the multiplicity -of the motions in committee on the South Africa Bill. The -Government adopted special means to wear out the tenacity of the -members who thus consume hour after hour, for it had arranged that -the House should sit until the work should be done, even if the -discussion should last till breakfast time. But it does injustice -to Mr. Parnell. He is the most misunderstood and most ill-used man -in the House of Commons. Such is the burden of the long letter from -him which we printed on Monday. He has been accused of trying to -stop public business by floods of irrelevant speech. He has been -charged with something like open disrespect for the authority of -Mr. Speaker. He has been suspected of a wish to make Irish members -intolerable, in the hope that weary Englishmen and Scotchmen would -bid them begone to enjoy the beatitudes of Home Rule. He has made -the Leader of the House, although the mildest of men, propose to -banish him to the penal settlement of silence, and the House has -done him the honour of framing two new rules to impede the flow of -his speech during the rest of the Session.... The incorrectness -of that accusation, he replies, is proved by the comparatively -small use he has made of almost boundless opportunities. If his -enemies speak of what he has done, he appeals to what he might -have done. Has he obstructed every clause of every Bill? Has he -even obstructed every Bill? Has he exhausted all the forms of the -House even yet? These questions oppress us with a sense of his -moderation. If he has done so much, he might have done so much -more! As most Bills have at least ten clauses, as most clauses -contain at least a hundred words, and as at least one amendment -might be moved after each word, Mr. Parnell could have opposed -each Bill with at least a thousand amendments, and he himself, Mr. -Biggar, and Mr. O'Donnell could each have delivered at least a -thousand speeches. - - - - -PLEVNA AFTER THE SIEGE (1877). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, December 15. - - -_From Our Special Correspondent.--Plevna, December 11._ - -As I rode up the slope of the hill east of Plevna towards the -redoubt defending the road between the town and the village of -Radicheve, a ghastly scene was presented. Hundreds of Russian -skeletons lay glistening on the hillsides, where they had fallen -during the assault of September. The bones were generally -completely bare. Those nearest to the earthwork had been covered -with a few inches of earth, which had been washed off by the first -shower, and now they lay as naked as the others. The Moslem outpost -pits were among these skeletons, many of them not being more than a -yard distant. Singular as it may seem, many of these skeletons had -distinct expressions, both in the attitude in which they had fallen -and in the position of the fleshless jaws. I could distinguish -those who had fallen without suffering from those who had died in -agony, and the effect was such as I shall never forget. The Russian -soldiers who marched into Plevna in the rear of Osman's sallying -force passed among these remains of their unburied comrades.... On -entering the town I was surprised to find it so little injured by -the cannonading.... - -Within a short time after Osman's surrender at the bridge over -the Vid, on the Sofia road, the 16,000 prisoners were turned back -into the town, with the artillery and transport trains.... The -Turks were well fed in appearance, but were generally ragged, and -were all wearing sandals. No boots were to be seen, though most of -them had overcoats.... The contrast between these tatterdemalion -battalions and the well-dressed men guarding them made the war -appear a one-sided affair, until the reflection came that a ragged -man shot as well as one perfectly equipped. Later in the day, -standing on the Sofia road, in the Gravitza valley west of Plevna, -I surveyed the whole basin forming Osman's position. The herbage -and all other growing things had so effectually disappeared that -the earth's surface looked as if a conflagration had swept over -every square foot of it. The colour was a dull brown, and I never -gazed upon a more dismal-looking region. The sides of the basin -were serried by ravines, all centering in the valley where I stood, -and upon the surrounding edges of the basin were the Turkish -and Allied batteries planted in irregular line, but commanding -every vantage-point of the neighbourhood.... Where the Gravitza -_chaussée_ crosses the elevation the Turkish redoubts were weakest, -and here the Russian artillery fire had been chiefly concentrated. -The front and rear of the earthworks were ploughed up by shells, -and in truth there was scarcely a square yard which had not been -struck. Thousands of such missiles, varying from 3 inches to 6 -inches in diameter, lay unexploded upon the surface of the earth. -In a previous telegram I said that these redoubts were battered to -pieces; but I now discover that this was a curious error of vision. -The works are practically uninjured. So far as the earthworks are -concerned, the Russian artillery ammunition has been absolutely -wasted, and from an inspection of the trenches I do not believe -that the garrison has suffered more than their defences. Neither -do I believe that any artillery could have accomplished more. The -fact is that shells against earthworks are useless at a greater -distance than 500 or 600 yards, and then the guns cannot be worked -on account of the enemy's sharpshooters. The Turkish soldiers -in the redoubts had bomb-proof abodes in the back walls of the -pits.... I was very much surprised to find the Turkish lines of -fortification so weak, as far as the quantity of earthwork is -concerned. The redoubts are much smaller than I supposed them to -be.... There are no double lines of infantry trenches--in fact, -no interior lines of any sort; neither are there trenches on the -hillsides below the redoubts. There are no lines of intrenchments -for the reserves; indeed, there were apparently no reserves. -When I saw this technically weak line I could not but admire the -efficiency of the weapons with which it had been defended, and -the stubborn tenacity of the men who could hold it against such -assaults as the Allies have delivered against it. The Allies had -double and treble lines around Plevna. Their works are much better -constructed than those of the Turks, so far as finish is concerned; -but for safety I would rather trust myself to the latter.... The -Roumanian trenches, however, were well constructed and capacious. -The best trench is within 25 feet of the Turkish counterscarp [of a -redoubt]. From the bottom of this trench two shafts were sunk about -15 feet in depth, and from the bottom two galleries had been pushed -under the Turkish parapet, and the mines were nearly ready when the -Moslems evacuated their positions. But the strangest part of the -history of this siege is the fact that the Turks had also mined -the Gravitza redoubt opposite, and before leaving their earthwork -they had fired the mining fuse. The Roumanians, discovering their -departure, entered their ditches, found the gallery, and reached -the fuse in time to quench it before it had burned to the explosive -charge; so that each was prepared to blow the other up without -knowing, apparently, that counter-operations were in progress.... - -At noon to-day the Emperor arrived at the redoubt defending -the approach to Plevna by the Gravitza _chaussée_.... [After a -religious service] the whole party rode into Plevna, taking the -less frequented streets, lest some assassin might fire upon the -Emperor. In a small house, surrounded by a high stone wall, lunch -was served, after which there was a sudden hush, and Osman Pasha -was carried into the yard and through the portico by a Cossack -officer and one of his own attendants. As he passed through the -crowd of staff officers, every one saluted him, and shouted, -"Bravo, Osman!" He then passed into the presence of the Emperor, -who shook hands with him, and informed him that, in consideration -of his gallant defence of Plevna, he had given orders that his -sword should be returned to him, and that he could wear it. - - - - -STRAINED RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA (1878). - -I. - -=Source.=--_Hansard_, Third Series, vol. 237, cols. 1,326, 1332 -(Questions, February 8, 1878). - - -THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: Mr. Speaker, the Government -have received a telegram to-day from Mr. Layard, containing a -summary of the articles of the armistice.... The telegram ends by -saying that the Turks have begun to remove their guns from the -Constantinople lines. Now it is quite evident that, whatever may -have been the arrangements with regard to the neighbourhood of -Constantinople, a neutral zone has been declared, which includes -the lines of Tchekmedje, which protect Constantinople; and -according to the terms of the armistice the Turks are bound not to -retain those fortresses, and accordingly are bound to remove--and -are quietly beginning to remove--their guns and armaments from the -fortifications by lines and to specified places.... The consequence -is that, although the Russians do not occupy those lines -themselves, they occupy an outpost close to them, while the lines -themselves are being thoroughly disarmed. They have the power, -therefore, at any moment, subject to the necessity of giving three -days' notice of the termination of the armistice, of advancing -on Constantinople without hindrance.... I may perhaps venture to -call the attention of the House to one of the papers which we laid -upon the table yesterday. That contains a copy of a Memorandum -which was communicated to the Russian Ambassador by Her Majesty's -Government on the 28th of July last, in which they say they "look -with much anxiety at the state of things in Constantinople, and -the prospect of the disorder and bloodshed, and even anarchy, -which may occur as the Russian forces draw near to the capital. -The crisis which may at any time arrive in Constantinople may be -such as Her Majesty's Government could not overlook, while they -had the means of mitigating its horrors. Her Majesty's Government -are fully determined (unless it should be necessary for the -preservation of interests which they have already stated they are -bound to maintain) not to depart from the line of neutrality which -they have declared their intention to observe; but they do not -consider that they would be departing from this neutrality, and -they think that Russia will not consider they are doing so, if they -should find themselves compelled to direct their fleet to proceed -to Constantinople, and thus afford protection to the European -population against internal disturbance." The Government, I may -add, feel that the state of affairs disclosed by the armistice has -given rise to the danger which they thus apprehended, and they -have, in the circumstances, thought it right to order a portion of -the fleet to proceed at once to Constantinople for the purpose of -protecting the lives and property of British subjects. - - -Cols. 1622-1623 (Questions, February 13, 1878). - -THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: I stated, I think, or at all -events referred on Monday to the fact, that communications had -been made to the Porte to ascertain whether permission would be -given, or a _firman_ be granted, for the British fleet to enter -the Dardanelles. That permission was refused, but Her Majesty's -Government thought it right to direct the ships to proceed, and -they have proceeded accordingly. No material opposition was -offered, and they are by this time, I presume, anchored in the -neighbourhood of Constantinople. I may perhaps mention that a -communication has been made by the Russian Government to the -effect that, in view of the intended sending of the fleet by Her -Majesty's Government to the neighbourhood of Constantinople, it -would be a matter for the consideration of the Russian Government -whether they should not themselves occupy the city. In answer to -that Her Majesty's Government have sent a communication which will -be laid on the table of the House to-night, in which they protest -against that view, and state that they cannot acknowledge that in -the case of the two countries the circumstances are parallel, or -that the despatch of the British fleet for the purpose indicated -justifies the Russian Government in the step which they announce it -to be their intention to take. - - -II. - -=Source.=--_The Times_, March 29, 1878. - -The uncertainty which has prevailed during the last few days -respecting the course which our Government would pursue, in view -of the difference respecting the Congress which had arisen between -ourselves and Russia, has received a startling and momentous -solution. When the House of Lords met yesterday, Lord Derby no -longer occupied his seat on the Ministerial Bench, and he at once -announced that he had resigned the office of Secretary of State for -Foreign Affairs.... The explanations given yesterday remove all -doubt respecting the relative positions assumed by our Government -and Russia in regard to the Congress. Sir Stafford Northcote -stated in the House of Commons the import of the communications -which have passed between ourselves and Russia.... Russia's reply -amounted to a clear intimation that she claims to withhold from the -cognizance of the Powers any articles of the preliminary Treaty -she may choose. Such a reserve as she asserts is tantamount to a -definite claim to alter an existing Treaty by force of arms without -consulting the other Powers who signed it, and towards whom she is -under honourable obligations. There being this imminent danger that -the Congress may not meet--it being, as Lord Beaconsfield said, -"the belief" of the Government "that the Congress would not meet," -it became necessary for the Government to consider what further -course they would take.... We do not know what course Lord Derby -would have advised, and it is possible he would not immediately -have taken any fresh steps. But the rest of the Government decided -that in the interests of peace, and for the due protection of the -rights of the Empire, it was their duty "to advise Her Majesty to -avail herself of those powers which she has for calling for the -services of her Reserved Forces." As subsequently explained by Mr. -Hardy in the House of Commons, this step is one which is rendered -necessary by the new organization of the Army.... Its result will -be to raise our regular forces to their utmost efficiency. In -other words, it will place the land forces which actually exist in -readiness for prompt action; and it is thus a plain declaration--a -declaration rendered emphatic by Lord Derby's resignation--that -we are prepared to act promptly if the course on which Russia -has entered directly injures our honour or our interests. Such a -declaration of our being determined to adhere to the claims we have -put forward is perhaps the most momentous step which has yet been -taken by this country. - - - - -PEACE WITH HONOUR (1878). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, July 17. - - -The Premier alighted at his official residence in Downing Street, -and was met on the threshold by General Ponsonby, bearing a bouquet -of rare flowers, sent to him by the gracious forethought of Her -Majesty the Queen.... The ground was well kept by the police, till -the Prime Minister appeared at a window and began to speak. Then -a rush swept the police away. Three cheers for Lord Beaconsfield -were given. For the second time in the day the Prime Minister was -visibly affected. He had to wait long for silence, but when an -approach to quiet had been obtained Lord Beaconsfield said: "I -can assure you that no recognition of neighbours could be more -gratifying to my feelings than these expressions of the sentiments -of those among whom I see many of my oldest and most cherished -friends. Lord Salisbury and myself have brought you back peace, but -a peace, I hope, with honour, which may satisfy our Sovereign, and -tend to the welfare of the country." - - - - -THE SECRET AGREEMENTS IN BEACONSFIELD'S POCKETS (1878). - -=Source.=--_Hansard_, Third Series, vol. 242, col. 344 (House of -Lords: Debate on the Protocols of Berlin, August, 1878). - - -The Earl of Rosebery rose to call attention to a memorandum -purporting to have been signed by the Marquis of Salisbury and -Count Schouvaloff on May 30, 1878, and to ask if it was the -intention of the Government to lay it on the table of the House.... -The course the Government had pursued with respect to their policy -was, he would venture to say, one of obscurity enlivened with -sarcasm. In the whole history of the negotiations there were five -cardinal points--points which became salient to everyone who had -studied the history of these transactions. First, there was the San -Stefano treaty; the second was the circular of the 1st of April; -the third, the alleged secret agreement of May 30th; the fourth, -the secret convention of June 4th with Turkey; and the fifth was -the treaty signed at Berlin on the 30th of July. As to the secret -agreement between Russia and England, it would be well to recall -how they came to have any cognizance of it at all. The substance -of it appeared in the _Globe_ within, he thought, three or four -days after it was signed, and it was on the 14th of June, he -thought, that the entire text was given in the columns of the same -journal.... They had all heard that the agreement was not to be -laid on the table, because there were documents in connection with -it which it would be necessary to present at the same time; but -other Powers would not allow us to produce them. What he gathered -from all this was that, if it had not been for the ill-advised -conduct of a very subordinate clerk in the Foreign Office, who was -entrusted with the copying of the agreement at the rate of 10d. an -hour, the English public would not at this moment have the faintest -conception of such an agreement, and the keystone of the whole -purpose of the Government would be wrapped in obscurity. This was -alarming in itself, because, if these subterranean methods were -employed as a rule, they would give the public some little dismay -in regard to the course of further negotiations.... Having signed -this agreement, and having signed another secret agreement within -two or three days with Turkey, Her Majesty's Plenipotentiaries -proceeded, fortified with them, to the Congress. Now came the most -extraordinary point in all the history of these negotiations, so -far as they knew it. Eight days after the signature, or alleged -signature, of this agreement, in which, if the House would -remember, we consented to the abandonment of Batoum and other -Russian conquests in Armenia, the Foreign Secretary addressed a -despatch to our Resident Plenipotentiary in Berlin, in which he -urged him to use his exertions to the utmost on behalf of Batoum. -The words were so remarkable that he might be pardoned for quoting -them to their lordships. On the 8th of June the noble Marquis wrote -to Lord Odo Russell: "There is no ground for believing that Russia -will willingly give way in respect to Batoum, Kars, or Ardahan; and -it is possible that the arguments of England urged in Congress will -receive little assistance from other Powers, and will not be able -to shake her resolution in this respect." Well, that was not likely -under the circumstances. The noble Marquis continued in this letter -of June 8th: "You will not on that account abstain from earnestly -pressing upon them and upon Russia the justice of abstaining from -annexations which are unconnected with the professed object of the -war, and profoundly distasteful to the populations concerned, and -the expediency, in regard to the future tranquillizing of Asia, of -forbearing to shake so perilously the position of the Government -of Turkey...." Now, the great point with regard to this was, was -Lord Odo Russell, when he received that communication, cognizant -of the agreement which had been signed on the 30th of May? Because -what they wanted to know was this, was Lord Odo Russell one of a -company, or was he a simple actor put up to recite the arguments -of Batoum, with a prompter by to keep him to his part?... Then, -on the same day, Mr. Secretary Cross addressed a despatch to -the Plenipotentiaries of Her Majesty, urging them to make great -exertion on behalf of Greece. He should say that the position of -a Plenipotentiary who entered the Congress to struggle on behalf -of Batoum, Kars, Ardahan, and Greece must have been a somewhat -melancholy one in the retrospect; because, when the questions -came up, the Turkish positions were abandoned, and Greece was -ignored.... He did not pretend that secret understandings were -unknown to us, but he believed this was the first time we had -called a European Congress with the view of discussing great -treaties, and standing forth on behalf of public law, we ourselves -having, at the same time, bound ourselves in private to consent to -those stipulations which we had denounced, and which we continued -to denounce. - - - - -GLADSTONE INDIGNANT AGAIN (1878). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, December 2. - - -MR. GLADSTONE (at Greenwich): I want to ask you, and I think -after these two years it is about time, who are the true friends -of Russia? Is it we, gentlemen, who met two years and a half -ago on Blackheath, and said it was most mischievous to leave to -any single country the settlement of the Eastern question?... -Who brought Russia back to the Danube? Those very men who are -continually denouncing us as the friends of Russia. We had in -1856 by the fortune of war driven Russia back from the Danube; -the present Government have brought Russia back to the Danube. -They made a secret memorandum with Count Schouvaloff by which they -engaged--unless they could convert him by their arguments--to vote -in the Congress for bringing Russia back to the Danube.... Who -gave Russia the fortress of Kars? The present Government. These -people say they want to keep down the power of Russia. Want to keep -down the power of Russia! Why, they have left it in her power to -make herself the liberator of Bulgaria, and secure for herself the -influence which always follows upon gratitude. - - - - -RUSSIAN INTRIGUE AT CABUL (1878). - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Publications_, "Afghanistan," C 2,190 of -1878, p. 228. - - -_Telegram dated August 2, 1878. From Viceroy, Simla, to Secretary -of State, London._ - -Further confirmation received of presence of Russian mission at -Cabul headed by General Abramoff, Governor of Samarkand, who is -mentioned by name. We desire to point out that present situation -requires immediate correction. It will soon be known throughout -India that Russian officers and troops have been received with -honour, and are staying at Cabul within short distance of our -frontier and our largest military garrison, while our officers -have been denied admission there. We have further reports of -Russian officers having visited and been well received at Maimena. -To remain inactive now will, we respectfully submit, be to allow -Afghanistan to fall as certainly and as completely under Russian -power and influence as the Khanates. We believe we could correct -situation if allowed to treat it as question between us and the -Ameer, and probably could do so without recourse to force. But we -must speak plainly and decidedly, and be sure of your support. We -propose, therefore, in the first place, to insist on reception of -suitable British mission at Cabul. To this we do not anticipate -serious resistance; indeed, we think it probable that Ameer, -adhering to his policy of playing Russia and ourselves off against -each other, will really welcome such mission, while outwardly only -yielding to pressure.... - - -_From Secretary of State, August 3, 1878 (Extract)._ - -Assuming the certainty of Russian officers at Cabul, your proposals -to insist on reception of British envoy approved. In case of -refusal you will telegraph again as to the steps you desire to take -for compelling the Ameer to receive your mission. - - -_Telegram from Viceroy, September 21, 1878._ - -Chamberlain[A] reports from Peshawur that it is quite evident -Ameer is bent on utmost procrastination, and determined on making -acceptance of our mission dependent on his pleasure and choice of -time.... To await at Peshawur Ameer's pleasure would be to abandon -whole policy and accept easy repulse at outset.... Consequently -mission moved this morning to Jamrud; thence Cavagnari advances to -Ali Musjid with small escort to demand passage.... - -[A] General Sir Neville Chamberlain. - - -_Telegram from Viceroy, September 22, 1878._ - -Following telegram received last night from Sir Neville -Chamberlain. Message begins: Cavagnari reports that we have -received a decisive answer from Faiz Mahomed, after personal -interview, that he will not allow mission to proceed. He crowned -the heights commanding the way with his levies, and though many -times warned by Cavagnari that his reply would be regarded as reply -of the Ameer, said he would not let mission pass.... - - -_Telegram from Secretary of State, October 30, 1878._ - -Text of letter, as approved, to be sent to the Ameer.... In -consequence of this hostile action on your part, I have assembled -Her Majesty's forces on your frontier, but I desire to give you a -last opportunity of averting the calamities of war. For this it -is necessary that a full and suitable apology be offered by you -in writing, and tendered on British territory by an officer of -sufficient rank. Furthermore, as it has been found impossible to -maintain satisfactory relations between the two States unless the -British Government is adequately represented in Afghanistan, it -will be necessary that you should consent to receive a permanent -British Mission within your territory.... Unless these conditions -are accepted, fully and plainly, by you, and your acceptance -received by me not later than the 20th November, I shall be -compelled to consider your intentions as hostile, and to treat you -as a declared enemy of the British Government. - - - - -SHERE ALI (1878). - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Publications_, "Afghanistan," C 2,190 of -1878, p. 225. - - -_Extract from a Memorandum by Lord Napier of Magdala._ - -We have unfortunately managed Shere Ali badly. Perhaps it might -not have been possible, with our scruples and his want of them, to -have managed him advantageously; but it must be admitted that we -have not given him the reasons to unite himself with us that he -naturally expected. First, we stood aloof in his struggles for life -and empire, ready to acknowledge whoever might prove the master -of Afghanistan. Then, when Shere Ali had subdued his enemies, he -came forward to meet us with an alliance, but we were willing to -form only an imperfect alliance with him. He was willing to trust -us, provided that we would trust him; but we felt that we could -not bind ourselves to unreserved support of a power whose ideas of -right and wrong were so different from ours. We therefore proposed -to bind him, leaving ourselves (according to his idea) free, and he -recoiled from this bargain. His friendly feelings, however, were -not entirely alienated by that experience of us; he abstained from -any action towards Seistan at our desire, and he believed that -the mediation which we pressed upon him would have ended by the -restoration of the portion of Seistan that Persia had occupied in -his days of trouble. And not only Shere Ali, but the whole Afghan -people, believed that we should restore to them what they had -lost. When they found that we had allowed Persia to obstruct and -ill-treat our arbitrator, and to retain much of her encroachments, -they looked upon us as a weak and treacherous people, who, under -the guise of friendship, had spoiled them in favour of Persia. -This I believe to be the root of Shere Ali's discontent with us. - - - - -DEATH OF SHERE ALI (1879). - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Publications_, "Afghanistan," C 2,401 of -1879, p. 12. - - -_Translation of a Letter, dated February 26, 1879, from Sirdar -Mahomed Yakub Khan to Major Cavagnari._ - -... I now write a second time in accordance with former friendship -to inform you that to-day a letter was received by post from -Turkestan announcing that my worthy and exalted father had, upon -29th Safar (21st February, 1879), obeyed the call of the summoner, -and, throwing off the dress of existence, hastened to the region of -the divine mercy. - - - - -THE GANDAMAK TREATY (1879). - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Publications_, "Afghanistan," C 2,362 of -1879. - - -ARTICLE III.--His Highness the Ameer of Afghanistan and its -dependencies agrees to conduct his relations with foreign States in -accordance with the advice and wishes of the British Government.... -The British Government will support the Ameer against any foreign -aggression with money, arms, or troops, to be employed in -whatsoever manner the British Government may judge best for the -purpose. - -ARTICLE IV.--With a view to the maintenance of the direct and -intimate relations now established ... it is agreed that a British -Resident representative shall reside at Cabul, with a suitable -escort, in a place of residence appropriate to his rank and -dignity. It is also agreed that the British Government shall have -the right to depute British Agents with suitable escorts to the -Afghan frontiers, whensoever this may be considered necessary by -the British Government in the interests of both States, on the -occurrence of any important external fact.... - -ARTICLE IX.--The British Government restores to His Highness the -Ameer of Afghanistan and its dependencies the towns of Candahar and -Jellalabad, with all the territory now in possession of the British -armies, excepting the districts of Kurram, Pishin, and Sibi. His -Highness ... agrees on his part that the districts of Kurram, -Pishin, and Sibi, according to the limits defined in the schedule -annexed, shall remain under the protection and administrative -control of the British Government: that is to say, the aforesaid -districts shall be treated as assigned districts, and shall not be -considered as permanently severed from the limits of the Afghan -kingdom.... The British Government will retain in its own hands the -control of the Khyber and Michni Passes, and of all relations with -the independent tribes of the territory directly connected with -these passes. - -Done at Gandamak this 26th day of May, 1879. - - - - -THE CABUL MASSACRE (1879). - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Publications, "Afghanistan,"_ C 2,457 of -1880, p. 95. - - -_Statement of Taimur (Timoss), Sowar B troop, Corps of Guides, on -September 15, 1879._ - -I was in the Bala Hissar, Cabul, on the 3rd instant: Major Sir -Louis Cavagnari and the other British officers were in the -bungalow. At about 8 a.m. the Turkestani ("Ardal") regiment, which -was in the Bala Hissar, was paraded to receive its pay. Daud Shah, -the Commander-in-Chief, gave them one month's pay. They claimed -two, and broke. They were paraded quite close to the Residency, -and another regiment was also quartered with them. One of soldiery -shouted out, "Let us destroy the Envoy first of all, and after -that the Ameer!" They rushed into the courtyard in front of the -Residency, and stoned some of the syces who were sitting there. We -then opened fire on them, without orders from any European. All -the British officers were inside. The Ameer's men then went for -their weapons, and returned with them in a quarter of an hour. -They then commenced to besiege the Residency, and from commanding -positions made the roof of the Residency untenable. We made shelter -trenches on it, and fired from the windows. The city people came -to help the soldiers about 10 a.m. Major Sir Louis Cavagnari was -wounded in the forehead about 1 p.m.; he was in a shelter trench. A -man from the roof of a house shot at him, and the bullet striking -a brick, it, together with a piece of brick, struck Sir Louis. -But he was not killed. Mr. Jenkyns came up and sent for a Munshi -to write to the Ameer, but the scribe was unable to write through -fear. I then wrote briefly to the Ameer that we were besieged, and -he was to help us; and sent it by Gholam Nabbi, a Kabuli, an old -Guide Sowar who was in the Residency. No answer came. Gholam Nabbi -afterwards told me that the Ameer wrote on the letter, "If God -will, I am just making arrangements." Major Cavagnari was helped -into the Residency, and tended to by Dr. Kelly. Mr. Jenkyns then -ordered me to send a second letter to the Ameer, stating that Major -Cavagnari was wounded, and to hasten on assistance. The letter was -sent by a Hindu whose name I don't know. He was cut to pieces in -front of the Residency. I was at about 3 p.m. sent with a letter -by Mr. Hamilton promising six months' pay. By that time they had -managed to get on to the roof of the Residency. I went armed into -the midst of the crowd, and was immediately stripped of my arms, -but my life was saved by an officer. They threw me from the roof -of the Residency on to the roof of the neighbouring house. I lost -my senses.... I know nothing of what happened after this, but I -visited the place next morning. I recollect they had begun to set -fire to the Residency just as I was leaving.... Daybreak I went -to the Residency, and saw first the corpse of Lieutenant Hamilton -lying over a mountain gun which had been brought up. The troops -who were there told me Mr. Hamilton had shot about three men with -his pistol, and had cut down two more before he was shot. He was -stripped and cut into pieces, but not dishonoured. About 25 feet -off was the body of Mr. Jenkyns in a similar state. I did not go -into the Residency, but was told Dr. Kelly was lying killed in the -Residency. Sir Louis Cavagnari was in the Residency when it fell in -flames. He was in the room where the wounded were, and his body had -not been discovered when I left the city. - - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Publications_, "Afghanistan," C 2,457 of -1880, p. 83. - -_Extract from Deposition of Ressaldar-Major Nakshband Khan._ - -At about 9 a.m., while the fighting was going on, I myself saw the -four European officers charge out at the head of some twenty-five -of the garrison; they drove away a party that were holding some -broken ground. About a quarter of an hour after this another sally -was made by a party with three officers at their head--Cavagnari -was not with them this time--with the same result. A third sally -was made with two British officers (Jenkyns and Hamilton) leading; -a fourth sally was made with a Sikh Jemadar bravely leading. No -more sallies were made after this. They all appeared to go to the -upper part of the house, and fired from above. At about half-past -eleven o'clock part of the building, in which the Embassy was, -was noticed to be on fire. I do not know who fired it. I think -it probable that the defenders, finding themselves so few, fired -part, so as to have a less space to defend. The firing went on -continuously all day; perhaps it was hottest from 10 a.m. to 3 -p.m., after which it slackened, and the last shots were fired at -about 8.30 p.m. or 9 p.m., after which all was quiet, and everyone -dispersed. The next morning I heard shots being fired. I asked an -old woman, to whose house I had been sent for safety by Sirdar Wali -Muhammad Khan, what this was: she sent out her son to find out. -He said: "They are shooting the people found still alive in the -Residency." - - - - -THE MIDLOTHIAN CAMPAIGN (1879). - -=Source.=--_The Saturday Review_, November 29. - - -The personal enthusiasm with which Mr. Gladstone is regarded by the -mass of his followers has been largely stimulated by his appearance -in Scotland and by his fervid harangues. The only local topic on -which he has cared to dwell is the alleged creation of fagot votes -by his opponents. There can be no doubt that the purchase of little -freeholds for the sole purpose of obtaining votes is an abuse and a -grievance, though it is said that Mr. Gladstone once held a fagot -vote. For two or three years of his life Mr. Cobden concentrated -all his efforts on a gigantic scheme of fagot votes, by which the -manufacturing towns were to obtain control of the counties; but the -total failure of the project caused it to be tacitly abandoned. -If Mr. Gladstone is after all defeated in Midlothian, the moral -effect of a Conservative victory will be greatly impaired by the -process of tampering with the representation. To Mr. Gladstone's -excited mind an attempt to pack a constituency probably assumes -extravagant dimensions. Before he arrived at Edinburgh he began -his public protest against fagot votes in Midlothian, as well as -against the crimes of a Government which he has persuaded himself -to regard as the worst and most dangerous that has held power in -England. He has denounced his opponents so loudly and so often that -even his overflowing eloquence could include nothing new, but the -crowded assemblies which he addressed, though they had read his -orations, and perhaps his pamphlets, had not heard him speak. It is -not surprising that eager and unanimous multitudes should welcome -with admiration and delight the detailed exposition, by the most -eloquent of politicians, of the opinions which they had already -been taught to hold. Few cold-blooded or dispassionate sceptics -would ask themselves whether it was credible that a Ministry -and a great and steady majority of the House of Commons should -never, even by accident, have deviated into prudence, justice, or -patriotic foresight. In private discussion and in Parliamentary -debate it is found expedient, according to the old legal phrase, to -give colour, or, in other words, to admit that the theory, which is -impugned, though unsound, is at least credible or intelligible. Mr. -Gladstone follows the bent of his own genius when he encourages the -popular tendency to deal with difficult controversies as if they -were wholly one-sided. - -His Liberal colleagues, perhaps, regard his present enterprise -with mixed feelings. Their confidence in their former leader is -qualified by doubts of his judgment, and by uncertainty as to the -present range of his ambition. They cannot but perceive that he -assumes the character of representative of the party, although he -probably intends no disloyalty to its official or nominal chiefs. -It is true that if, in appealing to the multitude, he pushes his -successors aside, they have little right to complain. Almost -all of them have of late addressed vehement language to public -meetings, though none of them can compete with Mr. Gladstone in -the power of stirring political passion. Official subordination -is set aside when policy is regulated, not by Parliament, but by -the voice of the general population. Senators and Consulars must -stand aside in the presence of a Dictator. Although it has long -been customary for statesmen to make occasional speeches to public -meetings, the extent to which the practice has lately been carried -is altogether unprecedented. The result is that the Constitution -is gradually weakened by the substitution of numerical majorities -for the representatives of the people in Parliament. The approach -of a General Election furnishes no sufficient justification for -an innovation which accelerates the prevalence of democracy, and -aggravates its evil tendencies. Mr. Gladstone himself perhaps -understands and approves the organic change which promotes the -supremacy of popular eloquence in the State. It is his habit to -depreciate the honesty and judgment of the educated classes. - - - - -BEACONSFIELD KEEPS COOL. - -=Source.=--Holland's _Life of the Duke of Devonshire_, i. 258. -(Longmans and Co.) - - -_Lord Beaconsfield to Mr. Gathorne Hardy._ - -It certainly is a relief that the drenching rhetoric has at length -ceased--but I have never read a word of it. "Satis eloquentiæ -sapientiæ parum." - - - - -THE MAIWAND DISASTER (1880). - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Publications_, "Afghanistan," C 2,736 of -1880, p. 3. - - -_Telegram from Viceroy, June 27, 1880, to Secretary of State._ - -Telegram from Thomson at Teheran says: Ayub Khan marching against -Candahar with large force. I think we should leave Shere Ali to -defend himself beyond the Helmund, but it seems to me, after -communicating with Stewart, that it would be inconsistent with -security of our military position at Candahar to allow hostile -forces to cross that river. I propose, therefore, to instruct -Primrose, if Ayub reaches Furrah, to advance towards Girishk with -sufficient force to prevent passage of Helmund.... - - -_Telegram dated August 2, 1880, from Colonel St. John, Candahar, to -Foreign, Simla (p. 33)._ - -_29th._--Arrived here yesterday afternoon with General Burrows -and Nuttall and remnant of force. Telegraph has been interrupted -ever since my arrival. No chance of restoration, so send this -by messenger to Chaman. Burrows marched from Kushk-i-Nakhud on -morning 27th, having heard from me that Ayub's advanced guard had -occupied Maiwand, about three miles from the latter place. Enemy's -cavalry appeared advancing from direction of Haidrabad, their -camp on Helmund ten miles above Girishk. Artillery and cavalry -engaged them at 9 a.m., so shortly afterwards whole force of enemy -appeared, and formed line of battle--seven regiments, regulars in -centre, three others in reserve; about 2,000 cavalry on right; -400 mounted men and 2,000 Ghazis and irregular infantry on left; -other cavalry and irregulars in reserve; five or six batteries of -guns, including one of breechloaders, distributed at intervals. -Estimated total force, 12,000. Ground slightly undulating, enemy -being well posted. Till 1 p.m. action confined to artillery fire, -which so well sustained and directed by enemy that our superior -quality armament failed to compensate for inferior number of guns. -After development of rifle fire, our breechloaders told; but -vigorous advance of cavalry against our left, and Ghazis along the -front, caused native infantry to fall back in confusion on 66th, -abandoning two guns. Formation being lost, infantry retreated -slowly; and in spite of gallant efforts of General Burrows to rally -them, were cut off from cavalry and artillery. This was at 3 p.m., -and followers and baggage were streaming away towards Candahar. -After severe fighting in enclosed ground, General Burrows succeeded -in extricating infantry and brought them into line of retreat. -Unfortunately no effort would turn fugitives from main road, -waterless at this season. Thus majority casualties appear to have -occurred from thirst and exhaustion. Enemy's pursuit continued to -ten miles from Candahar, but was not vigorous. Cavalry, artillery, -and a few infantry reached banks of Argandab, forty miles from -scene of action, at 7 a.m., many not having tasted water since -previous morning. Nearly all ammunition lost, with 400 Martini, -700 Sniders, and 2 nine-pounder guns. Estimated loss, killed, -and missing: 66th, 400; Grenadiers, 350; Jacob's Rifles, 350; -artillery, 40; sappers, 21; cavalry, 60.... Preparations being now -made for siege.... - - -_Extract from General Burrows's Report on the Action (p. 101)._ - -... Between two and three o'clock the fire of the enemy's guns -slackened, and swarms of Ghazis advanced rapidly towards our -centre. Up to this time the casualties among the infantry had not -been heavy, and as the men were firing steadily, and the guns -were sweeping the ground with case shot, I felt confident as to -the result. But our fire failed to check the Ghazis; they came on -in overwhelming numbers, and, making good their rush, they seized -the two most advanced horse artillery guns. With the exception of -two companies of Jacob's Rifles, which had caused me great anxiety -by their unsteadiness early in the day, the conduct of the troops -had been splendid up to this point; but now, at the critical -moment, when a firm resistance might have achieved a victory, the -infantry gave way, and, commencing from the left, rolled up, like -a wave, to the right. After vainly endeavouring to rally them, I -went for the cavalry.... The 3rd Light Cavalry and the 3rd Sind -Horse were retiring slowly on our left, and I called upon them to -charge across our front and so give the infantry an opportunity -of reforming; but the terrible artillery fire to which they had -been exposed, and from which they had suffered so severely, had so -shaken them that General Nuttall was unable to give effect to my -order. All was now over.... - - -_Extract from Report by Lieutenant-General Primrose, Commanding 1st -Division Southern Afghanistan Field Force (p. 156)._ - -I would most respectfully wish to bring to the Commander-in-Chief's -notice the gallant and determined stand made by the officers -and men of the 66th Regiment at Maiwand.... 10 officers and 275 -non-commissioned officers and men were killed, and 2 officers and -30 non-commissioned officers and men wounded. These officers and -men nearly all fell fighting desperately for the honour of their -Queen and country. I have it on the authority of a Colonel of -Artillery of Ayub Khan's army that a party of the 66th Regiment, -which he estimated at one hundred officers and men, made a most -determined stand in a garden. They were surrounded by the whole -Afghan Army, and fought on until only eleven men were left, -inflicting enormous loss upon the enemy. These eleven charged out -of the garden, and died with their faces to the foe, fighting to -the death. Such was the nature of their charge and the grandeur -of their bearing that, although the whole of the Ghazis were -assembled around them, not one dared approach to cut them down. -Thus standing in the open, back to back, firing steadily and truly, -every shot telling, surrounded by thousands, these eleven officers -and men died; and it was not until the last man had been shot down -that the Ghazis dared advance upon them. - - - - -THE BRADLAUGH CASE (1880). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, June 25. - - -We may regard the episode of Tuesday's resolution, and its natural -sequence in the imprisonment of Mr. Bradlaugh for defying the -authority of the House, as now at an end.... We regret unfeignedly, -as we have all along done, that Mr. Bradlaugh was not permitted to -make affirmation, instead of taking an oath, when he first asked -to be allowed to do so.... But opportunity of creating a precedent -consonant with reason and common sense has been let slip, and in -default of a reasonable precedent the only manly course now seems -to be to supply its place by fresh legislation. If the personal -question of Mr. Bradlaugh and his very unsavoury opinions can once -be got out of the way, there are probably very few members of the -House of Commons, and very few sensible Englishmen, however strong -their religious opinions, who would not acknowledge the anomaly, -the inexpediency, and the injustice of making the Parliamentary -oath of allegiance more stringent and more exclusive than the -existing statutory provisions for securing truth of testimony and -uprightness of conduct. - - - - -SOCIAL AMELIORATIONS (1880). - -EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY. - -=Source.=--_The Times_, July 3. - - -The fact is that considerations of risk are not uniformly present -to servants when they are hired, and that the miner or railway -guard generally contracts on the assumption in his own mind -that he will be lucky, and will not be injured. The impulse to -such Bills as Mr. Brassey's, Earl De La Warr's, and the measure -introduced by the Government, is the inability of many people to -see any good reason why, if a master is liable for the acts of -his servant towards a stranger, he should be irresponsible when -someone, fully clothed with his authority, and acting with all his -power to enforce obedience, injures a so-called fellow-servant, -who, perhaps, did not know of the existence of this vice-principal, -and who never, in fact, consented to endure without complaint -what might befall him by reason of the negligence of the latter. -Perhaps in theory it is entirely wrong to make a master in any case -liable for the acts of his servants. It is hard to give any good -reason for this portion of our common law. Perhaps this species -of responsibility, when historically examined, will be proved to -be a shoot from the Roman law of master and slave, which has been -unintelligently grafted on a law governing the relations of men -who are free. It matters not, however, how employers came to incur -their present liability to strangers for the acts of their workmen. -The question is whether it is right or worth while retaining an -exception to the general law of master and servant. The question -has become one, not of principle, but of details.... The Government -Bill starts from the principle that workmen may claim redress when -they are injured in consequence of defective works or machinery, -or of the negligence of any person in the service of the employer, -who has superintendence entrusted to him.... It will be highly -expedient to endeavour to express more clearly a law which must -annually be set in motion in hundreds of cases. - - -FUNDED MUNICIPAL DEBT. - -=Source.=--_The Times_, September 2. - -A subject of great interest was discussed at yesterday's meeting of -the Liverpool City Council. In seconding a recommendation of the -Finance Committee that the settlement of the prospectus and terms -of issue of the first £2,000,000 of stock to be created under the -Liverpool Loans Act be referred to that Committee, Alderman A. B. -Forwood explained that the Bill had now passed both Houses.... It -had been a very difficult and intricate matter to get the Bill -through, because the Liverpool Corporation were the first in the -kingdom to obtain powers to fund their debt in the way proposed. He -believed that, when the new water scheme was passed, the new mode -of raising money would materially reduce the cost of money to the -town, and would effect the saving of £25,000 to £30,000 a year. The -stock would be put in exactly the same position as Consols. - - -ELECTRIC LIGHT, THE TELEPHONE, NEW HOTELS. - -=Source.=--_The Times._ - -_January 5._--The last American mail has brought us interesting -details relating to the progress made in manipulating the electric -light. Pending the researches in which Professor Edison has for a -long time been engaged, it appears that his laboratory at Menlo -Park was practically closed to all strangers, until the young -scientist should have arrived at a point to enable him to declare -that complete success had attended his final efforts. That point -has apparently been reached.... The steadiness, reliability, and -non-fusibility of the carbon filament, Mr. Edison tells us, are not -the only elements incident to the new discovery. There is likewise -obtained an element of proper and uniform resistance to the passage -of the electric current. - -_April 10._--Several chambers in the Temple will shortly possess -the advantage of having communication by telephone with the Law -Courts at Westminster and the Houses of Parliament. The telephonic -apparatus is at present being laid down between the Temple -Gardens and Westminster Hall, the Metropolitan District Railway -being utilized for the purpose. The apparatus, after having been -connected with several of the chambers and offices in the Temple, -enters the underground railway line, which it is carried along, -immediately under the crown of the railway arch. - -_May 31._--That the Lord Mayor should in his official capacity -have lent his presence to the opening of the Grand Hotel at -Charing Cross, as he did on Saturday evening, implies that the new -undertaking possesses a more than private character. So, in fact, -it does. If it cannot be said altogether to open a new era in the -history of hotels in this country, it makes at least a distinct -advance in the character of English hotel accommodation.... The -distinctively English hotel is a dismal and cheerless place, -where one feels cut off from all human sympathy. Of late years -there has been a tendency in London to adopt Continental ways, -but the improvement has seldom been carried much further than the -establishment of a _table d'hôte_. The Grand Hotel is an ambitious -attempt to rival the best European and American models. - - - - -PARNELL AND THE LAND LEAGUE (1880). - -=Source.=--_Freeman's Journal_, September 9 (Report of a speech by -Parnell at Ennis). - - -Depend upon it that the measure of the Land Bill of next session -will be the measure of your activity and energy this winter; it -will be the measure of your determination not to pay unjust rents; -it will be the measure of your determination to keep a firm grip of -your homesteads; it will be the measure of your determination not -to bid for farms from which others have been evicted, and to use -the strong force of public opinion to deter any unjust men among -yourselves--and there are many such--from bidding for such farms. -If you refuse to pay unjust rents, if you refuse to take farms from -which others have been evicted, the Land Question must be settled, -and settled in a way that will be satisfactory to you. It depends, -therefore, upon yourselves, and not upon any Commission or any -Government. When you have made this question ripe for settlement, -then, and not till then, will it be settled.... Now what are you -to do to a tenant who bids for a farm from which another tenant -has been evicted? [Several voices, "Shoot him!"] I think I heard -somebody say, "Shoot him!" I wish to point out to you a very much -better way--a more Christian and charitable way--which will give -the lost man an opportunity of repenting. When a man takes a farm -from which another has been unjustly evicted, you must show him on -the roadside when you meet him, you must show him in the streets -of the town, you must show him in the shop, you must show him in -the fair-green and in the market-place, and even in the place -of worship, by leaving him alone, by putting him into a moral -Coventry, by isolating him from the rest of his country as if he -were the leper of old--you must show him your detestation of the -crime he has committed. - - - - -CAPTAIN BOYCOTT (1880). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, November 10. - - -Captain Boycott's case, from the time when attention was first -drawn to it, has inspired general and increasing interest, which -in the north of Ireland has taken the practical form of the relief -expedition despatched yesterday to the shores of Lough Mask. It -is well understood on both sides that the persecution of Captain -Boycott is only a typical instance of the system by which the -peasantry are attempting to carry into effect the instructions of -the Land League. Into the merits of Captain Boycott's relations -with the tenants on Lord Erne's estates it is quite unnecessary to -enter. He has been beleaguered in his house near Ballinrobe; he -is excluded from intercourse, not merely with the people around -him, but with the neighbouring towns; his crops are perishing, -because such is the organized intimidation in the district that -no labourers would dare to be seen working in his fields. It is -certain that any ordinary workman whom Captain Boycott might hire -would be subjected to brutal violence, as indeed has already -happened to servants and others who ventured even to fetch his -letters for him from the nearest post-office. - - - - -THE BOER RISING (1880). - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Papers_, "Transvaal," C 2,838 of 1881, p. -10. - - -_To the Administrator of the Transvaal._ - -EXCELLENCY, - -In the name of the people of the South African Republic we come -to you to fulfil an earnest but unavoidable duty. We have the -honour to send you a copy of the Proclamation promulgated by the -Government and Volksraad, and universally published. The wish -of the people is clearly to be seen therefrom, and requires no -explanation from us. We declare in the most solemn manner that we -have no desire to spill blood, and that from our side we do not -wish war. It lies in your hands to force us to appeal to arms in -self-defence. Should it come so far, which may God prevent, we -will do so with the utmost reverence for Her Majesty the Queen -of England and her flag. Should it come so far, we will defend -ourselves with a knowledge that we are fighting for the honour of -Her Majesty, for we fight for the sanctity of treaties sworn by -Her, but broken by Her officers. However, the time for complaint -is past, and we wish now alone from your Excellency co-operation -for an amicable solution of the question on which we differ.... -In 1877 our then Government gave up the keys of the Government -offices without bloodshed. We trust that your Excellency, as -representative of the noble British nation, will not less nobly and -in the same way place our Government in the position to assume the -administration. - - We have, etc., - - S. J. P. KRUGER (_Vice-President_). - M. W. PRETORIOUS. - P. J. JOUBERT. - (_Triumvirate_.) - J. P. MARE. - C. J. JOUBERT. - E. J. P. JORISSEN. - W. EDWARD BOK (_Acting State Secretary_). - - HEIDELBERG, - _December 16, 1880_. - - -PROCLAMATION. - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Papers_, "Transvaal," C 2,838 of 1881, p. -11. - -In the name of the people of the South African Republic. With -prayerful look to God we, S. J. P. Kruger, Vice-President, M. W. -Pretorious, and P. J. Joubert, appointed by the Volksraad in its -session of the 13th December, 1880, as the Triumvirate to carry on -temporarily the supreme administration of the Republic, make known: - - * * * * * - -We thus give notice to everyone that on the 13th day of December of -the year 1880 the Government has been re-established; the Volksraad -has resumed its sitting.... - -And it is further generally made known that from this day the whole -country is placed in a state of siege and under the stipulations of -the War Ordinance.... - - - - -BEFORE MAJUBA (1881). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, January 17. - - -We give this morning an account from our correspondent at Pretoria -of the meeting held by the Boers last month for the purpose of -protesting against the annexation of the Transvaal. The report of -the proceedings leaves no doubt of the extent and nature of Boer -disaffection.... That the annexation of the Transvaal may have been -necessary when the step was taken may be admitted without prejudice -to the question whether its permanent occupation and administration -by British authority is desirable or not. When Sir Theophilus -Shepstone annexed the territory, the Government was disorganized, -the Treasury was bankrupt, the Republican troops were hopelessly -demoralized, and the whole district was threatened by two powerful -native chiefs, the weaker of whom had proved his superiority to -any force which the Boers could bring against him. Now Cetywayo -and Secocoeni are captives, and the whole border is tranquil. We -have done for the Boers what it is certain they could not have -done for themselves, and we have placed the security of the South -African Colonies beyond all reasonable fear. Hence it might be -argued that the reasons which compelled the temporary annexation of -the Transvaal are no longer applicable in favour of its permanent -occupation. It may be argued that we cannot recede where we have -once advanced; certainly we cannot, where we have good reason to -believe that our security requires that we should maintain our -hold. But when our presence is manifestly unwelcome, and when the -question of the best mode of guarding our security in future is -at least an open one, it would be a very contemptible piece of -national vanity to refuse to recede, simply because we had once -found it necessary to advance in very different circumstances. - - - - -AFTER MAJUBA. - -I. - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Papers_, "Transvaal," C 2,998 of 1881. - - -_Convention for the Settlement of the Transvaal Territory, signed -at Pretoria, 1881._ - -PREAMBLE: Her Majesty's Commissioners for the settlement of the -Transvaal Territory, duly appointed as such by a Commission passed -under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet, bearing date the 5th of -April, 1881, do hereby undertake and guarantee on behalf of Her -Majesty that, from and after the 8th day of August, 1881, complete -self-government, subject to the suzerainty of Her Majesty, her -heirs and successors, will be accorded to the inhabitants of the -Transvaal upon the following terms and conditions, and subject to -the following reservations and limitations. - - -II. - -=Source.=--_The Times_, August 5, 1881. - -England can now have no desire to intrude herself upon the -Transvaal. The more completely its people can get on without -interference of any kind, the better pleased we shall be.... -The occasion may come which will call for all the knowledge and -discretion which our Government will have at its command. The -Boers, if they are so disposed, may give trouble in a thousand -ways. The question may be continually arising whether the point -has yet been reached at which active interference is called for, -or whether it may be the prudent and better course to let things -be. The fact is that between England and the Transvaal there is -no natural connection whatever. The bond which unites them is an -artificial one, and though it is too early to anticipate the time -at which it will be severed, we are sure that at no time will it be -found strong enough to bear a violent strain. The strain may never -come. The Convention, which has been entered upon in due form, -and with all solemnity, may remain to all intents and purposes a -dead letter as to the chief part of its provisions, and may thus -pass quietly into the great limbo to which all monstrous political -births must some day come. It will be by the fault of the Boers -that we can be driven to put an active interpretation upon it. It -contains terms which we cannot suffer to be disregarded. - - - - -RITUAL CONTROVERSY (1881). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, January 12. - - -_Extract from a Memorial to the Archbishop of Canterbury, signed by -various Deans, Canons, etc._ - -... The immediate need of our Church is, in our opinion, a tolerant -recognition of divergent ritual practice; but we feel bound to -submit to your Grace that our present troubles are likely to recur, -unless the Courts by which ecclesiastical causes are decided in the -first instance and on appeal can be so constructed as to secure the -conscientious obedience of clergymen who believe the constitution -of the Church of Christ to be of Divine appointment, and who -protest against the State's encroachment upon Rights assured to the -Church of England by solemn Acts of Parliament.... - - - - -A SHORT WAY WITH OBSTRUCTION (1881). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, February 3. - - -About nine o'clock in the morning Mr. Gladstone, Mr. W. E. -Forster, Mr. Dodson, Sir Stafford Northcote, and Sir R. Cross -entered the House amid cheers. While Mr. Biggar was continuing his -observations on the Land League the Speaker resumed the Chair amid -loud cheering. The Speaker, without calling on the hon. member to -proceed with his remarks, at once said: "The motion for leave to -bring in the Person and Property Protection (Ireland) Bill has now -been under discussion for five days. The present sitting, having -commenced on Monday last, has continued till Wednesday morning, -a period of no less than forty-one hours, the House having been -occupied with discussions upon repeated motions for adjournment. -However tedious these discussions were, they were carried to a -division by small minorities in opposition to the general sense -of the House. A necessity has thus arisen which demands the -interposition of the Chair (cheers). The usual rule has been -proved powerless to insure orderly debate. An important measure, -recommended in Her Majesty's Speech, and declared to be urgent in -the interests of the State by a decisive majority, has been impeded -by the action of an inconsiderable minority of members who have -resorted to those modes of obstruction which have been recognized -by the House as a Parliamentary offence. The credit and authority -of this House are seriously threatened, and it is necessary they -should be vindicated. Under the operation of the accustomed rules -and methods of procedure the legislative powers of the House are -paralyzed. A new and exceptional course is imperatively demanded, -and I am satisfied that I shall best carry out the wish of the -House if I decline to call upon any more members to speak, and at -once put the question to the House." - -The Speaker then put the question, when there appeared-- - - For the amendment 19 - Against 164 - -The Speaker then put the main question, that leave be given to -bring in the Bill, when Mr. J. McCarthy rose to speak, but the -Speaker declined to hear him, and there were loud cries of "Order" -on the Ministerial side of the House. The Home Rulers stood up, and -for some time, with raised hand, shouted, "Privilege!" and then, -having bowed to the Chair, left the House. - - - - -THE DEATH OF BEACONSFIELD (1881). - -I. - -=Source.=--_The Times_, April 20. - - -The end really corresponded to the beginning, and both were alike -exceptional.... It must have been an ideal and living world that -home life introduced Benjamin Disraeli to. It was in this that -he acquired his repertory of parts and character; his caps fit -for wearers; his motley for those it suited; his titles of little -honour; his stage tricks and artifices; his gibes and jests that -Yorick might have overflowed with in the spirit of his age; and his -unfailing consciousness of a knowledge and power ever sufficient -for the occasion.... The new deliverer of the Conservatives -presented himself as a magician, master of many spells, charged -with all the secrets of the political creation, ready to control -the winds and the tides of opinion and faction, sounding the very -depths of political possibility, and with a touch of his wand -able to leave a mark on any foe or wanton intruder. The plea -was necessity. Fortunately for Lord Beaconsfield, the age of -consistency is no more. Sir Robert Peel destroyed that idol, and in -doing so sacrificed himself. Lord Beaconsfield advanced to power -over his body. - - -II. - -=Source.=--_The Times_, April 22, 1881. - -It is finely said by Bacon of death that "it openeth the gate -to good fame and extinguisheth envy...." It is singularly true -of Lord Beaconsfield, whose fate it was to interest all men, to -puzzle most, and to provoke the antagonism of many. Certainly -no English statesman, since the death of Lord Palmerston, has -occupied so prominent a position or excited so deep an interest -on the Continent of Europe. His secret lay perhaps in the -magnetic influence of a dauntless will, in his unrivalled powers -of patience, in his impenetrable reserve and detachment. If we -compare the beginning of his political life with its close, and -note how its unchastened audacity was gradually toned down into -the coolest determination and the most dispassionate tenacity, we -shall see how the magnificent victory he achieved over himself gave -him power to govern others, to withstand their opposition, and to -bend their wills to his own. This is what Continental observers -saw in him--unrivalled strength of will and dauntless tenacity of -purpose--and this is why they admired him. The sense of mystery -engendered the sense of power, and foreigners freely admired where -Englishmen were often puzzled and at times almost bewildered. - - - - -THE WITHDRAWAL FROM CANDAHAR (1881). - -=Source.=--_Hansard_, Third Series, vol. 259, C 49-74 (House of -Lords debate on the withdrawal from Candahar, March 3, 1881). - - -THE EARL OF LYTTON: ... And now, my Lords, allow me to recapitulate -the conclusions which appear to me established by the facts to -which I have solicited your attention. On the strength of these -facts I affirm once more that Russian influence at Cabul did -not commence with the Stolieteff mission, and that it did not -cease with the withdrawal of that mission. I affirm that for -all practical purposes the Ameer of Cabul had ceased to be the -friend and ally of England, and that he had virtually become the -friend and ally of Russia at least three years before I had any -dealings with His Highness, or any connection with the government -of India. I affirm that the sole cause of the late Afghan war was -a Russian intrigue of long duration, for purposes which it was -the imperative duty of the Government of India to oppose at any -cost. And, finally, I affirm that the establishment of Russian -influence was caused by the collapse and paralysis of British -influence at Cabul, and that this was the natural result of the -deplorable policy to which Her Majesty's Government are now so -eagerly reverting.... Surely, my Lords, prevention is better than -cure. Surely it is wiser and safer to stay at Candahar, whence we -can exclude Russian influence from Herat by peaceably extending our -own influence in that direction, than to retire to the Indus, and -there passively await an event which is to involve us in a great -European war, for the purpose of undoing what could not otherwise -have been done in a remote corner of Asia. The noble Duke, the -Lord Privy Seal, has expressed his astonishment at the prodigious -importance I now attach to the retention of Candahar, because, -he says, I did not hold that opinion till a late period of my -Viceroyalty. That is true--I did not. But in the statement which -elicited this remark I thought I had explained the reason why. I -can sincerely assure your Lordships that the late Government of -India was not an annexationist Government. As long as we had any -reasonable hope of loyalty on the part of Yakub Khan, or of the -observance of the Gandamak Treaty, which gave us moral guarantees -of adequate control over Afghanistan, our wish was not to weaken -but to strengthen the Cabul Power. But the whole situation, and -our duty concerning it, were changed irrevocably by the atrocious -crime which compelled us to occupy Cabul, and by the revelations -discovered at Cabul, and now known to your Lordships, of the -extent to which Russian influence had penetrated to the very heart -of the country. My Lords, it then seemed to my colleagues in the -Government of India, and it still seems to me, that the only -practical means of counteracting the dangerous Russian influence -at Cabul would be to assume ourselves over Western Afghanistan a -controlling and commanding position, not dependent on the good or -bad faith of any Cabul ruler. Such control can only be exercised -from Candahar. The history of the last eight years clearly shows, -not merely that the Russian Power is approaching, and must -approach, towards India, but that Russia has long sought, is still -seeking, and will continue to seek, great political influence -over Afghanistan; that this influence has already found a fulcrum -at Cabul, and that it must be a permanent source of disquiet to -the Government of India, whenever she wishes to embarrass British -policy in Europe. Therefore, for the safety of the British Power in -India, it is indispensable that the Government of India shall have -the means of preventing--at all events, of counteracting--Russian -influence in Afghanistan. It is absurd to suppose that you can have -any controlling power over a country in which you have no _locus -standi_ at all. Now amongst the arrangements contemplated by Her -Majesty's Government after the evacuation of Candahar, where do -they expect to find a _locus standi_ in Afghanistan? I do not see -where.... Great as are the undisputed strategical advantages of -Candahar, the late Government of India did not regard the retention -of it primarily, or mainly, as a military question. We felt that -it would give us a political and commercial control over Western -Afghanistan up to Herat so complete that we might contemplate -with unconcern the course of events at Cabul. If you retain -Candahar, and hold it firmly and fearlessly, then you may view with -indifference the uncertain faith and fate of Cabul rulers, and -the certain advance of the Russian Power. If you retain Candahar, -and administer it wisely, you will replace anarchy and bloodshed -and difficulty and uncertainty on your own border by peace and -prosperity; and if you connect Candahar by rail with the Valley of -the Indus, you will be able to sweep the whole commerce of Central -Asia, vastly augmented by the beneficent protection of a strong, a -settled, and a civilized Government, into the harbours of Kurrachee -and Calcutta, and thence into the ports of Liverpool and London. -But, my Lords, you cannot do all this unless you retain a garrison -in Candahar.... If you accept the conclusion admitted by the noble -Duke, and affirmed by every Indian statesman, that Afghanistan must -on no account be permitted to remain under the forbidden influence -of Russia, then, my Lords, for the enforcement of that conclusion -you must choose between the retention of Candahar and reliance on -the instructions said to have been issued to General Kauffman "not -to do it again." There is no alternative. To talk about developing -the internal resources of India is nothing to the point. There -is no reason why the continued development of India's internal -resources should not proceed _pari passu_ with the consolidation of -her external securities. But do not fatten the lamb only to feed -the wolf. My Lords, all those whose privilege it is to build up -the noble edifice of India's prosperity must be content to labour -like the builders of the second Temple--working with one hand, but -holding the sword in the other to defend their work. - - - - -THE SALVATION ARMY (1881). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, October 13. - - -For two years, or thereabouts, our towns have had frequent -opportunities of witnessing an exhibition not to everybody's taste. -The "Salvation Army," as far as it can be known to the uninitiated, -consists of bands of men marching through the streets, generally -towards "church time," with banners, devices, and sometimes -emblematic helmets and other accoutrements, singing sensational -hymns. Most people are ready to leave it alone. But there remain -the irrepressible "roughs." It is with them that the "Salvation -Army" is now waging its only physical warfare. English people -generally would leave it to the test of time.... We must beware how -we quarrel with those who honestly believe there is a great work -to be done. If we do not like these singular modes of propagandism -and conversion, we need not assist the "roughs" to put them down. -Another course lies before us all. It is to do the work in a better -way. - - - - -ARABI (1881). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, December 21. - - -_Extract from a letter by Sir William Gregory._ - -... I called at Arabi Bey's house by appointment, and was very -courteously received by a tall, athletic, soldier-like man. His -countenance is peculiarly grave, and even stern, with much power -in it. It is at first sight somewhat heavy, until he is aroused, -when his eyes light up and he speaks with great energy.... He -said that he looked on the Sultan as his lord--as the head of his -religion--and that he was bound to do so; that the dominions of the -Sultan were like a great palace, in which the different nations -had each one its own chamber, suited to its wants, and arranged -according to its own manner; that to introduce other persons into -those chambers would be to upset the arrangements, to annoy and -dispossess the occupants, and to do an unjust act; and he was -therefore most decidedly opposed to any interference on the part -of the Sultan in the government of Egypt, and every opposition -would be given to the introduction of Turkish troops. Secondly, as -regards the religious question, nothing could be more untrue than -the allegations that he and those who went with him were in favour -of any intolerant movement.... The next point was the accusation -that he was aiming at establishing a military supremacy. This he -denied, saying that an army has no right to be supreme in time of -peace ... but it was obliged to take the lead in getting rid of -abuses and establishing justice. Lastly, as to his desire to remove -European officials from the country, he said he had no idea or wish -to remove the Control to which his countrymen were indebted for -the Justice which the cultivators now enjoy, at all events for the -present, until Egypt knew how to govern herself, and could stand -alone; but he spoke with the greatest bitterness of the manner in -which his countrymen were ousted from every superior position in -every department.... I next asked him if the opinion were prevalent -that England desired to occupy Egypt. He said that he himself -did not believe it. Egypt was looked upon as the centre of the -Mohammedan world, and in every country where there was a Mussulman -community there would be deep-seated indignation were she to be -annexed, and probably the loss of India would be ultimately the -consequence. Egypt, if left alone, would always protect the passage -to India, which he knew to be our great object. - - CAIRO, - _December 11_. - - - - -THE FIRST CLOSURE (1882). - -=Source.=--_Hansard_, Third Series, vol. 266, col. 1,124, February -20, 1882. - - -Ordered: That, when it shall appear to Mr. Speaker or to the -Chairman of Committee of the whole House, during any debate, to -be the evident sense of the House or of the Committee, that the -Question be now put, he may so inform the House or the Committee; -and, if a motion be made, "That the Question be now put," Mr. -Speaker, or the Chairman, shall forthwith put such question; and, -if the same be decided in the affirmative, the Question under -discussion shall be put forthwith; provided that the Question shall -not be decided in the affirmative, if a division be taken, unless -it shall appear to have been supported by more than 200 members, or -to have been opposed by less than 40 members. - - - - -BIMETALLISM (1882). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, March 11. - - -A meeting convened by the Council of the International Monetary -Standard Association was held in the Egyptian Hall of the Mansion -House. - -Mr. Grenfell, Governor of the Bank of England, said ... he presumed -that all present knew that the standard of this country was a -monometallic gold standard, and that it was introduced by that -great statesman Sir Robert Peel; but it was not so generally -known, and it was somewhat singular, that when Sir R. Peel brought -forward the measure for the resumption of cash payments, and for -the institution of a monometallic gold standard, he appealed to -the House of Commons, by all the wish they had to act with good -faith towards their creditors, that they should return to the -ancient standard of the realm. He presumed that Sir R. Peel meant -that the ancient standard of the realm was a gold standard; but it -was not a monometallic standard at all. The ancient standard of -the realm was a bimetallic standard, and although there had been -a monometallic standard before, it was never a gold standard.... -What were the events that had occurred since Sir R. Peel's death? -They were entirely new. The first event was the calling together -of a conference in Paris in 1868, for the purpose of attempting -to govern the coinage of all nations, and unfortunately that -conference came to the conclusion that the best of all standards -was a monometallic gold standard. Very shortly afterwards there -came the Franco-German War, and when a large quantity of the -gold of France passed into the hands of Germany, that Government -decided to make a gold standard. Scarcely had that been done, when -the evil arising from the great monetary revolution began to be -shown.... Had they calculated what the cost of the demonetization -of Germany was? The amount the German Government coined was -87,000,000 sterling of gold, which, according to the average for -the last twenty years, was equal to 3.3 years of the whole world's -production of gold. Besides that, Germany sold 28,000,000 sterling -of silver, which was equal to more than two years' production of -the whole world of that metal. What did they think, supposing the -Latin Union, our Indian Empire, and the United States were to -resort to some such measure as Germany did? - - - - -BRIGHT'S RESIGNATION (1882). - -=Source.=--_Hansard_, Third Series, vol. 272, col. 724, July 17, -1882. - - -_A Gladstonian Fine Distinction._ - -MR. GLADSTONE: ... This is not an occasion for arguing the question -of the differences that have unhappily arisen between my right hon. -friend and those who were, and rejoiced to be, his colleagues. But -I venture to assure him that I agree with him in thinking that -the moral law is as applicable to the conduct of nations as of -individuals, and that the difference between us, most painful to -him and most painful to us, is a difference as to the particular -application in this particular case of the Divine law. - - - - -THE ILBERT BILL (1883). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, March 5. - - -Four weeks have elapsed since we first called attention to -the disapprobation and discontent excited among the English -residents in India by the Bill for subjecting them to the criminal -jurisdiction of native judges and magistrates. The measure, -of which we then pointed out the dangers, has since assumed a -portentous importance. The whole non-official European community -has been convulsed by it.... As for the asserted symmetry which is -to follow from it, and the asserted inequalities which it is to -remove, it will not, and cannot, do what it has been credited with -doing. It removes one inequality while it leaves a dozen others -untouched, and the inequality which it does remove is just that -which is most clearly justifiable. It is a pandering, we will not -say to native opinion, for no such opinion has been formed for it, -but to the noisily expressed views of the native Press, and of -one or two native civil servants, who are anxious to exercise the -powers which the Bill confers, and who are on that very account -so much the less fit to be trusted with them.... The Bill may be -unimportant in itself, but it is one among many signs of the new -ideas and new principles upon which the Government of India is to -be conducted, ideas and principles which are utterly at variance -with those by which our position in the country has been gained and -held. - - - - -FENIANS AGAIN (1883). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, March 16. - - -A terrific explosion occurred last night at the offices of the -Local Government Board, Parliament Street, Westminster. The report -was heard about half a minute after nine o'clock in the House of -Commons. So great was the force of the explosion that the floor -of the House and the galleries shook. At the time there was but a -thin attendance of members, it being the dinner hour. The Duke -of Edinburgh was in the Peers' Gallery, and he turned round at -once and spoke to Sir Henry Fletcher, who was sitting near him. -The Speaker rang his bell, and inquired the cause of the alarm.... -The explosion occurred in the ground floor of the Local Government -Board, smashing the stonework into splinters, and breaking into -fragments the windows, portions of which lay strewn in the -surrounding streets. Alarmed crowds gathered. - - - - -THE MAHDI (1883). - -=Source.=--Sir Reginald Wingate's _Mahdiism and the Egyptian -Soudan_, pp. 2, 5, 12-14. (Macmillans.) - - -Mahdiism, with which we have to deal, has two sides to it. There -is the Mahdi, whose coming is looked forward to by good Sunnis -as the advent of the Messiah is expected by the Jews. And there -is the Mahdi who disappeared, and may appear miraculously at -any moment to good Shias.... Mohammed Ahmed of Dongola took up -Mahdiism from the Shia's point of view.... His movement was, in -the first place, a religious movement--the superior enthusiasm, -eloquence, and dramatic knowledge of one priest over his fellows. -It was recruited by a desire, widespread among the villagers, -and especially among the superstitious masses of Kordofan, for -revenge for the cruelties and injustice of the Egyptians and -Bashi-Bazuks. It swept into force on the withdrawal of all -semblance of government, the sole element opposed to it, and it -became a tool for the imperious and warlike Baggara, and enabled -them to usurp the vacant throne. Religion has thus knit together -the different races, each with their own grievance, and summoned -them to the banner of emirs in search of power and the right to -trade in slaves.... There is no doubt that, until he was ruined by -unbridled sensuality, this man [Mohammed Ahmed] had the strongest -head and the clearest mental vision of any man in the two million -square miles of which he more or less made himself master before -he died; and it is a matter of regret that more cannot be learnt -of his early youth than what follows. Born at Dongola in 1848, of -a family of excellent boat-builders, whose boats are to this day -renowned for sound construction, he was early recognized by his -family as the clever one, and, so to speak, went into the Church. -At twenty-two he was already a sheikh with a great reputation -for sanctity, and his preaching was renowned far and wide. Men -wept and beat their breasts at his moving words; even his brother -fikis could not conceal their admiration. The first steps of the -Mahdi in his career are of genuine interest. Tall, rather slight, -of youthful build, and, like many Danagla, with large eyes and -pleasing features, Mohammed Ahmed bore externally all the marks -of a well-bred gentleman. He moved about with quiet dignity of -manner, but there was nothing unusual about him until he commenced -to preach. Then, indeed, one understood the power within him which -men obeyed. With rapid earnest words he stirred their hearts, and -bowed their heads like corn beneath the storm. And what a theme was -his! No orator in France in 1792 could speak of oppression that -here in the Soudan was not doubled. What need of description when -he could use denunciation; when he could stretch forth his long -arm and point to the tax-gatherer who twice, three times, and yet -again, carried off the last goat, the last bundle of dhurra straw, -from yon miserable man listening with intent eyes! And then he -urges in warning tones what Whitfield, Wesley, have urged before -him, that all this misery, all this oppression, is God's anger at -the people's wickedness. That since the Prophet left the earth -the world has all fallen into sin and neglect. But now a time was -at hand when all this should have an end. The Lord would send a -deliverer who should sweep away the veil before their eyes, clear -the madness from the brain, the hideous dream would be broken -for ever, and, strong in the faith of their divine leader, these -new-made men, with clear-seeing vision and well-laid plans before -them, should go forth and possess the land. The cursed tax-gatherer -should be driven into holes and caves, the bribe-taking official -hunted from off the field he had usurped, and the Turk should be -thrown to jabber his delirium on his own dunghill. With the coming -of the Mahdi the right should triumph, and all oppression should -have an end. When would this Mahdi come? What wonder that every -hut and every thicket echoed the longing for the promised Saviour! -The hot wind roamed from desert to plain of withered grass, from -mountain range to sandy valley, and whispered "Mahdi" as it blew; -all nature joined; how childish, yet how effective. The women found -the eggs inscribed with "Jesus," "Mohammed," and the "Mahdi." The -very leaves rustled down to the ground, and in their fall received -the imprint of the sacred names. The land was sown with fikis, many -of them past masters in the art of swaying a crowd. They came and -listened, and soon they recognized that they had found their master -here. The leaven worked rapidly among them, until one evening at -Abba Island, a hundred and fifty miles south of Khartoum, there -came a band of self-reliant men who heard the stirring words, and -saw the tall, slight, earnest figure. They said, "You are our -promised leader," and in solemn secrecy he said, "I am the Mahdi." - - -[Note.--Mahdi signifies "the guided" in the hadaya or true way of -salvation, hence "the guide." In the tenets of all sects of the -Moslems there is an intimate connection between the Mahdi and Jesus -Christ.] - - - - -END OF CAREY THE INFORMER (1883). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, July 31. - - -James Carey has not long escaped those who, it was well known, -had resolved to slay him at the first opportunity. According to -telegrams received from Durban and Cape Town he was shot dead -on Sunday, on board the liner _Melrose_, by an Irishman named -O'Donnell. The vessel had got into harbour at Port Elizabeth, and -was discharging her passengers and cargo, when Carey was shot. -Fully warned of the intention to murder him, the authorities at -Dublin had taken pains to conceal his movements. When he quitted -Kilmainham, it was stated that he had resolved to brave the worst, -and settle down in Dublin to his old occupations. Then it was said -that he had been seen in London. According to another account he -had sailed for Canada, and had actually landed at Montreal under -the escort of two detectives. If these tales were circulated with -the hope of putting the Invincibles on a false scent, they signally -failed. His enemies were too astute to be deceived by pious -frauds. Carey's death is a public misfortune. He had indeed been a -principal in a cruel and barbarous murder. He behaved with supreme -callousness and repulsive levity throughout the trials; and he was -in every way one of the worst specimens of a bad type. But he was -the instrument by which the Phœnix Park murderers were brought -to justice, and it would have been well had he lived to defy the -machinations of the Invincibles. But this misfortune is only a -consequence of facts which, as a rule, serve as a safeguard and -protection to society. Gibbon has forcibly described the unhappy -condition of the wretch who tried to flee from the power of a Roman -Emperor. There was no escape from it: he confronted it wherever he -fled. No better are the chances of flight of one who, in these days -of publicity, of photographs and illustrated newspapers, tries to -hide himself from the gaze of those who know him. All this told -against Carey's chances of escape. He had made himself the object -of bitter hatred of secret societies, which have ramifications -through many parts of the world. During the long trials at Dublin, -portraits of him in all attitudes were published. His very marked -features became familiar to everyone. Disguise himself as he -might--and it is stated that when he was shot he was disguised--he -could not help being recognized wherever he went. - - - - -SLAUGHTER OF HICKS PASHA'S ARMY (1883). - -=Source.=--Sir Reginald Wingate's _Mahdiism and the Egyptian -Soudan_, pp. 85, 88-90. (Macmillans.) - - -Mohammed Ahmed, on hearing of the departure of the army of Hicks -Pasha from Khartoum, sent spies to watch their movements, and -on learning that the latter had arrived at Duem, and intended -advancing on El Obeid, he sent a force of 3,000 men under the emir -Abd el Halim and Abu Girgeh to follow in rear of the Egyptian army -and close up the wells as they advanced, so that retreat would be -impossible. Abd el Halim, on arrival at Rahad, at once rode off -to El Obeid and personally informed the Mahdi of the strength and -probable movements of the Egyptian force. On receipt of this news -Mohammed Ahmed forthwith despatched all his fighting men towards -Rahad to join Abd el Halim's force, but on their way they met Abd -el Halim retiring from Alluba, and, having joined him, the whole -force, amounting to some 40,000, encamped in the forest of Shekan, -and there awaited the advance of the Egyptian troops.... At 10 a.m. -on Monday morning, November 5, the troops marched out of the zariba -and formed up in three squares, the whole formation resembling a -triangle. Each square had its own transport and ammunition in the -centre. Hicks Pasha with his staff led the way, followed by four -guns of the artillery, then the first square, which was supported -to the right and left rear by the other two squares, some 300 yards -distant from the square and from each other. Ala ed Din Pasha -commanded the right square and Selim Bey the left. The exposed -flanks of the squares were covered by cavalry, and a detachment -of horsemen brought up the rear. In this formation the troops -steadily advanced, and half an hour later reached a fairly open -valley, interspersed here and there with bush, while on either -side were thick woods full of the enemy.... Now all was ready, and -Mohammed Ahmed patiently awaited the arrival of the troops, which -could already be seen advancing in the distance. He assembled -his emirs for the last final instructions, and, rising from his -prayer, drew his sword, shouted three times, "Allahu akbar! You -need not fear, for the victory is ours." On came the squares. -The first had reached the wooded depression, when up sprang the -Arabs with their fierce yells. Startled and surprised, the square -was broken in a moment. The flanking squares now fired wildly at -the Arabs fighting hand to hand with the Egyptians, and in their -efforts must have killed numbers of their own comrades. But almost -at the same instant the Arabs simultaneously attacked from the -woods on both sides and from front and rear. The wildest confusion -followed; squares fired on each other, on friends or enemies. -While the surging mass of Arabs now completely encircled the force -and gradually closed in on them, a massacre of the most appalling -description took place. In little over quarter of an hour all was -over. Hicks Pasha with his staff, seeing that he could do nothing, -cut his way through on the left and reached some cultivated ground. -Here he was surrounded by some Baggara horsemen, and for a time -kept them at bay, fighting most gallantly till his revolver was -empty, and then committing most terrible execution with his sword. -He was the last of the Europeans to fall, and one savage charge -he made on his assailants is memorable to this day in the Soudan, -and a body of Baggara who fled before him were called by their -tribesmen "Baggar Hicks," or the cows driven by Hicks. But at last -he fell, pierced by the spear of the Khalifa Mohammed Sherif. His -cavalry bodyguard fought gallantly, and though repeatedly called -on to surrender replied, "We shall never surrender, but will die -like our officers, and kill many of you as well." And soon all were -killed. Ala ed Din Pasha was killed trying to make his way from the -right square to join Hicks Pasha. Genawi Bey lay dead in the square -beside his horse. It is said that as he fell mortally wounded he, -with his own sword, hamstrung his horse, saying, "No other shall -ever ride on you after me." The whole force, with the exception of -some 300 men, and most of these wounded, had now been completely -annihilated.... The news of the Mahdi's victory spread far and -wide, and if there had been some doubts previous to what was now -termed a miracle, the complete annihilation of a whole army soon -dispelled them, and from the Red Sea to the confines of Waddai the -belief was universal that at last the true Mahdi had appeared. - - -[NOTE.--Sir R. Wingate's account is quoted from two sources--one, -Mohammed Nur el Barudi, who was cook to Hicks Pasha, and was one -of the wounded prisoners after the battle; and the other, Hassan -Habashi, a former Government official at El Obeid, who had fallen -into the Mahdi's hands on the capture of that place. Hence the -story is complete on both sides.] - - - - -TRANSVAAL CONVENTION (1884). - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Papers_, "Transvaal," C 3,947 of 1884, p. -47. - - -_A Convention between Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom -of Great Britain and Ireland, and the South African Republic._ - -Whereas the Government of the Transvaal State, through its -delegates, consisting of Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, -President of the said State, Stephanus Jacobus Du Toit, -Superintendent of Education, and Nicholas Jacobus Smit, a member -of the Volksraad, have represented that the Convention signed at -Pretoria on the 13th day of August, 1881, and ratified by the -Volksraad of the said State on the 25th October, 1881, contains -certain provisions which are inconvenient, and imposes burdens -and obligations from which the said State is desirous to be -relieved, and that the south-western boundaries fixed by the said -Convention should be amended, with a view to promote the peace -and good order of the said State and of the countries adjacent -thereto; and whereas Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom -of Great Britain and Ireland has been pleased to take the said -representations into consideration. - -Now, therefore, Her Majesty has been pleased to direct, and it is -hereby declared, that the following articles of a new Convention, -signed on behalf of Her Majesty by Her Majesty's High Commissioner -in South Africa, the Right Honourable Sir Hercules George Herbert -Robinson, Knight Grand Cross of the most distinguished Order -of St. Michael and St. George, Governor of the Colony of the -Cape of Good Hope, and on behalf of the Transvaal State (which -shall hereinafter be called the South African Republic) by the -above-named delegates, Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, Stephanus -Jacobus Du Toit, and Nicholas Jacobus Smit, shall, when ratified -by the Volksraad of the South African Republic, be substituted for -the articles embodied in the Convention of 3rd August, 1881; which -latter, pending such ratification, shall continue in full force and -effect. - - -[NOTE.--The word "Preamble" is not prefixed to the opening passage -of this Convention. When the suzerainty question arose in 1898 the -British argument was that the 1884 Convention only altered the -articles of the 1881 Convention, and left the Preamble in force; -the Boer argument was that the 1884 Convention had a preamble, and -therefore the earlier one must have been superseded.] - - - - -GORDON'S MISSION TO KHARTOUM (1884). - -I. - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Papers_, "Egypt," No. 2 of 1884, C 3,845. - - -_P. 2. The Cabinet's Instructions to General Gordon._ - -Her Majesty's Government are desirous that you should proceed at -once to Egypt, to report to them on the military situation in the -Soudan, and on the measures which it may be advisable to take for -the security of the Egyptian garrisons still holding positions in -that country, and for the safety of the European population in -Khartoum. You are also desired to consider and report upon the best -mode of effecting the evacuation of the interior of the Soudan, -and upon the manner in which the safety and good administration by -the Egyptian Government of the ports on the sea coast can best be -secured. In connection with this subject, you should pay especial -consideration to the question of the steps that may usefully be -taken to counteract the stimulus which it is feared may possibly be -given to the Slave Trade by the present insurrectionary movement -and by the withdrawal of the Egyptian authority from the interior. - - -II. - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Papers_, "Egypt," No. 6 of 1884, C 3,878. - -_Further Instructions by the Egyptian Government._ - -I have now to indicate to you the views of the Egyptian Government -on two of the points to which your special attention was directed -by Lord Granville. These are (1) the measures which it may be -advisable to take for the security of the Egyptian garrisons -still holding positions in the Soudan, and for the safety of the -European population in Khartoum. (2) The best mode of effecting -the evacuation of the interior of the Soudan. These two points are -intimately connected, and may conveniently be considered together. -It is believed that the number of Europeans at Khartoum is very -small, but it has been estimated by the local authorities that some -10,000 to 15,000 people will wish to move northwards from Khartoum -only when the Egyptian garrison is withdrawn. These people are -native Christians, Egyptian employés, their wives and children, -etc. The Government of His Highness the Khedive is earnestly -solicitous that no effort should be spared to insure the retreat -both of these people and of the Egyptian garrison without loss of -life. As regards the most opportune time and the best method for -effecting the retreat, whether of the garrisons or of the civil -populations, it is neither necessary nor desirable that you should -receive detailed instructions.... You will bear in mind that the -main end to be pursued is the evacuation of the Soudan. This -policy was adopted, after very full discussion, by the Egyptian -Government, on the advice of Her Majesty's Government. It meets -with the full approval of His Highness the Khedive, and of the -present Egyptian Ministry. I understand, also, that you entirely -concur in the desirability of adopting this policy, and that you -think it should on no account be changed. You consider that it may -take a few months to carry it out with safety. You are further of -opinion that "the restoration of the country should be made to the -different petty Sultans who existed at the time of Mehemet Ali's -conquest, and whose families still exist"; and that an endeavour -should be made to form a confederation of those Sultans. In this -view the Egyptian Government entirely concur. It will, of course, -be fully understood that the Egyptian troops are not to be kept in -the Soudan merely with a view to consolidating the power of the new -rulers of the country. But the Egyptian Government has the fullest -confidence in your judgment, your knowledge of the country, and in -your comprehension of the general line of policy to be pursued. You -are, therefore, given full discretionary power to retain the troops -for such reasonable period as you may think necessary, in order -that the abandonment of the country may be accomplished with the -least possible risk to life and property. - -Sir E. Baring, in forwarding the copy of the instructions to Lord -Granville, wrote: - -I read the draft of the letter over to General Gordon. He expressed -to me his entire concurrence in the instructions. The only -suggestion he made was in connection with the passage in which, -speaking of the policy of abandoning the Soudan, I had said, "I -understand also that you entirely concur in the desirability of -adopting this policy." General Gordon wished that I should add the -words, "and that you think it should on no account be changed." -These words were accordingly added. - - -III. - -=Source.=--Lord Cromer's _Modern Egypt_, vol. i., p. 428. -(Macmillans.) - -Looking back at what occurred after a space of many years, two -points are to my mind clear. The first is that no Englishman should -have been sent to Khartoum. The second is that, if anyone had to be -sent, General Gordon was not the right man to send. The reasons why -no Englishman should have been sent are now sufficiently obvious. -If he were beleaguered at Khartoum, the British Government might be -obliged to send an expedition to relieve him. The main object of -British policy was to avoid being drawn into military operations -in the Soudan. The employment of a British official at Khartoum -involved a serious risk that it would be no longer possible to -adhere to this policy, and the risk was materially increased when -the individual chosen to go to the Soudan was one who had attracted -to himself a greater degree of popular sympathy than almost any -Englishman of modern times. - - - - -DIFFICULTIES OF GORDON'S CHARACTER (1884). - -I. - -=Source.=--Lord Cromer's _Modern Egypt_, vol. i., p. 432. -(Macmillans.) - - -I must, for the elucidation of this narrative, state why I think -it was a mistake to send General Gordon to Khartoum. "It is -impossible," I wrote privately to Lord Granville on January 28, -1884, "not to be charmed by the simplicity and honesty of Gordon's -character." "My only fear," I added, "is that he is terribly -flighty and changes his opinions very rapidly...." Impulsive -flightiness was, in fact, the main defect of General Gordon's -character, and it was one which, in my opinion, rendered him unfit -to carry out a work which pre-eminently required a cool and steady -head. I used to receive some twenty or thirty telegrams from -General Gordon in the course of the day when he was at Khartoum, -those in the evening often giving opinions which it was impossible -to reconcile with others despatched the same morning. Scarcely, -indeed, had General Gordon started on his mission, when Lord -Granville, who does not appear at first to have understood General -Gordon's character, began to be alarmed at his impulsiveness. On -February 8 Lord Granville wrote to me: "I own your letters about -Gordon rather alarm. His changes about Zobeir are difficult to -understand. Northbrook consoles me by saying that he says all the -foolish things that pass through his head, but that his judgment is -excellent." I am not prepared to go so far as to say that General -Gordon's judgment was excellent. Nevertheless, there was some truth -in Lord Northbrook's remark. I often found that, amidst a mass -of irrelevant verbiage and amidst many contradictory opinions, -a vein of sound common sense and political instinct ran through -General Gordon's proposals. So much was I impressed with this, and -so fearful was I that the sound portions of his proposals would -be rejected in London on account of the eccentric language in -which they were often couched, that, on February 12, I telegraphed -to Lord Granville: "In considering Gordon's suggestions, please -remember that his general views are excellent, but that undue -importance must not be attached to his words. We must look to the -spirit rather than the letter of what he says." - - -II. - -=Source.=--Lord Cromer's _Modern Egypt_, vol. i., p. 488. -(Macmillans.) - -On February 26th, thirty-nine days had elapsed since General Gordon -had left London, thirty-one days since he had left Cairo, and -eight days since he had arrived at Khartoum. During that period, -leaving aside points of detail, as to which his contradictions -had been numerous, General Gordon had marked out for himself no -less than five different lines of policy, some of which were -wholly conflicting one with another, whilst others, without being -absolutely irreconcilable, differed in respect to some of their -most important features. On January 18 he started from London with -instructions which had been dictated by himself. His wish then -was that he should be merely sent to "report upon the best means -of effecting the evacuation of the interior of the Soudan." He -expressed his entire concurrence in the policy of evacuation. This -was the first and original stage of General Gordon's opinions. -Before he arrived in Egypt, on January 24, he had changed his -views as to the nature of the functions he should fulfil. He -no longer wished to be a mere reporter. He wished to be named -Governor-General of the Soudan with full executive powers. He -supplemented his original ideas by suggesting that the country -should be handed over to "the different petty Sultans who existed -at the time of Mehemet Ali's conquest." This was the second stage -of General Gordon's opinions. Fifteen days later (February 8) he -wrote from Abu Hamed a memorandum in which he advocated "evacuation -but not abandonment." The Government of Egypt were to "maintain -their position as a Suzerain Power, nominate the Governor-General -and Moudirs, and act as a supreme Court of Appeal." This was the -third stage of General Gordon's opinions. Ten days later (February -18) General Gordon reverted to the principles of his memorandum -of the 8th, but with a notable difference. It was no longer -the Egyptian but the British Government which were to control -the Soudan administration. The British Government were also to -appoint a Governor-General, who was to be furnished with a British -commission, and who was to receive a British decoration. Zobeir -Pasha was the man whom General Gordon wished the British Government -to select. This was the fourth stage of General Gordon's opinions. -Eight days later (February 26), when General Gordon had learnt -that the British Government were not prepared to approve of Zobeir -Pasha being sent to the Soudan, he proposed that the Mahdi should -be "smashed up," and that, to assist in this object, 200 British -Indian troops should be sent to Wadi Halfa. This was the fifth -stage of General Gordon's opinions. In thirty-nine days, therefore, -General Gordon had drifted by successive stages from a proposal -that he should report on the affairs of the Soudan to advocating -the policy of "smashing up" the Mahdi. It would, he said, be -"comparatively easy to destroy the Mahdi." - - - - -ZOBEIR PASHA (1884). - -I. - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Papers_, "Egypt," No. 12 of 1884. - - -_P. 71. Major-General Gordon to Sir E. Baring. Telegraphic, -Khartoum, February 18, 1884._ - -I have stated that to withdraw without being able to place a -successor in my seat would be the signal for general anarchy -throughout the country, which, though all Egyptian element was -withdrawn, would be a misfortune and inhuman.... I distinctly -state that if Her Majesty's Government gave a Commission to my -successor, I recommend neither a subsidy nor men being given. I -would select and give a Commission to some man, and promise him -the moral support of Her Majesty's Government and nothing more.... -As for the man, Her Majesty's Government should select one above -all others--namely, Zobeir. He alone has the ability to rule the -Soudan, and would be universally accepted by the Soudan. He should -be made K.C.M.G., and given presents.... Zobeir's exile at Cairo -for ten years, amidst all the late events, and his mixing with -Europeans, must have had great effect on his character.... - - -II. - -_P. 72. Extract from Sir E. Baring's Despatch commenting on the -Above._ - -I believe Zobeir Pasha to be the only possible man. He undoubtedly -possesses energy and ability, and has great local influence. As -regards the Slave Trade, I discussed the matter with General Gordon -when he was in Cairo, and he fully agreed with me in thinking that -Zobeir Pasha's presence or absence would not affect the question -in one way or the other. I am also convinced from many things that -have come to my notice that General Gordon is right in thinking -that Zobeir Pasha's residence in Egypt has considerably modified -his character. He now understands what European power is, and it is -much better to have to deal with a man of this sort than with a man -like the Mahdi.... I cannot recommend that he should be promised -the "moral support" of Her Majesty's Government. In the first -place, he would scarcely understand the sense of the phrase, and, -moreover, I do not think that he would attach importance to any -support which was not material. It is for Her Majesty's Government -to judge what the effect of his appointment would be upon public -opinion in England, but except for that I can see no reason why -Zobeir Pasha should not be proclaimed Ruler of the Soudan with the -approbation of Her Majesty's Government. - - -III. - -_P. 95. Earl Granville to Sir E. Baring. February 22, 1884._ - -Her Majesty's Government are of opinion that the gravest objections -exist to the appointment by their authority of a successor to -General Gordon. The necessity does not, indeed, appear to have -yet arisen of going beyond the suggestions contained in General -Gordon's Memorandum of the 22nd ultimo, by making special provision -for the government of the country. In any case the public opinion -of this country would not tolerate the appointment of Zobeir Pasha. - - - - -SOME OF GORDON'S TELEGRAMS (1884). - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Papers_, "Egypt," No. 12 of 1884. - - -_P. 156. Major-General Gordon to Sir E. Baring. Khartoum, March 3, -1884._ - -... I am strongly against any permanent retention of the Soudan, -but I think we ought to leave it with decency, and give the -respectable people a man to lead them, around whom they can rally, -and we ought to support that man by money and by opening road to -Berber. Pray do not consider me in any way to advocate retention of -Soudan; I am quite averse to it, but you must see that you could -not recall me, nor could I possibly obey, until the Cairo employés -get out from all the places. I have named men to different places, -thus involving them with Mahdi: how could I look the world in the -face if I abandoned them and fled? As a gentleman, could you advise -this course? It may have been a mistake to send me up, but that -having been done I have no option but to see evacuation through, -for even if I was mean enough to escape I have no power to do so. - - -_P. 161. The Same to the Same. Khartoum, March 9, 1884, 11.30 p.m._ - -If you mean to make the proposed diversion to Berber [of British -troops], and to accept my proposal as to Zobeir, to install him -in the Soudan and evacuate, then it is worth while to hold on to -Khartoum. If, on the other hand, you determine on neither of these -steps, then I can see no use in holding on to Khartoum, for it is -impossible for me to help the other garrisons, and I shall only -be sacrificing the whole of the troops and employés here. In this -latter case your instructions to me had better be that I should -evacuate Khartoum, and, with all the employés and troops, remove -the seat of Government to Berber. You would understand that such -a step would mean the sacrificing of all outlying places except -Berber and Dongola. You must give a prompt reply to this, as -even the retreat to Berber may not be in my power in a few days; -and even if carried out at once, the retreat will be of extreme -difficulty. - - -_P. 161. Same Date, 11.40 p.m._ - -If the immediate evacuation of Khartoum is determined upon, -irrespective of outlying towns, I would propose to send all Cairo -employés and white troops with Colonel Stewart to Berber, where he -would await your orders. I would also ask Her Majesty's Government -to accept the resignation of my commission, and I would take -all steamers and stores up to the Equatorial and Bahr Gazelle -provinces, and consider those provinces as under the King of the -Belgians. - - -[_P. 160._ Sir E. Baring comments that, owing to interruption of -the telegraph line, these and other messages did not reach him till -March 12. He instructed Gordon to hold on at Khartoum until he -could communicate further with the British Government, and on no -account to proceed to the Bahr Gazelle and Equatorial provinces.] - - -_P. 152. Earl Granville to Sir E. Baring, March 13, 1884._ - -If General Gordon is of opinion that the prospect of his early -departure diminishes the chance of accomplishing his task, and that -by staying at Khartoum himself for any length of time which he may -judge necessary he would be able to establish a settled Government -at that place, he is at liberty to remain there. In the event of -his being unable to carry out this suggestion, he should evacuate -Khartoum and save that garrison by conducting it himself to Berber -without delay. - - - - -CROSS PURPOSES (1884). - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Papers_, "Egypt," No. 13 of 1884, C 3,970. - - -_P. 9. Sir E. Baring to Earl Granville. Cairo, April 8, 1884._ - -In a telegram from Khartoum, General Gordon says: I wish I could -convey to you my impressions of the truly trumpery nature of this -revolt, which 500 determined men could put down. Be assured, for -present, and for two months hence, we are as safe here as at Cairo. -If you would get, by good pay, 3,000 Turkish infantry and 1,000 -Turkish cavalry, the affair, including crushing of Mahdi, would be -accomplished in four months. - - -_P. 12. Sir E. Baring to Earl Granville. Cairo, April 18, 1884._ - -Lately I have been sending telegrams to Berber to be forwarded -to Gordon. Since communication between Berber and Khartoum was -cut, his telegrams to me have taken from a week to ten days. My -telegrams to him appear to have taken even longer, and some, I -think, have not reached him at all. - - -_The Same, Later._ - -I have received another telegram from Gordon.... It is most -unfortunate that of all the telegrams I have sent to him only one -very short one appears to have reached him. He evidently thinks he -is to be abandoned, and is very indignant. - - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Papers_, "Egypt," C 3,998 of 1884. - -_P. 1. Gordon to Baring. Telegraphic. Khartoum, April 16, 1884, -5.15 p.m._ - -As far as I can understand, the situation is this: you state your -intention of not sending any relief up here or to Berber, and -you refuse me Zobeir. I consider myself free to act according to -circumstances. I shall hold on here as long as I can, and if I can -suppress the rebellion I shall do so. If I cannot, I shall retire -to the Equator, and leave you indelible disgrace of abandoning -garrisons of Senaar, Kassala, Berber, and Dongola, with the -certainty that you will be eventually forced to smash up the Mahdi -under great difficulties if you would retain peace in Egypt. - - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Papers_, "Egypt," C 3,970 of 1884. - -_P. 15. Earl Granville to Mr. Egerton, April 23, 1884._ - -Gordon should be at once informed, in cipher, by several messengers -at some interval between each, through Dongola as well as Berber, -or in such other way as may on the spot be deemed most prompt -and certain, that he should keep us informed, to the best of his -ability, not only as to immediate but as to any prospective danger -at Khartoum; that to be prepared for any such danger he advise -us as to the force necessary in order to secure his removal, its -amount, character, route for access to Khartoum, and time of -operation; that we do not propose to supply him with Turkish or -other force for the purpose of undertaking military expeditions, -such being beyond the scope of the commission he holds, and at -variance with the pacific policy which was the purpose of his -mission to the Soudan; that if with this knowledge he continues at -Khartoum, he should state to us the cause and intention with which -he so continues. Add expressions both of respect and gratitude for -his gallant and self-sacrificing conduct, and for the good he has -achieved. - - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Publications_, "Egypt," No. 21 of 1884, C -4,005. - -_Mr. Egerton to Earl Granville. Cairo, May 10, 1884._ - -The messengers sent in succession by the Governor of Dongola with -the ciphered message for Gordon have returned. He telegraphed -yesterday that they report that the rebels have invested Khartoum; -that, in consequence, excursions in steamers are made on the White -Nile in order to attack those on the banks; that the rebels have -constructed wooden shelters to protect themselves against the -projectiles; when the Government forces pursue them into these -shelters, the rebels take flight into the country beyond gun-shot; -that this state of things makes it impossible to get into Khartoum. - - -=Source.=--_Parliamentary Publications_, "Egypt," No. 22 of 1884, C -4,042. - -_Earl Granville to Mr. Egerton, May 17, 1884._ - -The following is the further message which Her Majesty's Government -desires to communicate to General Gordon in addition to that -contained in my telegram of the 23rd ultimo, which should be -repeated to him. Having regard to the time which has elapsed, Her -Majesty's Government desires to add to their communication of the -23rd April as follows: As the original plan for the evacuation of -the Soudan has been dropped, and as aggressive operations cannot -be undertaken with the countenance of Her Majesty's Government, -General Gordon is enjoined to consider and either to report upon, -or, if feasible, to adopt, at the first proper moment, measures -for his own removal and that of the Egyptians at Khartoum who have -suffered for him or who have served him faithfully, including their -wives and children, by whatever route he may consider best, having -especial regard to his own safety and that of the other British -subjects. With regard to the Egyptians above referred to, General -Gordon is authorized to make free use of money rewards or promises -at his discretion. For example, he is at liberty to assign to -Egyptian soldiers at Khartoum sums for themselves and for persons -brought with them per head, contingent on their safe arrival at -Korosko, or whatever point he may consider a place of safety; or -he may employ or pay the tribes in the neighbourhood to escort -them. In the event of General Gordon having despatched any persons -or agents to other points, he is authorized to spend any money -required for the purpose of recalling them or securing their safety. - - - - -GORDON'S POSITION (1884). - -I. - -=Source.=--_The Times_, July 29. - - -Last night at eleven o'clock the British and African Royal Mail -steamer _Kinsembo_ arrived in Plymouth Sound, having on board -Mr. H. M. Stanley, the African explorer. In the course of a -conversation with a correspondent, Mr. Stanley declared that -General Gordon might leave Khartoum whenever he chose, and had -three routes of escape open to him. He was a soldier, but not a -traveller. He would not leave Khartoum ingloriously. He could -escape by means of the Congo, the Nile, and across the desert to -Zanzibar. He could force his way through the country, because the -people would be afraid of an armed force. He is perfectly well -supplied with arms and ammunition, and is quite strong enough to -meet the Mahdi. Mr. Stanley derides the suggested expedition to -Khartoum, and says the men would die like flies when the summer is -waning. He says that Gordon only requires to act like a soldier, as -he believes he will, to settle the whole difficulty. - - -II. - -=Source.=--Holland's _Life of the Duke of Devonshire_, vol. i., p. -472 _et seq._ (Longmans.) - -On 29th July Lord Hartington circulated to the Cabinet his -own final memorandum on the subject. He said: "I wish before -Parliament is prorogued, and it becomes absolutely impossible to do -anything for the relief of General Gordon, to bring the subject -once more under the consideration of the Cabinet. On the last -occasion when it was discussed, although an opinion was expressed -that the balance of probability was that no expedition would be -required to enable General Gordon and those dependent on him to -leave Khartoum, I gathered that a considerable majority were in -favour of making some preparations, and taking some steps which -would make a relief expedition to Khartoum possible. I believe -that I have already stated the grounds on which I think that if -anything is now attempted it must be by the Valley of the Nile, -and not by the Suakin-Berber line. The delay which has taken place -makes it impossible that the railway should be constructed for -any considerable distance on that line during the next autumn -and winter, the period during which military operations would be -practicable without great suffering and loss of life to the troops. -The renewed concentration of the tribes under Osman Digna, near -Suakin, and the fall of Berber, makes it inevitable that severe -fighting would have to be done at both ends of the march, and, -in consequence of the necessity of crossing the desert in small -detachments, the engagement near Berber would be fought under -great disadvantages. On the other hand, we have for the defence -of the Nile itself been compelled to send a considerable force of -British and Egyptian troops up the Nile; and the positions which -are now occupied by those troops are so many stages on the advance -by the Nile Valley.... The proposal which I make is that a brigade -should be ordered to advance as soon as possible to Dongola by -the Nile.... I have not entered into the question whether it is -or is not probable that General Gordon can leave Khartoum without -assistance. As we know absolutely nothing, any opinion on this -subject can only be guess-work. But I do not see how it is possible -to redeem the pledges which we have given, if the necessity should -be proved to exist, without some such preparations and measures as -those which I now suggest...." Mr. Chamberlain minuted that he was -"against what is called an expedition, or the preparations for an -expedition." He did not think that the information was sufficient -to justify it. He thought that more information should first be -obtained.... Mr. Gladstone minuted (July 31): "I confess it to be -my strong conviction that to send an expedition either to Dongola -or Khartoum at the present time would be to act in the teeth of -evidence as to Gordon which, however imperfect, is far from being -trivial, and would be a grave and dangerous error." Mr. Gladstone -at the same time wrote to Lord Granville a letter, which the latter -forwarded to Lord Hartington. He said: "I had intended to give much -time to-day to collecting the sum of the evidence as to Gordon's -position, which appears to me to be strangely underrated by -some.... Undoubtedly I can be no party to the proposed despatch, as -a first step, of a brigade to Dongola. I do not think the evidence -as to Gordon's position requires or justifies, in itself, military -preparations for the contingency of a military expedition. There -are, however, preparations, perhaps, of various kinds which might -be made, and which are matters simply of cost, and do not include -necessary consequences in point of policy. To these I have never -offered an insuperable objection, and the adoption of them might -be, at the worst, a smaller evil than the evils with which we are -threatened in other forms. This on what I may call my side. On -the other hand, I hope I may presume that, while we are looking -into the matters I have just indicated, nothing will be done to -accelerate a Gordon crisis until we see, in the early days of next -week, what the Conference crisis is to produce." - - - - -GORDON'S OWN MEDITATIONS (1884). - -=Source.=--_General Gordon's Journal_, pp. 46, 56, 59, 93, 112. -(_Kegan Paul._) - - -_September 17._--Had Zobeir Pasha been sent up when I asked for -him, Berber would in all probability never have fallen, and one -might have made a Soudan Government in opposition to the Mahdi. -We choose to refuse his coming up because of his antecedents _in -re_ slave trade; granted that we had reason, yet as we take no -precautions as to the future of these with respect to the slave -trade, the above opposition seems absurd. I will not send up A. -because he will do this, but will leave the country to B., who will -do exactly the same. - -_September 19._--I was engaged in a certain work--_i.e._, to take -down the garrisons, etc. It suited me altogether to accept this -work (when once it was decided on to abandon the Soudan), which, -to my idea, is preferable to letting it be under those wretched -effete Egyptian Pashas. Her Majesty's Government agreed to send me. -It was a mutual affair; they owe me positively nothing, and I owe -them nothing. A member of Parliament, in one of our last received -papers, asked "whether officers were not supposed to go where -they were ordered?" I quite agree with his view, but it cannot -be said I was ordered to go. The subject was too complex for any -order. It was, "Will you go and try?" and my answer was, "Only too -delighted." As for all that may be said of our holding out, etc., -etc., it is all twaddle, for we had no option; as for all that -may be said as to why I did not escape with Stewart, it is simply -because the people would not have been such fools as to have let me -go, so there is an end of those great-coats of self-sacrifice, etc. -I must add _in re_ "the people not letting me go," that even if -they had been willing for me to go, I would not have gone, and left -them in their misery. - -_September 19._--Anyone reading the telegram 5th May, Suakin, 29th -April, Massowah, and _without_ date, Egerton saying, "Her Majesty's -Government does not entertain your proposal to supply Turkish or -other troops in order to undertake military operations in the -Soudan, and consequently if you stay at Kartoum you should state -your reasons," might imagine one was luxuriating up here, whereas, -I am sure, no one wishes more to be out of this than myself; the -_reasons_ are those horribly plucky Arabs. I own to having been -very insubordinate to Her Majesty's Government and its officials, -but it is my nature, and I cannot help it. - -_September 24._--I altogether _decline_ the imputation that the -projected expedition has come to _relieve me_. It has _come to -save our national honour in extricating the garrisons, etc., from -a position our action in Egypt has placed those garrisons_. As to -myself, I could make good my retreat at any moment if I wished. - -_September 29._--My idea is to induce Her Majesty's Government to -undertake the extrication of all people or garrisons, now hemmed in -or captive, and that if this is not their programme then to resign -my commission and do what I can to attain it (the object).... I say -this, because I should be sorry for Lord Wolseley to advance from -Dongola without fully knowing my views. If Her Majesty's Government -are going to abandon the garrisons, then do not advance. I say -nothing of evacuating the country; I merely maintain that if we do -so, everyone in the Soudan, captive or hemmed in, ought to have the -option and power of retreat. - - - - -THE FRANCHISE AND REDISTRIBUTION (1884). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, November 19. - - -The Representation of the People Bill was yesterday read a second -time in the House of Lords without a division, and without -discussion upon anything it contains.... The terms offered by -the Government, and now definitely accepted by the Opposition, -are, first, that the draft of the Redistribution Bill shall be -submitted in private to the Conservative leaders, in order that, by -suggesting the alterations they think necessary, they may convince -themselves of the equity and fairness of the measure. In the second -place, it is agreed that, when a Redistribution Bill satisfactory -to both parties has been framed, the Opposition will give to the -Government adequate assurance that the Franchise Bill shall pass -the House of Lords.... Lastly, the Government pledge themselves to -take up the Redistribution Bill as early as possible in the New -Year, to push it through its remaining stages with all possible -expedition, and, relying upon the loyal support of the Opposition -being given to the joint scheme, to stake not only their credit -but their existence upon the passing of the Bill into law in the -Session of 1885. - - - - -FEEDING POOR SCHOOL CHILDREN (1884). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, December 13. - - -The question of providing penny dinners for the children of the -London poor has received pretty ample discussion. Everybody -can form an idea now of the difficulties which will have to be -surmounted by the central committee of School Board managers and -teachers.... The vital principle of the scheme is that the dinners -shall be supplied on a self-supporting basis. In some places the -work has been undertaken with more zeal than knowledge, and there -has been quick disappointment. The Vicar of St. Mark's, Walworth, -who seems to doubt whether the scheme can be carried out on purely -commercial lines, tells us how fastidious are the children of the -poor. They turn from macaroni; they dislike the flavour of cabbage -boiled up in a stew; they will have nothing to say to haricot -beans, lentils, or salads; they mistrust soup; and are generally -most attracted by suet dumplings and jam or currant puddings. - - - - -THE DEATH OF GORDON (1885). - -=Source.=--Sir Reginald Wingate's _Mahdiism and the Egyptian -Soudan_, pp. 166-172. (Macmillans.) - - -Soon all that had been in the commissariat was finished, and -then the inhabitants and the soldiers had to eat dogs, donkeys, -skins of animals, gum, and palm fibre, and famine prevailed. The -soldiers stood on the fortifications like pieces of wood. The -civilians were even worse off. Many died of hunger, and corpses -filled the streets; no one had even energy to bury them.... We -were heartbroken; the people and soldiers began to lose faith in -Gordon's promises, and they were terribly weak from famine. At -last Sunday morning broke, and Gordon Pasha, who used always to -watch the enemy's movements from the top of the palace, noticed a -considerable movement in the south, which looked as if the Arabs -were collecting at Kalakala. He at once sent word to all of us who -had attended the previous meeting, and to a few others, to come at -once to the palace. We all came, but Gordon Pasha did not see us. -We were again addressed by Giriagis Bey, who said he had been told -by Gordon Pasha to inform us that he noticed much movement in the -enemy's lines, and believed an attack would be made on the town; he -therefore ordered us to collect every male in the town from the age -of eight, even to the old men, and to line all the fortifications, -and that if we had difficulty in getting this order obeyed we were -to use force. Giriagis said that Gordon Pasha now appealed to us -for the last time to make a determined stand, for in twenty-four -hours' time he had no doubt the English would arrive; but that if -we preferred to submit then, he gave the commandant liberty to open -the gates, and let all join the rebels. He had nothing more to -say. I then asked to be allowed to see the Pasha, and was admitted -to his presence. I found him sitting on a divan, and as I came in -he pulled off his tarboush (fez) and flung it from him, saying, -"What more can I say? I have nothing more to say; the people will -no longer believe me; I have told them over and over again that -help would be here, but it has never come, and now they must see I -tell them lies. If this, my last promise, fails, I can do nothing -more. Go and collect all the people you can on the lines, and make -a good stand. Now leave me to smoke these cigarettes." (There -were two full boxes of cigarettes on the table.) I could see he -was in despair, and he spoke in a tone I had never heard before. -I knew then that he had been too agitated to address the meeting, -and thought the sight of his despair would dishearten us. All the -anxiety he had undergone had gradually turned his hair to a snowy -white. I left him, and this was the last time I saw him alive.... -It was a gloomy day, that last day in Khartoum; hundreds lay dead -and dying in the streets from starvation, and there were none to -bury them. At length the night came, and, as I afterwards learnt, -Gordon Pasha sat up writing till midnight, and then lay down to -sleep. He awoke some time between two and three a.m. The wild -war-cries of the Arabs were heard close at hand. A large body of -rebels had crept in the dark close up to the broken-down parapet -and filled-up ditch, between the White Nile and the Messalamieh -Gate. The soldiers never knew of the enemy's approach until about -twenty minutes before they were actually attacked, when the tramp -of feet was heard, and the alarm was sounded; but they were so -tired out and exhausted that it was not until the sentries fired -that the rest of the men suddenly started up surprised, to find -swarms of Arabs pouring over the ditch and up the parapet, yelling -and shouting their war-cries. Here they met with little resistance, -for most of the soldiers were four or five paces apart, and were -too feeble to oppose such a rush. The Arabs were soon within the -lines, and thus able to attack the rest of the soldiers from -behind. They were opposed at some points, but it was soon all -over.... Meanwhile Gordon Pasha, on being roused by the noise, -went on to the roof of the palace in his sleeping clothes. He soon -made out that the rebels had entered the town, and for upwards of -an hour he kept up a hot fire in the direction of the attack. I -heard that he also sent word to get up steam in the steamer, but -the engineer was not there; he had been too frightened to leave his -house. As dawn approached Gordon Pasha could see the Arab banners -in the town, and soon the gun became useless, for he could not -depress it enough to fire on the enemy. By this time the Arabs had -crowded round the palace in thousands, but for a time no one dared -enter, for they thought mines were laid to blow them up. Meanwhile -Gordon Pasha had left the roof; he went to his bedroom, which was -close to the divan, and there he put on a white uniform, his sword, -which he did not draw, and, carrying his revolver in his right -hand, stepped out into the passage in front of the entrance to the -office, and just at the head of the staircase. During this interval -four men, more brave than the rest, forced their way into the -palace, and once in were followed by hundreds of others. Of these -latter, the majority rushed up the stairs to the roof, where, after -a short resistance, the palace guard, servants, and cavasses were -all killed; while the four men--Taha Shahin, a Dongolawi, whose -father was formerly in my service; Ibrahim Abu Shanab, servant of -George Angelleto; Hamad Wad Ahmed Jar en Nebbi, Hassani; and a -fourth, also a Dongolawi, servant to Fathallah Jehami--followed -by a crowd of others, knowing Gordon Pasha's room, rushed towards -it. Taha Shahin was the first to encounter Gordon beside the door -of the divan, apparently waiting for the Arabs, and standing with -a calm and dignified manner, his left hand resting on the hilt of -his sword. Shahin, dashing forward with the curse "Mala' oun el -yom yomek!" (O cursed one, your time is come!), plunged his spear -into his body. Gordon, it is said, made a gesture of scorn with his -right hand, and turned his back, where he received another spear -wound, which caused him to fall forward, and was most likely his -mortal wound. The other three men, closely following Shahin, then -rushed in, and, cutting at the prostrate body with their swords, -must have killed him in a few seconds. His death occurred just -before sunrise. He made no resistance, and did not fire a shot -from his revolver. From all I knew, I am convinced that he never -intended to surrender. I should say he must have intended to use -his revolver only if he saw it was the intention of the Arabs to -take him prisoner alive; but he saw such crowds rushing on him with -swords and spears, and there being no important emirs with them, he -must have known that they did not intend to spare him, and that was -most likely what he wanted.... Gordon Pasha's head was immediately -cut off and sent to the Mahdi at Omdurman, while his body was -dragged downstairs and left exposed for a time in the garden, where -many Arabs came to plunge their spears into it. I heard that the -Mahdi had given orders for Gordon to be spared, but what I have -stated was told me by the four men I have mentioned, and I believe -the Mahdi pardoned them for their disobedience of orders.... I saw -Gordon Pasha's head exposed in Omdurman. It was fixed between the -branches of a tree, and all who passed by threw stones at it. - - -[NOTE.--This account is from the journal of Bordeini Bey, an -eminent Khartoum merchant, who willingly gave up his large stores -of grain to Gordon for the supply of the garrison. He was taken -prisoner at the fall of the city.] - - - - -THE GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSIBILITY (1885). - -=Source.=--Lord Cromer's _Modern Egypt_, vol. i., p. 589. -(Macmillans.) - - -It has been already shown that General Gordon paid little heed to -his instructions, that he was consumed with a desire to "smash -the Mahdi," and that the view that he was constrained to withdraw -everyone who wished to leave from the most distant parts of the -Soudan was, to say the least, quixotic. The conclusion to be drawn -from these facts is that it was a mistake to send General Gordon -to the Soudan. But do they afford any justification for the delay -in preparing and in despatching the relief expedition? I cannot -think that they do so. Whatever errors of judgment General Gordon -may have committed, the broad facts, as they existed in the early -summer of 1884, were that he was sent to Khartoum by the British -Government, who never denied their responsibility for his safety, -that he was beleaguered, and that he was, therefore, unable to get -away. It is just possible that he could have effected his retreat, -if, having abandoned the southern posts, he had moved northward -with the Khartoum garrison in April or early in May. As time went -on, and nothing was heard of him, it became more and more clear -that he either could not or would not--probably that he could -not--move. The most indulgent critic would scarcely extend beyond -June 27 the date at which the Government should have decided on the -question of whether a relief expedition should or should not be -despatched. On that day the news that Berber had been captured on -May 26 by the Dervishes was finally confirmed. Yet it was not till -six weeks later that the Government obtained from Parliament the -funds necessary to prepare for an expedition. - - - - -THE VOTE OF CENSURE (1885). - -=Source.=--_Hansard_, Third Series, vol. 294, col. 1311. (House of -Lords debate on Egypt, February 26, 1885.) - - -THE MARQUIS OF SALISBURY: ... The conduct of Her Majesty's -Government has been an alternation of periods of slumber and -periods of rush, and the rush, however vehement, has always been -too unprepared and too unintelligent to repair the damage which -the period of slumber has effected.... The case of the bombardment -of Alexandria, the case of the abandonment of the Soudan, the -case of the mission of General Graham's force--they are all on -the same plan, and all show you that remarkable characteristic -of torpor during the time when action was needed, and hasty, -impulsive, ill-considered action when the time for action had -passed by. Their further conduct was modelled on their action in -the past. So far was it modelled that we were able to put it to the -test which establishes a scientific law. I should like to quote -what I said on the 4th of April, when discussing the prospect of -the relief of General Gordon. What I said was this: "Are these -circumstances encouraging to us when we are asked to trust that, -on the inspiration of the moment, when the danger comes, Her -Majesty's Government will find some means of relieving General -Gordon? I fear that the history of the past will be repeated in -the future; and just again, when it is too late, the critical -resolution will be taken; some terrible news will come that the -position of Gordon is absolutely a forlorn and hopeless one, and -then, under the pressure of public wrath and Parliamentary censure, -some desperate resolution of sending an expedition will be formed -too late to achieve the object which it is desired to gain." I -quote these words to show that by that time we had ascertained -the laws of motion and the orbits of those erratic comets who sit -on the Treasury Bench. Now the terrible responsibility and shame -rests upon the Government, because they were warned in March and -April of the danger to General Gordon, because they received every -intimation which men could reasonably look for that his danger -would be extreme, and because they delayed from March and April -right down to the 15th of August before they took a single measure -to relieve him. What were they doing all that time? It is very -difficult to conceive. What happened during those eventful months? -I suppose some day the memoirs will tell our grandchildren, but -we shall never know. Some people think there were divisions in -the Cabinet, and that after division on division a decision was -put off, lest the Cabinet be broken up. I am rather inclined to -think it was due to the peculiar position of the Prime Minister. -He came in as the apostle of the Midlothian campaign, loaded with -all the doctrines and all the follies of that pilgrimage. We have -seen on each occasion, after one of these mishaps, when he has been -forced by events and by the common sense of the nation to take some -active steps--we have seen his extreme supporters falling foul -of him, and reproaching him with having deserted their opinions -and disappointed the ardent hopes which they had formed of him as -the apostle of absolute negation in foreign affairs. I think he -has always felt the danger of that reproach. He always felt the -debt he had incurred to those supporters. He always felt a dread -lest they should break away; and he put off again and again to -the last practical moment any action which might bring him into -open conflict with the doctrine by which his present eminence was -gained. At all events, this is clear--that throughout those six -months the Government knew perfectly well the danger in which -General Gordon was placed. It has been said that General Gordon -did not ask for troops. I am surprised at that defence. One of -the characteristics of General Gordon was the extreme abnegation -of his nature. It was not to be expected that he should send -home a telegram to say, "I am in great danger, therefore send me -troops"--he would probably have cut off his right hand before -he would have sent a telegram of that sort. But he sent home -telegrams through Mr. Power, telegrams saying that the people of -Khartoum were in great danger; that the Mahdi would succeed unless -military succour was sent forward; urging at one time the sending -forward of Sir Evelyn Wood and his Egyptians, and at another the -landing of Indians at Suakin and the establishment of the Berber -route, and distinctly telling the Government--and this is the main -point--that unless they would consent to his views the supremacy of -the Mahdi was assured.... Well, now, my Lords, is it conceivable -that after two months, in May, the Prime Minister should have -said that they were waiting to have reasonable proof that Gordon -was in danger? By that time Khartoum was surrounded, the Governor -of Berber had announced that his case was hopeless, which was too -surely proved by the massacre which took place in June; and yet -in May Mr. Gladstone was still waiting for "reasonable proof" -that the men who were surrounded, who had announced that they had -only five months' food, were in danger.... It was the business -of the Government not to interpret General Gordon's telegrams -as if they had been statutory declarations, but to judge for -themselves of the circumstances of the case, and to see that those -who were surrounded, who were only three Englishmen among such a -vast body of Mohammedans, and who were already cut off from all -communications with the civilized world by the occupation of every -important town upon the river, were really in danger, and that if -they meant to answer their responsibilities they were bound to -relieve them. I cannot tell what blindness fell over the eyes of -some members of Her Majesty's Government.... - - - - -MORE FENIANISM (1885). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, January 26. - - -The "dynamite war," as it is called by the disloyal Irish and -the Irish-American outrage-mongers, was continued in London on -Saturday with some success to the perpetrators. Accepting the -privilege accorded to all comers to view the Houses of Parliament -and the Tower of London, they cunningly placed charged machines -of dynamite in the Crypt leading out of Westminster Hall, in -the House of Commons chamber itself, and caused, almost at -the same time, an explosion in the Tower of London. The first -explosion at Westminster was in the Hall itself. Some visitors -were passing through the Crypt, when one noticed a parcel on the -ground. It is described as the usual "black bag." ... The nearest -police-constable, Cole by name, picked up the smoking parcel, and -brought it to the entrance of the Crypt, where, from its heat or -some other cause, he dropped it. It was fortunate for him that -he did so, for in an instant a terrific explosion burst from the -parcel.... The stone flooring was shattered, and the rails round -the Crypt were somewhat twisted by the immediate blow of the -explosion. Its secondary effect was to break some of the windows, -and shake down from the vast beams of Irish oak, forming the roof, -the accumulated dust of ages.... The chamber of the House of -Commons presented the scene of a complete wreck from the second -explosion. The benches of the Government side were torn up, and -some of the seats had been hurled up into the gallery above.... -The explosion at the Tower of London was the most serious in its -effects of the three, for several persons were injured, some damage -was done to the building, and a fire ensued, lasting an hour.... -The explosive was placed between the stands of arms in the ancient -banqueting-room of the Tower. - - - - -NEW LABOUR MOVEMENTS (1885). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, January 31. - - -_Industrial Remuneration Conference._ - -Yesterday the delegates held their concluding sitting at Prince's -Hall, Piccadilly, when the subject set down for discussion was: -Would the more general distribution of capital or land, or the -State management of capital or land, promote or impair the -production of wealth and the welfare of the community?... - -The discussion on the papers was begun by Mr. Williams (Social -Democratic Federation), who said that if they left all the -machinery, all the railways, and all the mines in the hands of the -rich capitalists, the working classes would still continue to be -oppressed. They must either say that the Government had no right -to interfere with anything, or they must admit that the State -must equally interfere between the landlord, the capitalist, and -the labourer. He compared the part played by politicians like Mr. -Chamberlain, who directed their attacks exclusively against the -landlords, and spared the rich capitalists, to that sustained by -the Artful Dodger in "Oliver Twist." - -Mr. B. Shaw (Fabian Society) said he had no desire to give pain -to the burglar--if any of that trade were in the room--or to the -landlord or the capitalist, pure and simple; all he could say was -that all three belonged to the same class, and that the injury each -inflicted on the community was precisely of the same nature. - - -[NOTE.--The Social Democratic Federation had been founded in 1881; -the Fabian Society, a few weeks before this conference met.] - - - - -THE UNEMPLOYED (1885). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, February 17. - - -Yesterday afternoon three or four thousand of the unemployed of -London held a demonstration on the Embankment near Cleopatra's -Needle, and afterwards marched to Westminster, carrying banners. -From Whitehall a large number of the crowd passed into Downing -Street near the Premier's residence, where a Cabinet meeting was -being held at the time, but at the request of the police, of whom -an extra force were in attendance, the crowd moved round to King -Street, where they were addressed in somewhat inflammatory terms -by some of their speakers, who wore red badges. One speaker clung -to the top of a lamp-post, and thence harangued the crowd; another -spoke from a window-sill. Meantime, in the absence of Sir Charles -Dilke, who was at the Cabinet Meeting, Mr. G. W. E. Russell, -Parliamentary Secretary of the Local Government Board, received a -small deputation of the leaders.... At the close of the interview -the crowd marched back to the Embankment, where the following -resolution was passed unanimously: "That this meeting of the -Unemployed, having heard the answer given by the Local Government -Board to their deputation, considers the refusal to start public -works to be a sentence of death on thousands of those out of -work, and the recommendation to bring pressure to bear on the -local bodies to be a direct incitement to violence; further, it -will hold Mr. G. W. E. Russell and the members of the Government, -individually and collectively, guilty of the murder of those who -may die in the next few weeks, and whose lives would have been -saved had the suggestions of the deputation been acted on." - - (Signed) JOHN BURNS, ENGINEER. - JOHN E. WILLIAMS, LABOURER. - WILLIAM HENRY, FOREMAN. - JAMES MACDONALD, TAILOR. - - - - -WORKING MEN MAGISTRATES (1885). - -=Source.=--_The Manchester Guardian_, May 14. - - -We understand that it is in contemplation to raise a number of -workmen to the magisterial bench in the Duchy of Lancaster. The -first of the appointments is that of Mr. H. R. Slatter to the -Commission of the peace for the City of Manchester. He is Secretary -to the Provincial Typographical Association, and a member of the -Manchester School Board. It is understood that similar offers of -appointment to the magistracy have been made to Mr. T. Birtwistle, -of Accrington, Secretary to the Operative Weavers' Association of -North and North-east Lancashire, and Mr. Fielding, of Bolton, who -holds the post of Secretary to the local branch of the Operative -Cotton Spinners' Association. - - - - -TORY OLIVE-BRANCH TO IRELAND (1885). - -=Source.=--_Hansard_, Third Series, vol. 298, col. 1658. (House of -Lords, July 6, 1885.) - - -THE LORD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND (THE EARL OF CARNARVON): My Lords, -my noble friend [Lord Salisbury] has desired that I should state to -your Lordships the general position that Her Majesty's Government -are prepared to occupy with regard to Irish affairs, and I hope -to do so in comparatively few sentences. I need not tell your -Lordships what everyone in this House knows, the nature of the -events which have brought us to the present position. It will be -perhaps sufficient if, by quoting a few figures, I show what the -state of agrarian crime was a few years ago, what it has since -been in the interval, and what it is at the present time. In 1878 -agrarian crime in Ireland stood at 301 cases. In the following -year there were 860, and in the three following years--1880, 1881, -and 1882--the cases reached the enormous totals of 2,580, 4,439, -and 3,433 respectively. In 1883, after the Crimes Act had passed, -agrarian crimes fell to 870, and last year to 762. I ought perhaps -to supplement that statement by saying that in 1884 I think that -there was no case of the worst form of agrarian crime. I think that -there was not one case of actual murder, and the calendars promise -to be of a comparatively, if not singularly, light character. The -substance therefore of the statement is that, whereas crime rose -in those three years to an enormous figure, it has since fallen -to what I do not call an absolutely normal level, but to the same -level--in fact, below the level of 1879. In these circumstances the -question has naturally arisen--what Her Majesty's Government are -to do; and it is impossible to conceive a graver or more serious -matter on which to deliberate. Within a very short time--indeed, -within a time to be numbered by weeks--the Crimes Act expires, and -the question is, What course should be taken? Three courses are -possible. Either you may re-enact the Crimes Act in the whole, -or you may re-enact it in part, or you may allow it to lapse -altogether. I think very few persons would be disposed to advocate -its re-enactment as a whole. The more serious and practical -question is whether it shall be re-enacted in part. The Act having -produced, as all agree, its effect, and three years having lapsed, -it seems hard to call on Parliament once more to re-enact it. -I believe for my part that special legislation of this sort is -inexpedient. It is inexpedient while it is in operation, because -it must conjure up a sense of restlessness and irritation; and -it is still more inexpedient when it has to be renewed at short -intervals, and brings before the mind of the people of the country -that they are to be kept under peculiar and exceptional coercion. -Now I have looked through a good many of the Acts that have been -passed, I may say, during the last generation for Ireland, and -I have been astonished to find that ever since the year 1847, -with some very short intervals which are hardly worth mentioning, -Ireland has lived under exceptional and coercive legislation. -No sane man can admit that this is a satisfactory or wholesome -state of things. It does seem to me that it is very desirable, -if possible, to extricate ourselves from this miserable habit, -and to aim at some wholesome and better solution. But, more than -being undesirable, I hold that such legislation is practically -impossible, if it is to be continually and indefinitely re-enacted. -I think it was Count Cavour who said that it is easy to govern in -a state of siege. It may be easy to govern in a state of siege -for a time, but to attempt to govern permanently is, I believe, -utterly impossible. It may be said that this is a question of -trust. No doubt it is a question of trust; but trust begets trust, -and it is after all the only foundation upon which we can hope -to build up amity and concord between the two nations. I know of -nothing more sad than to see how, instead of diminishing under -the healing process of time, there has been a growth of ill-will -between these two nations; and I think it is time to try how far we -may appeal to better feelings. I for my part believe that Ireland -will justify the confidence which is shown her when this Act is -allowed to lapse. If I am asked further as to policy, I will speak -generally in these terms. So far as the mere administration of the -law is concerned, it is our hope and intention to administer the -ordinary law firmly and effectually. So far as the larger field of -Government, which includes law, and more than law, is concerned, -I hope we shall deal justly, and that we shall secure perhaps a -somewhat better, wholesomer, and kindlier relation, I will not -say merely between classes, creeds, or races, but between the -rulers and the ruled. I cannot and will not lightly believe that -the combination of good feeling to England and good government -to Ireland is a hopeless task. My Lords, I do not believe that -with honesty and single-mindedness of purpose on the one side, -and with the willingness of the Irish people on the other, it is -hopeless to look for some satisfactory solution of this terrible -question. My Lords, these I believe to be the views and opinions -of my colleagues. And just as I have seen in English colonies -across the sea a combination of English, Irish, and Scotch settlers -bound together in loyal obedience to the law and the Crown, and -contributing to the general prosperity of the country, so I cannot -conceive that there is any irreconcilable bar here in their native -home and in England to the unity and amity of the two nations. - - - - -THE FIRST SUBMARINE (1885). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, October 1. - - -The interest excited by the recent trials of the Nordenfeldt -submarine boat is sufficiently shown by the presence at Landskrona -of thirty-nine officers, representing every European Power, -together with Brazil and Japan. The Nordenfeldt boat, the first of -its class, was built at Stockholm about two years ago. The boat is -cigar-shaped, with a coffin-like projection on the top amidships, -formed by vertical combings supporting a glass dome or conning -tower, 1 foot high, which enables the commander to see his way. -The dome, with its iron protecting cover, stands on a horizontal -lid, which can be swung to one side to allow the crew of three men -to get in or out without difficulty. The length of the hull is -64 feet, and the central diameter 9 feet. It is built of Swedish -mild steel plates ⅝ inch thick at the centre, tapered to ⅜ inch -at the ends.... In order to prepare for action, enough sea-water -is taken in to reduce the buoyancy to 1 cwt., which suffices to -keep the conning tower well above the surface. In order to sink -the boat further, the vertical propellers are set in motion, and -by their action it is held at the required depth. Thus to come -to the surface again it is merely necessary to stop the vertical -propellers, in which case the reserve of buoyancy at once comes -into play.... The motive power is steam alone. For submarine work, -as stoking is, of course, impossible, the firebox has to be sealed. -It is therefore necessary to store the requisite power beforehand, -and this is done by heating the water in two tanks placed fore -and aft, till a pressure of about 150 pounds per square inch is -obtained. With about this initial pressure the boat has been driven -for sixteen miles at a speed of three knots.... No compressed -air is carried, and the crew depend therefore for existence on -the amount of air sealed up in the hull. With this amount of air -only, four men have remained for a period of six hours without any -special inconvenience. - - - - -THE UNAUTHORIZED PROGRAMME (1885). - -=Source.=--Morley's _Life of Gladstone_, vol. iii., pp. 173, 174, -220-226. (Macmillans.) - - -Mr. Chamberlain had been rapidly advancing in public prominence, -and he now showed that the agitation against the House of Lords -was to be only the beginning and not the end. At Ipswich (January -14) he said this country had been called the paradise of the -rich, and warned his audience no longer to allow it to remain the -purgatory of the poor. He told them that reform of local government -must be almost the first reform of the next Parliament, and spoke -in favour of allotments, the creation of small proprietors, the -placing of a small tax on the total property of the taxpayer, and -of free education. Mr. Gladstone's attention was drawn from Windsor -to these utterances, and he replied that though he thought some -of them were "on various grounds open to grave objection," yet -they seemed to raise no "definite point on which, in his capacity -of Prime Minister, he was entitled to interfere and lecture the -speaker." A few days later, more terrible things were said by Mr. -Chamberlain at Birmingham. He pronounced for the abolition of -plural voting, and in favour of payment of members, and manhood -suffrage. He also advocated a bill for enabling local communities -to acquire land, a graduated income-tax, and the breaking up of the -great estates as the first step in land reform.... - -Mr. Gladstone made a lenient communication to the orator, to the -effect that "there had better be some explanations among them when -they met." ... He recognized by now that in the Cabinet the battle -was being fought between old time and new. He did not allow his -dislike of some of the new methods of forming public opinion to -prevent him from doing full justice to the energetic and sincere -public spirit behind them.... - -The address to his electors ... was given to the public on -September 17. It was, as he said, as long as a pamphlet.... The -Whigs, we are told, found it vague, the Radicals cautious, the -Tories crafty; but everybody admitted that it tended to heal -feuds.... Mr. Chamberlain, though raising his own flag, was -respectful to his leader's manifesto. The surface was thus stilled -for the moment; yet the waters ran very deep.... - -[Gladstone] goes on to say that the ground had now been -sufficiently laid for going to the election with a united front, -that ground being the common profession of a limited creed or -programme in the Liberal sense, with an entire freedom for those -so inclined to travel beyond it, but not to impose their own sense -upon all other people.... If the party and its leaders were agreed -as to immediate measures ... were not these enough to find a -Liberal administration plenty of work ... for several years?... - -An advance was made in the development of a peculiar situation by -important conversations with Mr. Chamberlain [at Hawarden: these] -did not materially alter Mr. Gladstone's disposition [but the first -crisis which promptly developed tended to obscure the direct issue]. - - - - -THE IRISH VOTE (1885). - -=Source.=--Morley's _Life of Gladstone_, vol. iii., pp. 188-245. -(Macmillans.) - - -On May 15 Mr. Gladstone announced ... that they proposed to -continue what he described as certain clauses of a valuable and -equitable description in the existing Coercion Act. - -No Parliamentary situation could be more tempting to an astute -Opposition. The signs that the Cabinet was not united were -unmistakable.... The key to an operation that should at once, with -the aid of the disaffected Liberals and the Irish, turn out Mr. -Gladstone and secure the English elections, was an understanding -with Mr. Parnell.... Lord Salisbury and his confidential friends -had resolved [previous to the defeat of the Government], subject -to official information, to drop coercion, and the only visible -reason why they should form the resolution at that particular -moment was its probable effect upon Mr. Parnell. [Meanwhile] the -policy of the Central Board [for Ireland], of which Mr. Gladstone -so decisively approved, had been killed.... When it came to the -full Cabinet it could not be carried. [June 6. Government defeated -on an amendment to the Budget by 264 to 252.] The defeat of the -Gladstone Government was the first success of a combination -between Tories and Irish that proved of cardinal importance to -policies and parties for several critical months to come.... The -new Government were not content with renouncing coercion for the -present. They cast off all responsibility for its practice in -the past.... In July a singular incident occurred, nothing less -strange than an interview between the new Lord-Lieutenant [Lord -Carnarvon] and the leader of the Irish party. To realize its full -significance we have to recall the profound odium that at this -time enveloped Mr. Parnell's name in the minds of nearly all -Englishmen.... The transaction had consequences, and the Carnarvon -episode was a pivot. The effect on the mind of Mr. Parnell was easy -to foresee.... Why should he not believe that the alliance formed -in June ... had really blossomed from a mere lobby manœuvre and -election expedient into a policy adopted by serious statesmen? - -[In Midlothian, on November 9, Mr. Gladstone said:] "It will be a -vital danger to the country and to the empire, if at a time when a -demand from Ireland for larger powers of self-government is to be -dealt with, there is not in Parliament a party totally independent -of the Irish vote." ... Mr. Gladstone's cardinal deliverance in -November had been preceded by an important event. On October 7, -1885, Lord Salisbury made that speech at Newport which is one of -the tallest and most striking landmarks in the shifting sands of -this controversy.... Some of the more astute of the Minister's own -colleagues were delighted with his speech, as keeping the Irishmen -steady to the Tory party.... The question on which side the Irish -vote in Great Britain should be thrown seems not to have been -decided until after Mr. Gladstone's speech. It was then speedily -settled. On November 21 a manifesto was issued, handing over the -Irish vote in Great Britain solid to the orator of the Newport -speech. The tactics were obvious. It was Mr. Parnell's interest to -bring the two contending British parties as near as might be to a -level, and this he could only hope to do by throwing his strength -upon the weaker side. It was from the weaker side, if they could -be maintained in office, that he would get the best terms.... -Some estimated the loss to the Liberal party in this island at -twenty seats, others at forty. Whether twenty or forty, these -lost seats made a fatal difference in the division on the Irish -Bill a few months later.... But this was not all, and was not the -worst of it.... Passions were roused, and things were said about -Irishmen that could not at once be forgotten; and the great task -of conversion in 1886, difficult in any case, was made a thousand -times more difficult still by the antipathies of the electoral -battle of 1885. Meanwhile it was for the moment, and for the -purposes of the moment, a striking success. - - - - -THE NEW ELECTORATE (1885). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, December 11. - - -From a carefully prepared statistical abstract of the election it -appears that in the English counties, out of a total electorate of -2,303,133 voters, 1,937,988 votes were recorded, in the proportion -of 1,020,774 Liberal votes to 916,314 Conservative. - - - - -THE OPENING OF THE RIFT (1886). - -=Source.=--Morley's _Life of Gladstone_, vol. iii., pp. 292-295. -(Macmillans.) - - -What Mr. Gladstone called the basis of his new government was set -out in a short memorandum, which he read to each of those whom he -hoped to include in his Cabinet: "I propose to examine whether it -is or is not practicable to comply with the desire widely prevalent -in Ireland, and testified by the return of eighty-five out of -one hundred and three representatives, for the establishment by -statute of a legislative body to sit in Dublin, and to deal with -Irish as distinguished from Imperial affairs, in such a manner -as would be just to each of the three kingdoms, equitable with -reference to every class of the people of Ireland, conducive to -the social order and harmony of that country, and calculated to -support and consolidate the unity of the Empire on the continued -basis of Imperial authority and mutual attachment." No definite -plan was propounded or foreshadowed, but only the proposition -that it was a duty to seek a plan. The cynical version was that a -Cabinet was got together on the chance of being able to agree. To -Lord Hartington Mr. Gladstone applied as soon as he received the -Queen's commission. The invitation was declined on reasoned grounds -(January 30th). Examination and inquiry, said Lord Hartington, must -mean a proposal. If no proposal followed inquiry, the reaction of -Irish disappointment would be severe, as it would be natural. He -could not depart from the traditions of British statesmen, and he -was opposed to a separate Irish legislature. At the same time, -he concluded, in a sentence afterwards pressed by Mr. Gladstone -on the notice of the Queen: "I am fully convinced that the -alternative policy of governing Ireland without large concessions -to the national sentiment, presents difficulties of a tremendous -character, which in my opinion could now only be faced by the -support of a nation united by the consciousness that the fullest -opportunity had been given for the production and consideration -of a conciliatory policy...." The decision was persistently -regarded by Mr. Gladstone as an important event in English -political history. With a small number of distinguished individual -exceptions, it marked the withdrawal from the Liberal party of the -aristocratic element.... - -Mr. Goschen, who had been a valuable member of the great Ministry -of 1868, was invited to call, but without hopes that he would -rally to a cause so startling; the interview, while courteous -and pleasant, was over in a very few minutes. Lord Derby, a man -of still more cautious type, and a rather recent addition to the -officers of the Liberal staff, declined, not without good nature. -Most lamented of all the abstentions was the honoured and trusted -name of Mr. Bright. - - - - -"ULSTER WILL FIGHT" (1886). - -=Source.=--Winston Churchill's _Life of Lord Randolph Churchill_, -vol. ii., pp. 60-65. (Macmillans.) - - -Lord Randolph crossed the Channel and arrived at Larne early on the -morning of February 22. He was welcomed like a king.... That night -the Ulster Hall (in Belfast) was crowded to its utmost compass. -In order to satisfy the demand for tickets all the seats were -removed, and the concourse--which he addressed for nearly an hour -and a half--heard him standing. He was nearly always successful -on the platform, but the effect he produced upon his audience at -Belfast was one of the most memorable triumphs of his life.... "Now -may be the time," he said, "to show whether all these ceremonies -and forms which are practised in Orange lodges are really living -symbols or only idle and meaningless ceremonies; whether that which -you have so carefully fostered is really the lamp of liberty, and -its flame the undying and unquenchable fire of freedom.... Like -Macbeth before the murder of Duncan, Mr. Gladstone asks for time. -Before he plunges the knife into the heart of the British Empire, -he reflects, he hesitates.... The Loyalists in Ulster should wait -and watch--organize and prepare. Diligence and vigilance ought to -be your watchword; so that the blow, if it does come, may not come -upon you as a thief in the night, and may not find you unready, and -taken by surprise. I believe that this storm will blow over, and -that the vessel of the Union will emerge with her Loyalist crew -stronger than before; but it is right and useful that I should add -that if the struggle should continue, and if my conclusions should -turn out to be wrong, then I am of opinion that the struggle is not -likely to remain within the lines of what we are accustomed to look -upon as constitutional action. No portentous change such as the -Repeal of the Union, no change so gigantic, could be accomplished -by the mere passing of a law. The history of the United States will -teach us a different lesson; and if it should turn out that the -Parliament of the United Kingdom was so recreant from all its high -duties, and that the British nation was so apostate to traditions -of honour and courage, as to hand over the Loyalists of Ireland to -the domination of an Assembly in Dublin, which must be to them a -foreign and an alien assembly, if it should be within the design -of Providence to place upon you and your fellow-Loyalists so heavy -a trial, then, gentlemen, I do not hesitate to tell you most truly -that in that dark hour there will not be wanting to you those of -position and influence in England who would be willing to cast in -their lot with you, and who, whatever the result, will share your -fortunes and your fate. There will not be wanting those who, at -the exact moment, when the time is fully come--if that time should -come--will address you in words which are perhaps best expressed by -one of our greatest English poets: - - 'The combat deepens; on, ye brave, - Who rush to glory or the grave. - Wave, Ulster--all thy banners wave, - And charge with all thy chivalry.'" - -... A few weeks later, in a letter to a Liberal-Unionist member, he -repeated his menace in an even clearer form: "If political parties -and political leaders, not only Parliamentary but local, should be -so utterly lost to every feeling and dictate of honour and courage -as to hand over coldly, and for the sake of purchasing a short and -illusory Parliamentary tranquillity, the lives and liberties of -the Loyalists of Ireland to their hereditary and most bitter foes, -make no doubt on this point--Ulster will not be a consenting party; -Ulster at the proper moment will resort to the extreme arbitrament -of force; Ulster will fight, Ulster will be right; Ulster will -emerge from the struggle victorious, because all that Ulster -represents to us Britons will command the sympathy and support of -an enormous section of our British community, and also, I feel -certain, will attract the admiration and the approval of free and -civilized nations." - - - - -SALISBURY ON HOME RULE (1886). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, April 14. - - -_Demonstration at Her Majesty's Theatre against the Home Rule Bill._ - -LORD SALISBURY: ... The great result which I hope from the -brilliant debates that have taken place is that the conviction -will be carried home to the British people that there is no -middle term between government at Westminster and independent -and entirely separate government at Dublin. If you do not have a -Government in some form or other issuing from the centre you must -have absolute separation. Now I ask you to look at what separation -means. It means the cutting off from the British Islands of a -province tied to them by the hand of Nature. It is hard to find a -parallel instance in the contemporary world, because the tendency -of events has been in the opposite direction. In every country you -find that consolidation, and not severance, has been the object -which statesmen have pursued. But there is one exception. There -is a State in Europe which has had very often to hear the word -"autonomy," which has had more than once to grant Home Rule, and -to see separation following Home Rule. The State I have referred -to is Turkey. Let anyone who thinks that separation is consistent -with the strength and prosperity of the country look to its effect, -its repeated effect, when applied to a country of which he can -judge more impartially.... Turkey is a decaying Empire; England, I -hope, is not. But I frankly admit that this is not the only reason -which urges me. The point that the Government have consistently -ignored is that Ireland is not occupied by a homogeneous and -united people. In proportions which are variously stated, which -some people state as four-fifths to one-fifth, but which I should -be more inclined to state as two-thirds to one-third, the Irish -people are deeply divided, divided not only by creed, which may -extend into both camps, but divided by history and by a long -series of animosities, which the conflicts that have lasted during -centuries have created. I confess that it seems to me that Whiteboy -Associations, and Moonlight Associations, and Riband Associations, -and murder committed at night and in the open day, and a constant -disregard to all the rights of property--these things make me -doubt the angelic character which has been attributed to the Irish -peasantry. I do not for a moment maintain that they are in their -nature worse than other people. But I say there are circumstances -attaching to Ireland--circumstances derived from history that is -past and gone through many generations--which make it impossible -for us to believe that, if liberty, entire liberty, were suddenly -given to them, they would be able to forget the animosities of -centuries and to treat those who are placed in their power for the -first time with perfect justice and equity. You must not imagine -that with a wave of a wand by any Minister, however powerful, the -effects of centuries of conflict and exasperation will be wiped -away.... My belief is that the future government of Ireland does -not involve any unmanageable difficulty. We want a wise, firm, -continuous administration of the law. We want a steady policy. But -you must support it, or it will not take place. There has been -a great contest between England and the discontented portion of -the Irish people. It is a contest that has lasted through many -generations past, through many vicissitudes, and now you are asked -to submit to a measure which is placed before you, and to end that -contest by a complete and ignominious surrender. It is not a -surrender marked by the mere ordinary circumstances of ignominy. It -is a painful thing for a great nation to lose a battle and have to -acknowledge defeat. It is a painful thing if defeat involves loss -of territory, and the nation has to be content with a restricted -Empire. But these things do not represent the depth of infamy to -which you will descend. There is something worse than all this, -and that is when defeat is marked by the necessity of abandoning -to your enemies those whom you have called upon to defend you, and -who have risked their all on your behalf. That is an infamy below -which it is impossible to go; that is an infamy to which you are -asked to submit yourselves now. Your enemies in every part of the -world will be looking on what you do with exultation. Your friends, -your supporters, your partisans, will view it with shame, with -confusion, and with dismay in every quarter of the globe. - - - - -MR. GLADSTONE'S APPEAL (1886). - -=Source.=--_Hansard_, Third Series, vol. 295, col. 649. Second -reading of the Home Rule Bill, June 7th. - - -Ireland stands at your bar expectant, hopeful, almost suppliant. -Her words are the words of truth and soberness. She asks a blessed -oblivion of the past, and in that oblivion our interest is deeper -even than hers. You have been asked to-night to abide by the -traditions of which we are the heirs. What traditions? By the Irish -traditions? Go into the length and breadth of the world, ransack -the literature of all countries, find if you can a single voice, -a single book, in which the conduct of England towards Ireland is -anywhere treated except with profound and bitter condemnation. Are -these the traditions by which we are exhorted to stand? No; they -are a sad exception to the glory of our country. They are a broad -and black blot upon the pages of its history, and what we want to -do is to stand by the traditions of which we are the heirs in all -matters except our relations with Ireland, and to make our relation -with Ireland conform to the other traditions of our country. So we -treat our traditions, so we hail the demand of Ireland for what I -call a blessed oblivion of the past. She asks also a boon for the -future; and that boon for the future, unless we are much mistaken, -will be a boon to us in respect of honour, no less than a boon to -her in respect of happiness, prosperity, and peace. Such, sir, is -her prayer. Think, I beseech you; think well, think wisely, think, -not for the moment, but for the years that are to come, before you -reject this Bill. - - - - -LIBERAL UNIONISM (1886). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, May 17. - - -The Conservative leaders will do well to say plainly that they -will not attack any Liberal seats held by representatives who have -voted against the Home Rule Bill, whatever prospect there may have -otherwise been of displacing the sitting members, or whatever -provocation may have been given in former contests. By this course -Conservatives can insure the return, with very few exceptions, of -all the Liberal members who have declared against the Bill. It is -open to them to assail the seats held by Gladstonian Liberals, -and on the principle of conjoint action they will be entitled, -in assailing those seats, and in defending those they at present -occupy, to the support of all Liberal Unionists. - - - - -THE UNEMPLOYED RIOTS (1886). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, February 9. - - -There is serious work before the new Home Secretary and his -working-man colleague, Mr. Broadhurst. Yesterday there occurred -the most alarming and destructive riot that has taken place in -London for many years, or perhaps we may say the most destructive -that has taken place within living memory. The destruction of the -Hyde Park railings in 1866 was in some respects a more threatening -affair, as being the work of a bigger mob; but that, unlike the -present business, was not accompanied by the wholesale destruction -of property and the looting of shops. Yesterday a mob some -thousands strong marched along Pall Mall, St. James's Street, and -Piccadilly to Hyde Park, then broke into several sections, and -returned by South Audley Street, Oxford Street, Regent Street, -and other routes, smashing windows, wrecking private carriages, -and robbing jewellers' and other shops, utterly unchecked by -the police, and leaving only one or two of their number in the -hands of the authorities.... The occasion of all this lamentable -affair was the great meeting of the unemployed which took place -in Trafalgar Square. As our readers are aware, this meeting was -but the culmination of many attempts that have been made lately -to attract public attention to what is a very real difficulty and -hardship. At last the time came for the men to gather in Trafalgar -Square. But unfortunately there was not that perfect harmony in -their proceedings which might have been desired. Some groups were -simply unemployed labourers, come in all honesty of purpose to hear -what could be said for them, and their chances of finding work. -Some were fair-traders, anxious to impress on the Government that -foreign bounties and other tariff enormities were at the root of -the mischief. But with these moderately pacific bodies were the -more dangerous element brought into the meeting by Messrs. Hyndman, -Burns, and Champion. The Revolutionary Social Democrats were there, -with the express object of breaking up the meeting called by Mr. -Kenny and his friends, and of "preventing people being made the -tools of the paid agitators who were working in the interests -of the Fair Trade League." It cannot be too clearly understood -that it was to the proceedings of these men--of Mr. Burns and Mr. -Hyndman and their colleagues--that all the subsequent destruction -was due.... Already on several occasions the fanatic Hyndman has -done his best to break the peace, from the time when, a year or -two ago, he told the crowd on the Thames Embankment that their -principle should be a life for a life--the life of a Minister for -that of every working-man who starved--down to the time when at -the Holborn Town Hall he offered to head "the Revolution." Burns -is as vehement, and his voice carries further. He yesterday told -the mob that "the next time they met it would be to go and sack the -bakers' shops in the West of London," and that "they had better die -fighting than starving." He and his red flag led the mob yesterday -in their march. - - - - -BIMETALLISM AND LABOUR DISPUTES (1886). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, February 19. - - -_Extract from a Letter by Lord Grey._ - -Some portion of public attention ought to be given to a subject -of very pressing importance--that of the "scarcity of gold." The -share which the enhancement of the value of gold has probably had -in producing these disastrous strikes seems not to have attracted -sufficient notice. The fall of prices from the growing scarcity -of gold has necessarily made the same wages for labour really -higher than they formerly were, while at the same time this fall -of prices has diminished the total return from labour and capital -employed in production.... Probably this has not been sufficiently -well understood by either masters or men, but the masters have -practically felt that they could no longer afford to pay the same -money wages they used to do, while the men have not understood the -necessity for such a reduction. What I would propose is that £1 -notes, payable in silver bullion, should be issued, but only in -exchange for the same bullion after a certain fixed amount of them -had been sent into circulation. But this bullion I should propose -to give or receive in exchange for notes, not at any fixed price -for silver, but at the market price of the metal, which should be -published weekly in the _Gazette_. By this arrangement it will -be perceived that silver would be largely used as an instrument -for carrying on the business of exchange, without incurring the -inconvenience which seems to be inseparable from the scheme of the -bimetallists, who would establish by law a fixed price for silver -and for gold. As the cost of producing these metals is liable to -variation, I cannot understand how the bimetallists can expect -that fixing their comparative prices by law could prevent that -which could at the moment be most cheaply produced from driving -the other out of circulation, since all who had to pay money would -naturally make use of the cheapest money they could get. - - - - -PASTEUR AND HYDROPHOBIA (1886). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, January 8. - - -_Extract from an Article on "Science in 1885."_ - -We may here refer to the momentous work of M. Pasteur in connection -with hydrophobia. That he has discovered a remedy for one of -the most terrible afflictions to which humanity is liable it -would probably be premature to say; but that he has taken every -precaution against self-deception must be admitted, and so far as -he has gone it is difficult to discredit his results. - - - - -THE FINAL HOME RULE RUPTURE (1886). - -=Source.=--Morley's _Life of Gladstone_, vol. iii., pp. 364-368. -(Macmillans.) - - -As it happened, all this [Randolph Churchill's resignation of the -Exchequer, and Goschen's appointment] gave a shake to both of -the Unionist wings. The ominous clouds of coercion were sailing -slowly but discernibly along the horizon, and this made men in the -Unionist camp still more restless and uneasy. Mr. Chamberlain, on -the very day of the announcement of the Churchill resignation, -had made a speech that was taken to hold out an olive-branch to -his old friends. Sir William Harcourt ... thought the break-up -of a great political combination to be so immense an evil as to -call for almost any sacrifices to prevent it. He instantly wrote -to Birmingham to express his desire to co-operate in reunion, -and in the course of a few days five members of the original -Liberal Cabinet of 1886 met at his house in what is known as the -Round Table Conference (Sir W. Harcourt, Mr. Chamberlain, Lord -Herschell, Sir George Trevelyan, and myself).... Mr. Gladstone gave -the Round Table his blessing, his "general idea being that he had -better meddle as little as possible with the Conference, and retain -a free hand." Lord Hartington would neither join the Conference -nor deny that he thought it premature.... On the other side, -both English Liberals and Irish Nationalists were equally uneasy -lest the unity of the party should be bought by the sacrifice of -fundamentals.... Mr. Parnell, though alive to the truth that when -people go into a conference it usually means that they are willing -to give up something, was thoroughly awake to the satisfactory -significance of the Birmingham overtures. - -Things at the Round Table for some time went smoothly enough. -Mr. Chamberlain gradually advanced the whole length. He publicly -committed himself to the expediency of establishing some kind of -legislative authority in Dublin in accordance with Mr. Gladstone's -principle, with a preference, in his own mind, for a plan on the -lines of Canada. This he followed up, also in public, by the -admission that of course the Irish legislature must be allowed -to organize their own form of executive government, either by an -imitation on a small scale of all that goes on at Westminster and -Whitehall, or in whatever other shape they might think proper.... -Then the surface became mysteriously ruffled. Language was used -by some of the plenipotentiaries in public, of which each side in -turn complained as inconsistent with conciliatory negotiations in -private. At last, on the very day on which the provisional result -of the Conference was laid before Mr. Gladstone, there appeared -in a print called _The Baptist_ an article from Mr. Chamberlain -containing an ardent plea for the disestablishment of the Welsh -Church, but warning the Welshmen that they and the Scotch crofters, -and the English labourers--thirty-two millions of people--must all -go without much-needed legislation because three millions were -disloyal, while nearly six hundred members of Parliament would -be reduced to forced inactivity because some eighty delegates, -representing the policy and receiving the pay of the Chicago -Convention, were determined to obstruct all business until their -demands were conceded. Men naturally asked what was the use of -continuing a discussion when one party to it was attacking in this -peremptory fashion the very persons and the policy that in private -he was supposed to accept. Mr. Gladstone showed no implacability -... he said ... "I am inclined to think we can hardly do more -now.... We are quite willing that the subject should stand over for -resumption at a convenient season." - -The resumption never happened. Two or three weeks later Mr. -Chamberlain announced that he did not intend to return to the -Round Table. No other serious and formal attempt was ever made on -either side to prevent the Liberal Unionists from hardening into a -separate species. When they became accomplices in coercion they cut -off the chances of reunion. - - - - -THE COMING OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION (1887). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, March 17. - - -Lord Hartington made a striking speech last night to the -Polytechnic Young Men's Christian Institute. In the presence of -such an audience a text was perhaps needed, and he took as his -text some remarks made by Professor Huxley, who lately pointed -out the instructive likeness between warfare and industry. If -we are well advised--and Lord Hartington has no misgivings on -the subject--in spending freely to protect ourselves against -aggression, it is equally our duty to be not niggardly in providing -industrial education, and diffusing scientific knowledge. It is the -condition of industrial supremacy, and it is not an unattainable -condition. A Watt or even an Edison is born, not made. But the -knowledge of drawing, mechanics, mathematics, and chemistry, and -other sciences or arts, which aid the artisan in his daily work, -may be imparted, and on the spread of such knowledge may depend -the continuance of industrial supremacy. Great commanders cannot -be called into being; but in the main it depends on the rank and -file of the army of industry whether its battles are lost or won. -How is the work to be accomplished? In answer to this question -Lord Hartington let fall one or two remarks which, though not -offering a complete solution, are, if we mistake not, likely to be -fruitful in consequences. The State, he is satisfied, cannot do all -or much; and he is struck with the inability of purely voluntary -efforts to meet the demand. He finds the necessary assistance, if -anywhere, in our municipal institutions. "I hope the time is not -far distant when our town councils or local governing bodies will -establish in every considerable centre industrial and technical -schools, suitable to the wants of the district, and supported out -of local funds." The institutions which now imperfectly do the -work of diffusing technical instruction "are playing the same part -in relation to technical and industrial education that was played -by the voluntary schools in relation to elementary education." -This points to a national system of technical education; it is the -largest and clearest conception of the subject which any public man -of importance has put forth. - - - - -THE FIRST "GUILLOTINE" CLOSURE (1887). - -=Source.=--_Hansard_, Third Series, vol. 315, col. 1674, June 10. - - -Ordered: That at ten o'clock p.m. on Friday, the 17th day of June, -if the Criminal Law Amendment (Ireland) Bill be not previously -reported from the Committee of the whole House, the Chairman -shall put forthwith the Question or Questions on any amendment or -motion already proposed from the Chair. He shall next proceed and -successively put forthwith the Question that any clause then under -consideration, and each remaining clause in the Bill, stand part of -the Bill, unless progress be moved as hereinafter provided. After -the clauses are disposed of, he shall forthwith report the Bill, as -amended, to the House. - -From and after the passing of this Order, no motion that the -Chairman do leave the Chair, or do report progress, shall be -allowed, unless moved by one of the members in charge of the Bill, -and the Question on such motion shall be put forthwith. - -If progress be reported on 17th June the Chairman shall put this -Order in force in any subsequent sitting of the Committee. - - - - -JUBILEE RETROSPECTS (1887). - -I. - -=Source.=--An article by Mr. Gladstone in _The Nineteenth Century_, -vol. xxi., p. 1. - - -The Prophet of the new Locksley Hall records against us many sad, -and even shameful, defaults. They are not to be denied, and the -list might probably be lengthened. The youngest among us will not -see the day in which new social problems will have ceased to spring -up as from the depths, and vex even the most successful solvers of -the old; or in which this proud and great English nation will not -have cause, in all its ranks and orders, to bow its head before -the Judge Eternal, and humbly to confess to forgotten duties, or -wasted and neglected opportunities. It is well to be reminded, -and in tones such as make the deaf man hear, of city children who -"soak and blacken soul and sense in city slime"; of maidens cast by -thousands on the street; of the sempstress scrimped of her daily -bread; of dwellings miserably crowded; of fever as the result. But -take first the city child as he is described. For one such child -now there were ten, perhaps twenty, fifty years back. A very large, -and a still increasing proportion of these children have been -brought under the regular teaching and discipline of the school. -Take the maidens who are now, as they were then, cast by thousands -on the streets. But then, if one among them were stricken with -penitence, and sought for a place in which to hide her head, she -found it only in the pomp of paid institutions, and in a help well -meant, no doubt, yet carrying little of what was most essential, -sympathetic discrimination, and mild, nay even tender care. Within -the half-century a new chapter has opened. Faith and love have gone -forth into the field. Specimens of womankind, sometimes the very -best and highest, have not deemed this quest of souls beneath them. -Scrimping of wages, no doubt, there is and was. But the fair wage -of to-day is far higher than it was then, and the unfair wage is -assumably not lower. Miserable and crowded dwellings, again, and -fever as their result, both then and now. But legislation has in -the interval made its attempts in earnest; and if this was with -awkward and ungainly hand, private munificence or enterprise is -dotting our city areas with worthy dwellings. Above all, have we -not to record in this behalf martyred lives, such as those of -Denison and Toynbee? Or shall we refuse honourable mention to not -less devoted lives, happily still retained, of such persons as -Miss Octavia Hill? With all this there has happily grown up not -only a vast general extension of benevolent and missionary means, -but a great parochial machinery of domestic visitation, charged -with comfort and blessing to the needy, and spread over so wide -a circle, that what was formerly an exception may now with some -confidence be said to be the rule. If insufficiencies have come to -be more keenly felt, is that because they are greater, or because -there is a bolder and better trained disposition to feel them?... - -I will refer as briefly as may be to the sphere of legislation. -Slavery has been abolished. A criminal code, which disgraced the -Statute Book, has been effectually reformed. Laws of combination -and contract, which prevented the working population from obtaining -the best price for their labour, have been repealed. The lamentable -and demoralizing abuses of the Poor Law have been swept away. Lives -and limbs, always exposed to destruction through the incidents of -labour, formerly took their chance, no man heeding them, even when -the origin of the calamity lay in the recklessness or neglect of -the employer. They are now guarded by preventive provisions, and -the loss is mitigated, to the sufferers or their survivors, by -pecuniary compensation. The scandals of labour in mines, factories, -and elsewhere, to the honour, first and foremost, of the name -of Shaftesbury, have been either removed, or greatly qualified -and reduced. The population on the sea-coast is no longer forced -wholesale into contraband trade by fiscal follies; and the Game -Laws no longer constitute a plausible apology for poaching. The -entire people have good schools placed within the reach of their -children, and are put under legal obligation to use the privileges -and contribute to the charge. They have also at their doors the -means of husbanding their savings, without the compromise of their -independence by the inspection of the rector or the squire, and -under the guarantee of the State to the uttermost farthing of the -amount. Information through a free press, formerly cut off from -them by stringent taxation, is now at their easy command. Their -interests at large are protected by their votes, and their votes -are protected by the secrecy which screens them from intimidation -either through violence, or in its subtler forms. - -It is perhaps of interest to turn from such dry outlines as may be -sketched by the aid of almanacs to those more delicate gradations -of the social movement, which in their detail are indeterminate -and almost fugitive, but which in their mass may be apprehended, -and made the subject of record. Pugilism, which ranges between -manliness and brutality, and which in the days of my boyhood, in -its greatest celebrations, almost monopolized the space of journals -of the highest order, is now rare, modest, and unobtrusive. But, -if less exacting in the matter of violent physical excitements, -the nation attaches not less but more value to corporal education, -and for the schoolboy and the man alike athletics are becoming an -ordinary incident of life. Under the influence of better conditions -of living, and probably of increased self-respect, mendicity, -except in seasons of special distress, has nearly disappeared. If -our artisans combine (as they well may) partly to uphold their -wages, it is also greatly with the noble object of keeping all the -members of their enormous class independent of public alms. They -have forwarded the cause of self-denial, and manfully defended -themselves even against themselves, by promoting restraints -upon the traffic in strong liquors. In districts where they are -most advanced, they have fortified their position by organized -co-operation in supply. Nor are the beneficial changes of the -last half-century confined to the masses. Swearing and duelling -established until a recent date almost as institutions of the -country, have nearly disappeared from the face of society.... At -the same time the disposition to lay bare public mischiefs and drag -them into the light of day, which, though liable to exaggeration, -has perhaps been our best distinction among the nations, has become -more resolute than ever.... - -The sum of the matter seems to be that, upon the whole and in -a degree, we who lived fifty, sixty, seventy years back, and -are living now, have lived into a gentler time; that the public -conscience has grown more tender, as indeed was very needful; and -that, in matters of practice, at sight of evils formerly regarded -with indifference, or even connivance, it now not only winces, but -rebels; that upon the whole the race has been reaping, and not -scattering; earning, and not wasting. - - -II. - -=Source.=--_The Times_, June 21. - -The men of the Victorian age have lived in the midst of almost -cataclysmic mental changes. New facts have rained upon them with -a rapidity that baffles hypothesis, and stamps theory as obsolete -before half the world has become reconciled to its existence. In -such a time of intellectual flux anything like monumental art is -impossible, since neither the artist nor the age possesses the -permanence of mood required for a true presentment. Although, -however, the Victorian era has not produced much that the most -liberal charity can conceive as belonging to all time, it has -shown immense fertility and vigour in supplying the intellectual -wants of the present. In all but those supreme manifestations of -the human intellect which we ascribe to genius, its products are -at least equal, and in most cases superior, to those of any period -of our history, while in quantity and variety of intellectual -effort, and in diffusion of intellectual interest, it is entirely -unapproachable. - - - - -"REMEMBER MITCHELSTOWN" (1887). - -=Source.=--_The Times_, October 19. - - -(MR. GLADSTONE at Nottingham): The case I have now to mention -goes further than that. It is the Mitchelstown case. I was -responsible for putting in a telegraphic answer to a telegram the -words, "Remember Mitchelstown," and Mitchelstown will and must -be remembered, and the meeting has an account to settle with the -Government in respect to Mitchelstown. I should have been glad to -have sealed my own lips, had not the Government sent forth its -testimony, its solemn, downright, unequivocal judgment that the -proceeding at Mitchelstown were right.... What did Mr. Balfour -say, when the Irish Nationalist members brought up the question of -the proceedings at Mitchelstown? He said that the whole action of -the police was in the face of the most tremendous provocation, and -absolutely in self-defence. He said that when the order to fire was -given the order was to fire only on those portions of the crowd who -were engaged in throwing stones.... Three human beings lost their -lives under the fire of the police. I cannot say three men, for in -the ordinary sense of the word they were not men. Two of them had -been men, and were in harmless old age. The other was growing to be -a man, and was still in harmless boyhood. Not one of these three -persons is even alleged to have thrown a stone. Not one of them, if -I recollect aright, is even alleged to have carried a stick.... Is -not this a melancholy and a miserable farce--tragic, too, in the -highest degree, when we consider that these trumpery proceedings, -perhaps of some casual boys or men, who are only able in the -utmost of their wrath and in the supply of stones that they could -command to break two or three windows in the police barracks--that -these are to be represented as leading and heading an attack which -caused a humane and intelligent body of the representatives of the -Government to fire out of windows, to kill three persons, one of -them distant 100 yards away, and two others sixty yards away. I -have said, and say again, "Remember Mitchelstown!" - - - - -"BLOODY SUNDAY" (1887). - -=Source.=--Mackail's _Life of William Morris_, vol. ii., p. 190. - - -The restlessness among the working classes culminated in the -famous scenes of the 13th of November (1887), "Bloody Sunday," -in and round Trafalgar Square. A meeting in the Square had been -announced to protest against the Irish policy of the Government; -it had been proclaimed by the police, and became converted into -a demonstration on a huge scale. No one who saw it will ever -forget the strange, and indeed terrible, sight of that grey -winter day, the vast sombre-coloured crowd, the brief but fierce -struggle at the corner of the Strand, and the river of steel and -scarlet that moved slowly through the dusky swaying masses when -two squadrons of the Life Guards were summoned up from Whitehall. -Only disorganized fragments straggled into the Square, to find -that the other columns had also been headed off or crushed, and -that the day was practically over. Preparations had been made to -repel something little short of a popular insurrection. An immense -police force had been concentrated, and in the afternoon the Square -was lined by a battalion of Foot Guards, with fixed bayonets and -twenty rounds of ball cartridge. For an hour or two the danger was -imminent of street-fighting such as had not been known in London -for more than a century. But the organized force at the disposal -of the civil authorities proved sufficient to check the insurgent -columns and finally clear the streets without a shot being fired. -For some weeks afterwards the Square was garrisoned by special -drafts of police. Otherwise London next day had resumed its usual -aspect. Once more the London Socialists had drawn into line with -the great mass of the London Radicals, and a formidable popular -movement had resulted, which, on that Sunday, was within a very -little of culminating in a frightful loss of life and the practical -establishment of a state of siege in London. But the English spirit -of compromise soon made itself felt.... Measures were taken for the -relief of the unemployed. Political Radicalism resumed its normal -occupations; and by the end of the year the Socialist League had -dropped back into its old place, a small body of enthusiasts among -whom an Anarchist group were now beginning to assume a distinct -prominence. - - - - -FIRST REPORT ON THE RAND (1887). - -=Source.=--_The Board of Trade Journal_, December. - - -_Extracts from a Report, dated 4th October, by Mr. Ralph Williams, -British Officer at Pretoria._ - -On the 20th September, 1886, the Witwatersrand district was -declared a public goldfield, and from that date the history -of Johannesburg begins. For some months the town was known as -Ferreira's Camp, and the Natal Camp, and it was not till, perhaps, -March last that the present town of Johannesburg became recognized -as the central point of the goldfields of the district. From that -date the growth of the town has been almost unprecedented.... Large -hotels exist which equal in accommodation anything in South Africa. -Warehouses are full of all that can be obtained even at Cape Town. -A theatre--rough, it is true, but of considerable capacity--is in -full working order. Four banks are at work. Three newspapers are -published every other day.... The actual number of the population -I can hardly estimate, opinions differing so greatly. In the town -of Johannesburg itself I am disposed to think there are about -4,000 people. The outlying districts also contain a very large -population, probably nearly equalling that of the town. - -The reefs which constitute the wealth of the Witwatersrand are -entirely different from any development which has yet been -worked.... The principal reef, which has now been traced to a -distance of between twenty-five and thirty miles, is called the -"main reef." It may be taken to have an average breadth of from 3 -feet 6 inches to 15 feet. It has in several places been tested to -a depth of 70 feet, in every case being proved to be better and -richer at the lower levels than at the surface. - -An inspection of the properties and inquiry into the cost of -production cannot fail to impress one with the fact that, if these -reefs are found to have sufficient depth, one of the richest -goldfields in the world has now come to light. - - -BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD - - - - - TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE - - There is only one Footnote in this book, marked [A] on page 29. It - has been placed at the end of the short section containing the anchor. - - Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been - corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within - the text and consultation of external sources. - - Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, - and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example, - sea-coast, sea coast; to-night; employés; overboil; mendicity. - - Pg 13, 'slighest evidence' replaced by 'slightest evidence'. - Pg 68, 'the British Goverment' replaced by 'the British Government'. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Imperialism and Mr. Gladstone, by Various - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IMPERIALISM AND MR. 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