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GLADSTONE ( ONTAININO A Full Account of the Most Celebrated Orator and Statesman of Modern Times COMPRISING THE GRAPHIC STORY OF HIS LIFE ; HIS BRILLIANT GENIUS AND REMARKABLE TRAITS OF CHARACTER; GRAND ACHIEVEMENTS AS A LEADER AND PRIME MINISTER; HIS MAGNIFICENT TRN UMPHS IN GREAT POLITICAL STRUGGLES, ETC. A NOBLE EXAMPLE TO ALL ASPIRING YOUNG MEN INCLUDING HIS Famous Speeches and Orations; Striking Incidents in His Career; Personal Anecdotes, Reminiscences, Etc. BY D. M. KELSEY Author of "Gems of Genius," "Pioneer Heroes and Their Daring Deeds," Etc. Embellished with a large number of Superb Phototype and Wood Engravings R. A. H. MORROW, ST. JOHN, NEW BRUNSWICK. Bntered according to Act^f Congress, in the year 1898, by J. R. JONES, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. G All Rights Reserved. PREFACE, QO other Englishman of the past or the present has ' ^ oTadstre" 'tT'T ,■" "^'^ »-'^y than Mn Lradstoue. This leeling in his behalf does not spnng altogether from an admiration for his in ellec Zf :^T: Z ''^ '^™='<' --i statesmanlike vi^ws" eutertamed by him. Nor has it arisen only from svm pathy w:th the liberality of his opinions. ItTs rafher" toeeable to a sincere respect for his capacity for growth We might easily elaborate this proposition by i £^1 ^i references; but the field is too broad for thorouSi would r" '' "^'^"''^"' ■"°"'^"'' -" '■ cur.oryXee would be worse than useless K'<'nce Believing that it is this quality which has made him I le aim of the writer to trace the progress vear S„ S^Tib'^""' T''""^^'^ Tor^^snf to :nr;uaH^ positive Liberalism. At the same time there has been no efifort made to fit the facts to the thoory as I some t.mes done under similar circumstances, fbr the sfmolJ reason that nothing of the kind was nec^sar ^ There are a number of biographies of Mr Gladstone of more or less value, to which the writer be^sil.' express indebtedness. Chief amonlT, -l ^^ "* work of Mr r R c v^" ^ ^ "'^'" '^ '''^ '^^reful umes there if'nf T ' '" ''^'"' '^° '"S^ °^t«vo vol- Journdtt " r ''"^*'"^ °^^<'^"'- A "London not, hotver been r" T}'' '"^^P"^' -'"^'^ I"- admini adon If ,>r^^* t'V''^'" "'^" *^^ ^-""-^ applicable to the .Imf^fAir J H ''"'''''^ '' C. W Tones' litfl 1 • ^- Emerso-. Mr. w. Jones little volume ,s an admirable one as far as 4 Preface, it goes; and Mr. Lucy's merit in co:.nection vvitli this subject IS too well known for comment to be necessaty here. It is to be regretted that his book contains no more matter than an average magaj^ine article. In addition to these biographies, there lias been fre- quent consultation of works of a less special character. 'The Gladstone Government," by a Templar- T P O'Connor's "Gladstone's House of Commons," and Justm McCarthy's " England Under Gladstone,' will at once suggest themselves. But in addition to these there should be specified the Rev. W. N. Molesworth's ^'History of England Since 1830," and others of like character. Cooke's ''History of Party," McCarthys "Epoch of Reform," and several memoirs of the time, have been used in writing of the Reform Bill of 1832 ; and there has been careful reference to special biogra- pnies of Sir Robert Peel and others of similar importance in the narrative. The tone of these works has been so uniformly kind and admiring that Louis J. Jennings' work, " Mr. Glad- stone : a Study," has perhaps been invaluable as giving the extreme view of the other side of the question. The writer has also studied, in this connection, Mr. Gladstone's own writings, both in the " Gleanings of Past Years " and elsewhere. Many points of interest have been drawn from the periodicals,— daily, weekly, and monthly. All of the leading American publications have been made to con- tribute something; while 7emple Bar, the Times and other London dailies, and the Loudon illustrated week- lies, may be named in the same connection. Of course the whole thread of the latter portion of the narrati^'e is drawn from the newspapers, since the biography is complete up to the time of issue. I CONTENTS. 9 CHAP^aR I. ANCESTRY AND EDUCATION. Napole.>n and Wellingion-yreat Pi.. ,c Questions-Family of tiie Cladstones- Birth (,t- the Subject of the Present Memoir-Scotch Parentage-Ea Education-Wealth of the Family-Sketcli of Lord Brougham-Mr Gladstone at Eton-A Gulprit Called Up for Correction-.Wvu .t of Arthur Henry Ha) lau. -Papers Published at Eton-Troublen in Ireiand- Cann.ng an.l His Ministry-Mr. Gladstone Brought Up as a Tory-Clhur- acteristic Anecdote-The Future Premier at Oxford-Life as a Student- Jiarly Promise of Great Distinction ,„ ■ • • • ly CHAPTER II. THE BEGINNING OP PUBLIC LIFE. Interest in Political Questions-Keaction After the War-Destitution of tl-e toIh^rs-Seuts m Parliament Bought and Sold-How Elections were Ccnduoted-Duke of Wellington as Priu.e Minister-Plan of Reform Fury of the Tory Peeis-Address to the Electors at Newark-Mr. Gh,,'.. stone Elected to Parliament -The Slavery Question-Eloquent Speeches- Bec^ues Identified wxth Great Public Questions-Rising Star in t' e Po" t- icai i'lrmament. . . ^-im 44 CHAPTER III. EARLY OFFICIAL LIFE. Whig ye,^us Tories -Trained in Early Life to Speak in Public- Account of S.r Robert Peel-Even.s Following the Pa-.age of the Reform IT-Lf G a stone as Jan.or L-rd of the Treasury-Canadian Troubles of ISsV- Death of King v., Iham IV. -Address to His Constituents-Accession of uT; wa:':iu cr~'';" ^^^r " ''- ^---y Questionei: Prince Jonsorr ^'""^-^"^^" ^ '^*-'"'« M.rriage-Popularity of the : ' 09 Contents. CHAPTER IV. GLADSTONE VS. DISRAELI. Repeal of the Corn Laws— DisriPli ;« p i- j;!thy Savings a^ :^t ^S:^^^ :, ^^^^^^^ ^'^^-^^- Division Among the Tories-Glad to...' T > ' ''"'^ l^rotectionists - -His Growing Lib«ranr-'iW, V ^"f" °" *''^ Navigation Laws ^ents-KemonstranoT of Fran :andt;" .^""''^-^^ n^erston-The Celebrated JorE^^l^^^^^^ ^^^d 1.1- tion-Ecclesiastical Titles Bill-Mr n: • ^^^f''«"« -^^^eud^ His Ac- Eulog, on the Du.e of Wellingt;n.:SCt::n,:^1i;:;:;;^^^^^^^^^ CHAPTER V. THE MINISTRY OP ALL THE TALENTS. Mr. Gla Istone's Early Political Faith-His Act of « ir , • . Toward Leaving the Conservative Party-Hl./;"'"'-''"^* ""''^ New Chancellor of the Excheauerrwir, "^ ^"'"^ons and the Debate ou the IncoraeT^^^^^^^ be Obeved-MeasurL IT p^ ^"^ War-Will of the People Must Views W th P erconfort vf ' ^r"-'^^"^^ ^^""^'^ ^-- I>--H - Lord Paimei^tcn-Lord John R,!!" r '°"' '^^^^ ^^""'^'r^' ^7 Continuance of the wir Deb"tf " 'P*^'''^ °^ ^'^••- «'-'«tonei • . . 132 CHAPTER VI. PROGRESSING TOWi^RDS LIBERALISM. Treaty Following the Crimean W-^ p r, , cerningth'eConlinen :i P,t-^H:„^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ""' Pan-Agitation Con- Enlistment of Foreigners ni p"' .""'^\ f "^^''^^n-Bill Providing f.r , he Criticism Upon tirG;rn";int'?F"- p^^'" ^"^''^"^ '"'"'^ ^-"i-^ MHJority Against the Government-' ttomnt to ^ "'' ."^ ' °™'"«"«- the French-RemarkablePernrat on by Mr m" ;\"""'";*^ ''^ ^-U-eror of Cabinet-Lord Derby at the -o^:!:;:^! ^L:^" ^^ CHAPTER VII. THE PALMERSTON MINISTRY. Lord Macau'ay-Eminent Men in Parlir,i O reece - Pn^i; Bright'a Return to Pari inentaiy Reform ment iment -The Ionian Islands- A -For VffUS n HI lai ign Relations of England — M A Mm Ahead of His Time-Con trov ersy Contents. « Fear of I,n„,i„„bv;L,t ??!;„' ! °"""'.7-l'»'"'-'™ in OHice- COMPTER VIII. EMANCIPATION PROM TORYISM. Wet Weather and Poor H.orvests-Dull Session in P r ings Banks-Garibaldi and His Sd S" ? ^,f '^"^^^^'-I'^ostv ^ce Say- Liberal, of Italy-I,„pro~\fn M ^^^^^^^^ ^^"''*'""« ^^f^"^« ^J^- Opposition-Bitter Att'ekon g" Ion! f "" ^ Finances-Protest of ,he Jonian Islands again-l^Jl n ^^'^'"' ""^ '^' ^'«P«^ Duty-The Reduction of the' 1^1^' C:T '"' J'" ^"^"«^" Civil War- Working Classes-Osbone-^ I~' f s " f .^r^""" '^^ ^^^-^he and State-Mr. Gladstone ^^Z^I^ZT:'- ".^.^^ CHAPTER IX. REPRESENTING SOUTH LANCASHIRE Vioto,y- Speeches irS.nd'nT' P ''". ^-"'^•'--Oladstone's Reforn. RiH-Raisin/ ^c^T^r .t l"^""^' '^ ^^^''^ ^-^y-A New Mr. CUadstone- Scotch and IH^: 4tr.i^s n"\"'~u'^"'"^ ^^""'"^"* «» ^r the Liberals-Various Bil^t ti^'!:;;!!;: "!'. ^'--^"^^0"^^ CHAPTER X. THE FIRST GLADSTONE MINISTRT I'een-r,i.h I „„d SvMemlRn f° ,u f '"'"''P™''"" ''"""g the Ed«a,i„„--En,!M. Ton*,, S "irb^G^rt t ■' 'T'-X-^* '- of F™noe.,„a P„.,;,_«„,„, Co;,l,'':ftt,lT*TZ" «-- 265 s Contents. CHAPTER XI. THE FIRST GLADSTONE MINISTRY. (COM'INUED.) Dangerous Illness of the Prince of Wales— Trouble on the Liquor Question- Gladstone's Sharp Retort on Disraeli— Army of Titmouses— Uallct Bill Again Introduced— Third Attempt to Settle tlie Irish Question- Justice to Ireland— Gladstone Determines to Resign -Important Clianges in the Ministry— Disraeli's Manifesto— Circular to the Liberal Members of Par- liament-Bill for the Regulation of Public Worship -Endowed Schools - Gladstone's Retirement from the Leadership of tiie Liberal Party— Pre- paring for New Legislation— Active Interest in Public Aliairs. ... 300 CHAPTER XII. GLADSTONE IN OPPOSITION. Eastern Question— Turkey Does Nothing but Pro> .ise- Suicide of the Turkish Sultan— Oriental Races— Explanations by Disraeli— Raised to the Peerage —Bulgarian Horrors— Lord Salisbury in the East— Earl of Shaftesbury— Duke of Argyle— Lord George Hamilton— Gladstone's Pamphlet on the TurkishQuestion— Action in Parliament on tlie Turkish Situation— Pro- tracted Debate— Vote of Credit— " Peace with Honor"— Sir Stafford Northcote— (iladstone Arraigns the C^overnment— Triumphal March Through Scotland— " Grand Old Man "—Great Ovations Everywhere. 318 CHAPTER XIII. THE SECOND GLADSTONE MiNISTRY. Great Liberal IMnjority— Imi)o:\ance of the Irish Question— Mr. Bradlaugh in Parliament— Lord Randolph Churchill— Great Expectations from the Ciladstone Ministry— Treaty of Berlin Concerning Montenegro— Claims of Greece— Trying to Adjust Domestic Taxes— Game Laws— Post-oflice Department— Illness of Mr. Gladstone— Irish Laud Law not Satisfactory —Peace Preservation Act— Irish Eviction (-Home Rulers— Land League —Long Debate— Coercion Bills- Eloquent Speecii of John Bright— Mem- orable Scene in the House of Commons— Ludicrous Incidents- Mr. Rir- uell and Irish Legislation -Final Passage of the Irish Bill 330 CHAPTER XIV. THE SECOND GLADSTONE MINISTRY. (CoxTrxFKn.) Mr. Bradlaugh Once Mr)re— Home Rule— The Lords and the Land Act— Amena- ment of the Rules— Arrears Bill— Concessions to th? Irish— Phoeuix Park ■i. Contents. 9 M.irders -Crimes Bill - Obstruction - Friends Failiug-The Egyptian tiuestiou-Bombardment of Alexandria-Autumn Sebsion-Forster's At- tack on Gladstone-The Reply-Explosives BiU-And Still, Mr. Brad- iaugh— Minor Legislation— The Soudan Difficulties-Irrepressible Mr. Bradlaugh-The Egyptian Trouble Continues-The Afghan Boundary- Failure of the Soudan War— The Budget- A Sleepy Time— Waking Up— A Great Speech— A Great Surprise— Fall of the Ministry 387 CHAPTER XV. THIRD AND FOURTH ADMINISTRATIONS. Mr. Gladstone Again in Scotland— Lord Salisbury on Public Questions-Eesult of the Elections— Third Gladstone Ministry— Advocaes Giving Ireland the Right to Make Her Own Laws— Irish Land Purciiase Bill— Second Reading of Irish Home Rule Bill-Eloquent Appeal on Behalf of Ireland —Irish Bills Condemned by John J^right-Rupture Between the Two Great Leaders-General Election of 1886-Defeat of the Liberals-Policy of Coercion— Action of the Tory Government— The Premier's Retirement —Lord Rosebery.. Successor to Mr. Gladstone 4iy CHAPTER XVI. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS, DOMESTIC RELA- TIONS, AND LITERARY CAREER. Estimates of Mr. Gladstone's Ability— General Appear.ince-Not a Narrow Man -Marr;age and Home Life— Hawarden Estate— Mannerisms— Speed; id Licerary Style— Spontaneous Eloquence- Great Partv Lendfir—Stnrlo and les oquence- Great Party Leader— Student and Man of Lettera— Private Library— Scholar and Writer-Religious Character ^^430 CHAPTER XVII. MR. GliADSTONE'S DEATH AND OBSEQUIES. Mr. Gladstone in the South of France— Return from Cauties-Signs of Growing "Weakness— Peaceful Death— Universal Demonstrations of Grief-Tele- grams ot Sympathy— Adjournment of the House of Commons -The Queen and Prince of Wales Express Their Sympathy-Tributes from the Newspnper Press— Telegrams fr. the Government of the United States- Estimate of Mr. Gladstone by Prominent Americans— Lying in State at Westminster-Great Throngs of People View the Remains-Remarkable Demonstration at Mr. Gladstone's Public Funeral— Burial in Westminster Abbey ^^g 10 Contents. O CHAPTER XVIII. MR. GLADSTONE ON THE ARMENIAN QUESTION. Not a Party Question-The Resolutions-Dreadlnl Words to Speak-Witnesbes to the Massacres-Report of Dr. Dillon-Ilunder, Murder, Rape, and Torture— Responsibiliiy of the Turkish Government-The Turk Ouglit to Marcli Out cf Armenia- What is to Become of Cliristians in the Turkish Empire?— Sad and Terrible Story 4(.2 CHAPTER XIX. GLADSTONE ON THE BEACONSFIELD MINISTRY. Dissolution of Parliament-Reply to Opponents— A Serious Position-Policy of the Government— Responsible for Other Countries— Turkey a Scaudal to the World-Derby and Beaconsfield— Turkey Encouraged to Ho to V/ar— Treaties With Europian Nations-Policy of Austria -Worshi}=pers of Success—Treatment of the Sultan— Tory Government to be Tried by its Principles _^-o CHAPTER XX. THE IRISH QUESTION. Personal Explanation— Domestic Government for Ireland- Six Conditions for Home Rule-Repelling Attacks - Trivial Disputes-All Great Movements Small in the Beginning- Fnilure of Parliament to Legislate for Ireland- Attempt to do Justice to the Irish— Union of the Kingdoms to be Main- taiued-Trish Affairs to Be Settled in Ireland— Movement Against Rent- Mr. Parnell's Party— Central Authority— Home Rule to Be Safeguarded— Urgency of the <4uestion— Charge of Being in Haste 489 ■». f !sa i LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE. CHAPTER I. ANCESTRY AND EDUCATION Napoleon and Welliugion— Greaf PmKi;-, n • Birth of the lubject of i,! p'^rAr"""''""''^^' '""^ Glad«tones- Ech^cation-Wealth of t FamH^ Mernoir-Scotch Parentage- Earl v Gladstone at Eton-A Sdp.it ri^rw?\"' ^^'^ Brougham-M;. Arthur Henry Ifaliam-S VS^ i" ^^«"«=^-"-Account of Canning and His Ministo'-Tir n ,1 «*/*«"-Troubles in Jreland- aeteristic Anecdote-The Future pl' .TT''* ^^ '' ^ Tory-Chur- Early Promise of Great D,^S^^^^^ '' Oxford-Life as a Stude.t- ^*- name • ItaW n„,l t ■ r.'^'" ^"'^ '» te^or of his l'a.l been erusl,e<l to tl" arti S v^ " T",'" f °""' 'y'' P™-'" -Is as the hei.. to he; croC '; G^te" td t"" "'" °' '"'' ^^- but was merdy a province of Turkev Kn"? TT*" '^''''"''■- bad endeavored to ei-ipple her res„, IIk ? '?'"""' °^ ^'"•'''' Euro,« to her ships. Ha<I the Z k ^ '''""'"»' ""- P"'* »f would indee,! have\e7„, :,"To 'e- r",""?"' T"' "•^' ^''^ ""("■acticable; and, one afte „oth„ T ' '■ ''"' ""^ """S ™^ 'l"it they mus connive at he „ir.-' '^,™»0"'* ™™tries found MeanwWIe, the Sh artv "^ f'''' ''•'■'■'^''' "^""o "<^'"y- very Dul<e of Wei Won Z^ ^ , '"c-"'" "'''''' ''^»''«' V 'I'nt ™<ndT„I^LTad^'rL^:f'-^. -^-[posse.^^^^ o^-^ -.ch more than one time beforp fh;. t '. i i ' '"' ''^'^ ^^^" "'^•'^ne at .e. s„n,. i„to that ^^'^^^ '^^ti^t^j; 19 -^ 20 Ancestry and Education. death delivered him. The I)uke of Portland was Prime Minis- ter; the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, so important a minister in this time of war, was George Canning, the fame of whoso eloquence had gone through the land ton years before. Besides the measures relating to the war, which of course oc- cupi ^ the thoughts of all men to the exclusion of much which would otherwise have claimed their attention, there wore two questions of importance that at this date were continually forc- ing themselves into prominence ; these were the slave-trade, of which we shall have more to say hereafter, and Catholic Eman- cipation—a sub-division of that great Irish Question which has been a cause of per- plexity to English rul- ers and their advisers since the days of Hen- ry II. The most ardent and best known advo- cate of this latter meas- ure was no other than the disciple of Pitt, who had been so active an assistant to the gov- ernment which had passed the Irish Act of Union in 1300; and the name of Canning is iii- dissolubly linked with the memory of this act of long-delayed just- ice. We hardly realize the severity of the laws against the communicants of the Church of Eomo, as they existed at this period, in what wo a^e accustomed to regard as the most enlightened and liberal country of Europe ; excluded from every office of trust, civil or military, they could not make their griev- ances known to the legislature, for every mombev of that body, whether of the Lords or the Commons, must, before taking his seat, take such oaths as were impossible to a Catholic. Their only hope was in the generosity of their enemies; and of these, Canning was the first, after Pitt had been obliged to break his promises to them, to urge their claims. George Cunning. GATEWAY FROM HAWARDEN RECTORY TO THE CHU RCH X. Ancestry and Education. 21 In times of peace, the thoughts of the wise statesman and the prudent citizen turn to the improvements which it is possible to make in the condition of the country or the race; in times of war, the same men are only anxious to preserve the advantages which have alrea<ly been obtained. To apply this axiom to En- glish politic nd political parties, men incline to Conservatism in war and Liberalism in peace. Those who are Conservatives in quiet times will naturally have this feeling strengthened at a period of doubt and n^xiety, and become Tories. Such, at any rate, was the case with a great merchant of Liverpool, at the date of which we write; but his ancestry, his education, his suc- cess in life, and his Toryism, are all of such importance to the pages whicli follow, that we are not ready to begin his history in tlm year 1809. The family of the Gledstanes or Gladstanes vrm settled in Clydes- dale at an early day. In the beginning of the sixteenth cen- tury they were landed proprietors in that county, and wome of the name are known to have been in business at Biggar ^r more than fifty years before the middle of the last century. They wore uniformly successful in their efforts to make a living, if wo may judge from the recora of those who retired from active bus- iness life to the calm and quiet of the estates which they had themselves acquired ; for this seems to have been a younger hrancli of the family, who derived no share of the estates of Arthurshiel and Gladstanes, the first-mentioned as possessed by those bearing this now widely honored name. Some differences in the ppelling of n,o family cognomen will be noted. The orthography above given seems to have prevail- ed until the middle of the last century; for it is Thomas Glad- stones, who was born in 1732, who first writes it with an '' o" in the last syllable. This was ihc grandfather of the great states- man. He left his father's house and settled in Leith, where he married. A numerous family grew up around him, the eldest of whom was a son called John. His business in the corn trade wr s so well managed and successful that ho was able to make gener- ous provision for each of the twelve children who grew to man- hood and womanhood. John Gladstones had scarcely attained his raajoriiy when he was sent by his father to Liverpool, to sell a cargo of grain which had arrived at that port. The young Scotchman had dealings with a leading corn merchant of that place, the head !l 22 A cestry and Education. the house of Corrio & Co.; uud displayed such capabilities for business that Mr. Corrie wrote to th. elder Glud.to' e.s, r'Tuost- oLTrnl?f I'fiT, .r'" *' ''''''■^" '" Liverpool. So woil did the joung man fulfill the promise of his first acquaintance, that he- fore very long we find the firm of Corrie ^ Co. mergU into a above .ts doors. The now member of the firm soon made his name a synonym for push and energy; and at leant oneoccu.io. IS recorded, when, by his activity, perseverence and indomitable plucic, he saved the house from utter ruin After being a member of this firm for sixtee. years, John Gladstones upon the retirement of his partner., associated his ran: "fT. ''"^ '" ''" ^"^'"^«'^' ""^ ^-'^'^^^^ -tended the range of h,s transactions. With these, however, we have little to do J ,t IS enough to have seen something of the success with which he met, and -now what was his standing among men. He hud made his name well I:nown in the country of^u's adop- tion e.en b fore it was made illustrious by his famous soli. That name It will again be observed, still differed slightly fro n the form wln.Ms so familiar to us; the final " s" was retained until the yea;. l?.?A, when an ac. of Parliament sanctioned the dis- use of It; th.ugh the name seems practically to have had its present form for some years before that date. Mr. John Gladstone's first wife died, leaving no children ; and after a due interval, the merchant, who seems still to have had frequent communication with his Scotch home, though all his six brothers had settled in Liverpool, married Ann, the daughter of Mr. Andrew Robertson, of Stornoway. Onewhoknewthesecond Mrs. G.adstono intimately says of her that she was '^i I dv of very great accomplishuonts, of fascinating manners, comm^uid- mg presence, and high intellect ; one to grace any home and en dear anj' heart" Of the six children .fthis n-.rriage, the sec- GiIdItoNE ^^' ^^^^' '^''^ ™ named WILLIAM EWART In addition to the personal qualities of the statesman's r^other to which we have jast heard such glowing tribute paid, she was descended, genealogists claim, - om a stock held in hi-.h honor iNo less an authority than Su Bernard Burke, perhaps the hi<.h; est that could be quoted in such a connection, gives a royal ances- try to him who might well be cnlled, like a .tat.,man of an older uay, the Great Commoner. The editor of *ho Peerage traces the Anccsfn/ ,i,i<l Rilunitiov. 23 descent of Ann Robertson Giadstano. step by stop, back to that James of Scotland, who, in his captivity, fell in lovo with Lady Jane Beaufort, a descendant of Henry III. of England. Other authort.es add, that besides this claim to the blood of the Bruce the Robertsons were akin to the ancient kings of Man and .ome' other notable nobles of the far past. Burke .' , too excellent aa authority to bo met on his own ground ; 1 is assertions in such a case, made contidontly as they arc in this, are not to be ligt.tlv «eta.sido; and n o ono has had the temerity to do so. But if the Bbihplace of Gladstone. Rodney Street, Liverpool. Statement that Gladstone is descended from Robert Bruce and the Plantagenets has never been contradicted, it is treated with the most Goveroign contempt by the one most interested. Glad- stone has spoken ofhis ancestors, indeed 3 but if he is proud of teipne, have carved their own fortunes, and risen to positions cfpubhcostoemand eminence. Whci, in^ovomber, 18P.5 t.-ePar- ImmentaryRc.form Union presented .naddro.oto hmin'cho Glas- gow Tr.de Hall, he thanked those who had signod the aldre" for renum .n. him of his connection with Scotland ; and added ': ashamed of S.r T ''^''?"' '' '''''' «^"«' "^^ «°-^ -- "ot ashamed of Scotland; and the memory of the parents to whom I owe my being combine, with various other considerations to 24 Ancestry and Education, make me glad and thankful to remember that the blood which runs in my veins is exclusively Scottish." A little later than this, he had occasion to deliver an address at the Liverpool Collegiate Institute, in which, in frank and rc.nly words, the Prime Minister of Great Britain recounted his obligations to commerce. Standing in his native city, before ihose to whose fathers and grandfathers his father had been known as one of the most eminent merchants and shipowners in Lancashire, he said : '' I know not why commerce in England should not have its old families, rejoicing to bo connected with commerce from gen- eration to generation. It has been so in other countries j I trust it will be so in this country. I think it a subject of sorrow, and almost of scandal, when those families who have either acquired or recovered wealth or station throuj;h commerce, turn their backs upon it, and seemed to be ashamed of it. It certainly is not so with my brother or me. His sons are treading in his steps, and one of my sons, I rejoice to say, is treading in the steps of my father and my brother." Whatever illustrious names, then, may be ranked jimong his mother's ancestors in the fifteenth century, it is clear that the statesman himself makes no claim to a connecti on with any but the middle class, as it is ranked in England. But it will be remem- bered that, with ail the advantages which are the perquisites of birth and wea'th, the aristocracy has produced fewer really great men than this same middle class; and it will be found, upon careful consideration, that the majority of these few that we con- cede to thom, are sprung, not of the old houses, but of those re- cently ennobled. The Grand Old Man has reason to be proud that he sprang from the middle class ; and, to use an antithesis sim- ilar to his own when ho spoke of Scotland and her sons, we may add that the middle class is proud of him. When wo have once fairly begun upon the story of the states- man's life, we shall turn aside only to notice those of ^is contem- poraries who, in any respect, approach to the plane upon which he stands ; let us, then, in this place, trace out something further of his family, as we shall not again return to the subject. Mr. John Gladstone had already been chairman of the West India Association when, in 1814, his name was closely associated with the trading carried on with the East Indies. The old monopoly was broken in that year, and his firm was the first to i Ancestry and Education. 25 end a privao vessel to the ports so Ion,, .nder the control of the ^ast Ind.a Company, ^or was ho progressive and enter- pr.s.ng in matters relating to his business alone. It is interesting to trace ,n the father the liberal public spirit, the breadth of view^nd the desire for the amelioration of the condition of Olad^tone and Ills Si.fcr (From a picture pMinted in 1811). 'i^oiil^^' ";f ''''.' '" ^""'^^ ^''" .nanifestcd in the son. The fad that he addressed, with no mean eloquence, a meeting which ;vas ca ..d n, 1818 ^<to consid.rthoproprictyof petition^gP.:; ament to talce into consideration the progressive and alarming norease in the crimes of forging and uttering forged notes o? o Ban. of England," may be thought only prope? to the prud- ent .md prominent business man, anxious to check the spread of an offence peculiarly troublesome to him and his associates. His -tivity ,n another matter, however, shows him to be warm- 18-3 he Steamboat Act included a provision that each vo^sel ^diould bo obliged to carry a sufficient number of boats toaocom-" modate the passengers, in case of any accident ; a simple enough « 26 Ancestry and Fducction. precaution it seems to us, but so neglected previous to this tir-" that, in one case, a public packet-boat which was wrecked wi nearly one hundred and fifty souls on board, had only one jmall shallop, twelve feet long, to convey the passengers and seamen to shore. It was also due to him that means were taken to enlist the general sympathy for the Greeks, when they were struggling for their independence j and he spoke most impressively at the meet- ing which was held for that purpose. These are but a few actions which show the character of the man. That he did not lack appreciation, is shown by the fact that a magnificent service of plate, consisting of twenty-eight pieces, was formally presented to him in the name of his fellow- townsmen in 1824 ; the inscription ran: "To John Gladstone, Esq., M. P., this service of plate was presented MDCCCXXIV, by his fellow-townsmen and friends, to mark their high sense of his successful exertions for trade and commerce, and in acknowl- edgment of his most important services rendered to the town of Liverpool." While probably not possessed of the scholarship which has en- abled the Premier to turn from the cares of '?tate to enjoy Hom- er, Mr. Gladstone was well able to express his opinions on paper in such a way that men were glad to read them. His contribu- tions to the literature of the day have not survived, because they were from their very nature ephemeral ; buttliey had their share in molding the opinions of the men who made the laws by which England is now governed. This Mr. Gladstone Avas a member of Parliament for nine years in all, representin,; several boroughs at diiferent times. For a portion of the time that ho sat in the House of Commons, his son was a member of the same body; and he heard the earliest efforts of that persuasive eloquence which has been able to make even a dry array of figures interesting. Partly out of recognition of his own services, partly as a compliment to his son, he was created a baronc '" 1845, during the second administi'ation of Sir Robert Peel. He oied six years later, his title descending to his eldest son, Thomas. Sir Thomas Gladstone w-.s as ?ongn membcrof Par- liament, though completely overshadowed by hisyounger brother. He enjoyed the reflected glory of being frequently mistaken for the distinguished member of the family, so strong was the resem- blance between tlicm; tliough, of course, it was only tlioso wlio were comparative strangers who were liable to this error. A third Ancestry and Education. 27 brother was a captain in the army, then M. P. for Portarlihgton ; and a fourth was, like his father, a merchant of Liverpool— the same to whom reference was made in the speech at the Collegi- ate Institute. Of the two sisters, neither was ever married. Sir John Gladstone's enormous wealth enabled him to make a handsome provision for each of his children during his lifetime, without crippling his own resources. Thus that son to whom na- ture had been most generous in her gifts of intellect was enabled to devote his time to the consideration of those questions which should occupy the mind of a statesman, without being compelled to enter the arena of that life in which bread must be won by hard and continuous labor. This advantage, we are taught by the example of others, is not entirely necessary to the devel- opment of genius; but even genius cannot afford to neglect any assistance which may be offered. In the year 1812, a general election was held, and in this Mr John Gladstone took a keen interest. A Conservative in time of peace, he had become an ardent Tory, and supported Mr. Can- ning with all the warmth of enthusiasm. This eloquent orator had been before the public, as a member of the House of Commons for almost twenty years j and it was only five years after hi. first election that he had reached the summit of his reputation as a speaker, by his brilliant advocacy of the abolition of the slave trade, and his bitter sarcasms regarding the " XewPhilosophv " as the doctrines of the French Eevolutionists were styled He had not been silent when the suspension of the habeas corpus act was moved and carried in the year 1794, and bills intended to suppress seditious meetings were hurried through Parliament- his eloquent speeches had been eagerly looked f^r in the days of the Irish Eebellion of 1798. A zealous adherent of Pitt, when that statesman went out of office he resigned, too, though his chief nd- v.sod him not to do so. The issue of the hour, in Canning's eyes was CatholicEmancipation, and the electionceringsp.eches which he made were full of it. This had been a darling scheme of Pitt's over since the Union; but George III. had been seized with qualms of conscience when the Ministry proposed such moas- uros, and pleaded his coronation oath as an insuperable bar to his royal assent. But now, though he was still nominally the sovereign, ho was in reality but a helpless old man, in,hoc;ie and verging upon that blindness and dcf^fness which a little later out him oi\ from even so much communication with tho world as I ii!i 28 Ancestry and Education. his darkened intellect could comprehend. The Prince Eegent had no coronation oath to consider, and probably no conscience; so that the reformers hoped from the carelessness of a bad man what the scruples of a weak man had denied them. At a meeting presided over by Mr. John Gladstone, Mr. Can- ning had been invited to stand for Liverpool. The lead'. ig Whig was young Henry Brougham, who had not yet been raised to the peerage under the title so much more familiar to us. A sort of coalition was formed, between the two political parties, by which Canning and Brougham were to be returned as colleagues""; Lord lirotu/hum. but into this agreement one of the candidates refused to enter. In one of the fits of perversity which too often marred his ca- reer,^ Brougham refused to be a party to this agreement, and cast in his lot with an ultra-Eadical j as the result of this action, he and his self-chosen colleague were both defeated. Canning and another Tory being returned. What was the case when the elec- tion was exciting in Jioso days, wc mnv infer from the fact that Brougham, in his memoirs, records i. a " two or three men were killed, but the town was quiet." This " quiot" election having taken place, and the results hav- ing been announced, the victors gave their enthusiasm the rein, had J so Jan- Ihig I to sort by les ; ier, Ca- in d on, md ce- ll at ero m, /P'l.iV THE TURKISH CRISIS-MR. GLADSTONE SPEAKING AT LIVERPOOL Ancestry and Education. 29 DL and tho successful candidates were chaired and carried in triumph through the streets. The procession halted before the house of Mr. Gladstone, who had been one of those most ardent- ly desirous of tho election of Canning and Brougham ; and from the balcony of this dwelling Mr. Canning addressed hisconsiitu- ents. From the window looked some childish heads, the round eyes gazing wonderingly at the unwonted scene. One of the lit- tle ones was less than three years old at tho time, but ho assured admiring listeners, not many years ago, that he remembered tho first election of Mr. Canning in Liverpool. This may fairly bo ranked, then, as the earliest recollection of tho distinguished man, the course of whoso life wo are now to trace ; and certainly the remembrance of Canning himself, at this and later times, never faded from his mind. Mr. Canning and the elder Gladstone were warm friends after this, and the son was early imbued with a deep admiration for the famous Tory. Perhaps it was this which in a large measure attached him to that party of which he was not only the '' rising hope," but one of the chief ornaments for many j-ears. The first school to which young William Ewart was sent was a small one near Liverpool, of which the venerable Archdeacon Jones was the head. Ho was six years old wlien he entered and remained six years. Of his progress at this school wo dci not hear very flattering accounts. 8aid Dean Sfanley : " There is a small school nea/ Liverpool at which Mr. Gladstone was brought up before he went to Eton. A few years afterward an- other little boy who went to this school" (it is not hard to guess who) " and whose -amo I will not mention, called upon the old clergyman who was the head master. Tho boy was now a youno- man, and he said to the old clergyman : ' There is one thino- in which I have never in the least degree improved since I was at school-the casting up of figures.' ' Well', replied the master It IS very extraordinary that it should bo so, because certainly no one could be a more incapable arithmetician at school than you were; but I will tell you a curious thing: when Mr. Glad.^tone was at the school, he was just as incapable at addition and sub- traction as you were : now you see what he has become. He is one of the greatest of our financiers." ^ The knowledge which a child acquires from his school-books IS a trifle compared to that which he insensibly accumulates in a well ordered home, where his elders are thoughtful of his desire 80 Ancestry and Education. for knowledge. With a!l his business and other cares Mr John father .o^,drer;h;::at:LTh eh irthC:^. •^^' '' ance, and teach him how to form intlllitlrr '"P"'''" suit ot this training, cannot be told T« .,c^ *v , ^" ''"^^^ ftiel, or that tho quickness and intolligence of childhom' win , rar:r:iettro:t « ''^ "i -»'"oo<.ipp™::it': ^0,:; » : was an exception to th,s rule, m so far that solidity of judgment ..n unusual ordoi. His genius was not of the purely concentive and imaginative type, bnt hepossessed au intelleetuaUptitude of :nJ:fntr';s.ro;;;! '""''' '° "^'"°" -^'^ - -« m nd of L ^'""?°''°°'' "'""•■' "'"' R-gby.standsoutintre mind of the average American reader as the type of English d "b vinity as can be gained fron, construing tlit otek TeTanL " and reading a portion of Toniline ou the Thii-tv ninoTM!!] ' and a Httie ancient and modern geography." sth'sthe til mony of no less an authority than tho Edinburgh Eeview a^d ' vc read it, and recall the testimony of Archdeleon Jonls'reeor 1 d above wo are involuntarily moved to ask where Mr Zd- atone s udieu financiering to such an excellent advantage Another question suggests itself: If they devote on?v'„l„ hours to seliool work at Eton (and in 1845facc„rdi„° o':':;;; ofthnt date, the time was even less than ihnt^ ,.^ T-.'^,^ ...pi upf Ihe Public Schools Commission inveaM<,„t„d matt,,, .oce, and Lord Morley «s called as a witness. Zsked whZr Ancestry and Eduratinn. si a boy would be .ooked down upon at Eton for being industrious •nrhabl r ; !.l'''^''P replied, with what se^s to us « laughable naiveto, "Kot if he could do something else well " A. u^fu"^ ? %^'i"g, with its manifold evils, has been well descnbedbythea.^.horof "Tom Brown's .ehooldays at Eug! by and the scenes drawn from the life of another school are not inapphcable to Eton. But there were honorable exceptions! oL A\'' '\f 'f '^^^ '"^'^ "^^^ "^* - ^-"^'y *--tedj and b; one of these the future statesman profited, being his elder broth- er 3 Jag. By the time that Thomas Gladstone nud leftEton Wil- liam was sufficiently high in rank to have a fag of his own ' and one who filled that position said, in after yearsf that howlsh'edhe could be certain that he had treated his own fag- as well as he had been treated by Gladstone. There were but few honors to be won at Eton in those days tor the pupils were promoted by seniority after they had passed a certain stage, so that examinations, with their disappointments and triumphs, were not. The one reward for excellence consist- ed in being '' sent up for good" on account of Latin or Greek verses; and this honor was won several times by young Glad- slo no* The head master in those days was an exceedingly cruel little martinet. He was often more pleased with a sharp excuse than .-.th a really good one ; this proved to be of material advantage to Gladstone on one occasion. He had been made "prropostor" of his form and had neglected to report a boy who had come late. A ^xrch was at once called for, and the head master addressed the delinquent official with words which may be translated into the speech ofthe day by the single sentence: ''A public office is a public trust." The culprit listened to the harangue which ex- pressed this in many a grandiloquent phrase, and then excused himself wuh : If you please, sir, my pr^epostorship would have been an office of trust if I had sought it of my own accord, but it was forced upon me." His sharp wit saved him, and the boy of iourteen was victor in the wordy contest. Though, as has been remarked, the school at Eton did not da rnuch towa>--' educating the pupils there, they did a good deal in the way of educating themselves. One of the means which they employed for this purpose was the Eton Deb.,ting Societv of winch our snhjocl. became a member in 1826; and which he aided much, by his own work, and by getting others interested 32 Anrcstrt) an,l Education. In the «amo form with Gladstone was Arthur Honry Hallam the oldest son of the historian, and th. fnond .-hoso L,\ t2 Eton School. nyson has made the subject of In Memoriam; and the two were iilmost inseparable. It was to please Ilallam that Gladstone re- Ancestry and Education. 33 nounced those athletic «ports in which he would otherwise have Ind W ',"" pT'''^ '"' '"""° '° ^""^' ^^"•'^^ "bout the fields ana VVindsor Park. wlihf 7'""',' 5""":"« '•"'''"' *='""'" "24, in tl,o courso of wl ch 1,0 found t„„„ for „„ l,„„,.', talk with tl,o bo„ of I.U fnena and supporter, doubtless did much towurd establishing on a firmer bas.s that admiration for the brilliant statesman which w,^ so nofceablo in Gladstone's later years. The talk was upon the lead.ng questions of the day; and the Minister of the Crown elder brother, and was closely followed by his young admirer. stul„r:f "r ■'""" "'^^ ^'"'""""•"' """- '""' "'one time th. students of Fton were accustomed to celebrate a festivrl pecu- .ar to themselves, called Montem. Costumed in various e„^°rs sometimes m imitation of historical characters or national dress ''[IZ r:"".'"'""! »"Wb«tions from visitors to support tho captain during at least a portion of his Cambridge or Oxford course. At the "Montem" of 1826, Gladstone was i^n Greek cos tnme ; and was one of the " salt-bearers," as these collectors were called It was tho rule that the captain should pay out of th! sum thus collected, for all tho damage that was d'on'c' bT h r, m! pant schoolboys during the festival; and Mr. Gladstone was one It , , d""" "^ "" '■°"°'" '"""> "•■■"" '" k""? Bueh orde! that these damages would not molt all the salt ,:!''" p*""" ^^V"""""' ""P™ P"Wi»l-J at' Eton before this hme. Prominent amr ^ them were the Microcosm, in which Canning and Frere had given to the world tho earliest sdn if ^oduct?;f P 1 "" ""'''"'""^ ''y *'"' dolioately finished pioducts of Praeds genius. It was almost exclusivelv to th- J forts of young Gladstone that anotiier m„g„.i„e wasdue-The ^to» M,scd!any. Of this ha was the editor and the principal eon intn hi Tt^'f f "^ '"""P''""' '" '"» summer o'f 1826, until he left the school. T the tirst volume he contributed thineen articles, incLiding a poem of two hundred and fifty ites on Eic hard Coeur do Lion. How far the general popularUy of oenai.ly the Wi.ard of the ^"a^aekn^o "redg'ed':: rt' onto poet both of Gladstone and h.. friend Hallam 84 Ancestry atul Education. To thosociytid voiiirno of tho Eton Miscellany ho contributed seventeen jvrticlcs ; both those numbers of course representing separate contributions, and not editorials, introductions, *;tc. His pen name was Jiarthdomno Bouveria ; and this v/aa the epitaph which he composed for himself as editor: Ilero lietli Bartlo Bouvcrio ; u^ merry soul and quiiiiit wiis lio ; . He lived fur gain, ho wrote for polf, Then took his pen and stabbed himself. Perhaps the most notable of his contributions is the tribute to Canning, written on the occasion v.; that statesman's premature death. He had died just when triumph was awaiting him. The aim ofhis labors for many years had boon Catholic Emancipa- tion. We cannot pause hero to describe the disabilities under which Catholics labored at this period. Those earlier and more oppressive laws, which forbade a communicant of the Eoman Church the privilege of educating his own children, and gave his estate to the child who would profess himself a Protestant, had long ceased to bo enforced j but thero were many respects in which the laws of the land Avero scarcely less unjust. Canning had made this the turning point of the campaign of 1S12; but the state of Europe worked against his plans. It was the old story; Grattan had said, as car'/ as 1782 : » England's weakness is Ire- land's strength." Conversely, the truth is the same. The Irish were obliged to wait for a threatened invasion of Napoleon's army before the frightened English Parliament. - ould even prom- ise them this -edress j and tiio promise was not lulfilled soon. Canning's efforts in this direction had i.uide him unpopular at court, and this disfavor was increased by the course which he took in regard to Queen Caroline's divorce. During the regency, Canning had shown himself no approver of the treatment which the I rincess of Wales received from the royal roue whom she had married; and when matters came to a head upon the acces- sion of George IV tendered his resignation; being openly opposed to any pr^ .ngs against her. The King, however, refused to accept it, since it would mjilerially weaken the Cab- inet; and the indispensable Minister received full peiinission to hold alooffrom all proceeding's against the Que n. The same trouble being expected to absorb the attention of Parliament during the next session ho again tendered his resi^-nation which was accepted this time, and Mr. Peel appointed. Ancestry and Education. gg But the business of royal family quarrels settled, for the time at least, the old question of Catholic Emancipation came up Hitherto, the statesman had boon u advance of histim-j; the time was now catching up with the statesman. The bill received greater majorities than over before in the Commons, though u hilled to pass the Lords, The death of Lord Castloreagh in 1822 made Canning absolute- ly indispensable in the Cabinet, and the Prime Minister re lest^ od the permission of the King to make the aj.pointmcnt. After considerable argument on the subject, the King wrote a letter which he requested might be shown to Mr. Canning, and which he intended to be very gracious. «' The Xing is aware " t' ! t- ter ran, " that the brightest jewel in his crown is the power of extending grace and favor to a subject who may have incurred his displeasure." Canning was duly shown this letter, and wrote one in reply which was not at all gracious, and which he in turn requosted might be shown to the King. He was with difficulty restrained from sending it, and the breach was healed. Prom this time we do not find that George x.. ^lilod to rate the Minister at his true worth The only excopti n to this was in 1827, when the death of the Premier made it necessary to form a new Min- istry. This was not an easy matter. The King w.s bent upon forming an ant.-Catholic Administration; Canning would not serve m such a Ministry. When his Majesty gave this idea up, and .ttempted to form a Cabinet on some other basis, there was still tTo ible, for Canning and Peel both seemed necessary. But Canning would not serve under Peel, and Peel would not serve under Canning After two months had passed, however, the King decided that Canning, even with hi. favorite measure was the man whom he must have ; and the apostle of Catholic Eman- cipation bacame Prime Minister of England. But thi did not bring peace to the political world. The Duke of Welhn ton so bitterly opposed the appointment of Canning tha he res^gned, not only the civil office that he held, but hft post as commander-in-chief of the British army; and every measure which the new Government brought forwa! 1 was mo.t bitterly opposed by - the Duke" in the House of Lords, and by his lieutenant. Peel, in the Commons. Harassed by such oppol ition, and conscious that the Kinsr entertnin^H no -e - ' 5 ing for l..m, tlie lot of the Prime Minister caVhardly^h^rbcen a pleasant one. He kept bravely on, however, and prepLed hi plan 36 Ancestry and Education. of campaign for the next session of Parliament. But a severe cold told heavily upon a system already broken by hard work and anxiety, and before the session of 1827 o^ oned ho was dead. Since his election in 1812, if not before, Mr. Canning had been a frequent visitor at Seaforth House, as the Gladstone residence at Liverpool was culled j and the elder Gladstone was without doubt a loader of tho popular enthusiasm for him. The groat Tory had been returned four successive times from that borough, and always by handsome majorities. The Cunning Club was one of the most prosperous organizations of the kind to bo found in Duke of Wellington {at t/ie Penod of the Battle of Waterloo). the Inrge, progressive, commercial city. Was it any wonder that the young student at Eton, distinguished as he had boon by such marks of the statesman's favor, should share the enthusiasm of his fellow-townsmen, led as they were by his own father, its ob- ject a man whom his earliest recollections pictured as ruling men bv the maeric of hia words? An.'i wlmn ht> /inmr^o^^^i o^^;«»,* and modern genius, is it any wonder that he should grow elo- MR. AND MRS. GLADSTONE ON THE CELEBRATION OF THE;r fin I nc-M lA/rr-.m.,^ e=!.. L-t-l-i »TC.lJuii-VU » _ I i » _ Ancestry and Education. 87 quent over the object of his boyish admiration, and award the palm to the genius of the time ? We have space for the perora tion only : ^ "It is for those who revered him in the plenitude of his mer- idian glory to mourn over him in the darkness of his premature extinction; to mourn over the hopes that are buried in his grave and the evils that arise from his withdrawing from the scone of life. Surely, if eloquence never excelled and seldom equalled, if an expanded mind, and judgment whose vigor was only par- alleled by its soundness, if brilliant wit, if a glowing imagina- tion, if a warm heart and unbending firmness, could have strengthened the frail tenure, and prolonged the momentary en- durance of human existence, that man had been immortal. But nature could endure no longer. Thus had Providence ordained that inasmuch as the intellect is more brilliant, it shall be more short-lived ; as its sphere is more expanded, more swiftly is it summoned away. Lest we should give to man the honor due to God, lest we should exalt the object of our admiration into a divinity for our worship. He who calls the mourner and the weary to eternal rest hath been p' eased to remove him from our eyes The decrees of inscrutable wisdom are unknown to us- but if ever there was a man for whose sake it was meet to ir' dulge the kindly though frail feelings of our nature, for whom the tear of sorrow was both prompted by affection and dictated by duty, that man was George Canning." Whatever be the faults of this passage, it will compare favor- ab y with the majority of schoolboy productions; and perhaps it will not surprise the reader who has not been told the author's name to learn that the boy of eighteen afterward became ono of the most eloquent members of the British Parliament. We discern already the indications of that fluency which his enemies have sometimes styled verbosity; that wonderful flow of words which piles up invective after invective, argument upon argu^ ment, until the whole becomes unanswerable. We have already mentioned Halkm as one' of Gladstone's con- tempoiaries at Eton. Next to him, in the estimation of the stu- dent in whom we are specially interested, came George A Sel- wyn afterward a bishop; and he who, as Sir Francis Hastings Doyle, became Professor of Poetry at the Universitvof Ovfnvd Though the esteem of the bend master of this time does "not seem to be worth wishing for, it was possessed in large measure 88 Ancestry and Education. li i by tho pnpil who could outwit him in argument, and who never betrayed fear of his tyranny. It was won mainly by young Gladstone's persistence in study, and retained by that and other qualities. Alluding to the fact that Mr. Gladstone .ho elder had been undecided whether to send his second son to Eton or the Charterhouse, Dr. Keats once said : " That would have been a pity for both of us, Gladstone--ror you and f )r me." During his year in the Sixth Form, or highest class of the school, Mr. Gladstone became President of tho Debating Society and tho acknowledged head of the school in literary attain ments and oratory. His home training had indeed been such as to fit him for this standing in a pnculiar degree. All tho chil- dren of tho family were accustomed to argue with each other every point that admitted of argument ; it was this trainingthat has made him such a master of the art of persuasion. The argu- ments were all perfectly good-humored ; but they were not ad- vanced rashly, or abandoned without conviction. Nor were they averse to acknowledging themselves beaten when such was felt to be the case. It was early recognized that the second son pos- sessed the greatest powers of persuasion. On one occasion, an old Scotch servant was directed to hang a certain picture, but the side of tho room on whi h it should bo placed was not specified. Master Willie, as he was called at home, and his sister. Miss Mary, proceeded to discuss tho question, each choosing a dif- erent place as the one to be preferred. The feminine tongue was tho longer, or else her enemy was too gallant to insist upon fighting it to the end, even with his sister; for he was silent af- ter a while, though evidently not convinced. The servant hung the picture as Miss Mary wished, then drove a nail on the oppos""- ite wall. "What are you doing that for, Sandy?" demanded the vounjr lady. " ^ "Aweel, Miss, that'll do to hang tho picture on when ye'll have coom roond to Maister Willie's opeenion." We have already spoken of the lack of mathematical training at Eton. Ko arithmetic beyond the suhjoct of division was taught by the master, who was allowed to give his lessons out of school hours, as extras, to those who particul.ady wished to excel ; and for many years after Mr. Gladstone left the school this state of things continued. While the requirements at Cambridge were Ancestry and Education. 89 such that this would have boon very insufficient propagation, in- volving the necessity of studyii ^ under a private tutor, it 'was different at Oxford. It seems almost incredible that during the present century it was nuito possible for a man to take his de- gree at this ancient seat of learning, and yet have no more knowl- edge of mathematics than the boy in our own primary schools. Yet so it was; and if young Gladstone had been content simply to take the classical course at Oxford ho migh^„ have gone direct to the university. His homo training, however, had given him habits of thoroughness with which this was inconsistent j and for nearly two years he read with a private tutor, Dr. Turner, after- ward the Bishop of Calcutta. When he did enter Oxford in 1829, ho knew almost as much mathematics as the average Cambridge sophomore. His career at scnool had given him the reputation of uncom- mon ability, and because he was regarded as a young man of ex- ceptional promise he was nominated to a studentship at Christ Church. This brought him an income of about £irO per annum. The scholarships are now given to those who oxo^l in the com* petitive examinations, and it is not usual for th/.se who are in affluent circumstances to compete for them ; but fifty or sixty years ago, they were at the disposal of the Dean, and were not often bestowed upon those who really had need of them. The student impressed himself strongly upon the minds of his comrades. It was his intense conviction of being in the right which made him so persevering, not to say stubborn, in an argu- ment; and thus assured him the victory over those who did not ponder very deeply on their opinions, and hence were not prepared to defend them vigorously when attacked. Yet one of his tutors has borne evidence to his readiness to acknowledge that he had been in the wrong, when he really thought that it was so. Thus early wore the traits developed, which made it possible for him to be first a Tory, then the most progressive of Liberals; first to permit the use of coercion by a member of his Ministry, as a means of ruling the Irish; then to advocate the extension of homo rule to that country. It was a thoroug-: knowledge of his nature, as displayed at college, which enabled one of his old college friends to say forty years afterward : '' You must know Gladstone to understand how much It costs him to give up any clause in a bill which he has framed. He hates compromise as a concession of good to evil. <0 Ancestry and Education. He cannot ivckrnwlodgo half truths or admit tho value of half good. What grieves him is not tho humiliation of being beaten by liis sysLomatic foes, but tho misery of having failed *,o con- vince those who profes:, to bo his friends and to let themselves be guided by him; and again, when he surrenders a particle of what ho considers right, ho is at war with his restive conscience, askinghimselfwhother ho was morally justified in yielding to servo party ends." I Chnst Church College, Oxford. It was small wonder that a youth with such abilities and such characteristics should soon become a notable figure in the Ox- ford Union, tlio foremost literary and debating society of tho Ancestry and Education. 41 nmversity. This association had boon founded in 1823, chiefly by Balhol men, but by 1829 Christ Church and Oriel Colleges furnish- ed a majority of the members. It possessed a respectable library and a well-furnished reading room. Something of the earnest- ness of the members may be inferred from the fact that, until 1826, proposals to buy the Wavcrly Novels and other works of fiction were resolutely thrown out. The debates were principally on subjects conneclod with tL . conduct of national affairs : and the young students gravely advised and directed the Ministers of the Crown, as Columbus commanded the sun to hide his face from the recusant red men; that there was an eclipse, history re- cords; and sometimes the British Empire was ruled in accord- ance with the ideas of the Oxford Union; but the command was probably the reason in one case as much as in the other. It is curious to rote the stand which the embryo statesman took upon the questions of the day. Like a true Tory, ho was vio- lently opposed to the question of Parliamentary Eeform, which was then the subject uppermost in the minds of all concerned with public affairs; and spoke in the Union with considerable ability upon this side of the question. This speech is of consid- erable importance, considered as a step in his career; for it pro- duced such an impression upon the young Earl of Lincoln the eldest son of the Duke of Newcastle, that ho wrote home to his father : " A man has uprisen in Israel." The young nobleman's admiration for his fellow-student had begun some time before this, and continued strong as ever for -^any years afterward • it was the means of exciting the interest of his father, one of the most powerful Tories of the day; and was the reason why Mr Gladstone was invited to stand for the duke's pocket-borouirh of Newark. ^ For the present, however, we have but to deal with his uni- versity life. The deba.o upon the relative excellences of Byron and Shelley, an inter-university contest to which Cambridge challenged Oxford, took place while Gladstone was in his fresh- man year, and therefore not eligible to more than a probation- ary membership. Though debarred the privilege of .-cakino-in this notable debate, ho was accorded the honor of a place upon the reception committee; for his reputation for hospitalitv was as great as for scholarship. The offices ofsecretary and president of the Union were con- ferred upon him at a later period ; but all his oratorical triumphs .'A- '^'^ K •f.f 42 Ancestry and Education, woro not in its rooms. IIo became the founder of another de- bating society, wliicli seems to have included only a few special friends as its members. This club was called the "Weg," from the Initials of its founder, and its assemblies were well known for their brilliancy. The leader of the Weg was regarded as the most religious man of his sot. Ho was what was called an "enquirer after truth" in those days J and as such, he was a fairly regular at- tendant upon church, with frequent visits to the chapels of the Dissenters. Ho was untiring in his efforts to induce his fellow- students to go with him to hear the University Sermons, preach- ed Sunday afternoons; and one unlucky occasion, when he yield- ed to the heat and prosiness of the preacher, furnished Doyle with an unfailing retort for future invitations of the kind. "Thank you," the future poet would say to the future states- man, '' I can sleep as well in my own chair." Ho went up for his degree at the Michaelmas term of 1831. Moderations had not then been instituted, and the students were utterly ignorant as to whether their attainments were anything near the mark, until the final examinations were held. An under- graduate's scholarship was never tested until the time came at which he tried for his degree. It was therefore with some ner- vousness about the result that Mr. Gladstone entered upon this test; and when ho went home for the Christmas holidays, with- out having learned anything definite about the examination, he was decidedly anxious. Though it be not in mortals to command success, he had deserved it; and in this case desert was reward- ed. Ho was among the forty-seven who took a ''first-class" in classics, and among the five who achieved the same distinction in mathematics. Ho had thus the distinction of a " double first class," an honor which had been first won by Sir Eobert Peel. "The world lies at the feet of first-class men." Everything now combined to insure his success in political life — wealth, position, influential friends, all that could bo wished for were given to him who so richly deserved them by his abilities. What was the effect of his university training upon the mind and the after life of the student ? For unless this be shown the record becomes a mere gratification of idle curiosity. Lik'^i the Conservatives of the day, ho had dreaded innovation, and had seen clearlv tho ex'ils "which "ollow in her train. Tliat these evils were mere visionary ones, does not matter; he had become im- <>.%!;;"*% Ancestry and Education. 48 buod with tho ideas, so prevalent there, and indeed in strict ac- cordance with those of his father and his father's famous friend, which considered any confidence in tho people as only too like- ly to lead to a repetition, in London, of tho horrors perpetrated in Paris in tho days of Louis XVL His admiration of Canning, and his education at Oxford, were two mighty barriers between him and that party of which ho has since become the acknowl- edged and beloved chief. But let us hear what he has himself said upon tho subject, in a speech delivered at theopeningof tho Palmerston Club in Oxford, in 1878: " I trace in the education of Oxford of my own time one grea' defect. Perhaps it was my own fault; but 1 must i^dmit that 1 did not learn, while at Oxford, that which I havo learned since, viz.: to sot i\ due value on the impciishableand inestimable prin ciples of human liberty. The temper which, I think, too much prevailed in academic circles was, that liberty was regarded with jealousy, and fear could not be wholly dispensed with....l think that the principle of the Conservative party is jealousy of liberty and of the people, only qualified by fear; but I think t: at the policy of the Liberal party is trust in tho people, only qualified by prudence. I can only assure you, gentlemen, that now I am in front of extended popular privileges, I havo no fear of those enlargements of tho Constitution which seem to be ap- proaching. On the contrary, I hail them with desire. I am not in the least degree conscious that I havo less reverence for anti- quity, for the ben"-^"**!'!, good, and glorious charges which our ancestors have handed down to us as a patrimony to our race, than I had in other days when I held other political opinions. I have learned to set the true value upon human liberty, and in whatever I havo changed, there, and there only, has been the ex- planation of the change." Such is the explanation which, standing upon the thr shold of threescore and ten, he made upon the actions and opinions of the student of twenty-two. ^m I CHAPTER II. THE BEGINNING OF PUBLIC LIFE. Interest iu Political Qnestion«— Reaction After the War— Destitution of the Colliers— Seats in rarliameiit Eoiight and Sc'd— How Elections were Conducted— Duke of Wellington as Prime Minister— Plan of Koform - Fury of the i'ory Peers— Address to the Electors at Newark— Mr. Glad- stone Elected to Parliament -The Slavery Ciiiestion— Eloquent Speeches- Becomes Identified with Great Public Questions— Rising Star in the Polit- ical Firmament. ^UEING tho Spring of 1831 Mr. Ghidstone took an acti^ ,^ interest in political questions. Among other proofs o.' this, wof'-'l un aecotint of a Reform meeting published in a paper of t: j period, writt^ n by the young graduate; in which ho showed that tho vast crowd vi^eia present was not to betaken as an indication of tho popularity of the movement, lie was not backward ir assailing the characters of those who wore active at this meeting, as ho deemed to be evidenced by their previous standing and their performance on the occasion. During the summer of that year, tho young gentleman went to the continent, where be expected to enjoy an extended tour. Ho was recalled to England during that very summer, however. One of the most important measures of the century had just passed the two Houses, and reoeived the unwilling assent of tho King. But the Ee^brm Bill of 1832 is too important a measure in itself, and as a forerunner of what came after it, to be light- ly passed over in the life of an English statesman who, like Gladstone, sat in tho first Reform Parliament, and was active in I those later eflPorts for Reform which grew out of the liberty as- sured by the first law. As long as the country was at war, the Conservatives natural- ly held the reins of government; it was not safe to make con- cessions to the people in the face of the outrages perpetrated by the French ; the monarchy would be overturned, social order destroyed, and general pandemonium ensue, should such encour- 44 w .w HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA ,* The BeginnuKj of PuhUc Life, 45 i ngement bo given. True, tho Bill for fJutholio Emancipation hud boon carried, but that was an act of just'ee, long-ciolayod, in- deed, but thorougl.ly difloreiit from such a purely political measure as increasing the number of electors for the membcraof Parliament. There was no real representation of the people of England at that time; and it must be remembered that thoT- had never had any rights, aside from *' ; landed proprietors. To go back to the very co nor-stono of English liberty, Ma.^na Charta itself, that instrument protected the barons against t e tyranny of the king; but there was no human power which could protect th. vagc-earners against the tyranny of the bar- ons. Hampden pheld the rights of the Commons against Charles I., but those Commons were, like himself, men of large property and high standing. In 1886, there were thirteen work- ingmen in Pari... ..ent; not agitators, who lived off the contribu- tions of their misguided disciples, and never did a day's honest work in their lives, but the regulation " horny-handed sons of toil," who by their skill had first gained the respect of their fellows, and retained it by their sterling good sense; supported by tlio trades union?, it is true (for they must live), they gave to the goo. 1 of the community the time which they had formerly devoted the manual labor which providod food and shelter for their i*>milies; but were in no sense adventurers. Such were the facts in 1886 ; but in 1826 such a prophecy would have been looked upon as the wildest dream of an unscrupulous rcvolu- tionis+>j and it was not rendered possible for forty years later. But when tho v/ar was over, the reaction began to set in. It began with the abolition of most of the sinecures which had bc:-^ held by the great nobles at enormous salaries. Having cut off from the list those offices where there was nothing to do, the reform- ers next considered those where the work was done chiefly by dep-ties; and the practice of allowing officers so to discharge their duties was to a conuderablo extent abolished. Ecligiotis tests were dono away with j Catholics might sit in Parliament Dissenters might hold any kind of civil or political office, Jews wereeli-ibleas civic officers of London. The cHminal code, too, had been changed, and tho death penalty limited to those great crimes which are now punished by the extreme sentence of the law. All these changes, while they seem to us to em- brace only those principles which must rule the intercourse be- tween man and man. were then real reforms. 46 The Beijinning of Public Life. The people hud tried to make themselves heard, but had not succeeded. " In 1817 some starving colliers of the North had thought of making a pilgrimage to the house of the Prince Re- gent in London, in the hope of being allowed to tell their tale of misery to him, and induce him to do something on their be- half. Following ti;e examj^le of these poor fellows, a large body of Manchester workingmen resolved that they would walk to London, make known their grievances to the authoriti s there, and ask for Parliam.entary Reform as one means of i iproving their condition." Destitute as they were, they had no money to spend upon this melancholy pilgrimage for anything but the food which was an absolute neeessily; and each carried with him his blanket, that he might not bo without a bed at night. When this became known among those who had never felt the hardships of poverty, the foot-sore and shelterless travelers were styled the "Bhmketcers." But it was useless to make such an ap- peal to the Prince Regent or his Ministry. The men in author- ity saw nothing pitiful in ihis array of hai'd-working men, ask- ing to be allowed the bare right of living by their own labor, for such a privilege was what they hoped Reform would bring thorn. They were rioto , revolutionary, seditious; and the soldiery posted along ti roads which they traveled arrested some, who were brought to trial and committed to prison ; while the rest were turned back homeward, to endure as well as they could the old burdens. The Peterloo Massacre took place about two years after the journey of the Bhinketeers; and these are but specimens of the tyranny which was practised upon Englishmen of that day, un- der the disguise of a representative government. It seems in- credible that such abuses should have arisen in a system origin- ally intended as a safeguard of the liberties of the subject; but it must be remembered that the sovereign alone had the power to summon a borough or county to return a representative to Par- liament; such a call once given, the member was elected time af- ter time; in many cases, the original population had dwindled to a mere handful, and in some it was altogether gone; v/hile, on the other hand, the great manufacturing centers, which had crrjwn uj, of late years, were wholly unrepresented. Two-thirds of the House of Commons consisted of mt-mbers from "rotten bnronp-hs." as thov were callcMl ; borou<?ha in which the voters, if thero wore any, wore so completely under the domination of the The Beginning of Public Life. 47 lord of tho soil that the election was a mere furco, in which they hud no power to act but as tho owner of tho seat dictated. Old Sarum, a town from which Salisbury had drawn all tho pojiula- tion, still sent one member to Parliament, as it had done in the days when it was a flourishing town; Gatton, which had but seven electors, had twc representatives in t)ic councils of tho nation. Ludgershall, in Wiltshire, was, lilce CM Sarum, without inhabi- tants, but with a Tarliamentary franchise. The owner of thisseat elected himself to Parliament, but was so far sensible of the in- 77i(j Vninhahitcd Bonnigh of Old Sarutn. justice of his own rights that he told his colleagues, when the question of Eeform came before tho House: "Gentlemen I am the patron of Ludgershall, I am tho constituency of Ludger- shall, and I i.m tho member for Ludgershall; but in all thrco°ca- pacities I mean to vote for tho disfranchisement of Ludgershall." Nor was this all. Not only did tho owners of the seats return the members in whom thoy took a personal interest, or whom they hoped to bind to themselves politically, but when one of these loi'tunate individuals hud no special candidate in view, ho had no hesitation in disposing of his property to the best ad- vantage. Scats wore not only often botight and sold— all tho re- form in tho world does not seem to bo able to prevent that, in England or elsewhere— but thoy were publicly advertised for V M 48 The Beginning of Public Life. sale. Elections lasted for fifteen days, in some cases— it had been necessary to limit their duration to that length of time by a law passed in 1784— and the whole period was given up to the most notous debauchery in the counties and boroughs where there were still a respectable number of electors. Such was the state of affairs in England; and in Scotland and Ireland, incredibleas it may seem, it was even worse. The project ofParliamentary Reform was one wkich had for many years been in the minds of statesmen. The elder Pitt had brought it forward, but the successful resistancoof the American colonies to the power of a non-representative Parliament made such schemes unpopular for a number of years. The public ten- dency to Conservatism caused by the American Revolution had but begun to set the other way, when the French Revolution again turned it, and men once more determined thatit would not do to make bad worse. The Duke of Wellington, in particular, was a determined opponent of the question, and affirmed that he believed such a concession to the masses would bring about a civil war. With a solemnity which gave the words of the great soldier, the military idol of the people, a depth of meaning which no other man's could have had, he told his listeners that to save his country from one month of civil war, ho would will- ingly lay down his life. Such was the earnest belief of many wise statesmen. But there were others more in sympathy with thospiritofthetimes, and these bad never ceased to plead the cause in which they so earnestly believed. One of these was that Earl Grey to whoso lofty eloquence Macaulay has borne testi- mony; another was his son-in-law, Lord Durham, by whose masterful mind the somewhat slower nature of the elder noble was often dM-ected ; then there was Henry Brougham, who had not yet been created a peer, but whose restless, untiring energy made him incapable of Conservatism. But foremost of all, in the earnestness of his efforts, the untiring patience with which he worked for the advancement of the measure, and the powers • which he brought to tho contest, was Lord John Russell. No man, without genius, has ever bo impressed himself upon the history of his age. Clear-sighted, strong-willed, with undevia- tmg principles, it was the sole advantage which tho system of electing the members of Parliament which prevailed at that time possessed, that it provided for the training and advancement, in their early youth, of such men as he was. ^ ^U The Beijinning of Public Life. 49 At last an event which did more forthoEeform than any other could have done, occurred. This was the death of George IV., which took place June 26, 1830. It had long been tacitly under' stood that as long as the '< First Gentleman in Europe" was alive, it was useless to think of bettering the condition of his un- fortunate subjects. But William IV. had been popular in his youth, and longed to have that state of affairs restored. Perhaps it would be more just to say that ho seems to have wished, with all the earnestness of which he was capable, to bo a good king. At any rate, his people thought that his accession was a step for- ward in the cause of Reform. The Duke of Wellington was Prime Minister at the time of this change. His Ministry had indeed passed the Catholic Eman- cipation Bill, but it was gen- erally acknowledged that they had not done this be- cause they had recognized the justice of the measure, but be- cause they had been convinced tliut it would not be safe to de- lay it aii;^ longer. The reform question had reached that stage at this time. Added to this, matters in Franco were having their effect upon Eng- lish politics, as they have al- ways had, sooner or later. The brother of Louis XVI. had been compelled to abdi- cate, and the Orleans branch of the royal family had been called to the throne. This change had resulted from the refusal of the French Ministry to consider questions which wore forced upon their attention by the people ; the English Ministry took the lesson to heart. But Wellington denied that the distress which existed in the country was general; and even if it were, he refused to bo con- vinced that Reform was a cure for it, or indeed anything but an cviL Tlse Tory Ministry grow moio and more unpopular, and at last was compelled to resign. Earl Grey was his successor William IV. 60 The Beginning of Public Life. and most of the men who had long been prominent in the cause of Keform were in his cabinet. Brougham was made Lord Chan- cellor j Melbourne, Stanley (afterwards Lord Derby), Plunkett, and Durham, were also chosen for this honor. Lord John Eus- sell was in office, but not in the Cabinet. One member of the Government, Lord Althorp, possessed the confidence of the House in a remarkable degree. On one occasion he was replying to an opponent whose arguments had been very plausible. '' I do not now recollect," he said, " the reasons which prove his ob- jections to bo groundless ; but I know that those reasons were perfectly satifactory to my own mind." And the House, with a devotion seldom, if ever, paralleled, took Lord Aithorp's word for it, and gave a largo majority against his opponent. Lord John Russell was commissioned to draw up a plan to be submitted to the House ; for it was understood that this Ministry was appointed for the special purpose of carrying out some Re- form measure. This was duly submittod to the Premier, and a bill drawn up in accordance with his modifications of the draught. While the author of the plan of Reform did not, as he tells us in his own work on the " The English Government and Consti- tution," think it well to make any changes which could possibly bo avoided, it was necessary to make this measure complete in itself; to leave no room for their enemies to say that they were only playing at Reform. But the secret was carefully kept, and until the actual introduction of the Bill into Parliament, its enemies did not know the nature of the measure which they would have to fight. They had supposed that Old Saium and Gatton would bo struck from the list; they felt sure that Man- chester and Birmingham would be added to it; but as Lord John, who introduced the Bill, proceeded with his s])ooch, and the names of sixty boroughs were given, as the ones which it was pro- posed to leave without representation, and forty-seven which were to have but one member each, the Tories began to feel that all breaches within their party must be forgotten, in fighting this common foe. Reform. Seven nights of debate fol- lowed in the House of Commons and at the close of the seventh, one member remarked that no speaker had expressed himself as opposed to all Reform " a remarkable change," com- ments Cooke, in his ''History ot Party." The bill was defeated at last, the opposition having a majority of eight ; and the kingdis- The Beginning of Public Life. 61 t2\ ^'''^"'"^"*- ^\ ''^' ^«" tt^at he did so ; for the Ministry must have resigned, after a division and defeat on the main oh cot which they advocated; and that would in all probability have involved a popular rising like that of the first Revolution in If tho Torios did not hesitate to „se all the influence which «^oy possessed, the Whigs were in the van with them. True, e Wh.gs, or Liberals, us they began to bo more generally ca led owned but few boroughs, co„,|,uvod with their opponents but hnbery was a powerful force with .nunyofthoelee' rs, and'they d-d not hesitate to figlM the devil with tire. Then, too, thcelectors .n many cases, east eft their forn.cr allegiance and defied the power to which they had so long been subject. The rcsu t was that when the new Parliament met, and the Bill was on o Jr' subn,,tte , the Ministry had a majority of ,09; not fl ^ TZ bcrs of the minority, says the eminent authority above quoted that were not direcly interested in the result, as members 1; dislranclilsod boroughs. "".moers tor But the measure was not yet a law; it must pass the House of Lords " What will the Lords do ?" was the question Tn ev- ery mouth, echoed in one of the most powerful pam, Met, wh.ch proceeded from the pen of Brougham; widle Za lav ity, who had been swept away, as ho declared, " because thev had no symp.,tl,y with the people." Earl Grey was the fir Uo speak upon the question. There was no need L him to a tua .n favor of Eeform ; ,|,at even the Tories were wining ,7ac! ^ytz: iiteVir^n: -Ttrt;': r- .in/i *K„ I • j'ii.-5»i.u u voie or confic cn<-(> erywhcro gatherings of anirrv men. d„,;„„li„. " '..^ ""'; ircemen. Parliament met again in December'' im -tV, »ga.„ passed the Commons, and the sccolTrtd/nrpL'sTd f Ill 52 The Beginning of Public Life, I! Lorda by a majority of nine. But this was not sufficient to in- sure its final success, and the Premier demanded, as a last resort, the power of creating a sufficient number of peers to insure its success. It was refused; he resigned; the king sent for the Duke of Wellington, and commissioned him to form a Ministry. " The Duke," as he was called par excellence, essayed the task ; but Sir Robert Peel would have nothing to do with the matter, and without his assistance the Duke could not prevail upon a single man to accept office in such a Ministry. As he could not well do all himself, he resigned, and Grey was restored, with the power which ho had demanded. The Tory peers were furious, but helpless. One of them, when he learned what had been done, arose and left the House. Others continued their personal attacks upon the Premier; but it was all useless. On the 4th of June, 1832, *;he Reform Bill passed, re- ceived the assent of the Sovereign, and became the law of the land. It is because the first Parliament elected after the passage of this famous measure was the first in which Mr. Gladstone sat, that we have devoted so much space to its consideration. The history of a statesman must include at least something of the history of the country during the time that ho is active in her councils; sometimes, as in the present case, thishistory must ex- tend still farther back ; for, as we have seen, and shall see, the political creed of Gladstone was largely influenced by his admir- ation for a statesman whose life closed just as the ardent admirer entered upon manhood. Mr. Gladstone was an intimate friend of the young Earl of Lin- coln, the son of the Duke of Newcastle. That high-born oppon- ent of Reform had demanded of the Reformers : "Have 1 not a right to do as I like with my own ?" The question of course re- ferred to the boroughs of which he was the patron; and passed into a political maxim. The new law decided the answer — that the boroughs were no longer his own but the property of a con- siderably increased number of electors, whose franchises were based on a property qualification much smaller than such a re- quirement had been under the old order of things. But His Grace had not accepted the anr.wer, and resolved that he would still have the disposal of his borough of Newark. Accordingly, he invited his son's friend to stand for it. It was this invitation which cut Mr. Gladstone's continental tour short; he hurried back to England, to make his canvass. U £?»"!•- ■ ..i&^^i.- SfS?;'V; m'::^m^&m THE LAST SPEECH IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS AS PRIME MINISTER The Beginnituj of Public Life. 53 woT,M be° thlT ™° '?• " '""" °^ ''"""■'•^'' «-P«ot»tion. What mo f Th°Wh"'"'f' ?"J''^*''°*"' ^°"'™<"' House of C„m- „.. __^^ CUNTOK Arms, Newaiik, Oct. 9, 1832. T-oft. Wmhj and Indepe„Uent Electors of tkc Borough of Mwari ■ JIav,ng„o„con>plotedmycanva.,s,Ithi„kitnowmyd„lv„s «K„ unenquirin;^ and indiscrim natino- desiro f«^ e=ttrai:tTr;t^-r''T-?^--"^^^^^^ classes; which by Uturbn* '^ .'"■' °"' "f-'^'-l'-^trial strikes'at the 00(0 p^Ztv'"' P™™' "^^''-/^ eonSdence, and thus, wo must tho,:2eZi:;tH wm do " °" "'""'^ ' "»" " For the mitigation ofthoso evils, we mnsf T .k;„i, 1 , only to p,articular measures, but to tie rostoralio ' !f T* uals, are bound to carry thioughout thoir n.t .t' • '^''''^• high truths they have ilknowlodg d Prin M 1 1^^"'* '' *'° ed ngainst our institutions; and, not bylTc ifn.rhvT^'^- ism^, not by oppression nor corruption ''"f 1'"^"°^^^ t^-^Por- must be met. corruption, but oy pnncip/es they -imoner their /l,-..t. results should be a ...d„ln.. „.^ ^p^^.^j . te •ests of the poor, foun<' ^d those who are the least able to tak upon the rule that care of themselves should be II CD o H en & W O M O H ;?; H K 00 CO o I— I H M M M w Ixl O ^Ae Be<jinnin,j of Public Life. ' 55 bTelrr™.''':rn''t ^"^''«"'"'y - ^^ ^ -iu^y to o„do„vor, winch, »„h„,,,„ly among sovornl classes of our fellow-countrt' men, ,s „ot now tl,e case. Whatever n,o«,„rcs-thcr ^orc ITeX" "IprococI 10 (1,0 momentous question of slavery whiohllmv^ found en,ert„i„c,l among y„„, in tl.at candid and .™p atos W t r" l''?""";" ""'""' "'■ !'■■<""-- to -emove' ts diffl „ ... aosire to Lz z^:^. c;:::tcr:itr;'r: of Ut.ng those reasons to him, in his character of a voter ^""gli-Js the abstract lawfulness of slavervll?, a tsimpi, as importing the right of oltin .?the o";! ^^ :l^v„;o;:rc;::;„irjrerd';;:!ef^^^^^^^^^^^^^ in the relation of mas.erto 'sfave fo t i^ ond"^: Trtrr","^ -i:;ro;-;r;rorn::^-::-"- physical andT:o™i:r::;f)i"''r"^'™' *'"" ^-"^ «>« The question is as to" „ ord f a^fd L oJd" "^ ? '' °'°''^''^''- ture attacks the moral cv,l bcTonl! . "'"'",''"'>• i ""^^ Scrip- poral through the mZTLl ^l P"''"' '""'> ••""' """"n- which scripirfLrei:;:,::,;:;' ' "■" ""'^"' """ "- -"- ti:ii:;:rr:;itro:;ra':^^^^^^^^^^ Christian instruction, „ot inLndcd to ^ s" rVf^IIX-id "»! P.oly and wisdom for the religious improvenTent of . g.;ocs b,n to do thoroughly what1heycan^n;i p\:. a'; ""• Asregards,mmcdiatecmaneipati„n,witho^wUho,' ^' sat.on, there are several minor reasons against it hHJ rf T wcghs with me is, that it would, I much Tar ch. I "'"''''"«'• now affecting the negro for othc;s whi:h t:;,:-::Zlt::t !V.;v?.V.i-- .^JTW *'" rr^ ill iiij : j| hii The lie<j inning of Public Life. lapse into doepor debasement, if not for bloodshed and internal war. Lot fitness be made a condition for emancipation ; and let us strive to bring him to that fitness by the shortest possible course. Lot him enjoy the means of earning bis freedom through honest and industrious habits; thus the same instruments which attain bis liberty sluill rend r bim competent to use it ; and thus, I earnestly trust, without risk of blood, without violation of prop- erty, with unimpaired benefit to the negro, and with the utmost speed which prudence will admit, wo shall arrive at that exceed- ingly desirable consummation, the utter extinction of slavery. "And now, gentlemen, as regards the enthusiasm with which you bavo rallied round your ancient fljig, and welcomed tne humble representative of those principles whose emblem it is, I trust that neither the lapse of time nor the seductions of pros- perity can ever efface it from my memory. To my opponents, my acknowlegments are due for the good bumor and kindness with which they have received me; and while I would thankmy friends for their zealous and unwearied exertions in my favor, I briefly but emphatically assure them, that if promises be an ad- quate foundation of confidence, or experience a reasonable ground of calculation, our victory is sure. " I have the honor to be. Gentlemen, Your obliged and obedient Servant, W. E. Gladstone." This address suggests that Gladstone's opinions on the subject of slavery had been called in question by a society having for its object the suppression of slavery in the British dominions. Such was indeed the case; and the young Candida 3 had good reasons for not desiring to state his opinions t)ut>Iicly. A considerable portion of his father's wealth was drawn from the West Indies, where ho had large estates, worked wholly by slave labor. He was somewhat in the position of a scion of a Southern family, in American ante-bellum days, when called upon to de- fend the ^'peculiar institution" against the accusations of North- ern friends. More positive condemnation of the slave question we could not expect; and we must admire the dexterity with which he has avoided committing himself. The opponents of Mr, Gladstone were not to be despised. Mr. Handley appears i:, have been of much less note than Sergeant Wilde, who had much personal popularity in Newark, and was -a The B€<j'nninij oj Public Life. 67 veteran platform orator. This gentleman, says a paper of tho time, which bitterly opposed tho Tories, was, on his entrance in- to town, mot by almost the whole population j ho had unsuccess- fully contested tho borough in tho elections of 1829 and 1830; in 1831 he had been more Buccessful, and had formed one of tho mnjority for the Eoform Bill. But tho very measure which his Liberal supporters had hoped wculd secure his -^lection was to bo hero condemned by tho election of a Tory candidate. ' The election did not take pluco until December, In the mean time, it may bo believed that tho varioiui cunui js and their friends were not idle. Mr. Gladstone, though a stranger to the town, and hence under some disadvantage as compared with tho well-known and popular Mr. Wilde, had made many friends amon'^ tho electors; and had won the highest praises from tho member of tho Ecf" Club, an influential Tory organization. Thisrumber- ed some six hundred and fifty or more voters, and these wcrodi pledged to the support of tho duke's candidate. Others there were, who were positively promised; and the cloction was well- nigh assured. It was not to'bo won without the usual disagreeable concomit- ants, however. "Who is Mr. Gladstone?" was tho qiesiion some- what contemptuously asked by tho adherents of tho lato mem- ber for the borough. Tho question w- o^ couiso answered -n two ways ; said tho Tory organ, Old 1 ,.... : "He is tho son of tho friend of Mr. -..■ . ,..g, the great Liv- erpool merchant. Ho is, we understand, not more thau four or five and twenty, but ho has won golden opinions from all sorts of people, and promises to be an crnamcntto tho Iloiiso of Commons." On the other hand, tho Bcgxdator, tho Whig ..rgan, answered the sumo query in this way: "Mr. Gladstone IS the son of Gladstone of Liverpool, a person who (u-o are now speaking of tho father) has amassed a larire forluno by West India dealings. In other words, a great part of his gold has sprungfromthebloodofblackslaves. Kospcctingthoyouthhim- se-f, a person fresh froTi coMogo, and whose mind is as much like a sneet of foolscap paper ..s possible, he was utterly unknown Ho came recommended by no claim in tho world except the will of^t^he duke." All of which was perfect^ true, though stated with ^.+ ... 4... j^-^eh eouteraj fc fur what we think of the long famous Liberal. The campaign was a hot on( and not unmarked by those at- 58 The Beginning of Public Life. uuftot ^'^''' freiuently no n.oro than so many in~ okes of the more innocent and allowal le kind was arroeession wh?w 7"' ""r''^'"'"''''' '""'^'"i"^"' forhim, even „r,cn. those who had formerly supported Sergeant Wilde for his stf-ai^u fomard manner and speeches mado friends among all. New'ar t was not altogether a poelcet borough, i„ t|,„ 3,^,,, \,,Tlo2l hundred and many of them h-.d mlnr]« r>f ^i • , . . , „ •' im 111 lUiu mintis ot then* own. vorv d ffpr- en .„ bent from that of the d„ke. His influeneo w'as e^nt d . Kefoim Wh.gs newly enconraged by the passage of the creat measure, that it was said that if the dnke bad Wonghforwa" .tfcrd.""' ^'"•'' '''"""'"' "^ " ^•^"'"''"'"' >- -ou.d^have ;::„ f h Ji°,r'"!,"foT ^"" '"^'"' »°'' "'!>, tl.o eleetion being fixed for the 12th and 13lh. Mr. Gladstone was the third of tl.e e ndU la es ,n the nomination. His cxperieneo upon the hustings "a , not have been a very pleasant one, .. he was assailed by" „, es. .ons from Ins opponent's snpporters. One of these hoslilo e eo- tors demanded if ho were not the D„ke of Neweastle's nomi e„ .W, ,„ ,, „ t „f.f,.,t_ 1,^ „.^, ,,_^ j,_^j^^ ^^ Neweaslle's nom ee' a.,^ everybodythcro present wasperfectlyaware of thefi,""bt he question was asked, that an argument n.ighi be based , no ho answer ; for the faet was not to be deniel. Mr. Gla.| ,0 e ' ener.Ks aver tnat he is sMIled in the art of talking without a,- ng anyth.ng; of salis.ying his listeners without mtuing a y as ert,o,,., to eomm t himself. If this is so, he began at an eaX ago ; for he certainly evaded this embarr,..,sing questio" , 0" a neat .nanner He informed the gentleman that he w u ,7 to know wh,at ho meant by tho expression n.,nd ; if ,ho ele . „r would tell him what was in,plie,| by the tenn'. ', , I, u „ I.e, castle s no,n„ ee." he (Mr. Gladstone) would tell ■ n, whet that he had V-''''"^ *" ''■'" "'■ ■""■ ^'>« ^'"■"■•l--. -Lothoug ino duke s nominee lie "v^ ..Jn^ri , -.> . 1 , , ' -Apiameu -was a person sent in ^^'^ pushed down tho throats of the electors, whelr the^likci him ' ■■' ^' o J''-''JiM:MiugTiumr-i»iiMnMWiriiini>il(l<iiiriSti 7'he Beginning of Public Life. 59 or not. Whereupon Mr. Gladstone suavely answered that, accord- iDg to that definition, ho was not the duke's nominee; he had come to Newark upon the invitation of the Eed Club, the re- spectability and intelligence of which no one could impugn. This invitation, he said, had doubtless been extended to him in eon- sequence of .,s friendship with the Earl of Lincoln, as the cl.b had applied to the duke to know if he could recommend a suit- able candidate to them; and his Grace had replied by suggest- ing himself (Mr. Gladstone). It is to be hoped that the elector was satisfied with the answer; at any rate, he seems to have had >o more to say. Another quc.^^tion remained to be met— it was that which he ..ad evaded so b .llfully in his address. His answer upon the histmgs socns to have been simply an enlargement of that which had Dcen given in print, bnt so stated that it was less equivocal in its condemnatio.i of the slave traflic and more cer- tr.inly in favor of emancipation. T'le candidates being called upon to address the meeting Ser- geant Wilde chose the slavery question as the chief subject of his speech, which lasted for more than three hours. He was follow- ed by Mr. Handley, who also spoke a long time, and mainly on the same topic, to show that h.s humanity was at least equal to that of the first speaker. Mr. Gladstone was thus .t a consider- erablo disadvantage; not only did he have to repl^ to these speeches on a subject which ho could ' .rdly discuss freely but .0 must speak to men worn out by li cni.g to two long speech- es, following the lively dialogues, some small portion of which we have described. He had hardly begun to speak when his .o.ce was drowned by the hooting and hissing which showed vhe.r disinclination to listen to him, and he soon found it would be impossible to proceed. A show of hands was demanded. There were few or none for Mr. Gladstone, beyond his support- tors on the hust-ngs; and a y oil was demanded. From the L-st this told a very iliiferont tale; for he to-k the lead from the start, and wa. never overtaken by his rivals. When the votinjr X^'^^n'^k *^'' '''"'* ''^^^^'' ^•''^d«to«^» 882; Hanuley, 793- VVildo, 719. ' A few days after this election, Mr. GladsLcne addressed a noi?!.- ' ' Constitutional Club at Nottinghum. Commenting 7'^ ''-""^■-^»J""l•"aloIli,o day observed; "Ho is a rroti tlemancf amiable manners and the most extraordinary talent ig IS a gen- ^li i i t^ r 60 The Beginning of Public Life, and wo venture to predict, without tl.o slightest exaggeration, that ho will ono day bo classed amongst tho most able statesmen in tho British Senate." Without exaggeration, ho has been class- ed amongst the most able statesmen in tho British Senate. ThefirstEeformParliamcntmetJan.29,1833. Its composition was not what had been expected - for now that the great measure had been carried, m-iny of the Liberal-Conservatives had return- ed to tho allegiance from which tho popular commotion had fright- ened them; tho Whig majority was not nearly so largo as the Whigg themselves had hoped, or tho Tories had feared. But there was still a sufficient majority to make tho party of Eeform a formidable enemy. There remained at least one great question to be settled, which had been agitated for a number of years. Before tlie American Eevolution began, William Wilberforce, then a boy at school had begun his long crusade against slavery by a letter written to a York newspaper. Of efforta in that direction he never wearied, until the hand of death itself was upon him. The slave- trade was abolished in England and her colonies in 1806, two years before the time when, by tho Constitution framed in'l7S7 It was abolished in this country. But slavery still existed, and the friends of freedom, cheered by this partial success, brou-ht new energy to tho completion of their task. At tho timo^of which wo write, Wilberforce was more than seventy years ol<l and tho ill health from which ho had suffered for a number of' yearshad long kept him from active exertions. Compelled in 1825 to retire from Parliament, where for thirty-six years ho had nev- er ceased to press the great question, his mantio fell upon Sir Thomas Fowcll Buxton, then plain Mr. Buxton, who had long been a Parliamentary advocate of every measure which could improve the condition of tho helpless and oppressed. He was no unworthy successor of the groat apostle of tho abolition of slav- erj', and it was by his efforts that the bill to do away with slav- ery in tho British colonies was introduced in this session of Par- liament. Nor wa3 the slave without other and powerful advocates. The brilliant eloquence of Macaulay, tho son of that Zachary Macau- lay who had done as much as any one for tho abolition of slav- ery, was enlisted in its behalf; and Brougham had thrilled the House with his appalling stories of tho abuse of despotic pov/er in the colonies. J:*i* -V'S - V'. ■» ■ ■■'J.', u "VW" i MR. GLADSTONE CUTTING TREES AT HAWARDEN The Be(jlnnin(j of Publio Life 61 Much to tho disappointment ofthoso so much interested in this (question, tho royal speech did not make any mention of it. Tho abolitionists at once demanded to know if the Government meant to take any action in this connection. The Ministry asked for time to consider, which was granted. Tho matter was submitted to Lord Stanley, afterward Earl of Derby. lie was the vory man to whom it should have been intrusted, forwhcn his feelings wore aroused ho rose to the height of a genuine eloquence, and tho rarity of such occasions niado them doubly influential upon his listeners. Ilis sympathies were excited on behalf of the slaves, and aided by the steady forethought which Avas one of his marked qualities, he was able to devise a plan which, witli a few modifications, proved to bo acceptable to the two parties. All cliildron born after tho passage of the act, or loss tha, six yeai's old at the time of its passage, were declared free, though subject to such restrictions as might be necessaiy for their sup- l)ortand maintenance; all persons over that age, registered as slaves, were to bo apprenticed to their ^ masters fora stated length of time, to be fixed by William Wilbcrfurcc. Parliamentj tho Government was to renumerate the slave-owners for tho loss thus occasioned, and the sum of i;20,00(),000 was set aside for that purpose. This was the Act of Emancipation as it passed the ILousc; it differed but slightly from the bill proposed by the Colonial Secretary. The debate was a bitter one, and sometimes assumed a person- al form, or as nearly that as the rules of the House of Commons will allow. It was the business of those who had profited by it to defend tho iniquitous system of traffic in human beings and the evils resulting from it. There was at least one such in the House. "There is not a stone in the walls of Liverpool but is cemented by the blood of Africans," the people of that city had once been 62 'The beginning of Public Life. told, and truly. Much of the wealth which had enabled Mr. Gladstone the elder to take such a high position among his fel- low-merchants had been, like theirs, drawn from West Indian es- tates, whore the labor was done altogether by slaves. These es- lates were so large, and Mr. Gladstone's name so well known (Sir Eobort Peol hud in 1819 quoted the opinion of «' Mr. Glad- stone, the great Liverpool merchant," as high authority upon ;, some question of expedience), that they formed a convenient ex- ample. During the course of the debate, Lord Howick referred to the decrease in the number of slaves on an estate in Dem- erara, owned by Mr. Gladstone, and which ho claimed was pro- duced by the inhuman manner in which the slaves were worked. The elder Gladstone was without a seat in the House of Com- mons at this time, and hence he was referred to by name; and his son found himself obliged to answer the accusations thus brought against the name. His maiden speech in the House was delivered May 17, 1833. He did not defend slavery in general, but contented himself with asserting the groundlessness of some oftho statements which Lord Howick had made; an<l showed that the decrease had been caused by the transfer of some of the slaves to other estates. Ho admitted that the cultivation of sugar was more detrimental to those engaged in it than some other crops, but instanced trades in England itself, such as painting, and working in lead mines, which were similarly injurious to those engaged in them. The speech docs not seem to have been regai-ded as of any importance to the subject in general ; it was rather a defense of his father personally, and a proof of the well-known kindness of the overseer employed by him. His second speech followed this after but a short interval, and was of the same general character. But in this he took a some- what broader view of the matter, and defined his own opinions regarding the subject with more precision. Beginning with the •charges which Lord Howick had made, ho showed yet more plainly that these especial wrongs of the slave were without ac- tual existence. Proceeding to the discussion of the general prin- ciples involved, he confessed with shame and pain that many cases of wanton cruelty had occurred in the colonies, both in branding the slaves, and whipping them beyond the limits of human endurance; he added that those cruelties would always bo practised, under any system of slaver least and while the West Indie.s ..-^Dresented th y, in some instances III. ese as rare and The ^eginni7ig of Public Life. gj mlTrJTT "' "^"^^'-^^-^ that the ordinary relation of m Mstor an.l shivo was a fn-ndly one, he admitted that a system winch povm.ttod those things is necessarily repugnant to tl^ pnuciples of civilisation and Christianity by whicf the Brit h Gladstone's First Speech in t}^ House of Commons. empire is ruled. Ho demanded that the planters should be v. compensed for the loss which would b- ii •] a . "^^"'^ "^ oniaiied UDon fbfim Kir Alo,000,000 to enable the planters to carry on their i^^l-*aj;>%iffn u TJie Beginning of J-'ublic Life. plantations), and that a plan should be adopted by which the de- serving negroes might be freed before the idle and incompetent ones. When wo consider the circumstances in which the young M. P. was placed, and the feelings with which he had boon educated we can hardly expect any more generous speech than this utter- ance. Had he been brought up with such an abhorrence of slav- ery as had been inculcated in the minds of Wilbcrforce's child- ren, he would doubtless have spoken more strongly; but ho was naturally one of the opponents of abolition, like the slave-own- ers of America. Had the American Abolitionists acted with as much consideration as Lord Stanlej', the slave-owners would perhaps have responded in the same spirit; and Emancipation would have been a peaceful measure. The bill passed its second reading ten days before the death of "Wilberforcc; its success was assured by the majorities which had sanctioned it thus far, and the known attitude of many of the Lords; thus the great, good old man had the satisfaction of knowing, in the hours of death, that his life had not boon spent in vain ; that the impetus which he had given to this philanthro- pic effort had secured its ultimate success, and laid the founda- tion for the happiness of thousands of oppressed and benighted men. The question of the abolition of slavery having been settled, there arose that gliost which continually haunts the halls of Parliament, and, like Banquo's, will not down. This was a form of the Irish question, at that particular time embodied in an ef- fort to settle the difficulties arising from the difference between the Established Church of Ireland and that of the people. The act of Uninr had provided that the Episcopal Church, as wo know it, should be the Church of Ireland as it was the Church of Eng- land ; and in every parish there was a duly presented incum- bent. Sometimes the whole representation of the Established Church in a parish would bo the incumbent and his clerk. Un- der such circumstances, the collection of tithes, from people who * supported another church, was not only a great hardship, but well-nigh impossible. The Government persisted in supporting churches and the clergy, whether there were any communicants or not. The priests had been tacitly exempted from tho pay- ment of tithes until about 1830, when some over-zealous tithe- proctor seized a priest's horse in default of payment. The peo' ?;^ii The Beginning of Public Life. 65 pie in general had long been accustomed to allow their property to be seized in this way, as they would not pay voluntarily for the maintenance oftho Establishment, and the Government in- sisted upon making collections. But to have the priest himself thus taxed for the support of the alien religion, was too much for their patience. Thore had been riots before this time, when the police had fired among the crowd with deadly effect: riots described with sue. vvthos by the great Irish orator, O'Con- nell^ that young Charles Dickens, a reporter in the House of Commons, and the most skillful that ever did that work, laid down his pencil and declared that he could not go on; that speaker's subject and manner had too powerfully affected him The priests now denounced the payment of tithes from the pul- pit ; It was the one thing which had been wanting j and the dex- terity and perseverance which the people exorcised in avoiding the payment of the hated tax would, if applied to their daily work, have enabled them to pay it ten times over. But as in the case of a celebrated small tax upon tea, which the British Gov- ernment once imposed, it was the principle which was at stake The authorities tried every plan to collect the tithes, but it was of no avail. Finally, in this session of Parliament, a plan was proposed, which would enable the incumbents to hold their own for a while at least. The Government was not without feeling for the clergy, whose lot was not a very enviable one; this same tax, which there was such an ado about collecting, was their means of subsistence; whatever were the merits of the case they were not to blame for the fact that the Church of the State and the Church of the people were not the same ; and the Govern- ment which had placed them in their present position could not with common decency, leave them to starve. Tho arrears of the tithes amounted, in 1833, to more than a million and a quarter sterling; an arrearage which was distributed amonganimmeBse number of men whoso sole means of living it was. Lord Althorp brought forward a bill which provided for the Government as- suming this debt, and looking to its own collectors for repay- ment Mr. Gladstone spoke against this bill, which, he said, he feared would place the Irish Church on an untenable foundation. Admitting the principle that the State ought to maintain the Es- tablished Church, he denied that the means provided in this plan were adapted to secure the ends wished. Mr. Gladstone seems to have been extremely unfortunate in his choice of subjects on 5 fpiiiii 66 The Beginning of Public Life. which to speak, for in this case, as in tho first, he was loft wo- fully in tho minority when it came to a division. iSV'! did any bettor effects result from his speech on the sub- joct of admission to tho universities, upon which Parliament found it necessary to legislate. It was proposed to remove the necessity of subscription to tho Thirty-nine Articles; and the bill passed by a majority of 89. Wo find no further evidence of tho activity cf t'.is young member of tho opposition during tho remaini.or of this year. Tho topics of importance had all been discussed and settled, for tho time at least. Slavery was abol- ished, though it would not actually cease for several years to come ; and tho affair had been managed in such a way that tho fears of tho planters had been allayed, and the numerous pi-edic- tions of ungovernable tumults and murderous riots by tho ne- groes as the result of their emancipation had been completely falsified by the event. Tho troubles of the Irish Church had boon settled for as long a time as tho amount of money appropriated would pay the tithes; though tho Irish people were still to be oppressed, to repay tho Government for this outlay. The re- quirements of admission to tho University of Oxford had been so far changed that otiiers than members of the Established Church might now enter that institution of learning, which had never swayed from strict orthodoxy since its early lapse in de- fending Wiclif. Such were three of the great measures of tho Parliament which met immediately after the passage of the first Eeform Bill. But tho Government which had passed these measures was materially weakened by tho loss of one of its members. Lord Al- thorp, who had held the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer, had, by the death of his father, become I;ord Spencer and a member of the House of Lords. This made it necessary for a new Chancellor to bo appointed, and raised further difficulties peculiar to tho situation. Lord Althorp's influence had been suf- ficient to keep the party of tho Government tolerably united; tho Prime Minister, Earl Grey, and his successor, Viscount Mel- bourne, being of course removed from any direct influence over the members of tho lower house; but now there was no one who could prevent fatal divisions among tho Whigs of tho Commons. The king saw tho difficulties which had arisen, and was be- sides of the opinion that tho days of this party were numbered, so far as their present tenure of office was concerned. He refused, iMi" '-'M-mM' '^^^^<iS^^ :2:_ 67 68 The Beginning of Public Life. then, to allow tbo appointment of Lord Althorp's successor; Lord Melbourne and his colleagues were dismissed, and the Duke of Wellington was summoned. Ho advised that Sir Eobcrt Peel should be sent for, as ho felt unequal or unwilling himself to un- dortake tho work of forming a cabinet; the old soldier had not quite forgiven tho people of England for passing ti.o Eeiorm Bill, and could not stoop to take office under a Reformed Govern- ment. II's counsel was accepted, and Sir Robert, who was trav- eling in I;aly, hastened homo. This was in December, 1834. The xiow Premier had watched, as all men of ability in similar position.^ must, tho riso of the younger members of Parliament, who wc"e destined to carry on the work of ruling tho country when ho and his generatior should have parsed away. Among such tho young men'ber for Newark had not been unnoted. Tho skill and ability with which he had spoken against the measures of the Government had not escaped the watchful c} es of tho elder m.in ; and when the new cabinet was formed, though there was no room in it for a man of barely twenty-five, tho subordinate post of Junior Lord of the Treasury was offered him, and, as ma> easily bo guessed, not declined. In this connection, wo note that though the action of William IV. in dismissing a Ministry winch had as yet sustai; u no nota- ble defeat in the House of Commons appears arbitrary and op- posed to tho principles of Constitutional Government, it was in strict accordance with the practice of his father, his brother, and himself at other times. Q-ioen Victoria is the first English sov- ereign whoso ministers have invariably been chosen with refe.. ence to the demands of the Commons, and retained in office un- til the Commons have demanded a change. 1- » or; Lord Duke of crt Pool L'lf to jn- had not » Ilfubrm [ Govern- wan trav- watched, of the cany on Micratior pber for itli which , had not the new a man of Lord of sssed,not ^'illiam no nota- and op- it was in ther, and ;lish sov- fh rcfe.. cflSce un. ymti z o s o o o CO Q X u) I I- > CO oa o _i z g CO CHAPTER III. EARLY OFFICIAL LIFE. Whigs Versus Tories - Trained in Early Life to Speak in fublic-Accoanfc of Sir Robert Peel— P:vent8 FollowiDg the Passage of the Reform Act— Mr. Gladstone m Junior Lord of the Treajury-Canadian Troubles of 1837— Death of King William IV.-Address to His Constituents-Accession of Victoria to the Throne-More Agitation of the Slavery Question-Debate on the War with China-Queen Victoria's Marriage-Popularity of the Prince Consort. 'IR EGBERT PEEL was the eldest son of a baronet of the same name, whose wealth and prominence as a manufactur- er had secured the elevation to a baronetage from Mr. Pitt. His Toryism was well defined and uncompromising; so that when, on the birth of his son, ho vowed he would give him to his country, it was understood by all hearers that the boy was to be devoted to the Tory party. But in the days which the young, er Peel was to see, the old-time distinctions of Tory and Whig were to go out of fashion ; and in their place were to come Conservatives and Liberals. There had indeed been use for these two later names before, but only as minor branches of the two parties, after the passage of the Reform Bill, it seems that the broadly marked distinctions werepermittcd to fadeout; and the more moderate parties obtained the ascendency. There are still Whigs and Tories, it is true, but thoy are looked upon as followers of a fashion which has long ago passed away. It is our pride that we lean toward our opponents' party so far that we can see the reasons M'hich influence their actions. The education of the boy thus devoted to his party was con- ducted by the father with the most jealous care that it should be such as would fit him to take part in parliamentary proceedings to the best possible advantage. From childhood he was trained to speak in public, by being placed upon a table each Sunday, when tho family returned from church, and bidden to repeat as much of the sermon as ho could recuii. At Harrow, where ho was the 69 70 Early Official Life. form-fellow of Lord Byron, he won golden opinions by his dili- gence and ability. At Oxford, where he was entered at Christ Church, ho was the iirst to win a double-first class under the new and more stringent examination. Hampdon and Whateley were among the competitors whom ho diptanced. He entered the House of Commons for the first time as the member for a bor- ough which was regularly sold to the highest bidder, and his first speech showed that the Tory Government had gained a valuable supporter. Ho had won his reputation as a speaker by an elo- quent oulogy upon the Duke of Wellington, which he found oc- casion to deliver in 1811, on the occasion of the British Govern- ment subsidizing some Portuguese troops. How far this influ- enced the Duke in his after treatment of Mr. Peel, it is impossi- ble to say J the man of the strictest justice is often unconscious- ly swayed by some such action of those with whom he has to deal. He was barely twenty -four when ho was made Chief Sec- retary for Ireland ; a post which then, as now, was not without its diflSculties. It is hard to say whether it is a matter of greater difficulty to deal with an opponent like O'Conncll, or one like Par- ncll; the scathing satire and coarso rough hum^r were quite enough to keep the young minister busy, v/ithout imagining the difficulties which might beset some i.iuccessor from quite a differ- ent kind of man. As a matter of course, he was opposed to the claims of the Catholics being granted; there were but few of the Tories who were not ; and this led to the conferring of a nickname upon him which is remembered now as one of the happiest puns ever per- petrated in politics: the opponent of the Irish Catholics was dubbed "Orange Peel." But he was not wholly acceptable to the party for who n ho was thus named. His moderation in some respects offended them J but ho held the office for a long time. His duel with O'Conncll was long made the moans of casting a good deal of ridicule upon him. O'Coi.nclI had taunted Peel with being afraid to uso certain expressions in any place where he could bo called to account for them. Pcci resented this at once, and authorized a friend to act as his second. O'Connell promptly named one of his friends for the same duty. The two seconds met, but were unable to agree from which party the challenge was due. To settle this question, thoy eventually challenged one another. O'Connell claimed that Peel was trying by this means to get out of it J Peel found another second, less ^ 2^.^ ■J':2m: nuairA-jiemit ,, -^.;u4^'fA.-i4l4t''-;''^<-.".-' •-? J;-'-'-' quarrelsome than the first, and challenged O'Connoll. The latter wus arrested and bound over to keep the peace ; th /agreed to end of the frmous duel between O'Conn.u and Peel, if it is „o^, too great a bull to speak of the end of an affair whicLever took pirtce. To go back to the graver events of Peel's life. There is om thing which was done in connection with his Irish Secretarvship which was a real and much-needed reform : the military cia cd c ml force of police was substituted. It seems to make but little difference by what agency oppression is carried on ; but a lit te the^r"; "v ' '' ^'^''^ *''^^^ P^^'- force, r^sponsiblto d bv thefr"! 'r^ '' '"''^ ^'"'^"^''^ *« soldiery, command- undoftirr '.'''' '"^'"^^'^S^ '^'' ^^'^'^ ^re nominally under the direction of the magistrates. ^ Resigning the Irish Secretaryship in 1817, he was out of office forthreeyears In 1819heshowed remarkable financial ability . of Bank of England notes in gold. The Bank Act, which he was mainly instrumental in framing, is still the law ^hich goveL the monetary system of the country. governs Go^vernmlSr""''' '^'""'>'' ''''''' '^'^"^^^ ^^^^ — ^^ the -government in those oppressions which culminated in the Peter- loo Massacre ; and, like Canning, he would have nothi^^ . to do with the action of the king against his queen, wh.n Ca oline o^ Brunswick claimed the title .f Queen Consort M.de Hom^ Secretary in 1821, ho was subordinate, in a me" ..""to M^^^^^^ n.ng, whose brilliant talents overshadowed all of hi's eotas" though he was not the nominal head of the ^^ovc.nmen Her' again he introduced reforms, simplifyin,^ -..l hu^na If 1 laws in regard to c.-ime. Un to 1970 ih., ^"'"anizing J,e ♦,., 1 1 , , " ^" -^^^^j there were no fewer thin two hundred and cfghty-throc l,uvs npon Iho .tatuto book rel-!t ng to oflcnco, for which death was the ronalty! Pccl'rwt ho first hand that dealt a biow at this ornel and iMffcctive let .slat,on; and althongh the refor,a wi.ich he instituted wrnot^" complete one, it n,„st be remembered .(,at there are Mm ts to t ,^ pos„b,l>t,os of changing existing l.w., which do nof^ arf from the unwillingness of the statesman. We have already noted the contest which ensued when Lord 72 Early Official Life. Liverpool died. After the death of Canning, Peel found that it was impossible to resist the claims of the Catholics any longer. It had been \ odicted by a close observer, who watched the course of affairs from a place of privilege, that "the march of time and the state of Ireland will effect it in spite of everything," and Catholic Emancipation became an accomplished fact. With his party, Peel had been in the minority during the Parlia- ment elected after the passage of the Eeform Act ; but this mi- nority diminished daily. It was at this time that Sir Eobert, Sir Robert Peel. the leader of his party, had the good sense to adopt the newer name by which it has been known since his time ; and men who had been bitterly opposed to Tories found themselves not unwil- ling to give support to Conservative measures. At the same time, the services which h'- had himself rendered to the old Tory par- ty made the contin... ..'co of its supporters' allegiance sure. The Whigs were suffering from the consequences of victory, and it had become impossible for the leaders of the party to Early Official Life. 73 ploaso the loss progressive adherents and the new WhiVs orLib- Tui!' ^'w7 ^^/^ ^'^"" *^ '"^^ themselves, at the same time. Although thei-e had been no direct rebuke of the Whig policy in the House of Commons, the king was not far out of the way in dismissing h,s ministers, and forming a Conservative cabinet. Mr. Gladstone s acceptance of the office of Junior Lord of the IiTd Tr '""' ^"'' ''' ''''• ^^^^^'^^'"^ '^ E"gi-h ^-^--^ piecedent, by accepting an office of profit under the Crown, he vacated his seat and the Speaker issued his writ for a new elec- ^o?i .TT '• ^^^\' "^^^'^'^ *" '^' ^'^^«t-«' G^Xnasio., re- viewed the history of the session, showing how the relative po- TrJ"^ H r K ^Tr ^"^ ««««"tially changed since the mem- be shad subscribed the roll. He seems to have thought that fTct tut J '' ""*'^ ''''^^" '^' ^'"^ -ad,anddepreLesthe fact that there were even "those among the servants of the king who did not scruple to solicit the suffrages of their constituents wi h promises to act on the principles of Radicalism." An in- telligent man could not deny the necessity for many reforms- Z t^u ^''""? «\«didate attempt such a hopeless and useless task "The question has then," he went on to say, "as it appears to n e, become, whether we are to hurryonward at intervals, but not long ones through the medium of the ballot, short parlia- ments and other measures called popular, into republicanism or anarchy; or whether, independently of all party considerations, he people will support the Crown, in the discharge of its dut; to n.aintain in efficiency and transmit in safety those old and va.uab e institutions under which our country has greatly flour- .shed." In regard to Church matters, however, \e saw that there was real need of reform. "Let me ad ^ shortly but em- phatically, concerning the reform of actual abuses, whether in Church or State, that I regard i, as a sacred duty-I duty at aU inie^and certainly not least at n period like thiL, when the dan- ger of neglecting it is most clear and imminent-a duty not inim- ml T ""!l^^*f-^^"<^^ Conservative principle, nor a curtail- ment and modification of such principle, but its legitimate con- seq^ience, or rather an actual element of its composition." He was confronted at first by the same opponents who had contested the former election; but Mr. Handley having wSi drawn, Mr. G adstono and the Liberal candidate, Sergeant Wilde tirtr^l". "''''"' opposition. The people of Newark feU that they had reason to be proud of their representative: his 74 Early Official Life. Iff had been a brilliant record, for a young man who had but recent- ly entered upon the arena of political life. According to the time-honorod custom, he was chaired, and as the procession wended Its way through the streets, he was received by all parties with the most flattering enthusiasm. At the rooms of his Com- mittee, Mr. Gladstone addressed the electors to the number of SIX thousand, and was greeted with deafening cheers. Mr. Gladstone did uot long hold the office to which he had been appointed so shortly after his chief's accession to power • but ho left It to accept one which was more desirable— that of Under-Secretary for the Colonies. This change took place shortly after Parliament assembled, in February, 1835. Act- ing in this capacity, he brought in his first bill in March of that year. Intended for the better regulation of the carriaf^e of pas- sengers in merchant vessels to North Americr it contained many humane provisions, and was most favorably received But the Peel Ministry was a short-lived one. It came to grief upon the question of the Irish Church, and the ministers were again defeated on the question of appropriating the surplus funds of the Church to the general education of all classes of Christians. In the bitter and acrimonious debates which attend- ed these two defeats, Mr. Gladstone was noticeable by the cour- teous bearing which has always distinguished him, and the gen- eral urbanity of his manners. Having thus lost the support of the House, the Peel Ministry of course resigned, including the officers who were without seats in the cabinet. Mr. Gladstone was again in opposition, and remain- ed there for some time. Shortly after this, we find him again defending the West In- dian planters from the accusations which were brought against them as a class, but based upon the cruelties practiced by a few • for the apprenticeship system gave the masters almost as much power, while it lasted, as the old system of slavery. After a speech supporting the Government against the House of Assembly of Canada, when the Canadian troubles of 1837 came before Parli-imcnt, Mr. Gladstone again spoke in opposi- tion on the question of Church Eates; and it is said by a compe- tent authority that this was the best and most impassioned speech which he had yet made. His opposition, however, did not produce any appreciable effect, as the Government carried the measure which had been nronospd "' * , '■St.'. '" •', - . ■|ii ^flr/y Official Life. 76 ThedeathofKingWilliamIV,whichoccurrodJune20th ISqy Princess Victoria in Girihood. and tho Tones of 3Ianchestcr desired to show their appreciation ot It. A deputation of three gentlemen waited upon Mr. Glad- stone, and invited him to stand for Manchester. Tho invitation was perhaps as great a compliment as thev conld r..^ him but unfortunately, in the great manufacturing'conter, [h^ defeat of 79 Early Official Life, i 1 iS the Tory candidates was almost a certainty. To use the express- ive language of a newspaper of the day, <'ho did not allow them to make a fool of him, and declined the invitation." Of course the mere question of victory or defeat was not the reason on which the declination was based j Newark was the first borough /or which he had stood ; it hud shown its appreciation of him at the second election at which he hud been a candidate; and to de- sert them now, after again presenting himself to them, and issu- ing an address, would have been wholly unjustifiable- But the Manchester people would not take no for an answer • and although Mr. Gladstone hud flatly refused to stand, thev placed his name before the electors. This was calculated to make trouble at Newark, and the much sought member issued an ad- dress to his constituents, dated July 22d, 1837. In this address he said : " My attention has just been called to a paragraph in the Not- tingham and Newark Mercury of this morning, which announ- ces, on the authority of some person unknown, that I have con- sented to be put in nomination for Manchester, and have prom- ised, if elected, to sit in Parliament as its representative. I have to inform you that these reports are wholly without foundation I was honored on Wednesday with adej ntution from Manchester empowered to request that I would become a candidate for the' borough. I felt the honor, but I answered unequivocally und at once, that I must absolutely decline the invitation ; and I am much at a loss to conceive how ' a most respectable correspond- ent could have cited language which I never used, from a letter which I never wrote. Lastly, I bog to state in terms as explicit as I can command, that I hold myself bound in honor to the electors of Newark, that I adhere in every particular to theten- or of my late address, and that I place my humble services dur- ing the ensuing Parliament entirely and unconditionally attheir disposal." But in spite of this explicit and emphatic denial that he had accepted the invitation, his name was still used at Manchester It was reported that he hud promised £500 toward the expenses of the election, if he were returned ; and his name was actually presented at the polls. Although the candidate himself hud thus discountenanced the whole affair, the Liberals were ruther taken aback at the strength of the Tory vote. The Conservatives, after the election was over, g^,e a dinner to their unwiliin^candidntn ■M.ji ross- horn arso I on ugh a at do- ssu- cr J liey ako ad- 'ess ot- un- on- m- ive 511. er, ho nd im id- or 3it tio n- v- ir r Early Official Life. 77 ^ _r \~ CO < o z o ir < < I < > <• £E to I z < I a z I o z < z o o < o at which ho conffrntn'-vto.l thorn on tho energy which they had shown, and predicted that their strength would be tho nucleus of future success. Tho accession of the young Princess Victoria to tho throno of Great Biitani, upon tho death of William lY., was an event of profound in.port to tho whole English-speaking race and to hu- manity at largo. George III. had left seven sons. Of these tho eld- Duchetss of Kent, Mother of queen Victoria. , , est, who succeeded him as George IV., had but one child, the i nncess Charlotte, who died in 1817. Tho second son died with- out hen-s; WiHiam IV. had no children. After tho death of tho 1 nncess Charlotte, tho fourth son, Edward, then a man well on toward middle age, had married tho Dowager Princess of Leiw- eugcH, whose brother had been the husband of the Princess r^F^" -T'^'^z.jr^is^T':^^-^.^ % IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 4 // 4i^ y. €£/. 1.0 I.I 1.25 •i^lllM 11125 ti 3.2 1^ I 2.2 M 1.8 U 11.6 <^ A '<^. A^/"^ W ^ r* ^3%- r Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 873-4503 # L1>^ i\ '^ 9> 4^ •^ # 6^ <^ L^. ^A '^ C^ ^ 1 If. i 1 I i :\ i 1 1 78 Early Official Life. 79 Queen of England. There was but one child born of this mar- nage,adaughter, who was intended to be named for h ^ uncTe dslTth f;;' '"' '^^ ^^^^^°^^^ ^- '' ^--'^ ^"t the c"a ms^stedthatAIexandrina must be the first name; whereupon the PnnceEegent declared that Georgina should be second' to no other name m the li.st of those borne by an English princess. The baby was accordingly christened Alexandrina ViJoria, the latter being her mother's name. The Princess Victoria was born May 24th, 1818: and eight months later her father, the Duke of Kent, died. The widowed mother of the heiress presumptive to the throne had a difficult task to perform in the education of a daughter destined for such a lofty position ; but she received no help from her husband's family. She was decidedly unpopular with them and with the people generally; and she did not make mucb effort to pleas! the family ,nto which she had married, having her own opinion of the.r^ 13 i^ .^ ^^ j^^^.^^,^^.^ ^^^^ ^^^ resolutely stifled all those naurallongings for her native land and thesocietyof her own relatives, and educated her daughter entirely in Eng- land, surrounded by English influences. ^ The little princess grew up without any clear idea of her own importance, although, as Mrs. Oliphant says, in hor Zife ofle Queen, "wherever the little maiden went, as was natural, she was th centre of attraction" to the people who realized Lr hTgh earn that she was next in the line of succession. The import- unde'rsrdT'"" ^'V''" "^'^ ^^'^ ^^ «^'^«^ ^^-* «he m'^^ght understand the reason for imposing more tasks upon her than were required of her cousins of less importance ; and the strict discipline which had always been used was in no way rdrxed thl tir'IoT r *'"' "^^ ""^' ^^'"P^^-* ^-- the King thai the heir to the throne was not permitted to join in the festivities dL\V°" \^"* *'° ^"^'^^^ wisely judged that her young thl; nfVu rt" "'"'^' *'^' '""^'* of George IV. infamous, and thatof William IV. ridiculous." The Princess Victoria was declared of age upon her oiffhteenth birthday, May 24th, 1837. When, a month lat'er, her ul dTed she b came Queen of England. His death took place at two o clock m the morning, and at five the Archbishop of Cantor- 80 Early Official Life, bury and Lord Conyngham arrived at Kensington Palace, y nd de. raanded to see the Princess Victoria. Her lady-in-waiting went to arouse her, but returned, saying that she waP in such a sweet s.eep that she did not like to disturb her. "Madam," was the grave reply, -we are come upon business of btate, and even the slumbers of THE QUEEN must give way to that. •' Thus rebuked, the startled attendant awakened sleeping and unconsei^aus Majesty, and Victoria, clad only in a night-dress, with a dressing-gown hastily thrown over it, and with slip- pers on her bare feet, came down at once. "Your Majesty," began Lord Conyngham; but he was stopped by a simple gesture from the young girl, who held out her hand tor him to kiss. He knelt and kissed it, and then told the news At eleven o'clock that day the first Council of the new reign was held. The death of the King was officially announced, and the two archbishops, the two royal dukes, the Prime Minister, and the Lord Chancellor were sent to inform the Queen. They returned to the council-room, the doors were flung open, and the new sovereign entered alone. Bowing to her assembled advis- ei-s, she took her seat, and read her speech clearly and audibly. Ihe only sign of emotion she gave was when her two uncles did her homage, when she blushed deeply. Said the old Duke of We hngton, frankly: -If she had been my own daughter she could not have done better." We have turned a moment aside from the strict subject narra- tive of this volume to mention some interesting features of this epoch, because the ascending of the throne by Victoria was per- haps of more importance to the kingdom than any other similar change had ever been. The accession of this young girl seems to have made possible a progress toward liberty which could scarcely have been attained under the rule of a man ; but there IS something higher than chivalry to be considered. Such re- forms as were made were bound to come at some time, and in some way; efforts at change in the days of the Stuarts had brought about a civil war, and resulted in the overthrow of the dynasty; efforts at change in the days of Victoria have ended in the triumphs of emancipation from the long rule by mere right of birth. If a different sovereign had succeeded to the throne, would even a Gladstone have accomplished as much for the liberties of his fellow-countrymen ? I I Early Official Life, gi • The Conservatives had not much hope of a change in the min- istry. Lord Melbourne was an adviser especially fitted to please a young queen, by the grace of his bearing and the suavity of his manners. Nor did the old Duke of Wellington credit the new sovereign with any betterjudgment in regard to men than was founded upon personal advantages. "The Tories will never have any chance with a young woman for a sovereio-n " be growled, "for I have no small talk, and Peel has no manners." Fortunately for the Conservatives, they were notobliged to wait until the Queen became old, or their leaders cultivated the miss- ing graces. For the present, indeed, she adopted somcthiuo- of Lord MelDourne's own policy; when urged to undertake much needed reforms, the answer which this indolent and debonair statesman most frequently gave was : " Can't you let it alone V The young queen agreed to let him alone, for a while ut least, in the office which he held ; being so little skilled in state-craft that she did not know whether a change was needed or not The country aprroved of her action; and the new Parliament was Ijiberal by u considerable majority. The most important question which the new Parliament had to consider was another phase of the Canadian trouble, or rath- er, the same disturbances increased. There had always been bad feeling in Canada between the old French settlers and the -Lnghsh who had come after the victory of Wolfe; in addition to this, was the feeling that the Legislative Council, the mem- bers of which wore nominated by the Crown, ought to be elect- ive, like the Representative Assembly. From these germs grew a rebellion, which required the presence of troops to subdue it. IhoGovernmentproposed to suspend the constitution of both Upper and Lower Canada, which were then separate govern- ments, though both had been involved in the Eebollion • and to send out a Governor-General and High Commissioner, with pow- er to remodel the constitution of both provinces if they saw fit Mr. Eoebuck, who had been in Parliament from the time of the Reform Bill until this session, was the paid agent of the Cana- dian governments, and he demanded the right to plaad their cause before the bar of both houses. Mr. Gladstone protested against this in the House of Commons, but without avail The agent was heard as he demanded. Mr. Hume's motion for the re- jection of the Government bill was followed by a lively debate in which the member for Newark took uo small part. Beviewing iff I I': f ■ liS 82 Early Official Life. I , the ent.ro series of events and the legislation and rulings which had led to the present complications, he pointed out the most glanng contradictions in the correspondence of Lord Gosford the Colonial Secretary. The Chancellor of the Exchequer en' deavored to answer this speech, but in the opinion of Sir Robert Pee at least, the attempt was a miserable failure. Notwithstand- ing this triumph of eloquence, the House wentinto committee by a considerable majority. ^ At this same session there was another ag-'tation of thes'avery question on which ^1... Gladstone, as before, spoke in the'inter ests of the slaveholders. But in this speech, which occupies !n'7K ^rt ''"^^"'"'^' ^° ^^^'^ * b^^'d^r stand than any that ho has yef, assumed, and reproaches these reformers who are so eager for complete emancipation that they cannot awaitthe time to which they once agreed, with the encourage- ment which they give to slave labor in consuming the cotton raised in the United States. The speech also disposed of many of the accusations which were made against the planters, and proved conclusively that the condition of the negro was con- stantly improving and had been doing so since the passage of the Act of 1833. Although this speech was on the unpopular side of the question, It greatly enhanced his reputation as a parlia- mentary orator. This, indeed, rested upon foundations which had been laid before this. It was his eloquence which had attracted Su Robert Pee s attention ; arid in 1835, the Duke of Bucking- aTissue' ^''"^ """'"'" "' '''' '^^'"'"■''' ''^^^'-'^'^^S ^ point -If argument could have done it, they must have succeeded; for among the speakers on their side ^ ,re Sir Edward Knatchbull Sir James Graham, Sir Robert Inglis, Lord Stanley, Mv. W e' Gladstone, Sir William Follett, Mr. Praed, and Mi^' Goulbui-n/' So that barely two years after his entrance on the scenes at St Stephens we find his name not the last that suggested itself when a close observer of political events counted over those sup- porters of the Ministry who were remarkable for their elo- quence. Mr. Gladstone had at this time already appeared before the public as an aut.or. To him the Edinburgh Review paid this trib- ute, which came from Macaulay's pen • "The author of this volume is a young man of unblemished chaiacter, and of distinguished parliamentary talents, the rising Queen Victo^na in he Coronation Robes, 1S37. 83 84 Early Official Life. hope of those stern and unbending Tories who follow, reluctant- ly and mutinously, a leader whoso experience and eloquence are indispensable to them, but whose cautious temper and moderate opinions they abhor. It wouid not be at all strange if Mr. Glad- stone were one of the most unpopular men in England. But we bcheve that wo do him no more than justice when wesay that his abilities and demeanor have obtained for him tho respect and gooJ will of all parties. His first appearance in the character of an author is therefore an interesting event; and it is natural thatthegentlewishesof the public should go with him to his trial. * * * * We dissent from his opinions, but we admire his talents; we respect his integrity and benevolence; and we hope that he will not suffer political avocation so entirely to engross him as to leave him no leisure for literature or philosophy." The question of National Education was introduced into the House in June, 1839, and in the course of debate, this recently published work was referred to in such terms as brought the member for Newark upon his feet, in derense of the propositions which he had there enunciated, and which the opposition wished to apply to the bill under consideration. The fundamental princi- ple of his argument had been, that the propagation of religious ti-uth IS one of the principal ends of government, as government. The Ministry wished to provide free schools in which the child- ren of all classes, of Dissenters, Catholics, and Jews, as well as of the adherents of the Established Church, could be educated without hearing the religion of their parents exposed to insult or directly contradicted by the teaching of the schools. This was a measure especially distasteful to the Tories, who have al- ways been strenuous supporters of tho Establishment ; buttheirs was the unpopular side of the question ; and Mr. Gladstone, in these early years, seems to have had a positive genius for get- ting on that side. In the debate on the war with China, the next year, Mr. Glad- stone again made a speech which wasfavorably commented on at the time. Tho Ministry was supported in its motion, but the majority was so small as to give the Conservatives ground for hope. The Liberal Government had for some time past been steadily losing ground in the public opinion; and this was naturally reflected by the House of Commons, where there are usually enough independent or semi-indcDendent members tode- prive the Ministry of that unreasoning and unwavering support ■eluctant- leuco are Tioderate Ir. Glad- But we i^that his pect and haraeter natural a to his in ire his wo hope engross ly." into the recently ght the ositions I wished Iprinci- eligious rnment. 9 child- well as iucated insult, . This ave al- t theirs one, in or get- '. Glad- (l on at ut the nd for t beea is was re are 5 to de- ipport LORD ROSEBERY-MR. GLADSTONE'S SUCCESSOR AS PREMIER 'Mxm/j^: ^.■M^%-':\r'*^:$iJ:-': '''■' # ■■, I'i^'S. ■ Iff:/ ^arly Official Life. j. which would bo theirs, if all thoir adhoronl, at the time of talc- .ng offleo were enthusiasts for the party, right or wrong. The the r A f"'' ""/i'""'"""' »''»<'""'" "y their leaning toward the Cathol.es, and Catholies by thoir efforts to gain the DisZt .ng interest. Toward tLe close of May, 1841, Sir Eobcr Pee one. Small as th,s majority was, it was snfflcitnttoshowhowthe case stood ; there was but one thing for the ministry to do nil ess they resigned .mmediately. Parliament was at once dis o^^ld the Government had appealed to the country. ' The appeal was answered, but not in the way which the Liber- als, hoping against hope, had looked for. The gain of the Tor- ZtZ^^'^rTJ''" """■■ "O'' '""«-■"" -P-tations had wTfl' " "'"""■^ "•"''S-""* '""•"diately after the open- ing of the new session. Sir Eobert Peel was at once made Pri .0 Mimrter and among the appointments which he made was that of Mr. Gladstone to be Tice-Presidcnt of the Board of Trade and Master of the Mint. He shortly after succeeded the E^.rrof ^T^^.i" -?°f °"' "'■ *'■" ''''™^' •'""y. »° ">■'» the fact that he held ho subordinate position is sometimes lost sight of lost s 1 Thl, "•""r'-".;' 'I' parliamentary success, we have riod Ml;?l,h ?"■"." "*^°- /" ^"^y- ^'^»' M"- «'»<•»*<'"<' mar. nod M,ss Catherine Glynne, the daughter of Sir Stephen Rich ard Glynne, of Hawarden Castlo, Flintshire This ladv h». feaVThnfh' *'"' ^""^"^ '," -'' *''"-'"'' --^l conslrrr. fea while her own peculiar tastes have led her to a.oid rath- er than seek, the social pre-eminence which the wife „f Tulb a man might have won, she has not shrunk frol he Xre of publicity When it was necessary to her husband's success xn the latter part of 1886, wishing to exonerate him from the charge which his enemies were making, that he bad on Iv o7 Zl years shown any interest in Ireland^Lid the t," „b,ef ^f the Irish, implying that his alliance with Mr Parnell w.. » trick of the oiSce-seckcr, she sent for Mr. G ,T" ratio„::;r and one of tjie staff of United Ireland, that herltimon; might' be heard in his behalf. One of the statements which she then made shows his feeling with regard to the offlce which had at this time been allotted to him by his chief- "From the very outset of his political career, Mr Gladstone', most ardent wiLb, his strongest ambition, ha, helf .^ :'°-!!!!! " IJf' B I i I Eorhj Official Life. g^ wnioh he recoiled his fi-at -^^w.r.^, • 7 ^ ^ "^"^^ "PO" h.d hoped to «:. Sh So ottx u.oi:h''';r'"'"'7'- ."- on then as » far les, important post/' '^' "^ ' '"" '"'"""' to!^'c:;s!r:t!:r',tz'':r''h' ^"^^ *™'""'"°'- ""-^ "»-« Govornmen ," th ;1 thll "^ •'"r''""f °"^° """- ""«- question av that tin^e I^nd a faT,„ „ '"-'r'* "'"■ ""> ^"»'' look with less oontfde'neeto h°n"n th 7 T'^^' ?"" """''' "">» Off thoseshac..„sfor:rereZ" \?r rr^nt"^^^^^^ progressive Liberals. ^°°^ *^^ "^^I'e .^Xint "L":ir:, r:rr^;r rr- - the n,atoh..aki„g was'so "skint ; dlVe t'hItTho'"* """' '■"" people came together Quito „„.„„r """'"""'« tho two young on both sides. The pTclptor ofTh V «''"°""<' """^hmenl Boigium, Who, as ^'^C^t: LtZZ'lZ!:"^''''', '■ "' fully prepared himself fnr the verv duMe, ? K ^ ' '""^ """• devolve upon his brother', «o„ ™'y ^"t™ wh.ch wore now to tor The'early dea::':^ h^P ■„ l" ot^L^ TT '"'''■ bacic to Germany, there to h.T °''"'"'*° '>•■«' sent him brother, „„ti, eleo ed tot ,e throne^orfi'T ""'"'^ " ^'"""S^ somothingpatheticintho Lilt "fv .«'"■"' ""'' '*"'''' '« up the thread of life where Chat,/ ?;'" """ ^"""•« '»•""« it. Prinee Albert brouITto his di« T. "?°"' '''■"' "'•"PP"^ to be the Queen's best cfnnsl fo t"o lo:d'";>? " ""'°'" ^''^^ although he was not at flrstToo 1 ' „ f """'■• Poople ; and was regarded with much affeetrhv h " T '""S '"'f"" ''» duty nohl ■. '""'°" '•y >•'"' People, ho fulfilled this appottmrVas'/^tirrLI'"' '""""^'' «'^ «<>-' ^'-'a was nothing of importnoftl -"""^ ■"""'' """^ "^ tb-re »- aistrfss in t=— r ;e! %-- -^ 88 W i' I H Early Official Life. TheCornLawswhiehwereinforrfifltthio+;«, i ^ t. the ,oar thatthe batt.e of ^Y.^^L'ZlTC.Z. "l IZCZl through Pari.ament, despite the most emphalio .>ro c™fr„m h! manufacturingaad commercial classes. There were r X „ W don, there were riots elsewhere; for the duty was proh.b'uve unless home-grown wheat reached the price o/eiffhtv shilliJ™ , ,u„rte,j^ and it was far below that price' TimeZdTp Z,ot allow the d,sc„ss,on of the principle involved, whether it is w"sc to taxone classof the community for the benelit of anotherorto benefit oneclassattheexpenseof all others. Certain it is thktthe Corn Laws had long been looked upon by many Eng i hmen a! the ch.cf cause of the distress which had so long exfstcd vari zzt^:fT "' *'"'" """^ """^ ^"""^^ ditrfrent time's ;:: Sir Robert Peel now proposed a plan, which was a modification of one wh.eh had been broached some time ago, and ;°rtlv adopted This was a sliding scale by which the dut; wis hLh s^ when wheat was cheapest, and gradually diminishL wUh tl ! proved to brth^t^h" "'*'' "'^ """■"« '""'0 ""-"-d proved to be that other countries, from which a supply must be drawn .n case of a short crop, were not always ready to s„ 'ply t: ':■ r;c7ui:;i;."^''- "^'-^ "--'^ ^°- " --''- --'«''' ''^ The people of Manchester had naturally been the most deter- ■ ernted P '7- "' "''' r^'" ''" ^"''"'- """ "" -""er ™s it rep- .osented m Parlmment than its voice was heard, demanding the abo mon of the Corn Laws. But the experience of the late Lib! e a, M,n,stry had shown that the revenue was insufficient even w.th taxes as thoy were; to reduce the income would be ^n act ot to^lj . Under these crcnmstauces the Conservatives came in- to office, expressly to uphold the Corn Laws Clreat excitement prevailed throughout the country when this s!.d,„g scale was introduced. Its wisdom was questioned by Lord John Eussel , the leader of the Opposition, in one of ti.e ablest V'»3 rr 11 ich bad been maue upon the subject. Mr. Gladstone Early Official Life. gg answered him, in an address of at least equal ability ; and the Government was supported by a considerable majority. This did not evidence the feelings of the people, however; for about this time the Premier, who had brought this measure forward, had the honor of being the chief attraction at a riot in Northamp- ton where he was burned in ^^gy. And other towns were not tar behind Korlhampton. The Conservatives, high tariff men as they were, became speedily converted to the principles of free trade by that stern teacher, Necessity. The session of 1842 dealt mainly with the question of import duty, and a complete revision of the t riff was the fruit of their labors. This was no light task to Mr. bladstone, in the position which he now held ; for the record shows that he was on his Tcet one hundred and twenty-nine times during this session ; and generally spoke in connection with the provisions of the Tariff Bill. Almost immediately upon the opening of the session of 1843 JMr. trladstone was speaking on the question of Free Trade and advocating the abolition of the Corn Laws. This, he admitted whthr.?fnn"'/.?"''j *^''^^ ^' ^'^""'^ '^'^' *^« ^"^^^^s which had followed the reduction of duties in the previous year had paved the way for it. In a second speech on the same sub- jectvvhich" bristled with facts," he indeed deprecated the im- mediate re-opening of the question. A month later, the Oppos- ition again broached the subject, but the Ministers wore again sustained. But in these various debates, the successive divisions showed a steady diminution in the majoritiesof the Government which had established the tariff in force J\*t 'Ti^" ^^ ^^^*' ^PP'^"' '^' ^''' important measure in which Mr. Gladstone was prime mover. Hitherto he had been in such subordinate positions that l.e co Jd only figure as a sup- porter of others It is true that in the previous session, acting as President of the Board of Trade, he had brought foi'ward I bill pro-iding for the export of machinery free of duty but his was merely to repeal a law which had never been practicable, and whi.h had, therefore, from the time of its passage, been a dead letter on the statute book. The present bill, which, like the oth- er, was suggested by the duties of his special office, was design- ed for the regulation of the railwavs. with c,.n.;„i .-.__. ^ gardingpussengertrams. This wastheAct which first established what IS known as the " Parliamentary Train." It required every 90 Mirly Official Life. railway to start at least one traiu each day from each end of charge for each not oxeoeding one pom>v per mile Provision was made for the reduction of this rL in tL eas'fehZr It s a regulafon for which the English traveling public, e'rc: .ally the poorer classes, have reason to be exfcmely latefnl and ,t .s in forc3 without material amendment to-d"y^ ^ ' The session of 1845 brought a new perplexity to the vonn» statesman Peel brought forward a meiure which, in Mr 'gm Btone's op,n,on was inconsistent with the views whiehhad been expressed ,„ the volume, "On the relations of Church and State," to wh.ch reference has already been made. In such a crse iTmZ" 7 '=°"'-'».' °P» '» ""^ subordinate : either to a low the measure to pass without protest, preserving a discreet silence as to h,s own opinions, or to resign his o(Bce%hat he may be f ee o oppose a measure which he does not approve. This wa he alternat,ve which presented itself to Mr. Gladstone, mile the first coarse does not appear to possess that straightforward ness wh,ch should distinguish any man in an oiHce of trult it has not always seemed inconsistent with honor, by fL o who have been called upon to decide the ,i„estion for themselves • the ministers of the Crown have sometimes differed about sueh minor points of policy, but considered that their agreement „„ on so many more subjects entitled them still to retain office! '^ Ml. Gladstone however, was in a somewhat unusual position • and one ,n which he ...ight easily have thought himsef e'cus^ nuWic°n?: '"^ '" """ '" "'0 «--"«>-.'• JSnteri g uTon public life as an uncompromising Tory, the admirer of CannC the protege of that Duke of Newcastle who had so vei;eme"tlv oppc.ed the Whig .neasures of Keform, he had come to find thl^ many of the views which he at first held would not endure tCe test of mature consideration. The Tory party had been adva n cing since the days of George lY. and'his'^brothcr, and th ' brilliant young statesman, who had been characterized as the rising hope of the most intolerant of the party had ToLZZ outgrown that designation, and was now in t I'e'van of cL ge of progress The Conservatives were losing their hold upon him ough they did not know it, and he wfuld perhans h' v^ bocu the first -.. deny such a charge. But leaving out'of 7oo! Early Official Zife. 91 t be ranks of the Liberals, we find a minor one in liis opinions of the re at,ons of Church and State. He no longer held Z views wh.ch he had publicly avowed seven years before he had come to acknowledge the justice of M.cauh.y, st ct„Vo, „pon 1..8 fj-gumcnts; but to announce this change, at this nncZe rirchiefTl :"":"-"-.»' -^*'"« to mo'dify his opSs by nis cniei 8, in order to retain hi<j nffl/.« tt j- , ^ hi'o^^o- \.- . /" ^^'^^"n ^ IS office. Ho accordinirv placed waVa !:: r o'tJT'^ "' *"" ^'■'""' "'■™»-- "^ -'- " was ucceptea. uid politicians gonerall v looked nnnn +v,,-o „ *• as Quixotic; it would have been so r gar^„d b^s" me 7f .?"" had not been the change of opinion whT^h mIgM h v « .t m more scrupulous minds ; but there was not one who dTd not rZ '' 7r°1 "'T'™ "'■° ""^ ""l-W" °f making ueh a sac r.flce for the sake of a conscientiousness fow couM u„der,tLd The question which Mr. Gladstone was willing to support as'a private member of the House in 1845, though h!s con Jom^atTon of Its principle in 1888 drove him from <.fflc„, was the ,„"" se n the endowment of Maynooth College. Thi institutirn loci 1 I "■\^"'"''' Government in 1795, when the de traction of the Freijeh schools by the Eevolutionists had deprived the Calh »l.o Irish of the privileges of edueation.for their priesthood It' ta, ,r" '7rT '^ """""' «™"''' *•"» oontinnanee orwhici «.as assured by the act of Union of 1800; but these grant7had for many years k .en insufficier.t for the purpose. TheTuidint' had fallen ,„t„ rum, and there was no money to repair liem .he apparatus and library needed renewing; the yelf vineon? was not sufficient to p„y tho professors even .h ^"""J'"™"'" end ITnH«- .k . 1" J' "" P'oieisois even the scantiest stn- lel^V^ ^ circumstances, the Government could do no ess than make .ts gift large enough to serve the pnrpose which t intended, or to withdraw it altogether. The increase was bt terly opposed by a considerable party in Parliament bn. ,1 measure was carried by no small majority ''""'""'°'' ■"" the EoW.T'T^.r^"''^'";'""^ '"'cn highly eomplimented by Sir Robert Peel and Lord John Eussell, the leader of the Opnosr ^o„. on the occasion when his resign, ion was announced in'^Z House of Commons. The change in the Ministry was of cout no victory for their opponents, for Mr. Gladst„„„ ...Z? /'° fr "'»"."?'"'"«''<' «"PPort to the Conservatives: TlicbilTfor the establishment in Ireland of what a rabid Church of Eng and 92 ^arly Official Life. man dubbod "godless colleges," a name Avhich was speedily caught up by O'Conncll and his Catholic followers, was warmly supported by him; and to that measure, as well as to the one lor the increase of the Maynooth endowment, he lent all the aid of his now renowned eloquence. Peel had come into power for the support of the Corn Laws • It had been necessary tc modify them at once, if they we-e to be retained at all ; but the experience of five years under the form which they had assumed then had not been favorable to their perpetuation. Dec. 4th, 1845, the Times announced thaf. the speech from the Throne would recommend the abolition of the»o regulations; the statement was indign£;ntly denied by the other journals, but was admitted by them to be true after several days had passed; and the event confirmed it. Many of Peel's col leagues were as much opposed to the repeal of these laws as they had ever been ; and two of them, when at a meeting of the Cab- b;net the First Lord of the Treasury stated what the course of the Government must be, declined to support that course. The difficulties by which he was surrounded seemed to be irremedi- able; and on the 6th of December he tendered his resi/.nation to the t^ueen. Lord John Russell had been active in promoting a general dis- trust of the wisdom of the Corn Laws, though his aciion in this respect was stigmatized as a mere bid for office. Whatever it was. It secured for him the appointment to the coveted post for the Queen immediately sent for him. Peel had signified his de- sire to co-operate with a Liberal Government for the repeal of the obnoxious laws, and this was a most welcome assurance to Jt ."; Butanew obstacle arose: both Lord Palmerston and Lord Grey ought to be included in such a Ministry ; indeed it could not well stand without them; Lord Palmerston would not accept anything but the Foreign Office, and if Lord Palmer- ston was made Secretary of State for Foreign Afi^airs, Lord Grey would have nothing tc do with it. The reason for this per- versity was, that Lord Palmerston had a high opinion of his ability in conducting business with other countries ; Lord Grey upon the other hand, dreaded his "talent of keeping perpetual- ly open all vital questions and dangerous controversies " Confronted by this difficulty, the Liberal leader decided that it would be impossible to form a cabinet which could stand and so iniormed the Queen, who at once sent for the late Premier edily rm 3 one e aid IWS J ,o be rorm heir the hepe thcr lays col- hey :!ab- : of The edi- 1 to dis- bhis r it for of to ton ed, lid er- -rd er- bis al- it er Sf CO 3 u. O a. O H O O o u. o tli o o UJ I o Ui o u cc CO UJ _i < LU o Ill I h ^ar??/ Official Life. 93 and reinstated him in office. Of the two ministers who had re- s.fcned, and thus compelled Sir Robert Peel to follow their ex- ample, the Duke of B.iccleugh was persuaded to remain in the ministry; Lord Stanley retired, and his post of Colonial Secre- tary was filled by Mr. Gladstone. The member for Newark had been elected because he was the protege of the duke-the Duke of Newcastle's nominee, not- withstanding his ingenious evasion on the occasion of his firs, election But this nobleman was a warm advocate of the prin- ciple 01 Protection ; as an upholder of Free Trade Mr Glad- stone could never have gained his support. Accordingly, on the 5th of January, 1846, he issued an address to his constituents in- forming them of the necessity for his retirement as their repre- sentative, since he no longer held the principles on which he had been elected. Newark was too thoroughly in favor of Prolec- tion, and perhaps too much under the influence of the duke, to re- am as her member the young man who had won such speedy rec- ognition; and Mr. Gladstone was left without a seat in the House ofComraons during the session in which the Corn Laws were repealed. Nor had he been simply the follower of others in regard to the measure to which he thus sacrix^ced his seat in the House • it was no secret that ho was the most advanced in opinion of 'all ti 3 menr.bers of the Cabinet, in his desire for Free Trade In the preceding year, he had published a pamphlet entitled " Re- marks Upon Recent Commercial Legislation," which would have indicated this most clearly, had nothing else been said by him But he has been justly regarded as one of the pioneers of the movement— perhaps the earliest. Though the subject of this biography was not entitled to speak upon the momentous subject for which he had thus paved the way, a brief paragraph respecting the Ministry which carried it hvough willnot be out of place. The motion was of course made by the Premier, and supported by him in apowerf. 1 speech '' Ho played upon the House of Commons as on an o.d fiddle" said Disraeh, who heard him from the Opposition benches. But J.he marvelously eloquent speech onco ended, he was exposed 'to such a torrent of personal abuse as has seldom fallen to the lot of any one statesman to endure. Calmly he acknowledged that he had opposed the repeal, as he had opposed other measures which nis Government had carried through; notably, Cuthollo 04 Early Official Life. ^i Emancipi.tion and Parliamentary Koform inat these changes of . . . but he denied thinff but an ^'n^; -/P"""" ^^«''o «"dJcn, or produced by any- Tholt uTeC 2 i^^^^^^^ ^'-l -- ^-^ ^- the n'atio^. mostsimultanl sdef^tof theT' r '"* *^^^ ^'^ oflice in wh ch ho had accorapiished so many notable things had sat for the Universitv in +h« T "^'"' '^''^ densely crowdedti^t «n„ ,, ° '""'" P'"""' ""« so The toi, n™ ;'?',:;"«:,■; ';3, -- --'^l out fainting. coding election, and Mr^ardrneTafruTneTbV' "d""/"- majority ^eiurnea by a decisive swore to perform l,is duty "on the trne faith of a Chr',, I' ' Major, the Aldermen, and even the Conncilmen of the Citv of London wore obliged to make use of the same phrase a,^Jof .r Lo* d° jo^h"; e' "T.'"' 'T ""■ "■-" "«»-"» -"-^7 W,'f, I: '"■" '"'""Silt forward aresolution imr.-ediate Im r r T"'"^ "'■ ^"■•"™»'. "ffl^ing that Jews were eU recollect that t„e ^tate and Chnrch are closely connected in the Mr. Gladstone in 1846. 9o 9G Early Official Life. mother country ; and it is only to bo oxpccted that Kon-oonfor- those offices wh.ch, although civil, may bo called upon for some decision or action in connection with the Church The resolution which Lord John proposed was bitterly oppos- ed by Sir Robo.-t J nglis, the same who had named the Queen's ^'JJ'':;]"]^!'^^^^^^ seems to have been at all times and under all circumstance., a supporter of the Estabhshment E-s co league, Mr. Gladstone, on the other hand, upheld the Liberal opinions of the Prime Minister, and made one of h,s powerful speeches in favor of admitting the Jew to Parliament. lie admitted that he had opposed the previous bills which had given privileges to this .lass; but since they had passed, he saw no reason why this should b- denied. The con- stituencies were mixed, and the representation ought to be so • If the Jew were permitted a voice in the elections, he ought to' have a voice in Parliament. It had been urged that this tended to un-Christianize Parliament; but so long as the constituencies w re mainly Christian, he replied, the House of Commons would be so. The logic of the speech was unanswerable, but, as was remark- ed at the time, had it been made before instead of after the elec- tion, the speaker would not have ; oen returned by the Univer- sit)' of Oxford. The country had long been in a state that was far from tran- quil The successive failures of the crops for several seasons had produced a terrible condition among the poor; we are onlv for- getful of the state of England at this period because the p'eople of L-eland were so much more to bo pitied; but in ordinary times, when there was no darker background against which to place It, the distress in England in 1847-8 would be remembered with dread, even ir. other countries. As before, the situation in ijranco was reflected in England ; after eighteen years of rule, the Orleans dynasty, which had displaced the strictly legitimate successor of Louis XVL, was in turn displaced by theSec^ond Ee- public, which had been established with a provisional govern- ment. The agitators demanded a Charter for the English peo- ple; the latter phrase meaning, as a historian of our own time had pointed out, not the whole people, for the heretofore ruling classes were ignored ; but the wage-earners. It was to be a free country for the lower classes, but something else for the higher . -^•' dd Ea.ly Official Life, classes. Thoj'wcro from Ihisdcmar.d termed "Churtista." There were, as is generally the case in any extensive movement, men whoweroreallyluw-abiding citizens, but who saw the existing ovils, and hoped to reform them. There were also many who longed for a collision with the authorities; enil.usir.sts perhap,^, but still earnest in their wish to achirvu better things for them- selves and their fellows. Excitemer.t ran to a high pitch in Lon don when it was learned that r. monster procession of the Chart ists was to bo iormed and to march to the doors of the two houses of Parliament, where they would demand the rights of sj^^<T*'"^*'^=^ on- Dukc of WeHlngton in ;:J50. the English people. A repetition of the scones of the French Revolution was seriously feared, for the Chartists made no se- cret of the fact that a republican form of government was one of their demands. The Duke of Wellington took charge of the preparations and arrangements for defying any outbreak against the public peace. Ho acted with extrefno caution, so that though there were sol- diers everywhere, they were so concealed Ua not to add to the -r-^. ^"'ly Official life. gg po'i™;„"Ll'rI.\';;"NelH?.w"l°;'r"f''f" '■''"" '•"•""•"g their woro sworn i„ f„r i|,i, ,,„t„ " (i,u,T "^ 1° """"'" "''*"<>'"' who to Lo elected Pro,i,le„t oTC ^l/:"'™ ''"""' '*'">>l''<'''.»"0„ '•<•; trio Duke of to be elected Vr., ull7n "'"" "■"'™ ''»" Norfolk, Lord d: ";,:[ ^ ," '7"-" ^'P""' were not nearly ho „,„',. , „.„''" , "'T'"'"'' ' """'«'' ""•■•« loaders fo„„d it would no K "' '""'" l'«"li<'te.l. Their »"'< forhado It. nr^et^i ,t'h';:: ::: *;:.:,"?■■;■ *• "•- ..-ooe.io„, '"«, "s was declared bu Mr O'Z, ' Tu ■' "PP""""J, hav- fundred thousand siK,:at„ e, iTT'' "'^ ''"" '"'"''"" »-«" ■nittee, „ho set to wtrk " exam „ f,' ^^ "■"'''"■■•"'' '" * «°«- 'i^tanee of an army of cle "s A "'T'""'' "'"' '^^ «- "F'eared .hat the n,,mb.' of X„ "'"'" °' "">''• '"''-■■«. it thi.i of what had been «;= d .l ,t :r' ""' "?' """^ """■ °- ly two million,, of the Oull' , ■ "■*" "'" ''""'•'o^ °f "ear- wuh respect. An a'nllytTf h^ Xl"/;; ^' '" "^ '-'«" «vor, reassured the frightened pe„nr„ F , , "S-M'"-''^ bow- were those of women; wholsh!.? ''''!'"P?--<'»nt,of the names hand; "any signature Ire renrd::™ T^" ''' ""^ -">« made the whol. thin, ridienlo,!: 1 '^^ "'"" "S"'" ! b" what thoQueo„,thePrin":Co„Lr'l '""''''■'' "■" "''■"•^' "f Sir Eobert Peel, Lord John Ku" 7 1"'?"'" "' ^'-'""S""'. equally likely to sign a petitiof^r',, ■""'' ^''"' """W ••« can form of government in R,!., '"-^"'"ion of a republi- 'i.0 nnme, of charrt ZZtr"'''''' ^''""^ »'"» -i'" the mo»t curious nicknames „„Se '7^: "' '"' ^"^ ""^ •ig"..n and again. Tlio Oharti,. 1. . '" """'"' "Peated bythisohildisblistof, „"";'"" ""' *■■'«" '» l^oive wi.ore any one who deseed ;;T, ^'T' '""^ ""> ^'-'» some fun out of it. As the st^rf !*,"' "",'' "'"™S^ '>'-^ '■ad i-ludi„g those classes «: TZ fo .tT ' "'r,''"«"^" """P'"' -having any rights, had ClZZZl^ ''!!'' ^'^^^-'^ Char , St rcvolniio,, became a byword and u ' "'" »™' It is well for a countrv tl, ""'"'"'S'',njr.stcck forever. 'axghter.butitmustb rfmlm "r'd^,';;? ?""«"■•»'-"» «"ds in landwasn„thr,,,„ " , ""'"hat the situation in E„,.. thoiastyeaVso'f lTu IyI wV '"'. '""" '" I"-- dudn; of centuries were re ven.eY' Til''"' "'? "'" --""lated evil! enged. The great danger in England was i F 1 Hi 1 i i 1 a m I o a :Early Official Life. 101 m Eeform being carried forward ut too great strides. That; dan- ger the Conservative party may be said to have averted. But It for the Liberal, as a direct and legitimate result of the princi- ples v.hich had guided hinx in the former organisation, but which carried a little further, landed him among^is late oppon- ents. The transition had already begun, with his conversion to Free Trade h,s advocacy of the extension of privileges to the Jews, his change of opinion with regard to the relations of to Mr rTd ; ^' ''^^" ''' '^^ ^^"'^"^"^^ '' ^^^"-« P-'^tent to Mr Gladstone's own mind that he was no longer a member of that party in whose opinions his earliest youth had been trained. lljl" CHAPTER IV. GLADSTONE VS. DISRAELI me.ton-The Celebrated j2TZlZrcZ\''''''T'''' "^'^ ^^'- tion-EccIesiastical Titles Bill Mr n r '^'*^«^""« defends His Ac- Eulogy on the Duke of W^U~Z O """m '" 'J' ^^'^'"-^-Gladstone', vveiiiiigton-Overthrow of the Ministry. ''^ We reserved until now all mention nf « ^paee fo/ret,.„.,pt'ti„„ whltt tl "Tt "'" '""= "^ '■"'° t'-ie inciplency of the r^n^ A "" °°™° '■"According The A„t lido oVt To'lL: r:":*'':''''°''",r""' "--"• the late chief of the T„,y ' rtvfo "^^^^ '"^«"" '"° "' '^ Tory; »n advanced Libcnl ■. Rnd^ i ^t^ many years began lifeas at the outset of t^ k e^ tot n^HT ^ T"""''' '""^»"-' ed, by education and oth ; 0!^^,^. ^''°" '" *™'^ «^- as a well-known critic of thri/"""'' "' «'"<'''"'"<=■'' were; was rather in search of olf "'.?"''°"''- *"""' '""^ "• "-^ However this may have bee' r' ■" P''*'"^-'". "f thorn. I'e offered hin^elftHle elect sTw " '''k""' '"""'"'"' *'"" that Gladstor, ■ - as rct„ nod trNelCr; '" '"" """> ^^"^ ed by sueh apost.es of Eadiea i,m ,, OV ' V""", '•"™"""end. he was defeated. Nothing dlt^d by S iTln "iV """^ ","' presented himself again tnd a-.ai„ h,, i, """""'' ''" fourth time that ow.Wr to tir„ "« ' ' ■"' "°' ""'''' the Who foresaw sometl If ^f """"•'" "^ '''■• ^^y""''--"™ I^oW^, something of the ge„,„s f„r government which th. 'iifWmii^'&S'Mlfi-fWf^'-^^ Queen Victona at Her Accession to the Throne. m 104 Gladstone vs. Disraeli. young man was to develon Iin «ro * , the House of Commons! 'it Lr^efirr*!*'^' *^ ^^^^ - accession .r -ueen Victoria in whlh . ^^^'''^^^^nt after the soai. '''''^'^ '" ^fa'ch he gained tlie long-coveted The maiden speech of Pin i + almost foreed upon lam, by helir^^'attT.^'t -"'r'"^ «^^"' "- on his father and his at^ents t/ "^''^^''''^^^^^"^adoup- n.-tv, and by earnestnL's h; Z^'IZ^T '' '^^'^^*^' ''•>' '^^ associates saw in him only a vTuth 1 ^ ^^"7 " ^* *^« ^'^^^ ? ^^^ "iy a youth whom influence had sent to Disraeli in 18S0. ho WW an essentially middle !H . '°°"' ^P'-ovements "on th„t he w.. posCod' rn^:.:S "„" ,.^""^'' ^^ "° ■•»<"- the «„„ of the autl,o, of so many exeell". """""''• ^"' ftr^nt stamp; he was already well kn„l„h ,u^ ™' ""^ '"'"'- ««d won for himself i„ liteU:..'""^". "^^ '*■; "'''»» "hieb he , VTivian Gloy" had bee» Gladstone vs. Disraeli. jq^ "or were hiswritin^s. th!f i ' °''°" "'"' """" <=<">tempt; have since then elided IT "'"■ ''^ "•"'I"'"' "'•^'^ '^V •'venturer, who mTK^^rhTeh-r'^^"'''''-*'' »' »" ««"""■!« d not been so r^dfen „„;" wf " ^^'T' '' '''' »»»»'■"-„, for the first time in the Ho„„ /n °"'^°''''' ''° ■'"<' "> h'' t'^'- august body prepared tl^Z! ^°""".'""' ">» ">"">''-» of that ed " in . bottUre n f oeT!„r' '7 -Joj""™*- He was dress- Dick SwivellerLttern u r "t " """'"">"*■ ot white, of the Of glittering chain?, a' ef '""'""' """'"'^^ " ""'"ork tie above wiieh""':: 'shX^ ^w^ S"'''''''^' ";" " "-' ward man. A eonntenanee liv dl^pa le sit' ,T """' "^ °"'- tensoly blaek eyes, and a brlad buf not ^-V''' "*■'"- overhung by elusteHng ringlets of coal b 77 -^'^^ '°'''''""''^' ed away from the righf temple feMinKK ''"'■'' '''"''^' "''"'>'■ od ringlets over the left cl"fk " H s s^Cr ' °', """" "°"-°"- gent, his rhetoric constant y deg^e^IfeHSL "^ ^'"^"™- American critic has said of him ,1.1 " ^'"'ga'-ity; an in his actions and feelTng: t™,, dat: T ''T'"'" ""'■""■- ly expect to find all the faul of ,' '7'"" *" '"'""■•■"• strongly marked, because eo taet with P"''"'";"""'"- ">ost them down to that smooth levTwh7ch-,th:'m r "°^ "'"^'' groat genius and mediocrity he did nn, V """"""S-P'aeo of His manner was intensely Theatric 1? '■.'"•Wo'nt the House, agant. There was nothin Jin tltl *"? S™""'='» ""d and extrav- other had delivered It^h^TettrttS;:^ What he said , h'e JlJZ^^; ZZZZZ f'^f " ""'^ '° rision ; and at last he sat down wilh that ^h.^^'f't"'''"'' ''''■ come historic, as the expression of a ,„ If IT "^""^ ^"^ ""=• seldom justified • « I h,vIT «elf-eonfidence which is too I have oV: s:e;eedc Tt 1 r :v":r' "r:,' •"""^">'"«». -d now,thetimewi„comelh:'y:[';;,'i'rrmr"^" ' '" "''"» cofpit'n :r:;n:: VchZt;: "jr ""-■ -^ ■•- '^- garded as the highest a, the L?,, Pa^'ament which is re- diction was manufretu 1 bv 1 r'"''' '"''' """ ""'» P-'e- •ne... <■...«,,.,. ?'",.''>^ """"e admirer Ions after it had ■e.. ,„,„,,„„. It was the indomitable resolnti„„„f. I -.ngitselr,aperseverane.whi,hh,dsrr:i;i:t,;:-;; 106 Gladstone vs. Disraeli. when the Ho„.e lirtoned to hinV ^ ""' ^"^ """" the Conservatives; and it was this division of strength which brought about the fall of the Min- istrj, immediately after t-'-~ success M'hich was achieved by the Repeal Act. Disraeli had j.ersist- Ajm^mm^. iiim^i^r ^'' '" ^"« efforts to gain the ear of the House and liad at last succeeded. He was second only to Lord George Bcntinck in the leadership of the men who still clung to Protection; I and his speeches in the I House, during the dtbate on that famous measure which had made the name of Peel best known, "Arere Lord Odo Ems4L received witii an attention eloquent con.meutary on the progress ^vITd;theTan\id1L^ Te se ep.grams and merciless satire marked his speeches tbZh ' p lieZr? ' "'"'' "f' '" ^•'^"^'^* "J^ ^-^ -P-t'^' -^J again!: plied to the men and measures which he thus characterizeu Thl |"cleed ,s the n.aiu power which Disraeli's speeches i o essedZ e Z'"?^li^^'"""'' -'--J^ ^-re readily remembered, T he exTrer s.on, -Subl.me mediocrity." which he then applied not wX, ," some justice, to the Prime Minister ^ ' ''"""^ ponists, ,t was a long fme before the two wings of the prtv y - Gladstone vs. Disraeli. iqj atrvo, still hold to Pe„l L ,1, 7 ' / ""^ ™<"lerate Conserv- looked to Be„ti„:/a„1, B^Z'tlr "'"^ '"^ ^^'^^"^ ^"'- that not far off when th„ (t ^"""^o "■"»» t,mo coming, and without t:,ci,.l,rdo° tatthlr"' ""'^ "°"''' """ ">on.soIv,s foe; and when idid'c'rth.r"'"r'P™° '» ««"■' ""d onts, „„d that ono tho Zn' ii ° T-T "' '"""' o"" "f ^'^ adher- did not „„ito wi^h tho p" , '°"- '°r '"" ""^ '■'•'losing, who political indoncndenco^h^r''''''"' '" ""' '"""^^"^"l widely fron, tKo^P X' • """'""" '"""'^ ^''" "-« ly the power to thicrtho „; p "i^oZ"- ''';™' "°'° """"■"'■ from without- andtheWM r?"^ " '"""^ of agitation -npopniar. ihTont hig InthllhTo' k"' Irt"^- ^™^'"^ failed, was in reducing the drflc it wh.-h h'"" "'"''"■>' '""' amounted to more thin t<vo Jn 7 ""^ ''-'''"^''. This cellorof thoEx Lauer Zr T f I'""""'. »»" the Chan- Incomo Tax, whth wo,Hd c !^' """' '" "" J-dgment, the newed for fl k y arsller '"'J "' ^™''' """'O '"'" *" l-e ro- Imposed whiieSr^: t'offioeTnVrr- ^''" "'"' ''°'='' fonded, from the Opposition hen^L .K <"'-I"-<""'«- "ow de- Ministry. DisraeliTo w " In ' •! ° "'""•''' P™?"^'^'' ''>' ">e istry, bit to the Te de -s of the O^" ."' """ °"'^' '» ">° «■"- the extreme Tories did the I . °°"'"^'-™"™'' • "-epresenting, „s ponent of a measm-o whi h h" '"'"7"'' ''" ^"^ «"> »t"n!l op. men of leisu.e H L sn!' h '" """' '■""ily upon the wealthy ing with c2 ;„, Th h T r """" ^'""•"•'"'"^tic one, spark tee-ho du S ""h J ,:,';^';; - °f ''^ '"■""' »»'■- Commit, nineteenth centu ry h^'a, n odnld " 'i" ™»gi"»'ion which the i^ed the authority nnl Idfi"' "'/"'"S *''°'' '=''™o'- Ministry an<l t rfriendl ' ' '"""? °' """ ^''"-^"'onts of the school," and argu I at U.X io V"?.°°'°'" '"'*''« Manchester bo.,tK.uece.rwi:ict::rd]:^\°::rft"::;:^°''-'-- w«w ^0^, iho tonservfttivo took but ^ v* Gladstone vs. J)israeti. lod s .o little note of the personalities of the speech, which had been the most hnlliant part of it. He answered them by dismissing them as unworthy serious consideration, in the discussion of a meas- ure affecting the welfare of the nation. Bringi-.g from his marv- elous memory fact after fact to support the cause of his chief, he c inched each argument with statistics which made it unanswer- able; and with a wealth of language which, in the mouth of any other m„n, would but have seemed the weakness of ro<lundancy he made every word tell against the arguments which he was opposing. Finally, with a dignified appeal to the now thor- oughly serious House, he sat down. The measure was carried This session was also marked by ihe delivery of an important speech on the Navigation Laws by Mr. Gladstone, in which he opposed the sweeping changes advocated by the Government- the question was so delayed, however, that the final considera- tion had to DO postponed until the next session of Parliament But leaving out of consideration the minor spc-cches upon such subjects of transitory importance as the cession of Vancouver's Island to the Hudson Bay Company and the Sugar Duties Bill the most noteworthy speech of the session which feli from his lips was that upon the measure designed to legalize diplomatic relations with the Vatican. I -nco the time when H.nry VIII. had openly defied the pow- er of the Pope and announced himself as the Head of the Eul- lish Church, the English Government had held no formal rela- tion, with the Court of Rome. Whatever communications might be absolutely necessary were made in an underhand and round- about manner which was hardly consistent with the dignity of either court. The bill which was now brought forward was most severely condemned by many statesmen of the day as hkely to offend both parties by the moderation of its terms • the Catholics by the concessions which were demanded from the apostolic see, and the Protestants by the concessions which were made to the same power. Mr. Gladstone supported the bill though he admitted that there were several reasons why it was painful for him ^o do so. The question had been brought to their consideration, ho said, at an unfortunate time j for such was the state of affaire, in Italy that it might prove to have been unneces- sary o legislate upon this question. But the enactment of the law establishing the Irish Colleges had made it absolutely necessary to conduct negotiations with the Pope. As lung as the actual 110 Otudstone vs. t)israeli. .iiouw bo forbfj,, „" t fo „:::":;'""""" ^""' ""■ ^•"-«» cation should not uZLVZ '7^'''' '-'"""""^ "f "■™""""- ».-bIe „o„n,. ,.„a ,„„„.,a ,t„t to' ; Lt', n'.f,---^!'"" to liuvo froo coinmi.njcation -vi,], ,i ' '"'Oo»s,u-y publication of his work oT vL '^ '"'■''""° '""' -"'"o. since the od from 1840 to 1855 r °'"" ''•'',•■""' »""«• The whole pod- t^-sitio,;:" wJ! ' ^^^J;: '^,''» -«a.-dod .. a period of was L.eco„ ing &Z "Xl'l' l^^'T "' '"" >''""''. "'"l came one of the mos VJ T ' "'^ "'""'' *"> ""erward be- indeed, thffi'lt i^ar ' °'""''""' »" ''P"°'''-«. 'f -t, ae2'rb;;r;;fj.;:'rJr„:"tr''"'"°"'™- -" ^"■•"— . which Lord Jol n E, Lm K * Tf""" '°''''°" "I'"" " '"«""■■■« which the Lm ,.fof P ,.i Z' ""'• '•"'"''™ '» ""> »""- Laws; and" the mX te e| "!'"" ''f.7<"'i-!"« "- Navigation Minist'c.. wore su^. Tb^^TaZ^f' were proposed by the tions for chan.e'^.hich .t't:^^ 'br;:"^,:^:;:;" :;■«-;■ ti;:rir,:::^r;"nt;r"^°r'"'°"*"™'^^^ stage o>the p.-oceed , M ''T" r"'"'',''""''" ^' "'""■■• an.on„tofperso„ari,^ oeH/ T^ '''"''"' """ ""^ "»"al Gladstone, wo d .;,;",„ " ""^ f" '''■'■"'°'' "«»"-' «'■• Trade, to proven ho' ot hi „T° r"^'''' '" "" ^'""■" "' mcasnre. >fr Glad tone', ,, . , '" "P"" ""« i-'POrtant tbo»ewords: -■ S;rf::ti;ttC;e; tit'itr^ "" :::::: :::^,S:e::ei::^i^r^t ^ -- -.^^ ->;::; : i" one who consci^uili'rdrffe ?f .or;i:.':;;r 7"t"'"' trade, and endeavors to r-ali^e it "° " '^''°°''"™ "^ the cause of the distress o' , c'o„X"7; T '", '''°'" ''' ""^'"^ » ii .'1 countly, It has been, under the Ghdstone vs. Disraeli, m mercy of God, the most f^'v^mX and effoetual incah.4 of mitiLNitinLr this distress, and ftccelorati.ig tho duwn of the day of returninfr prosperity." Tho tono of this reply to ; bitter pergonal attack «hows most conclusively >vhat has been frequently claimed foi' Gludstone, that he has no trace of personal bitterness in his na- tme; that h.s opposition of measures does not imply his enmity toward tho men who support them; and that he frequently felt the most sincere admiration for tho men whom ho most persist- ently fought. Ti.o condition of Canada again camo up for consideration in tins session, and Mr. Gladstone spoke several times, both in the House and in committee, supporting tho right of Parliament to interfere in all imperial concerns. His direct opponent in this question wr.8 Mr. Eoebuck, who had before acted us a-ent for the Canadians, though ho was now u member of Parliament In the opinion of Lord John Russell, tho course which Mr* Gladstone recommended would tend to aggravate tho troubles in Canada, where tho public peace had already been violated by many riots, some of them widespread. Tho question could not be decided in that session, but frequently came up for discus- sion, tho House being desirous that tho matter might bo ixi such shape as to show the various colonies, particularly those most interested, what was likely to be the course pursued • tint the colonial assemblies might he able to make such su<r..estions us would improve tho course to be taken. Mr. Gladstite's ex- perience in tho Colonial Office of course made his statements of value ; and although no di ,c action was taken, he seems to have bad no small part in modifying the original opinions of many member^ on this subject. He was already a Dower in the House. During this session there was brought forward that bill which appears to possess perennial interest for a small, thou-h con- stantly increasing, class of British legislttors-of whom the 1 r.nce of Wales is now the head-intended to legalize marria-e with a deceased wife's sister. W. find Mr. Gladstone stronWv opposing the bill, on theological, social and moral grounds. The bill was, as usual, supported only by a minority. The session of 1850 opened with a discussion of the Poor Laws of the kinfd om distr appears as the supporter of Mr. D most important subject, in view of ess so generally prevailing. In this debate Mr. GI the idsto ne isra wh o made the moiioa 112 ii Gladstone vs. Disraeli. 118 I: for tho couflidorution of these ro^'ulations. Tho Preo-Trndor however, expressly roaerved the ri^^ht to withdraw liis support if the Protoetionist ventured to introduce any peculiar doctrine of h.8 section of tho party into ^e question; but thj motion was lost by a small majority. It is to bo noted that in this case Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Gladstone took opposite sides of the question. The subject of Colonial Governments was also one which oc- cupied the attention of British lo.irislators at this time; a-' when the Prime Minister unfolded tho j.oiicy of the Government, we find Mr. Gladstone the earnest 8ui)porter of those amendments which were calculated to emancipate tho colonies from the rule of tho central power in as raany respeeis as were consis* .i -ith theirdepcndence finally upon the mother country. When ho saw that this view of tho question would not bo adopted bv a majority of the members, ho enUeavoi :.d to delay the final decision until the Colonial Governments should have an opportunity of express- ing themselves upon a question in which they were so deeply interested; but although his arfruments were based upon privi- leges that had been given to ^ .!,^o colonies, and should not therefore, bo withheld from any, h^ motion to delay was lost by a very considerable majority. It is curious to note that among those who then supported him, as appears from the. list of those who, in division, voted for his motion, were st no of tho men who have since most persistently opposed him, Disraeli amom- ♦Ijo ni.mber. ° We again find tho old question of tho slave-trade revived in this session, in tho form of a debate upoi: restoring the duties upoa sugar grown by slave labor. England had for some time been endeavoring to put an end to ti. slave trade, having en- tered into treaties with other countries to maintain armed ves- sels along tho coast of Africa for that purpose; but this had been p^ onounced futile by no less an authority than Sir Fowell Buxtoi who had been so prominent in the measures for aboli- tion. Though Mr. Gladstone conceded tho necessitv of Pro- tection in this instance, his support did not bring success to the motion. Piissing over the debate on the inquiry into tho condition of the English Universities, in which Mr. Gladstone opposed th. issuing of a Royal Commission, we next hoar of him in connec- tion with the troubles with Greece. Perhaps there never was more S lit h 114 Gladstone vs. Disraeli. smoke with less fire than in these same Greek troubles. Vari- o!is outrages had hecn committed by Greeks against British citizens; but tliey were of such a nature as might have been readily repaired if tlio Greek Government had been n little less dilatory and tlio British a little less impatient. Many of the claims -vvero absurdly exaggerated ; one of the complainants was Don Pacifico, a Jew of i'ortugneso descent, a native of Gib- raltar, a subject of Great Britain, and a resident of Athens; the house of this cosmopolitan gentleman had been destroyed by an angry mob, and he wanted compensation for it and its contents ; the justice of his claim may bo inferred from the fact that he rated his pillow-cases as worth ten pounds each. Others there were whose claims possessed more moderation, but the Greek Government seems, at this lapse of time, entirely justifiable in its delays. Lord Palmerstcn, however, who was at the head of the Foreign Office, thought that the efforts of England to assist Greece in maintaining her independence, deserved some consid- eration ; and had, besides, taken up the idea that the represen- tives of other powers at the Court of Athens were constantly caballing against England. An English fleet was sent to the Pirasus, and blockaded that port, seizing all the vessels of the Greek Government and of private merchants which it found there. France and Eussia remonstrated at this high-handed pro- ceeding; the Foreign Secretary, who was always inclined to re- sent interference with his independence of action, replied, with due formality, that it was a matter wholly between Great Brit- ain and Greece, and that other Powers had nothing to do with it. This somewhat brusque reply did not carry with it the weight which was intended, and both Franco and Russia persist- ed until the matter was made a question for international arbi- tration, and finally settled in that way. But while it was still undecided, the debate in both Houses of Parliament was keen, and in some respects entitled to rank among the most remarkable which have ever been heard there- certainly, there was never such a flood of eloquence poured forth about such trivial questions before or since. The course of Lord Palmerston was regarded as a very high-handed pro- ceeding, and a vote of censure was proposed in the House of Lords; to offset this, Mr. Roebuck, an independent member of the House, was induced to bring forward a motion affirming Crhidsione vs. t)israeU. 115 h that tho policy of the Govei.iment was approved by the Commons. This was a cunning device to entrap tho mem- bers who did not wholly approve of the action of Palmerston, but wore unwilling to condemn the general policy of the Gov- ernment, into an expression favorable to tho i)articnlar action then under consideration. Lord Palmerston had supported his course in one of the most brilliant speeches ever heard in the House of Lords. All the arguments based upon the triviality of the claims or the character and station of the men who desired redress, he answered with the unanswerable one that there was no man entitled to protection .v- the hands of the British Gov- ernment whom that Government would not protect, be he ever so lowly or even ridiculous. Ridicule and laughter were out of place when the smallest right of a British subject, violated by a foreign power, was to be redressed. It was in this famous speech that ho used the comparison between the privileges of a Roman citizen and these of a British subject, and protested that one should be as safe as the other had been. The oration was a mar- velous one, occupying full five hours in tho delivery, full of facts, names, dates, figures, references of all kinds, but deliver- ed without the help of a single note. But all was summed up in the one phrase, Civis Bomanm sum, and it was that which carried the day for the speaker, in spite of all opposition. But there were those in the House of Commons, who, as far as argument could reply to enthusiasm, were quite capable of an- swering this speech. We pass over tho defense of Palmerston's policy by Mr. Cockburn, since Lord Chief Justice of England, a speech which was only second to Palmerston's own as a brilliant defense, and which first assured the rank of tho speaker as an orator; and the ''calm, grave, studiously moderate remon- strance of Sir Robert Peel." The most exhaustive answer, and the one upon which the Opposition chiefly relied as an expres- sion oi their opinion, was Mr. C ladstone's. He put the Roman citizen business in the strong light of common sense; tho Roman was tho representative of tho conqueror, a member of a privi- leged caste, a citizen of a nation which had one law for him and another for tho subject world ; tho British subject, on the other hand, should claim only such privileges as his Government was willing to grant to others. But it was all of no avail, contrast- ed as it must be with ^ho briUiancy of Paimer«t<.n ; the British subject was at least the equal of the Roman citizen, and the 'f 116 *■ . gl ^i^^r^:<l o s I o to S Ifl'fc § i^ a^ m -e? w It ■«j II 5 ilill V T|\tl *<; lUlii '♦i a mP M w-4 "Isi ^ ^ 1 ^1 ^ ill *V •»o 1 ■'^ -^ I (f". K i » -« sit >* C ■ -^ hS ^H *«; mm O HH » w ^H ~y ^^1 ^Hl ^ ^H =C ^Hl 15 ^H| ss ^11 f> Gladstone vs. Disraeli. course of tho Government Avhich maintained this was approved. It is pleasing to find tliis utterance of Peel on tiiis occasion free from that bitterness which is apt to creep into political con- troversies; and to learn that ho had spoken in tho hi<rliost praise of the elo<ni(>rico of the man whoso policy ho thoti,<cht wrong. We say that this generosity is pleasing, for this was to bo tlu3 last debate in which the great Tory was to take part; and his life had not been spent in bitter struggles, but in earnest ones. Leaving tho House of Commons early on tho morning of Juno 29th, 18;)0 (for tho division on this question was not taken until four in the morning), ho was thrown from his horso tho afternoon of tho saino day, and died July 2n(l, from tiio injuries received. His death took place at a comparatively early age, for ho was sixty-two, an age at which many an English statesman has been in the xvry lieyday of his career. Indeed, Palmerston, who was some years older, was just beginning to taste success; and the examples of Gladstone and Disraeli, who were premiers at the respective ages of sixty and sixty-three for tho first time, arc other instances of th j lato hour at which the highest success is often achieved. Although Peel's health had for some time beer so bad that he had announced his intention to live a quieter life, there is littlo doubt that tho growing unpopularity of tho Min- istry would soon have brougiit about their resignation, when Peel must again have been placed at the head of affairs. It is idle to speculate upon the turn which English politics would have taken, in caso Peel had lived to secure a speedy Con- servative victory; nor do our limits allow it. His death was re- garded as a ])ublic calamity, and even those statesmen who had been most opposed to him spoke in praise of tlie qualities which he had rihown himself possessed of. The old Duke of Welling- ton spoke of him with tears running down his cheeks, which l^e did not attempt to hide. In tho Commons, which had been tho immediate jceno of so many of his triumphs, tho respect shown was equally great. Praises, not extravagant, but well-deserved, wore showered upon the dead statesman ; and his most illustrious follower only voiced tho general opiiMon of tho man when he pronounced that funeral oration which js justly conceded to be not unworthy of tho namo of Gladstone. Tho Ecclesiastical Titles Bill camo up for consideration in the latter part of tho year 1850, and tho debates upon it ran over in- to tho next year. This bill, which lioebuck characterized as 118 Gladstone vs. Disraeli. " Gi.o of t,ho meanest, pettiest, and most /utile measures which ever disgraced bi-otry itself," and which sturdy John Bright de- clared was " little, paltry and miserable, a mere sham to bolster Church ascendency," was introduced by Lord John Eussell him- self, and proposed to forbid, under certain penalties, the assump- tion by Eoman Catholic ecclesiastics of any title taken from the name of any territory or place in the United Kingdom. Disraeli who did n -t oppose it, spoke in terms of contempt of it, as a mere piece of petty persecution ; and this seems to have been the attitude of many who voted for the in- troduction of the bill. When the division was taken on the ques- tion as to whether it should be considered, there were three hun- dred and ninety-five ayes to only sixty- three noes; but among those who made up this small number, be- sides the Catholic members, were such men as Mr. Gladstone, Sir James Graham, Mr. Cobdon, Mr. Bright, and others of nearly equal note. In the debates en- suing, the Opposition John Bright in His Youth. was materially weak- ened by the character of some of the men who c.ime to their assistance, men who, dubbed " Tiie Pope's Brass Band," were equally distrusted by the more intelligent Catholics and the more bigoted Tories; while to the former the bill appeared only in the light of an insult. But the Government lost ground steadily. During the time at which the bill was in debate, another question was brought up, on which the Ministry obtained a majority of only fourteen ; a bill brought in by a member of the Oppc^jition left tho Governmout I Gladstone vs. Disraeli. 119 in a minority of forty-eight, though the attendance -was so small when the division was callcv' for as to prove it a " snap vote." The budget, had been received with much dissatisfaction, which was daily increasing. Under such circumstances, Lord John Eusscll concluded that there was nothing for him to do but to resign; and resign he did, leaving the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill still pending. A year before, the question as to who was to bo his successor would probably have been answered at once; but Peel was dead, and his mantle did not seem to have fallen upon any one of his followers. True, there was a considerable party known as the " Peelites," who were distinct from the Tories, to which organ- ization most of them once belonged, and had not yet assimila- ted with the Liberals, to which most of them were tending. The death of Sir Eobort Peel had increased the political independ- ence of his followers, for he was so closely connected with the tra- ditions of the Conservatives, if rot of the Tories, that ho was claimed as a member of that party ; and his personal adherents were not likely to leave him. But with his death, the principles which had seemed but occasional differences with those held by the body of the party, grow into the essential ones of their polit- ical faith; and the Poelites became quite distinct from the Con- servatives. There were then three great parties, the Liberals, the Conser- vatives, and the Peelites; and any ministry must be formed of members of two of these, for no Government could stand against two united in opposition. But the Whigs insisted upon the Ec- clesiastical Titles Bill, and the Tories upon Protection, and the Poelites would not join either party while these principles were supported. On the other hand, the party which thus held the balance of power would not try tho extent of it, though the post of First Lord of the Treasury was offered to Lord Aberdeen, tho chief of tho party in the IIouso of Lords; for some action must be taken on the bill still pending, and a Peelite Govern- ment would bo defeated at once. Such being tho case. Lord John Eussell resumed offico, and the bill which had excited such op- position was parsed. Before its passage, however, the efforts of its enemies had shorn success of its value, by making such amendments as made tho bill practically worthless for tho tinr- pose which it was originally intended to serve. It was never en- forced, even in this modified form. ^ 120 Gladstone vs. Disraeli. «! It is immediatelj' after this debate that we learn of another trip to the cont..ient on the part of Mr. Gladstone. This was not thefirsf, of course, since that from which he had been recalled to stand lor Newark; but its results were so important ihat it deserves mention. Purely domestic circumstances, he himself tells us, occasioned his residenceat Naples for some monthsabout this time ; but tliough he had not gone on any errand of political criticism or censorship, he could not but be interested in the state of affairs in that country. The accession of Ferdinand IL, had been hailed as the begin- ning of a new era for the wretched kingdom of the Two Sicilies- and the new reign began with many acts of royal clemency to- ward political offenders. But the liberal measures of the king were regarded as dangerous by his royal relatives in Austria and other countries, and he was forced, perhaps notunwillingly to abandon them. The result was insurrection throughout the country, which, after the French Eevolution of 1848, terminated in the king's granting a constitution to his people. When the reaction came in Italy, ho set aside the constitution thus grant- ed and proceeded to wreak his vengeance upon all who hud taken part in the effort for refo-m. At the time of Mr Glad- stone's temporary residence there, more than one-half of the legislative body were in confinement as political prisoners; or exiled; and other subjects to the number of twenty thousand were deprived of their liberty. This number seems incredibly large, but some estimates placed the figures half as high again while the refusal of the Neapolitan Government to make any statement whatever rendered it impossible to get at exact fig- gures Hundreds were indicted for capital offences. These po- litical prisoners were confined in the same apartments with the vilest criminals, and, like them, were loaded with chains. Suffer- ing from diseases contracted by their confinement in the loath- some dungeons and the insufficient food with which they were furnished they were obliged to crawl painfully up long flights of steps for the medical assistance which the Government vouch- safed to give them; because the apartments which they occupied were such that no physician would enter, out of regard for his own health In such circumstances, it is not plain why any physicians should be allowed to relievo them, if such a feat were possible to medicine. Nor was this all. Thnnxrh it was the be ginmng of the latter half of the nineteenth c^entury, some of ^ Gladstone vs. Disraeli. 121 these offenders against the divine right of kings were subjected to tortures which would have done credit to the Middle Ages. Mr. Gladstone's action was characterist-c. First making such close and accurate observations as the jealousy of the Govern- ment would permit, and thoroughly informing himself of the extent of these outrages upon the liberty of the subject, he ad- dressed himself to the Earl of Aberdeen, who, as we have seen was regarded as the chief of the Peelite party, of which Mr! Gladstone was so p-ominent a member. His reasons for taking action ho carefully stated: as a member of the Conservative party (with which the Peelites were still nominally classed) he was concerned in the stability of all the established govern- ments of Europe, aad the outrages perpetrated by the king would surely lead to Eopublicanism ; but, more than this, Ferdinand and his creatures had offended against the laws of humanity, and all who loved the cause of humanity, of civilization, of religion, of decency, must unite to condemn him and his actions. The appeal was a stirring one; -nd when, shortly afterward, it was followed by another from the same pen, the writer's wishes were fully realized. Mr. Gladstone was careful to maKo his accusations against the Neapolitan tyrant purely personal, and to avoid mixing up any official, diplomatical, or political British agencies in them • and this course had precisely the effect which he had looked for His remonstrances came in the name of common humanity: he was defending the right ofall men to liberty which has never been forfeited by crime; and he did so, not as the representative of any Government, but as a clear-sighted man, a warm-hearted liberal- minded statesman. As such he was recognized, by the officers of the British Goverment; and the popular interest in the Ne-i- pol.tan prisons was voiced in the proceedings which were taken by the Foreign Office. Mr. Gladstone's second letter did some- thing more than merely reiterate the statements contained in the first. They were broadened and deepened, until the case which ho made out seemed altogether damning. :N^o public trial had ever been accorded these unfortunates; and when a form had been gone through with, the accuser had been one of the judges, and had given the casting vote. Whatever the mind can imagine as typical of tyranny in the treatment of p./^-npi enemies, that, without exaggeration, seems from Mr. Gladstone's two letters, and the specific statements contained m them to 122 *•• .•^fi.'"-..V :.■ -;.">' ■3^; >«-■'.•?:■'!-' Gladstone I's. Disraeli. 128 ^ i."^ ^ s o •vi ^ o> s I have been the fate of those Neapolitans who had sought their rights in the days of Garibaldi. And these statements, it is need- less to add, were not the wild assertions which are sometimes rife; they were all based upon the best authority; in some cases, upon the results of his personal investigation ; in others, they were so notorious that there was no attempt made to deny them at any time. Attention was drawn in the House of Commons to the state- ments thus made and substantiated, and the question was direct- ly put, whether the British Minister at Naples could not bo instructed to interfere, to secure the more humane treatment of the prisoners. But diplomacy does not admit of such a direct course. The matter wrs one which affected only the internal economy of an independent kingdom, and as such Great Britain had no cause to interfere. At the same time, the matter was one which men of feeling could not pass over; and though the Gov- ernment could not directly act in this matter, the Foreign Sec- retary said (and he was vociferously cheered when ho said it), that he had sent copies of Mr. Gladstone's open letters to the T^lnglJsh Ministers at all the courts of Europe, with instructions to call the attention of tho Powers to the state of affairs thero graphically described. Of course the Neapolitan Government was far from being as well pleased with this action of Palmerston's as the House of Commons had been ; and determined to vindicate itself. There had bc;en some an'^wors to Gladstone's letters published, but it is noticeable that these content themselves with assertions which are foreign to the subject, or praises of the virtues of Ferdinand, who is gravely said to have been a very religious man. They do not seem to have thought that Gladstone, the upholder of the union of Church and State, believed in mixing religion and politics so far that the latter was not entirely destitute of traces of the influence of the former. This was the first reply which the accuser thought worthy of an answer; and this merely because it was an official utterance, not because the arguments there brought forward were such as to overthrow his own. Nine-tenths of the accusations were tacitly admitted ; and the authorities which the Neapolitan Gov- ernment invoked to disprove the others were poor and meager compared with tho wealth of testimony which Mr. Gladstone had adduced. Houdraitted what they clairacd, that in five iustancea 124 Gladstone vs. .Disraeli. ho had been mistaken ; but ho reiterated the charges which they ha, not denied, and added proof to proof to convince the world at large that more than twenty thousand men were suffering from the tyranny of Ferdinand. The blunders of his crUics were merc.lessly exposed. Their greatest blunder, according to the .uthor of an anonymous pamphlet on the subject, which appeared Jn i^bl. was in answering at all. But no direct action was taken by the European Governmpnts and Ferdinand cared nothing for mere opinions. Only the re' membrance of these outrages was stored up in the hearts of men and made them the more ready to look upon Garibaldi as the' hand and brain which, in liberating Itah; from the dominion of her petty tyrants, should do much for the cause of liberty , throughout the world. Not until the last of December, 1858 does the Neapolitan Government seem to have taken any action to amehorate the condition of their prisoners; ninety-one poli- tical offenders then had their punishment commuted to perpetual banishment; but it is a sufficient Commentary upon the treat- ment which they had received, that fourteen of these had died m their dunj. -^^ ., while others were too ill to be moved. We have fo;.owed the conr.. of event, in the English Parlia- ment during the greater part of this year, the visit to Naples having preceded the passage of the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill To the story, thus to),, without interruption from the recountin.; of events with which it had little connection, we have but to ad3 some statements regarding a change in the Mir \stry. Lord Pal merston.so long connected with the Foreign Office, left it 'in December, 1851. His retirement was not a voluntary one, as he had given great offence by frequently acting without consulting his superiors in office, or laying hi. plans of action before the Queen. More than this, he had, both in public dispatches and private conversation, expressed a most decided opinion in re gard to the Prince-President of France, Louis Napoleon ; in dis- tinct violation of the wishes of the Queen and of the Cabinet Lord Jonn Russell resigned the premiership in February, 1852 and Lord Derby, who had but recently succeeded to that title' and was better known as Lord Stanley, was appointed in his place. Disraeh had happily christened this nobleman the -Ru- pert of Debate," in allusion to his ability and his blunders; as Pnnco Rupert frequently lost the battles which his headlonir courage had almest won, by the mistakes which he made in th^ Oladstone vs. Disraeli. 125 tiso of his advantages. It is significant of the state of English politics at tliis time, d.at Mr. Gladstone, who afterward virtually drove this Ministry from power, could have had a place in it if ho would have accepted it. The new Ministry w- s not a strong one. Palmerstousaid that it " contained two men a d a number of ciphers." The two men were Derby and Disraeli; the others had neither ability or ex- perience to recommend them. The old Duke of Wellingion, who was at this time more than eighty, was very much interest- ed in this Ministry, and anxious to know its personnel. Being very deaf, his conversation with Lord Derby was heard over the House of Lords. The Duke would inquire as to the appointee to some particular office; the Earl would reply, " Who ? Who?" The Duke would ask again, not hearing the unfamiliar names with the same readiness as if they had been well-known to him ; and ♦he same performance would bo repeated with the next name. The story was told by those who heard the conversation, and the new Government was irreverently dubbed the "Who? Who? Ministry." Mr. Disraeli wa ..e Chancellor of the Exchequer and at the same time the leader of the House of Commons. But it has been aptly said that his party was more afraid of his genius than of the dullness of his colleagues. He was placed in a situation of peculiar difficulty. The Conservatives claimed to have a con- siderable majority in the House of Commons; they would per- haps have a larger one in the next Parliament; but the Liberal Ministry was nontiniiod in power solely for the reason that no one was ready to take the reins of office out of their hands. The disadvantage of being in a Ministry which cannot com- mand a majority, was shared with all his colleagues ; but Mr. Disraeli was undertaking a task for which ho had been thought to display no aptitu le whatever. He had never before held'of- fice; he was not creuited with any capacity for the mastery of figures; and the clevcipcss of the speech with which he entered upon the duties of his office was.a surprise to all - ho heard him. The position o.f the Ministry upon the importu.it subject of Protection was a rlrange one, and one which was only too likely to involve it in difficulties. Lord Derby had indiscreetly dc- clared that he did not re, ard the question as definitely settled although it was now six years since the repeal of the Corn Laws,' and the prosperity of the country had been increasing ever since r I i 126 Ghulxfonc r.<f. Disrnelt. li>7 e o C^" ^ I a a the effect of tho repeal hnd been felt. But Mr. Disrneli was by no means of the saino opinion. lie saw, or.ly too clearly, that tho position was an untenable one; and with n coolness which at least bordered upon cffrontary, told tho IIouso of Commons that ho had never attempted to reverse the principle of Free Trade. This, however, was not until tho session which began in No\ em- ber, 1852, when tho considerable losses with which tho Ministry "i.id met in tho elections may have t- /hfc tho right honorable gentleman what were tho ef 5Cts of re-opening tho question whii h had so long been cor.siderci settled. Tlio session had opened with eulogies upon tho Duke of Wel- lington, who had ^ ^Ml in the previous September. Prominent among theso speak >rs on tho hero of n, war so long past, we find Mr. GIndstonu, who appears by this time to bo so far recog- nized as tho leading speaker in the IIouso that he was expected to speak on all sucu occasions. Tho peculiar dignity to which 'Mho Duke," as he was always called in these last yours of his life, as if there were no other of that rank in tho country, had attain- ed, -v/as well described by Mr. Gladstone: "It may never be given to another subject of tho British Crown to perform services so brilliant as ho performed j it may never be given to another man to hold tho sword which was to gain the ii ependenco of Europe, to rally tho nations around it, and while a^igland saved herself by her constancy, to s; vo Eu- rope by her example; it may never bo given to another man, after having attained such eminence, after such an unexampled series cf victories, to show equal moderation in peace as ho had shown greatness in war, and to dcvoto tho remainder of his life to tho cause of internal and external peace for the country which he has so served j it may never bo given to another man to have equal authority both with the Sovereign ho served, and with the senate of which ho was to the end a venerated member ; it may never be given to another man, after such a cp.reer, to preserve even to the last tho full possession of those great faculties with which ho was endowed, and to cany on tho services of one of tho most important departments of tho State with unexampled regularity and .aiccess, even to tho latest day of his l;fe." Tho IIouso Avas at onro involved in discussions on tho question of Free Trade ; a resolution was proposed, affirminir that the im- proved condition of tho people was mainly duo to The repeal of the duties in 1846; and although this was negatived, an amend- m Gladstone vs. l)lsr, 'ceu. gethc... wi,h t fo bo, tb "f !:,!^: °f. ""-'™'»<' competition, .„. oo.t «„d i„o,.on.ed tlsm°2' .",?'"« •""■'' '""< '"""-"i-^hed the - i>.o„„,,t about t,:' ^;^r ^; , : : -^ »■■"'■'- «f f-od, „„d o<l by tl.o tromondo,,, mni"^,! „f f '''° ?"""■>'- ^"^ -"iTt- "Hou.,0 of little over J 'wd,",°'"' ?""""■<•■" ""-^ «f'»™. i" Oobatothat Mr. Dis.aol ,1^ ""'"". ■"■, I' --<"■■">« this -inch rofereneo has al,- .l^,, Z,U TT^ '""™''»'» '" 'cngth of assaulting the memorof S ',,. "^ " ""-'""o ">» more than the foll„„.„,° Tf ha, ,. ! "•"■'''' ^ ^■'- ^Lis was than one of bis adb r nts was , e d '™"", """^ """"> ""« -""■■« lifcnndeonvsoinpomi: :: , f^ """ " -"^-ation of his arly in Decern hor Ar,. -n* i. , I>".l«ct^ Hiss, h "ndcd"™ ■""«" '"■•"■'"■'^ i"^ fi-t first budget had of co^,r,„ \ ' """''" "'"" "" '>°"'-^- His lK.a ti„,e^.o p^T-oo ■;,,?;" :™r:V"--'''-'"«. -■<■■• '- bad „ot c-s in that dfrocL," Tl w ''° " '"'' '"'' °f •>'» P""- vomblecivcms, ^e", Ts oTletT r'^ """=' *''« -°^' '»- and the House was ::;Z o ., Ht'l ."f ";^' °T """" «^P-'' able man would present to H«," "I'la- this reraarfc- «o favorable. He had ol , ^'" *'" """"■«°"-'i'io"» were not .-cpreseuted ft, so I'o [, f ! ,' """"'' "''"'' '"' '""' """■• bowbewastodotbr ^i o„rs ", Ir?,"""^,-'""' '"™"-"' """'' itos and J.'.-ee Trade,-s wa rnr„ '"' "'"""■■""'S the Peel. Tbo budget p.-oposeV;r..„":r p::tTt::;:?"" ""-" r- ""dsng..r; to extend the incotne uL ,o f f ^""''"' ""'• salaries in Ireland, to ,nake ,,„ T , « '"'' I"-°l'crty and -n ; and to mal.e'son,rc:.Cs in :■:',"""" ''/ "^" ■™'- t"c bouse ta. was also to bo o^::n;e ' ;-':e;"ea:: "" ""''"''' ' ^^^^^i^:^^::-:^---^--^^ --P- «ombered,hathe™ '"r- ^''''"f "'' """ '' ™"'" ''^ ■•"■ ti.c ,nan ,vho l.^dso 1 .w;,'! ,:,:■• *'',° "'?"f"' "■"' "'- "as be b.^ served, „„d J ^:^:^°'t^tT'' ^'"'^ have been gi-eat durin.r hi. l,f, j . -^ ""^ "''' «C3m3 to death. M,^ Disra i°„ e ' ' T, "" '""'"' '""« ""^ '■- <-K'ks ft,, which ho h d al .ead^; h "7 "' "'"'" I""-™""' a'" G-ham, who was Cked ,, '^ ^Z^"Vrf' '™™ *- "--f cwn.o„s, a!,d wh„:^t;::;,t:'i^:rb;<: Gladstone vs. Disraeli. 129 111 that it was commonly said that a speech from him was worth fifty votes to any measure. He then turned upon Sir Charles Wood, the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, and leaning across the table and directing his words full at him, said : "I care not to be the right honorable gentlemtin's critic; but if he has learn- ed his business, he has yet to learn that petulance is not sar- casm, and that insolence is not invective." It was two o'clock in the morning, but the members had no thought o^ sleep ; the contest was too exciting for that; Mr. Disraeli had hardly ut- tered the last sentence of his speech when Mr. Gladstone leaped upon his feet to answer him. This debate upo^ the budget was the first time that they had como into such bitter collision ; and this second speech of Mr. Gladstone was burning with more than the energy of the first. The House had been listening to Disraeli with an interest rarely felt in the speeches of the Chan- cellor of the Exchequer; and when Gladstone arose it was thought that after such a speech even he could make but little impression. But they who judged so wore in the wrong. A yet greater effect was produced by the reply of Mr. Gladstone,''alI unpremeditated as it was ; and when the division was taken two hours Irter, the Government was left in a minority of nineteen. The Chancellor of the Exchequer left the building with a friend ; us they looked out upon the streets, dim and grey with the lights of the night which had not yet ended, and shining with the rain which was falling steadily and drearily, ho remarked coolly, as he buttoned up his coat: -It will bo an unpleasant day for going to Osborne." Such was his only expression re- garding the resignation which had been forced so early in his ofi^cial career. There was no other course for the Ministry, thus defeated up- on their most important measure, to pursue; and that day the resignation cf the various members was duly placed in Her Majesty's hands. A few days afterward, the Coalition Ministry was formed. The Earl of Aberdeen was Prime Minister Lord John Russell Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord Pal- merston was at the Home Office, and Mr. Gladstone was Chan- cellor of the Exchequer. Having made such a brilliant on- slaught upon the late budget, and such a crushing expose of its blunders, ho had now an opportunity of trying his own powers at the task in which his rival had failed so disastrously. Thus the chapter begins and ends with a conflict with Disraeli- 130 Gladstone vs. Disraeli. a conflict which, as McCarthy observes, ended only when Dis- raeli crossed the threshold of the House of Commons for the last time, to take his place in the House of Lords as the Earl of Beaconsfield. Perhaps the real antagonism of the men, who represented such essentially different ideas, lasted longer than this; until the Earl of Beaconsfield, the first and last to bear the title, was carried out from his homo of Hughonden, its mas- ter no longer, to rest beside that remarkable wife who was the chief helpei in his many struggles. The life duel was carried on both in and out of the House of Commons, but it is of the former to which history will have most reference. The very formation of the hall in which the House met emphasized the antagonism. Although the scene of some of the most brilliant debates of modern times and the cradle of British oratory, the House is more like a committee-room, in point of size, than a legislative assembly. For j'cars there have been over 600 mem- bers and an attendance of 500 is quite common. But there is only sitting accommodation for about 360, or at most 400, on the floor of the House. There are neither tables nor desks for the convenience of members, who are ranged on cushioned benches with a minimum of space both as regards width and leg room. Members wear their hats during the transaction of business, being expected to uncover only when rising to address the House or during the reading of a royal message. The bench- es run up and down the Hall, »vith a space in the centre, and thus ministerialists and members in opposition sit face to face on either side of the aisle in front of the Speaker. The front row on the Government side of tlie House is assigned to Cabinet Ministers and others holding oflice. Disraeli, when Premier, occupied the seat nearest the Speaker, but Gladstone always favored a position a little farther down. The corresponding bench on the Opposition side is occupied by the leader of the Opposition and by ex-ministers. Thus the leading party men sit very close to each other, but are separated by the Historical table, on which stands the sym- bolic maco, the oflficial documents and papers of the House, the oath boy. and the Ministers' despatch boxes. If this table could but speak and recount its wrongs, it would tell of scores, nay thousands of vicious and vinlont blows, Gladstone has em.r)ha- sized some of his brilliant efforts by means of blows with clench- ed fists, such as could only be dealt by a man who is an athlete ^ ^^ Gladstone vs. Disraeli. 181 nay 1 as well as a statesman; Disraeli has also pounded it pretty badly. Once the latter became so enraged in the course of a word eonfliet with Gladstone, that ho shouted out with great vehemence, that he was thank- ful the table divided them. The mace is the most important piece of furniture in this severely simple looking hall. Its antiquity is very great; it is borne before the Speaker when he enters the House and when he leaves it; it is supposed by some to symbolize the authority of the Crown, and its presence on the table also indi- cates that the House is in session. When Cromwell forcibly dissolved a disobedientlTouso, hodid so by coarse- ly ordering his altendjints to "take away this bauble," and the solemn and imposing emblem wns for once dishon- ored. It is in the conventionalized form of a head wearing a crown, thus, per- haps, signifying a supposed presence of the Sovereign. There are several maces, but the one in our illustration is most commonly used, and probably the most ancient. From the irn'tials ''C. H.," repeatedly stamped upon it, it is presumed to date from the reign of either Charles I. or Charles IT, The quality of the metal work is not of the finest known in the history of the goldsmith's artin England, being rath- er inferior to the best examples. It is, however, an interesting piece of plate, and, like every antiq-ie article in the House, is preserved vith the usual British reverence for ago and prece- dent. i w CHAPTER V. THE MINISTRY OF ALL THE TALENTS. Mr. Gladstone's Early Political Faith— His Act of Self-denial— First Step Toward Leaving the Conservative Party— House of Commons and the New Chancellor of the Exchequer -Grows Eloquent Over a Dry Subject — Debate on the Incomf Tax -Impending War— Will of the People Must be Obeyed— Measures I'or Eaising Kevenue— Bitter Taunts from Disraeli- Views of the Prince Consort— Miss Florence Nightingale -Th<3 Crimean War— Impressive Scene in the House of Commons -New Ministry by Lord Palmerston— Lord John Russell— Great Speech bv Mr. Gladstone- Continuance of the War Debates. 'HEI^ Mr. Gladstone entered Parliament in 1832, he was an ardent supporter of all those measures with which the ultra Tories were then associated; he would have condemned Eeform, perhaps, had he been in the previous Par- liament ; as it was, he sat for what was really a pocket-borough, and one which was not likely to be given up by its virtual own- er, since he was one of the most stubborn anti-Eeformers in all England. He was then an advocate of Protection ; he upheld the union of Church and State, and boldly proclaimed his opin- ion that the State had (or ought to have) a conscience ; he was ready to fight to the death all contemners of the Established Church of Ireland. With the latter feeling, and the changes which it underwent, we shall have more to do hereafter; the subject of the disestablishment of the Irish Church is one of such importance, both in itself, and, what is of more moment to us, as one of the main points of Mr. Gladstone's careei-, that we shall consider that apart from nil other measures in the success or defeat of which this most liberal minded of English states- men has had a hand. In his "Chapter of Autobiography," which is in the main a defence of his change of opinion regarding the Irish Church, he alludes to the three great measures which Sir Eobert Peel at first vehementiv onnoand. hnt, nffftvwnrH wna ninnTifr +V>o fl..of +n carry out — Catholic Emancipation, Parliamentary Eeform, and Free Trade. Such changes, the writer argues, are due to a lack 182 3 ' 1 I I I f^ The Ministry of All the Talents. 133 of foresight; n( ^ that the statesmen who have thus altered their opinions possessed less of this desirable quality than their pre- decessors who have been more consistent; but the enlarL^ement of the governing class, the gradual transfer of political power from groups and limited classes to the community, has render- ed a much larger range necessary-a range greater than is pos- sible to mere men. His further argument is even stronger than this; admitting that such foresight were possessed by a states- man — "^ " The public mind is, to a great degree, unconscious of its own progression ; and it would resent and repudiate, if offerod to its mature judgment, the verj policy which after a while it will gravely consider, and after another while enthusiastically em- brace. "^ This paragraph is the real defense which Gladstone makes, and It IS the best that can be made, against those who upbraid him for his change of principle. It should be noted that they who do so are members of the party which he left, which has felt his loss severely. Ho expressly disclaims all desire of de- fending those who have made sudden modifications of the prin- ciples which they have previously upheld, for too obvious rea- sons; but his own political belief, though it may be radically different from what it was when he entered public life, has changed so gradually that it is plain to see the alterations are the results of conviction. As a proof of this, it is unnecessary to refer to more than one instance, in that part of his career which has already been con- sidered : his resignation from Sir Robert Peel's ministry in 1845 Commented on at the time as one of those rare instances in which a public man really injures himself by an act of self-de- n.al, It yet had its advantage as showing how entirely earnest he was in any change which his convictions might undergo It proved his sincerity then, and for all time to come. There i» ^-.. view of the case, however, which must not be overlooked- ii has been said that Mr. Gladstone is so skilled at argument,' so well able to convince the doubtful of the truth of the point which he supports, that he is often led to believe that his own original position is untenable, simply by the force of the reasoning whiehhooringstob.ur upon the weak points which all posi^ tions nriust have. «' Ho can convince himself of anything which he wishes to believe," is the not too flattering verdict of one of 1S4 TAe Ministry of All the Talents. his self-constituted judges ; it is a defect which is perhaps an os- sontial element of a subtle rcasoner's mental constitution; but this judgment, though it has a show of profundity, leaves the question in exactly the same state as before ; the Liberals of the present day will still hold that hp has always wished to believe in those principles which are, according to them, at the basis of all good government; while the Tories will express the op- posite opinion. A more scathing criticism would bo, that he has always man- aged to persuade himself that the measure which would serve him best was that which it was his duty to fupport, as the one which would be the best for the country ; but since the day when the London iVe^^^s recorded the first step which he took in a direc- tion opposite to that in which he had been walking, and con- demned the sacrifice as one which was far removed from wisdom, no one has made this assertion. In 1852 was taken the first decisive action toward leaving the Conservative party. Hitherto his convictions might have changed from time to time, but so had those of many of the Tory leaders; in one case, at any rate, he had but followed Peel and the great majority of his adherents; he had in all crises considered him- self bound to support the policy advocated by the Conservative chief; but now there was coming a period of uncertainty as much in his own mind as in the minds of those about him ; per- haps, indeed, his own doubts were sooner aroused, and more sharply defined, than those of others; certainly he was off-ered a position in a Conservative cabinet long after the beginning of the period that we usually consider him a member of the oppos- ing party. ' His joining the Coalition Ministry of 1852 had no significance, however, in this connection ; for the chief of that Government was Lord Aberdeen, the leader of the Peelites; the Conserva tiye members of that Cabinet certainly yielded no more than the Liberals did, and Palmerston and Russell were thoroughly identi- fied with that party, and continued to be so after the fall of Aberdeen's administration. It was simply a temporary alliance made necessary by the state of the great parties at that date. The newly appointed ministers had to seek re-election, and in this special contest Mr. Gladstone discovered, what ho could not fail to have foreseen, that his tendencies to Liberalism were not approved by the electors of the University of Oxford. His The Ministry of All the Talents. 135 seat was hotly contested, though the only opponent that could be found for him was a gentleman who was merely the son of his father. The father was Perceval, that Prime Minister who in 1812 had been assassinated in the lobby of the House of Com- mons; the son was so little known, that the Tiiiu vhich was then a bettor friend to Mr. Gladstone and his ai..o^ than in 1887-8, sarcastically described him "a- a very near relative of our old friend Mrs. Harris," and called upon his supporters to prove his actual existence. But Mr. Gladstone's course, in regard to the divisions upon ecclesiastical subjects, hud been very offen- sive to many of the Oxonians; and his majority, even over this unknown and untried man, could hardly be called a manifestation of grout popularity. Perhaps a more eloquent testimony to the esteem in which he was then held by the thinkers is the fact that of the one hundred and one professors whose votes were record- ed, and of whom twelve were neutral, no less than seventy-four voted for Mr. Gladstone. Mr. Gladstone's first feat in connection with the important of- fice which he now held was the maturing of a plan for the re- duction of the National Debt. Supported by the prominent Ead- ical members of the House, as well as by those who ordinarily adhered to the Government, this plan was adopted and put into immediate operation. Before the outbreak of the war which be- gan a year later, the debt had been reduced more than eleven millions of pounds. Ten days later, the House of Commons sat spell-bound, listen- ing to the schemes of the Chancellor of the Exchequer for deal- ing with the finances of the country. The expression sounds like that bitterest of all sarcasm, which condemns by extravagant praise ; but it is the universal testimony that it was the bare truth. Never has there been any other Chancellor of the Exchequer who could thus entrance the House with his arrays of fi-^ures; but the depths of philosophy from which Mr. Gladstone builtup the foundations of his policy have rarely been fathomed by oth- ers, who have generally been content with a much more super- ficial structure. Although he sT)oke for five hours upon this oc- casion, the House followed him throughout with unabated inter- est. During the whole time, his command of words never once failed him; and each abtsruse financial detail was clothed with the language which best fitted it for presentation in the most favorable guise to the minds of his listeners. 1 I 11 i! Lobby of the House of Commom. The Speaker Entering the Hall, yyn 'f^i'th the ISIace Borne Before Him. i! Wy. The Ministry of All the Talents. 137 The most important point which was touched upon in this budg- et and the speech in which it was presented to the House, was the Income Tax. This duty, which had been proposed for the first time in the days of Pitt, to enable the Government to meet the expenses arising out of the Napoleonic wars, had come to bo re- garded as a necessity by the financiers, though there was much dissatisfaction with it outside of the small circle of those who were charged with ♦^o settlement of the national expenses. It was certain that its a.olition would lead to increased prosperity, if only the period between the present and that future when the effects of its abolition should be clearly felt could be bridged; and Mr. Gladstone showed that this was not impossible. The tax was not to be done away with at once, but being continued for a period of two years, and after that gradually lessened, it would have disappeared by the beginning of 1860. In that year, the Chancellor argued. Parliament would find it possible to dispense with the Income Tax altogether. The trouble had here- tofore been, not that there was no attempt made to deal with this duty ; but that all the action which had been taken in con- nection with it had been such as to unsettle the public mind with reference to it; whatever was done now, he told them, must be bold and decisive. An amendment affirming thnt the continuance of the Income Tax was unjust and impolitic was brought forward by Sir E. Bulwer-Lytton, and warmly supported by Mr. Disraeli, who seized the opportunity of making a personal attack upon Lord John Eussell for having joined the Coalition Ministry, and thus deserting the Whig party, as the speaker claimed, for an alliance with the former followers of Peel. In that portion of his speech which related directly to the matter under consideration, the ex- Chancellor said that the proposals of his successor added to the burdens on land, while they lightened those which pressed upon particular classes ; and with that happy faculty for using striking phrases which had always distinguished him, he added that he could see no difference, so far as the danger of a system of privi- leged classes was concerned, between a pi'iviicged noble and a privileged tobacconist. Mr. Cobden and Mr. Hume supported the amendment, while Mr. Caldwell and Mr. Lowe took part in this animated debate on the side of the Government. Nor was Eus- sell silent; but in well chosen words showed the various incon- sistencies of which Mr. Disraeli had been guilty, in his former 138 The Ministry of All the Talen-o. schemes and present attitude toward the Income Tax ; and closed with a punogyrio upon the author of the present plan, saying that he was to bo envied among English Finuiico Ministers. This ic the second time that wo find this ardent Whig speaking in warm praise of Mr. Gladstone, before the tribunal to which they both looked for approval of their political course. The ministerial scheme for the continuance and partial exten- sion of the Income Tax, to be followed by its gradual diminution and final abolition, was adopted by a considerable majority. That the prophecies of Mr. Gladstone regarding the condition in which the country would be in 1860 were not fulfilled, was due to no lack of foresight; the cause of the increased expendi- ture was one which, dopenJing as it did upon the action of other Governments, could not be foretold by human agency. The cloud which presaged the storm of the next year was not visible in 1852 to the naked eye. It was at the beginning of 1853 that it first became certain that a European war was the only meank of deciding between the claims of the Czar and the unwillingness of the Sultan to grant those claims. The trouble grew out of the desire of Eussia to protect the interests of the Greek Church in the Holy Land ; but the original cause of the trouble was soon lost sight of. Various reasons were assigned for the part which England took in this conflict; itwassaid by some that she was anxious to protect Tur- key, solely to secure the safety of her Indian dominions; it was said by others that seeing a contest between a strong and a weak country, she was prompted by chivalry and generosity to inter- fere in behalf of the weaker. Such were the extreme views of the reason for war; as in all cases of the kind, neither one is alto- gether true, or wholly false ; but the real reason lies midway be- tween, and partakes of both. It was not until the middle of the year that actual hostilities began. It was still hoped, as late as October, that war might be averted, though the Czar's troops had taken possession of Mol- davia and Wallachia three months before. At the beginning of October, however, the Sultan formally declared war. The popu- lar voice in England was altogether against the Czar, who was looked upon as menacing the libert'es of P^urope by his efforts to overide Turkey. The Ministry could not long delay decisive action upon the question of whether active support should be given to the Ottomans, The Ministry of All the Talents. 189 Tho question had donbtloss boon fully discussed at those mys- terious meetings in Downing Street of which i.i." niiiiutes are ever itoptj but there seems to hiive been no immediate announcement of policy until after tho 12th of that month. At that date, Mr. Gladstone went to Manchester, to attend tho unvailing of a statue to Sir Eobert Peel. Tho country was in a state of greatex- citoment, and meetings and conferences for and against the war were being held everywhere. Loder such circumstances, the utterances of this eloquent member ov' tho AdrainiLlnit'.on wore looked for with the keenest expectation. His speech was unequivocal as to tho views o*'*! > Government. Russia threatened to override all tlio other Pow^i.<, and prove a source of danger to the rest of the world; and the overthrow of tho Ottoman Empire must be a blow to England, as well as to other countries. But tho Government desired peace, if possibi he reminded them that tho intrigue, delay and chicanery whicu too often attend negotiations arc far less to bo dreaded than war; and rebuked the inconsiderate impatience of those who looked only at tho meretricious glory which a war might bring. To save tho country from a calamity which would deprive tho nation of subsistence and arrest the operations of industry, ho said, the Ministry "have persevered in exercising that self-command and self-restraint, which impatience may mistake for indifference, fee- bleness, or cowardice, but which are truly tho crowning greatness of a great people, and do not evince -'-'i.t of readinesb to vindicate, w^hen the time comes, the I > .-.: this country." He expressly stated that the Governmenr. , ^ not engaged in mnin- taining tho independence and integrity of tho Ottoman Empire ; and referring to tho anomalies of tho Eastern Empire, and the probabilities of its future, disclaimed all wish on tho part of the British Government to do more than protect tho interests of all by curbing the ambition of one. Thia disclaimer, coming full twenty-five years before the date of the Bulgarian atrocities, shows conclusively that some of his critics wlio have ventured -statements regarding his attitude on the Eastern question have been mistaken in tho premises drawn from bis actions in 1853. But the moderation of ho Ministers was not met by a similar feeling on tho part of the people. Their voice was still for war, and when, after many endeavors on the part of England and oth- er powers to negotiate i peace, the British Government declared war against Eussia, the popular satisfaction was unbounded. 140 The Ministry of All the Talents. li • I Even Sifter this decisive step had been taken, the Powers hesi- tated, and expres>.od their willingness to enter into an armistice at once, if tho Czar slunved any inclination to settle the matter peaceably. But Nicholas persisted in tho course which he had marked out for himself, whicli nothing but death ended for him, and only defeat terminated for his successor and his people. A considerable party in England were bitterly opposed to the war, and a deputation from the Peace Society actually went to St. Petersburg to interview the Czar. As Mr. Molcsworth puts it, Nicholas " had already decided on the coarse he would pur- sue, and neither imperial nor Quaker remonstrances could turn him from it." Prominent among tho advocates of peace was John Bright, who was so sternly opposed to war that, even after it had begun, and the country was beginning to feel the distress occas- ioned by it, he would have nothing to do with the measures in- tended to alleviate that distress. Mr. Gladstone was as earnest- ly desirous as any one of avoiding the horrors which hostilities would bring upon tiie country, but when once it was seen to be inevitable, he bent all his energies to do the best that he could under the circumstaiices. Perhaps Bright's course was the more consistent, especially for one reared among the non-combatant Quakers; but a otatosman Avho would be perfectly consistent would ofter. find himself in the wrong, unless ho possessed om- nipotence to mould the minds aud direct the wills of men. Lord Aberdeen had expressed his intention of resigning if a war became inevitable ; but the whole trouble came on so gradu- ally that he *'ound his Government involved in the contest before there had been anything which should give warrant for that step. Much as Mr. Gladstone desired to prevent war, if poscible, even he was forced to see, ' ith his chief, that the will of the peop)- nuist bo obeyed. It was not the Queen, it was not tho Ministry, it was not the House of Lords or of Commons, that declared war against Kussia in 1^53 ; they were but the means by which the people of Great Britain made their protest against the over- whelming power of tho Czar being further extended. J War had been declared, and the Ministry had to make tho best of it. The chiof burden fell upon the Chanceller of the Ex- chequer, who saw tho schemes so carefully proparca for the re- duction of taxation swept away at one breath. Tho surplus which was to have been a valuable aid in reducing the Income Tax must be diverted from that use, and applied to warlike pur- M ■• hesi- listico flatter 3 had him, Lo the lit to puts pui- turi) John it had )ccas- )s in- •nest- lities o be 30Ulu more atant stent om- if a •adu- jfore stop, even op)" ared hieh vcr- best Ex- re- plus imc 3ur- V. ;i!'^"^-*''*mi M^'-^'^h^^E - ^:!k ,3^ ■ yyjt ■'• -s- 'ifi V-JJ" '" WK ' . j' J!*"*. 5 ju^ .■fi)ll 1 I t UJ z o h co o < o z Ui X Q. UJ I- CO > UJ cc z o CO CO I I I- z o < o < CQ < -i Q. UJ z o I- co o < o s The Ministry of All the Talents, 141 posos ; the Income Tax, the Malt Tux, nTid tho Spirit Duties, must all bo increased, with no prospect of their reduction for years to come. But with a courage rai'cly manifested by Finance Ministers in time of war, when the resources of the country are always crippled, and taxes are harder than ever to pay, he pro- posed to pay for the war out of the current revenue, provided that not more than ten millions sterling would be required, in addition to the usual expenditure. Taxes would of course be increased, but at the close of the war the country would be free to resume the course of prosperity which had been interrupted Bar of the House. by it, clear of debt, so often a long enduring bitter after-taste of tho glory that may have been acquired. Mr. Disraeli opposed this plan, which the Prince-Consort char- acterized as "manly, statcsmanllko. and lioncst." Tho Tory was opposed to tho increase of taxos, but would rather advocate bor- rowing, by which means, he argued, tho burden of the war would fall less heavily upon tho people, the expense being paid at lunger intervals. But his course, which ministers have too often pursued because it is tho most likely to secure their pop- ularity, was not approved by the country at large. Tho people >,y-w-. r..,^. , i^ '\ .*? ^?i f[ I 142 r/ie Ministry of All the Talents. saw the wisdom of Gladstone's plan, and it was everywhere endorsed. What was of more immediate importance, as afford- ing him the opportunity of putting the plan into practice, the House of Commons approved it by a large majority. But before the division took place, tl>ere were some bitter taunts from Mr. Disraeli ; and his language was such on one oc- casion ti.at he was reminded that no crifcism should be pro- nounced upon the ministerial policy unless he were prepared to propose a vote of no confidence. This he declined to do, but as- serted that, while he should not vote against the necessary ap- propriations, being bound to support Her Majesty in all just and necessary wars, he was not prepared to admit that this was a necessary war. Had the Cabinet been united, he claimed, it would not have been forced upon thom ; but it was a Coalition Ministry, and that act detracted from its strength at such critical moments. To this speech Mr. Gladstone replied. The conclu- sion of Mr. Disraeli's argument hk denounced as illogical and rc- orsant • and showed that the reasons which he gave for not pro- posing a vote of no confidence (the lack of unity of opinion re- garding the war, which he alleged was the -ase among the Min- isters), was the very reason why he should have taken that course'. The remainder of his speech was a vindication of his policy, and an appeal to be sustained. Early in May we find him again urging the necessity of pay- ing the expenses of the war out of the current revenue, and de- nouncing that attempt to conciliate the people, which Mr. Dis- raeli had made by promising the abolition of taxes without hav- ing made any provision for fulfilling his word. He rehearsed the difficulties through which the Napoleonic wars had been car- ried on and recalled to their minds how enormous were the du- ties which were imposed by Pitt, and how cheerfully the burden was borne; he reminded them that even the war had not inter- rupted the prosperity of the" country to any considerable ex- tent as the constant increase of the imports showed; and ex- plained his plans with a minuteness which need not here be im- itated The speech took the chiefs of the Opposition by sur- rpise accustomed as they were to Mr. Gladstone's powers; and the division showed an unusually large majority fo.- the Mniistry. A few days later, Mr. Disraeli made yet another effort to arouse the feeling of the House against Mr. Gladstone's admin- istration of the finances. Inaccurate and deceptive statements, *1f m •S ?5' r M^^^^ "■^•'n.^^ immw TAe Ministry of All the Talents. 143 ho said, had boon made in successive budgets, fallacions estimates given of the cost of the Avar, and delusive announcements made regarding the aids that would bo required to meet tlie growing charges upon the revenue. The Chancellor of the Exchequer was boldly accused of incompetence, not only in one instance, Lord Aberdeen. but in many. ]ir. Gladstone replied to each of these charges in turn, his speech followed closoly by those who were in sym- pathy with him; and on the division the majority fcr the Min- istry caused the collapse of all eiforts to oppose the budget. 144 The Ministry of All the Talents. ii!! Mr. Disraeli had not yet given up his opposition to the gov- ernment, however, but toward the end of July again severely at- tacked the policy of the Ministry. Lord John Russell had moved a vote of credit of three million sterling for the expenses of the war, and this became, by the opposition of Mr. Disraeli, a vote of confidence. A great debate was confidently expected, but the courage of the Opposition gave way as the time approached, and they dared not imperil the existence of the Ministry at such a juncture. The amendment requesting Her Majesty not to pro- rogue Parliament until the matter was settled was negatived without a division and Parliament was prorogued Aug. 12th. There were some hopes of a peaceful settlement of the diflScul- ty at the beginning of 1854 ; but though Austria and Prussia had promised their decided support, their defection when the time came for such action left matters as they were at first. The war had not yet begun in earnest, but by the middle of the year there was no longer any hope of peace. A combined army of English, French and Turks marched upon Sebastopol early in September, there to begin the siege so memorable in the history of the war. But though the war continued as popular as ever, there were some symptoms that showed, at this very time, that the Ministry which had declared the war was beginning to lose its popularity. There were many reasons why such a Cabinet should lose its strength. In the first place, its very constitution forbade the hope of a long continuance in that harmony which is so neces- sary to a Government. In regard to this, there have been two statements made, which could scarcely be reconciled, were they both given without qualification ; and it is difficult to decide which is the better authority. Mr. Martin, the author of the Life of the Prince Consort, a biography for which the Queen herself furnished many of the materials, and for the statements in which she is really responsible, the work having been pre- pared under her supervision, says positively that no cordial un- animity existed b"tween the Peelito m.embersof the cabinet and their colleagues; Mr. Gladstone denies that there was any dis- cord among the Ministers ; but, adds the right honorable gentle- man, in a clause which serves to reconcile this denial with the ..«! a:^», ^f +Kp ofh"^ '< riffa fhpvft were without doubt in the II III I ill a LIU 11 V^l 111'-- • !l II> ; J li-„ imposing structure, butthey were dueentirely to individual views or pretensions, and in no wuy to sectional antagonism." When The Ministry of All the Talents. 145 wo consider that Palmerston was in this Ministry, we can see verj cleprly that these personal differences of opinion might be made a serious matter. Whutover was the true extent of these differences, the fact that there were such was speedily noised abroad, and perhaps much more iniide of the report than was warranted by the facts. At any rate, it was generally believed that there were serious dis- agreements among the Ministers, and this gave rise to a feeling of uncertainty in the House of Commons. The followers of the Government, says Mr. Martin, did not hesitate to attack the Prime Minister openly in the House; nor was he always sup- ported as warmly by his colleagues as the absent Premier ex- pects to be. The defeat of the ministry was delayed for some time by the necessity of action upon a secondary matter connected with the conduct of the war. , This was the management of the hospitals, which were grossly neglected by those in charge of them. An ample supply of medical and other stores had been sent out from England, but they lay rotting in the holds of the vessels which had carried them out, or stored away in places where they were not wanted. The men were simply dj'ing of exhaustion, while provisions had been despatched in abundance. Under such cir- cumstances. Miss Florence Nightingale, who had become well- known in London for her enlightened, skillful and self-denying benevolence, was induced to go out to take charge of the hospi- tals; an almost dictatorial authority, which could override all red-tapeism, being given her. U nder her management, chaos was reduced to order, and the wounded and sick received the care of which they were so sorely in need. Parliament was called together shortly before Christmas, and after a session lasting eleven days, adjourned for a month. But in this short session it accomplished more business than had ever been dispatched within a similar period, in the memorj'' of living man. The most important measure brought forward was per- haps that providing for tlie enlistment of foreign soldiers. This provoked a keen debate upon the war and the Ministry's con- duct of it. Mr. Bright maintained that the English were fight- ing in a hopeless cause and for a worthless ally ; Mr. Disraeli an- nounced that ho should oppose the measure a' )pp( ^ery stage ; painted the situation at the Crimea in the darkest colors. The course of the Ministry was defended by Lord John Eussell and lO 'MI !Si 146 The Ministry of All the 7\dents. Lord Palmorston. Similar uttncks wero made in the House of Lords, and Lord Abordoon had all ho could do to answer them. When Parliament mot at the beginning of 1855, Mr. Roebuck gave formal notice that ho should move for the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the condition of the army be- fore Sobastopol, and into the conductof those departments of the Government whoso duty it was to minister to the wants of the army. This was a direct challenge to the Government. Lord John Eussell, convinced that the Ministry could not stand before such an attack, tendered his resignation at once. This was look- ed upon as ])artaking something of the nature of cowardice; he should have braved out the storm with them, thought his collea- gues ; and one of them, the Duke of Newcastle, oft'ered to make himself the scapegoat for the Ministry ; an ofler M'hich was not entirely Avithout reason, as he was the Secretary of War. After much discussion, hv. wcver, it was resolved that the remaining members of the cabinet should l.old together as long as the House of Commons would permit. Mr. Roebuck's motion came up in due time, and the Minister of war, Mr. Herbert, attempted to stem the tide by the assertion that the existing evils had been greatly overrated, and that many improvements had already tiikon place. But the effect which this mild speech might possi- bly have had was totally lost when the reply to it was heard. This was a speech by Mr. Stafford, who told of the things that ho had himself seeti j and excepting from censure Miss Nightin- gale and her assistants, drew such a picture of suffering and neglect as could not bo equalled by the imagination. To this speech Mr. Gladstone was the one to rej)ly. If the Op- position had expected the resignation of Lord .John Russell would be followed by that of his colleagues, this address gave them dis- tinctly to Uiiderstand that they wero mistaken. After giving some short history of the defection which had so recently taken place, not without courteous allusion to the encomium which Lord John had recentlj' bestowed upon him, the speaker proceeded to characterize a Ministry which could resign under such circum- stances, or without a direct intimation from the House of Com- mons. If by thus resigning they shrank from a judgment of the House upon their past acts, what sort of epitaph should be written over their remains ? He himself would write it thus: "Here lie the dishonored aslies of a Ministry which found England at peace and left it at war, which was content to enjoy y^ &■-.' The Ministry of All the Talents. tho emoluments of office and to wio'd the scepter of power bo long as no miiH bad tho courage to question their existence. They saw tho storm gathering over tho country ; tiiey heard tho agonizing accounts which were almost daily received of tho stftto of tho silk and wounded in tho East. These things did not move thorn. But so soon as tho Ilonorable Member for Sheffield raised his hand v.o point tho thunderbolt, they became conscience stricken with v. «onso of guilt, and, hoping to escape punishment, they ran away tx t: duty." This rebuke, strangely at variance with tho studied courtesy which custom obliged him to use in his direct refcrenco to the man who had run away from duty, was received with tumultuous cheers by a considerable portion of tho House. Wlien the excitement had subsided, Mr. Gladstone proceeded, lie showed conclusively that tnere had been exag- gerations as to tho state of tho army; and that matters were improving, as Mr. Herbert had al- ready told them. Tho adoption of Mr. Roebuck's motion would paralyze the Government, and throw things back into that very state of chaotic confusion from which they were just beginning to emerge. Tho speech was a powerful one, and Sidney Herbert. produced a telling effect upon tho House ; but tho advantage thus gained was fur from being sufficient for tho needs of the Ministry. Mr. Disraeli attacked tho war policy of tho Govern- ment and announced that ho should bo obliged to give his veto against *-'a deplorable administration j" Lord John Russell at- tempted tojustify his course in resigning, and Lord Palmerston made an energetic and brilliant defense of the Government; but H."^, ^ymu^f:i^i^j¥:k-^>m*fj ^ ■ ■^^m^si0»r-.^'mh:^m^^:^^w^^^fmm 148 The Ministry of All the Talents. * i! the tide had sot too strongly against the Coalition, and no ^.o- qiience could save it, "Every one knows," says Justin McCarthy, "what a scone us- ually r .kes place when a Ministry is defeated in the House of '"'om.nons — cheering again and again renewed, counter cheers of defiance, wild exultation, vehement indignation, a whole whirl- pool of emotions seething in that little hall in St. Stephen's." Such is the ordinary scene, as described by one who has fre- quently been r, participant; but this was decidedly extraordin- ary. Wiien the result of the division was announced, says Molesworth, *< the House seemed to bo surprised and almost stunned by its own act; there was no cheering; but for a few , moments a dead silence, which was followed by a burst of de- risive laughter." Never before had a Ministry fallen by jo de- cisive a vote ; the vote in favor of the motion was three hundred and five; against it, one hundred and forty-eight. In other words, what was virtually a vote of no confidence showed that the Ministers could not command the suffrage of one-thii'd the members of the House. The resignation of Lord Aberdeen and his colleagues was an- nounced in the House of Commons Feb. 1st, 1855. Speculation had already been rife as to the next Prime Minister. The Queen thought to answer the question which was in all men's minds by sending for Lord Derby, thus recognizing the principle that in time of war the Conservative party is naturally the leader of the national councils. Lord Derby at once undertook the task, and proceeded to form his cabinet. The one man who was essential to it was Lord Palmerston ; in spite of the faults which ho made no effort to conceal, and which made it so difficult for both super- iors and subordinates to get along with him, he had some very essential powers of mind in these troublous times. He certainly knew his own mind, and saw his way clear before him ; he pos- sessed a fund of common sense, which was not to bo baffled by those artificial beliefs that have grown up in the minds of the world; when he was Home Secretarj^, for instance, the Presby- tery of Scotland had sent to ask him whether it would not be advisable, in view of the cholera which was threatened, to ap- point a national fast day ; Palmerston replied, with all thegrav^- ity which the occasion demanded, that the laws which Provi- dence has ordained for the government of this world require us to avoid such diseases by rigid attention to the cleanliness of our MR. AND IVlRG. GLADSTONt %s ^'KL-d "■ "I J , H If- •« '-*.., The Minmtry of AU the Talents. 149 habitations and thoir surroundings, and advised them that if the c. ies were not kept in proper sanitary condition, all t')o fasting and prayer would not suffice against the dreaded scourge; and there are many instances of such answers, which, while they are l»ased on truth and good sense, were yet offensive to the persons to whoiii th(!y were addressc J, and often shocked the minds of others. Lord Palmcrston was clear-sighted and far-sighted ; but in that involuntary adjustment of the mental sight to the dis- tan<^ bject which ho was engaged in examining, his eye failed to take in those particulars which require a shorter range of vis- ion. In ridding himself of prejudice, he had unconsciously, and perhaps unavoidably, done violence to those sympathetic fVicul- ties which enable us to judge the acts of others rgt equitably, by finding what their motives most probably were. Palmcrston never allowed for any diflference between himself and others; were he in a given position, such an act could only be dictated by such a motive ; that moti.e therefore must be the one which act- uated the man who had decided upon that course. His lev- ity was not intended to be offensive to the men whom he an- swered ; he could not understand how it could be so ; and thus he kept on considering gravely those questions which were sub- mitted to him, and answering them jocosely. But in spite of all the offense that he had given, both by word and action, this man was so essential to the stability of a Con- servative Ministry that Disraeli agreed to waive all claim to the leadership of the House of Commons, if that would induce the most eminent of Irish peers to cast in his lot with the L»erbyad- ministration. While the answer of Lord Palmcrston was still awaited, or perhaps at the same time that the offer had been made to him. Lord Derby tendered places in his cabinet to Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Herbert, the late Minister of War. These three members of the late Government intimated to Lord Derby th.at they could only extend to him an independent support. That nobleman accordingly waited upon her Majesty, and inform- ed her of the result of his efforts. "What is an independent support?" asked the Queen, to whom the phrase was probably new, anr' .ertainly seemed con- trad ictoi'v. "Madam," replied Derby, "an independent support is, like an independent Member of Parliament, one that cannot be de- ponded upon." a:|L 160 The Ministry of All the Talents. Kb-: iJf; il This explanation seems to have made the m«ttcr clear to the royal mind, and Derby was relieved from the task to which he proved unequal. In accordance with that custom which pre- scribes that the tender of thip, offirfc should bo made to members of the great parties in aiternat':>n, Lord John Eussell wj^s sum- moned to the Queen's assisto^ce. But his resignation from i, Min- istry vrhich was in imminent danger had brought discredit up- on him in the eyes of his followers, and he was obliged to con- fess his inability. There was but one other in whos9 oxpeinenco and ability there wis sumcient confidence to warrant his being placed at the head of aflfiiirs, and the post of the First Lord of the Treasury was tendered to Yiscount Palmerston. On February 6th, the announcement was formally made that Lord Palmorston had formed his Ministry. In th:g Cabinet, most of the members of the Aberdeen Groyernmeut were their own successors; the chief changes were the substitution of Pal- mcrston's name for that of Lord Aberdeen, and of Lord Pan- niure's for the Duke of Newcastle. Mr. Gladstone retained the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer. The appointment of Lord Panmure, like the accession of Palmerston himself to power, argi'cd a much more vigorous conduct of the war; for both of these men wore ardent advocates of the struggle in the East, and replaced men who were desirous of peace though at great cost. Palmerston, indeed, with his accustomed independence of action, had spoken in favor of war, and had caused those journ- als whoso utterances he largely controlled, to advocate it, even while the Ministry of which ho was a member deprecated a re- sort to actual hostilities. This was essentially a War Ministry. The Eocbuck motion, which had caused the resignation of Lord Aberdeen, had been carried, as we have already recorded; and the committee of inquiry for -;hich 't called had been ap- pointed. The new Ministry was thus placed in a situation of some difficulty at the very beginning of its existence. Lord Pal- merston was of the opinion that the Grovernment could not re- sist the investigation demanded by so largo a majority of the House of Commons, and by the whole people as well ; some of the members of his Cabinet were resolutely opposed to the ap- pointment of a committee vested with such powers. The takin/^ of this matter out of the hands of the Government wnis establish- ing a precedent which in the future, no ma+ter what the circum- stances, it would be impossible to sot aside. Other objeetior:! The Ministry of All the Talents. 151 there were, but this was the one advanced by Mr. Gladstone, and the one which insists upon the constitutional principle involved with the most earnestness; the others conccr.iing themselves mainly with the objections to the committee on less general grounds. Lord Palmerston thought it would be sufficient to change the personnel of the committee, and substitute mem- bers selected by the Government; Mr. Roebuck accepted the altered list, but the dissatisfied Ministers declined to do so. In consequence of this disagreement wi'h the head of the Government, three of the ablest and most distinguished mem- bers of the Cabinet resigned their positions, and their places were at once filled by members of tho political party to which the Premier belonged. Sir James Graham, Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Herbert, were the retiring officials, and were suc- ceeded in their respective positions by Sir Charles Wood, Sir Corncwall Lewis, and Lord John Eussell. " The Ministry of Ah tho Talents," as the Coalition Cabinet, whose downfall we have thus w'tncssed, was not untruly termed, had been succeeded by a Government in which the only talent recognized was that found within the boundaries of the Liberal party. At the time of his appointment to this office, Lord John Rus- sell was on his way to Vienna, as plenipotentiary of the British Government in a Conference of t'lo Great Powers for the settle- ment of tho trouble without further fighting. Sliortly afterward, there occurred another event, which, with tho beginningof nego- tiations at Vienna, made an early treaty of peace appear among the probabilities. This was the sudden death of tho Czar, March 2,V 5. Nicholas had stated his intentions with regard to Tur- key with a frankness almost phenomenal in the history of diplo- macy; and had all but made direct proposals to England to di- vide that country between tho British and Russian Empires. England refused ; but ho was not daunted, and proceeded to car- ry out his policy, which ha'l only changed by the omission of England from the list of proposed beneficiaries, by attacking tho Turks. His son and successor, Alexander IIL, was of a ditferent temper ; it was thought that ho would bo more ready to accede to proposals for peace, as it was well known that he was of a more liberal and pacific nature than his father. But "scratch a Russian and you'll find a Tartar," says tho proverb ; and when it was once aroused, there was as much of the Tartar in Alexan- der as there had been in Nicholas ; and the war was prosecuted 152 The Ministry of All the Talents. under the son as vigorously as it had been under the father. Nor was this hope the only one that failed. TheConferencu of Vierma broke up, without having accomplished its object, as Kussia would not yield that one of the famoua " Four Points" which required her to limit her naval force in the jSlaek Sea. Austria finally made propositions which the representatives of England and France regarded as affording a prospect of the set- tlement of the case, and accepted for the Governments which they represented, subject, of course, to ratification at the hands of the supreme power in the State ; but unfortunately for them, these propositions were a virtual surrender of the chief points for which England and France had been contending; the home ■authorities refused the ratification on which they had relied, and the plenipotentiaries themselves sunk very low in public opinion. The French Minister was obliged to resign the position which he had held for some years ; and although the denouement was delayed for some time in the case of Russell, it was this which ultimately caused his resignation from Palmerston's Ministry. The failure of the Conference to restore peace was a great dis- appointment to the English people, who looked witl much dis- favor upon the fact that concessions had been made with this ob- ject. The war was still popular with the great majority of the people ; and it was intolerable to think that England had offer- ed peace, and had the offer refused. This feeling was reflected in the House of Commons, as was to be expected ; and the Min- isters were frequently attacked by members of both Houses, for the uncertain policy which they had adopted. Mr. Disraeli brought forward a motion condemning this fault, and supported it in a speech three hours long. A member of the Opposition had affirmed for'-mlly that the propositions of Eussia were reas- onable, and that some blame attached to the Government for re- f'ising thorn; and Mr. Disraeli denounced, with his accustomed vigor, this combination of war and diplomroy, at the head of which was an embassador distinguished for his inflammatory de- nunciations of Russia, and totally incompetent to negotiate a peace. When Mr. Disraeli made one of his fierce attacks upon the ruling party, it had by this time become an established thing that Mr. Gladstone was to answer him ; and the late Chancellor of the Exchequer engaged in the congenial task upon this occas- ion. The Four Points, which had sometime before been pro- The Ministry All the Talents. 153 posed as the basis for negotiations, had been so distasteful to Russia that sbo had refused to consider them at all in August, 1854 ; but the events in the Crimea had been such that in the fol- lowing December she had been brought to accept them for con- sideration. This proved that the er; <ition to the Crimea had not, been wholly unsuccessful. When the Four Points came to be considered, he called their attention to the present state of af- fairs. Russia had acceded to the First and Second, which abol- ished the Russian Protectorate over the Principalities of YluX- lachia, Moldavia and Servia, and placed these provinces under a collective guarantee of the Powers, provided for the navigation of the Danube to be freed from obstacles at its mouth and regu- lated by the principles established by the Congress of Vienna. The Third Point was intended to put an end to the preponder- ance of Russia in the Black Goa, and this was the one which that Power would not yield. The Fourth, which related to the sub- ject which had nominally caused tlio war, the treatment of the believers in one form of religion by those who held to another, the speaker declared that Russia would grant at any time. Nor was this all ; the great Northern nation had already acceded to a portion of the demands included in the Third Point, and had agreed that Turkey might have tho power of opening and shut- ting the straits. The political purposes of the war had been completely gained, ho said, although Ihe adverse party had not been prostrated, and he felt that ho would be incurring a fearful responsibility if he did not raise his voice to beseech the House to pause before they persevered in a war so bloody and so dec- imating, while thero was a chance of returnir;^^ to a condition of happy and honorable peace. If the war was continued solely for thesakeof military success, "let the House ,Kik at this senti- ment with tho eye of reason, and it will app^n.r immoral, inhu- man and unchristian. If the war is cot •■ -.,.,1 in order to obtain military glory, we shall tempt tho jus'" ,1' Him in whoso hands is the fate of armies, to launch upon u? His wrath." But although his eloquence aroused the House to admiration, it could do no more. Tho new Government .vas still too strong to be carried away on tho tide of an Opposition speech; and Lord John Russell, who replied to Mr. Gladstone, was on tho popular side. Russia was regarded as ». dangerous enemy, whoso schemes of aggrandizement must he checked while it was pos- sible, and before thero could bo security for Turkey or Europe. 154 The Ministry of All the Talents. Mr, Gladstone's speech excited wide-spread comment, which was not by any means universally favorable. It was regarded as lukowarr n the English cause; the Prince-Consort stigmatized it as apt to give a wrong opinion as to the determination of the nation to support the Queen in the war, and render all chance of ob- taining an honorable peace without still greater sacrifices of J. A. Roebuck. blood and treasure impossible, by giving new hopes and spirit to the enemy. Sir E. Bulwer-Lytton spoke on the subject in the House, and was vehemently cheered when he reproached Mr. Gladstone with desiring to make of no avail the blood which had been shed in this cause. Lord Palmcrston and Lord John Eussell were cheer ' to the echo when they announced that the war would be vigorously prosecuted. A vote of no confidence, based upon th.o conduct of the repre- Ill»>lllll>llll l'^ The Ministry of All the Talents. 156 ch as it on >h- of to \e V. 3h in sentative of the Government in the Congress of Vienna, was proposed by Sir. E. Bulwer-Lytton. The day fixed for the con- sideration of this motion was July 16th; but on the 13th Lord John Eussell again resigned his seat in a Cabinet whose position was challenged by the Opposition. The announcement of this on the day fixed for the debate, caused the withdrawal of the motion. There was a debate of considerable interest upon this motion even ur'ter it had been withdrawn, the interest lurning chiefly upon the personal references which were made to two great men of that day by two great men of our own. Mr. Dis- raeli attacked Lord Palmerston, whom he accused of machina- tions intended to get Lord John out of office ; and declared that the Premier had addressed the House that very night in a tone and with accents which showed that if the honor and interests of England were much longer entrusted to him, the one would be tarnished and the other betrayed. Such was the language which might bo used in the House of Commons, thirty years or more ago. Mr. Gladstone complained that Lord John had condemned propositions which were virtually the same with those which, as Minister Plenipotentiary, he hud accepted at Vienna. Differing from Mr. Disraeli, who accused the Governmentof inconsistency in having at one time been disposed to accept these terms of peace, yet ho blamed them for now abruptly closing the hope of an honorable peace. The committee which had been appointed upon Mr. Eoebuck's motion reported about the middle of summer, and Mr. Roebuck r ade a motion which was virtually a vote of censure upon every member of the Aberdeen*Cabinet. His speech, however, was re- garded as an extreme one, and the proposition to postpone the matter for six months, really a condemnation of the speaker's position, was carried by an overwhelming majority of those members present. The war debates continued throughout the brief remainder of the session. Mr. Gladstone frequently spoke to urge peace, say- ing Turkey was such an ally to England in this war as Anchises was to ^Eneas in the flight from Troy; aiu! predicting the grad- ual falling off of otaer Powers, if England persisted in maintain- ing a war, the virtual advantages of which had been already gained. But the peace for which he was pleading was aboiit to come, though cannon, and not ^vords, were the instruments by which it I\ 156 'T/ie Ministry All the Talents. was brought about. The " August City," Sebastopol, had been considered impregnable; and a city which will stand a siege of eleven months may well be considered as nearly so as fortress- es can be made by human hands and natural advantages. The siege had begun in October, 1854; and had lasted, with little success on the part of the allied forces, until the following Sep- tember. It had com.!- to be regarded as the central point of in- terest; the war could not end until Sebastopol was taken; and the excitement was unbounded when it was known that the Mal- akoff and Eedati had been taken by simultaneous attacks by the French and British. Following fast upon this announcement, came the news that the Eussians had retreated; the war was over. Negotiations for peace were immediately entered into ; and a treaty wa6 concluded at Pai'is in the following March. »Bii iai« wMwmihj i «MUJi. wMa z < Q Z < cc o LU I k u. O < en \- cc o a. \- (f) UJ H < -J UJ I I- CHAPTER VI. PROGRESSING TOWARDS LIBERALISM. z < s o o z < cc o UI X H u. O < oc oc O 0. h co UJ H < UJ I t- Treaty Following the Crimean War — Peace Concluded at Paris — Agitation Con- cerning the Continental Press — National Education— Bill Providing for the Enlistment of Foreigners — 111 Feeling Between England and America — Criticism Upon the Government's Foreign Policy — Mr. Gladstone's Alliance with His Rival — Government Losing Strength in the House of Commons — Mnjority Against the Government — Attempt to Assassinate the Emperor of the French — Remarkable Peroration by Mr. Gladstone — r^ormation of a New Cabinet — Lord Derby at the Front — Financial Outlook Depressing. 'HE treaty which closed the Crimean war was not a popu- lar one j it was felt tiiat England had not gained the suc- cess which ought to have been hers before she consented to negotiate for peace ; on the other hand, the French sol- vlicrs were tliought to have won all the honor which ought to have belonged to their allies across the channel. There was not one soldier in either army, however, who gained in this war the rank of a great general ; the only one who could be said to have profited by the hostilities in point of military reputation was on the enemy's side — Gen. Todleben. At the same time, there was really no dciilnite reason for carrying on the war any longer; and the hearty desire manifested by France for peace made it impossible for England to hold back, even if her Government had been so inclined. It was a singular circumstance, that the country which gained all the gloiy wliich was awarded by com- mon consent to the Allies, was France, where the war had never been popular; while England, where the ])eople were enthusias- tically in favor of it, had but a small share in the successes which ultimately determined the result. The French army was well equipped and well managed from the first; the English had just begun to be prepared for the cam- paign when it ended. Of twenty-two thousand Englishmen who died in the Crimea, eighteen thousand perished from disease, brought about by the Avant of proper food, clothing or shelter froni the inclemency of the weather. Nor was the wisdom of go- 168 Progressing Toioards Liberalism. ing to war in tho first place universally admitted. Wo have al- ready had occasion to speak of the societies for tho promotion of peace, which wore organized early in tho beginning of the trouble, when an appeal to arms had not yet been made by the Governments of tho west of Europe; wo have seen how strenu- ously Bright and other members of Parliament opposed going to war upon any pretext whatever; we havo said that Lord ^ Aberdeen never lost hope of a peaceful solution of tho difficulty, until tho declaration of war had actually been made; and although ho had said that ho would resign sooner than engage in war he was carried along so insensibly that his resignation was not tendered i ntil tho Ministry of which ho was tho head had been severely condemned for their mismanagement of matters relating to the sustenance and caro of tho army. So great was this statesman's aversion to tho war, which ho averred would not pro- duce any good results to England. Tho most that it would do, ho claimed, would bo to preserve the peace in tho east of Europe' for a quarter of a century. This utterance was looked upon at tho time as tho dictum of a man utterly at variance with those who were directing affairs, who would seo only the dark side of tho question ; but tho event proved that he had not spoken with too little confidence; three years before tho expiration of the term of years assigned for the duration of tho peace between Russia and Turkey, those countries were again at war with each other. Mr. Gladstone seems to have disapproved of the war quite as much as his quondam chief. Before England had formally ox- pressed her intention of taking part in tho struggle, indeed, be- fore it was at all probable that sho would do so, he had made public an interpretation of tho existing treaty between Russia and Turkey which recognized the right of Russia to punish Tur- key for tho violation of this agreement. The cl.iuso which he thus understood was the first lino of tho seventh article, in which tho Sublime Porto agrees to protect tho Christian religion and its churches. This was generally taken in connection with the re- mainder of the article, which dealt with the management of the new church at Constantinople; and the context, particularly the reference to tho fourteenth article of tho same treaty, appeared to prove that tho promise in the first line was specific, and not general, as it was assumed by Mr. Gladstone to be. According to him, the promise of the Sultan to protect the Christian relia-- Progressing Towards Liberalism. 150 if n wfts a distinct cnga^^ement from those which follow in the sumo article, an a^'r< otneiit entered into with the sovereign of Russia, because ho had been defeated by the Russian arms and obliged to accept the terms of peace which the CV.ar dictated to him ; and this was duly made by treaty. If he broke any pro- vision of this treaty, the nation with which it had been made was . entitled to call him to account for such a violation, without the intervention of any other government, as none other had been concerned in the ratification of the original peace; and this was not excepted from the general sacredness of those provis- ions. We are bound to call the reader's attention to the fact that this was Mr. Gladstone's interpretation, not that generally accepted; so iar as we can learn, be was alone in his under- standing of the agreement, though others justified Russia on diflferent grounds. The Czar himself did not rest his right to an appeal to arms upon this clause, but up^n the fact that the four- teenth article, which gave him a virtual protectorate over the Christians in Asiatic Turkey, had been disregarded by the Porte. We have quoted this interpretation of a treaty which was broken more than thirty years ago, and has been forgotten near- ly as long, to justify Mr. Gladstone's course during the wrr That course was not approved by Parliament; as we have ^l- ready seen, the whole Aberdeen Ministry was condemned be- cause it gave but a lukewarm support by its measures athomo to an army which was already in the field. The members of t Cabinet had opposed the war from the first, acting in their c..- porato capacity; the few who approved of it were transferred to the next Ministry; but we can hardly wonder that a man who looked upon the war as one based upon a mistaken idea— upon indefensible interference with another nation's business— should hesitate about lending a cordial support to its prosecution. March 31st, 1856, Lord Palmerston announced to the House of Commons that a treaty of peace had been concluded at Paris; a similar announcement was made in the House of Lords at the same time. The terms of the treaty became the subject of de- bate as soon as they were announced. An address to the Queen was at once moved in both Houses; the amendment proposed in the House of Commons was merely the substitution of the word "satisfaction" fortheword "joy" at the conclusion of peace; but this trifling alteration was sufficient to bring the subject into the IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1. "!■-;; M 12.0 1.8 L25 iJA 1 1.6 v] vl ^;. '<3 'c*; %:^*> '>/ > vx /A "4V '^ (?;?!' Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. M580 (716) 872-4503 iV V %^ \ :\ % V <^ % ^J^ ,ij^ «i!^ .^•i. ^ 6^ -U ^,* fe^ f^. Q, 7x ^ 160 Progressing Towards Liberalism. arena of debate. After the speeches by the mover and seconder of this address, and that made to introduce this amendment, Mr. Gladstone addressed the House. It had been admitted that the peace was .lot a popular one, because the majority of Eng- lishmen thought it had been concluded at a time when Eng- land might have won further successes ; and Mr. Gladstone and his allies were not regarded with any favor by the House on ac- count of their connection with the war. Such were the feelings of many of his listeners on this occasion. The treaty was an honorable one, ho said, because the objects of the war had been obtained. Those who had spoken against it had said that Great Britain, with the other Christian Powers, had become bound for the maintenanco of Turkey, not only agai nst foreign aggression, but as a Mohammedan State. In reply to this, Mr. Gladstone said that if ho had so understood the words of the treaty, ho would not support an address which expressed either joy or satisfaction at the eoncjusion of such a peace, but would look for the most emphatic word to express his condem- nation of an agreement to support a set of institutions which Christendom must endeavor to reform if she could, though he was not sanguine as to the result of that effort. It would be the work and caro of many generations, ho said, to bring such an effort to ahappy and prosperous conclusion; and he did not underrate the difficulties presented by tho juxtaposition of a people pro- fessing the Mohammedan religion with a rising Christian popu- lation having adverse and conflicting interests. But there was another point to be considered in connection with this treatv. The encroachment of Eussia upon Turkey, and the final absorp- tion of tho one by tho other, would be an evil as groat as any which could arise from tho maintenance of Turkey as a Moham- medan state. Such a danger to the peace, liberties and privileges of all Europe, Great Britain was bound to resist by all the moans in her power. It was a thing to be regretted that a more substan- tive existence had not boon secured to the principalities, but this was not the fiuilt of England or of Franco. The neutralization of the Black Sea he also onndemned, as meaning nothing but a scries of pitfalls in time of war; and ho thought that recognized rules to regulate interference on behalf of the Christians should have been established. It was a great triumph that the Powers had agreed to submit international differences to arbitration, though in this very agreement there was much danger of diplo' Progressing Towards Liberalism. 161 matic contention promoting the quarrels which it was intended to preveLt. Ho argued that no country ought to submit claims for arbitration unless those claims were such as it would be wil- ling to support by an appeal to arms ; such a course might lead to the reduction of the standing armies which were so severe a tax upon all the countries of Europe j and the speaker rejoiced that the anticipation of this state of affairs had already led the two leading military nations to contemplate a reduction of their establishment j for Eussia and France were about to set this bold example. Although it was an innovation to entertain such subjects in Conferences of pacification, Mr. Gladstone expressed his satis- faction with the course which had been taken with regard to Naples; but he regretted that the records inscribed upon the protocols were not treaty engagements, and did not approximate that character. As the case stood, they were authoritative doc- ments, which might be appealed to by those whose case they strengthened, but which were fur from possessing the authority of a treaty with those who desired to disregard them. Confus- ion would inevitably arise from these serni-authoritative engage- inents, and infinite discussion be based upon their character. The most important question which had been decided at this conference, regarding the nations which had not actually taken part in the war, was that relating to the Belgian press. The ex- cess in which the journals of that country had indulged with im- punity was represented as having been condemned by all the plenipotentiaries present, though Lord Clarendon, one of the British representatives, had told them that the scheme suggested would find no support or sympathy in England. The embassa- dors of Prussia and Austria had said that the repression of the press was a European necessity; the French negotiator had said that legislation on the subject of the Belgian press was required; Count Orloif, on the part of Eussia, declined to express any opin- ion, having no instructions from his Government. The speaker said that he hoped these statements were not declarations of pol- icy, and that they would be regretted and forgotten, as having issued lightly from their mouths. He pointed out that the Bel- gian Constitution required a trial by jury in case of such offen- ces; and that this provision could not be readily changed. He concluded by urging that this appeal, contemplated under the compulsion of foreign Powers, some of whom were remote in 162 Progressing Towards Liberalism. situation, having for its object the limitation of the dearest, rights and most cherished liberties of the gallant and high-spir- ited people to which it was addressed, was not a policy which tended to clear the political horizon, but rather to render it more gloomy. Lord Palmerston closed the debate with a speech in which he Lwd Cla7'endon. assured the House that the British Government would take no part in any interference with an independent nat'.on with the view of dictating what steps she should take to gag the press. The amendment was withdrawn after this assurance from the Prime Minister, and the address was agreed upon. The Crimean War was formally at an end. I Progressing Towards Liberalism. 168 The subject of National Education was the next important top.c brought before the House. Lord John Eussell introduced a series of resolutions, providing that the funds available for pub- he instruction should be applied in accordance with certain pro- tioTof ' vn '^V"^ '^°''° '''^^'^""^'' ^"" '^' compulsory educa- tion of children from nine to fifteen, who were employed at any k.ndof work. These resolutions were opposed bv Mr. Grad"^ stone, who asserted that the system of education which they tend- ed to create was lacking in the most important element of moral nfluence upon the character of the pupil; and that the system of inspection proposed tended to create a central controlling power involving secular instruction and endless religious controversy' tlnr- '">"^'"'' ^"'''^°°' "^^"' '^'^ ^^^^^"^«" do now leave hechairj' was negatived by a majority of more than a hundred' and as this was virtually a condemnation of the measures pro! posed, the resolutions were not proceeded with. In the list of the divisions on this question, we find some strange groupings of name: Cockburn, Grey, Horsman, Pulmerston, ViHiers and Wood were recorded as voting in the aflirmative; while LZl those who were agreed to condemn the resolutions were Glad stone and Disraeli, with the Lord Eobert Cecil who, in 1^84 as Ml Gladstone commented with some severity upon the bud^^f wh.eh the Chancellor of the Exchequer brough"^ Twa^^ in M^v after a somewhat lengthy statement in February, which had aS met with the disapproval of the late official, who had sWn h ' TentTe 'TT ^' ''""^^^ '"^ ^^« P-Positions of he inc m-" ben^ were finally agreed to. The Palmerston Govern mentTs ::eir ritr^id^"^ "^ ^--^^^- ^^ -- - ^— - The English Parliament had in 1855 passed a bill providin^for he enlistment of foreigners in the Crimean army Tnd the ^ rbeTotbetr^'t"^'"^ ^^""^^'^ iu.d 'p;odld eot' had insisto^l +h..+ 4i i ''"" ^i-nsn aimy. Lord Clarendon nau insisted that the embassador had not been guilty of anv of ... .»a„j.i!.feion vas aciuaiiy dismissed. 164 Progressing Towards Liberalism. While this feeling was at its height (June 30th) a motion was intro- duced which was really an attempt lo censure the Government for the course which had been pursued. The debate was a long one, as there were several views which might be tak 2n of the measure. Of the Opposition, there were some who, for mere sake of party ad- vantage, were reacy to support such an attempt; there were some, on both sets of benches, who thought that the United States had just reason to complain; and there were some who held this last view, and some who held the opposite, who would not join i:; any such vote, intended as it was to embavrass the Government. Mr. Gladstone was one of those who, while he did not defend the conduct of the Minister at Washington, was not ready to weaken the hands of the Ministers when the party which he re- presented was not prepared to displace them. In his speech, he said that it appeared to him that there were two cardinal aims which ought to be kept in view ; these ■^cre peace and a thorough- ly cordial understanding with America for one, and the honor and fame of England for the other. But he was not satisfied with the existing state of things in regard to either of these, or with the conduct of the Government. A cordial understanding with America had not been preserved, and the honor of England had been compromised. He had had great difficuliyin coming to a de cision as to the vote which he should give upon this question ; but could not iTieet the resolution with a direct negative. Explain- ing the position in which he stood, he proceeded to inquire into the true state of he case. He charged the British Government with practising concealment, and asserted that the United States Government had been deceived and misled. The law had know- ingly been broken by the agents of the British Government ; and the American Government had cause to complain, since an agency within the United States had been employed to give in- formation and to tempt, by the offer of valuable considerations, citizens of the United States to go beyond their boundaries for the purpose of enlibting in the English army. The British em- bassador had not only failed to inform the United Statos that this was being done, thus justifying the charge of concealment, but he had wilfully broken his engagement not to communicate, except to those who addressed themselves to him, the terms up- on which they would be received into the army. Mr. Gladstone maintained that those four officials who had been punished had MR. GLADSTONE IN HIS LIBRARY AT HAWARDEN Progressing Towards Liberalism. 165 only been made scupe-goats for the Government which had up- hold their actions in the main. The question was a most remark- able illustration, he said, of the disorganized state of the great particp ; such a disagreement upon any subject of foreign policy would have been impossible in the days when Lord John Russell and his allies occupied the Treasury Benches, and Sir Robert Pool sat opposite. As wo have already intimated, Mr. Gladstone, though he con- demned the policy of the Government upon this question, was not ready to give his vote to an ineffectual attempt to overthrow that Government. There were many others who thought as he did, and the Ministry had a majority of nearly two hundred up- on the division. * At the opening of the session of 1857, when the royal speech was read and the address came up for consideration, Mr. Dis- raeli made some severe strictures upon the Government, mainly m relation to its foreign policy. To these criticisms the Chancel- lor of the Exchequer, who obtained the floor immediately after- ward to make a statement with relation to his financial measures made not the slightest reply. The omission was a notable one' and Mr. Gladstone pointed it out. After expressing his surprise that such censure of the Ministry had been unanswered by the member of theCabinct who had spoken, he proceeded to speak of the questions of foreign policy with which the Government had at that time to deal. There had been difficulties with China- there were actual hostilities with Persia; there was a dispute with regard to Central America; there were some points of the Treaty of Paris on which information was desirable. A 11 these were points which the Government had had opportunity to consider and on which there ought to be some explanation furnished to the House. Coming to the statement just made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Gladstone dealt at length with the old question of the Income Tax, which was again revived by the ne- cessity of increasing the revenue to meet the expenses of the war. Again he protested against a loan designed to meet this neces- sity ; and he was likewise opposed to new taxation. The Gov- ernment had in 1853 pledged itself to abolish this tax in seven years; and that pledge, which had been given and received in good faith, ought not to be recalled, now that four years of the seven had passed. As far as his duty was concerned, he would give his effort and labor to fulfll! those pledges, which ho had notfor- (66 Progressing Towards Liberalism. gotten, and was not likely to forget. Ho should always remem- ber with ffratitudo, ho said, the conduct of the House of Com- mons at the time when those measure? wore adopted, and the generosity which they had evinced ; and he promised that that gratitude should be evinced hy his efforts to secure tho extinc- tion of tho Income Tax at the time fixed. The budget was brought before tho house Feb. 13th, in a speech which, though it did not havo tho same effect which Mr. Glad- stone's addresses on the same subject had had for the House, and did not prove as entertaining as Mr. Disraeli's had been upon a similar occasion, was yet superior to the general run of budget speeches. Tho plan proposed was one of considerable merit, being clearly stated and ably justified. But it had tho one great disadvantage of being a total innovation upon the plan which had been established by this Parliament in previous sessions, based upon the financial measures inaugurated by Sir Eobori Peel, which Mr. Gladstone, while holding this office, had natural- \y carried out, and now defended. Nor was there any startling merit about this plan, to compensate for tho disadvantage of its being so totally different from tho measures which had been ap- proved and carried out. But the part of the plan which Mr. Gladstone most severely condemned, was tho increase in the tax upon tea and sugar. He stigmatized tho proposition of tho Chancellor as a plan to remit the taxes which bore heavily upon tho wealthy, and make up the deficiency thus occasioned by du- ties upon those articles which were used in tho family of every laborer in the country. He added that he should oppose this policy at every stage of its progress before tho House. In the division which took place upon this question, we find Mr. Gladstone again side by side with Mr. Disraeli. But the alliance of the two rivals was not sufficient to defeat the Govern- ment in its financial schemes, and tho amcndm.ent to tho budget which was the immediate cause of this speech was lost by a ma- jority of eighty votes. A few weeks later, the Chancellor of the Exchequer intro- duced an amended scale for the tea duty ; and, true to his prom- ise, Mr. Gladstone opposed the measure. In tho course of tho speech which he made at this time, he told the Ministry that if ho wished to advocate an extendod and organic reform in the parliamentary representation, he could not desire a better case than tho one which the Government's financial policy had furnish- Progressing Towards Liberalism. 167 ed him. The Chancellor of tho Exchequer professed his inahil- .^ to prepare a scheme upon tho principles recommended by Mr. Gladstone, and the division proved that ho had no need to do so, tho Government being supported by a majority of fifty- Division Barrier and Lohhy of the House of Commons. Taking a Divisim. come Tax BnTt" iff'^''^^'^ '^^ «^^ond reading of the In- come lax Jjill, iMr. Gladstone affam d'-sw f^ii^y^*\ iivvvuiivu Xo tho great 168 Progressing Towards L^beraUr^m. oxponditviro of Iho rovonno, nnd charged that tho foroign policy of tho Govornmont 'vns not iincorinoctcd with tho oxcessivo tux- atlon and high cxp'^ndituro of tho country; in a subsequent speech, hi called attention to tho enormous incronso in tho mili- tary ostimiitof. In this latt« r c;uso, hovyever, ho c.i('. not press a division, and tho proposals of tho Government on tho Nuval Es- timate passed tho House. Wo find him in tho minority in the division on the Divorce Bill which passed tho House this session ; contending gallantly, though vainly, for tho equality of woman with man in all tho rights pertaining to marriage, and dealing with tho question on social, moral and legal grounds. Tho Government was gradually losing strength in tho ITouso, though it was still popular in tho country; the next import- ant debate was one that showed its weakness. There had been considorablo trouble with China regarding the opium trade, in which tho British wcro charged with conniving at smuggling. Tho crow of a lorcha which had been licensed to carry tho Brit- ish flag had been seized, in tho harbor of Canton, by Chinese au- thorities ; it was said Ly tho Opposition that tho license had ex- pired, and that X\\o Arrow was in no sense a British vessel ; it was said by the Go-'-ernment that the Chinese mandarin who made tho seizure actually caused tho British flag to bo hauled down from tho mast, and replaced by the Chines^> ensign. A mo- tion condemning tho ac'ion of tho Government in reference to this affair was introduced into tho House of Lords, where it was defeated by a majority of thirty-six; a similar motion was brought before tho House of Commons by Mr. Cobden. Tho de- bate lasted four nights, and almost every member of tho House who was distinguished as an orator expressed an opinion upon tho side which ho supported, the discussion thus attaining an un- usually high level of parliamentary oratory. Mr. Gladstone was among the last who spoke, and thus had the advantage of summing up and answering the arguments of his adversaries. Ho denied that the British Government had any- thing to complain of in the treatment which had been received from the Chinese, which had been strictly in accordance with the engagements entered into in tho treaty of 1842. He called attention to the number of times that British subjects had of- fended against the provisions of this treaty and their conduct been condoned by the Chinese Government, he defended Sir * >. Progrtssimj Towards Liberalism, 169 (I .Tftmes Graham, who had been attacked by Sir Goor^'o Groy rnd ridiculed for his roforenco to Christinn principles as tho ba'sis of the aciion of the Government. Ho said that sineo this npponl to Christian principles Mas thus forbidden, ho would appeal to something older than Christianity; broader, since it was whore Christianity is not; to that which underlies Christianity, for Christianity appeals to it— tho justice which binds man to" man. It was this which must regulate tho intercour,«o between Gov- ornm-jnts, and ho denied that it had been tho principle upon which tho British Mi'ilstiy had boon guid.'d in this affair, as well as others in w '^n the- had had to deal with tho Chinese. Tho position of tho Govornmont was stated by Lord Palmer- ston, though ho had tho disadvantage of speakig at a time of tho night when '10 n^embers were tired out; notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, however, ho was immo^' toly followed by Mr. Disraeli, who accepted Iho construction which had been put upon tho motion, that it was a voto of c ... jro upon tho Govern- ment; and replying to Palmerston'g alarm over a suggested com- bination, bade him appeal to tho country if ho thought himself tho victim of a political conspiracy. Mr. Cobden closed tho debate in a bvief speech, and at two o^cIock in the morning, on the fourth night of tho debate, the division was taken. It showed a majority of sixteen against tho Government. Lord Palmei'ston, when this result was announ- ced, stated that although tho usual course nndorsuch circumstan- ces would bo to resign, ho did not believe that tho present Min- istry was to be held to that rule. Ho therefore decided to dis- solve Parliament, and appeal to the country. Af, had been anticipated, the Government received a consider- able accession of strength at tho general election which ensued. Liberals ja. i Peelites suffered considerably, Cobden and Bright being prominent members of the former party who failed of elec- tion. Mr. Gladstone, however, was again returned by the Uni- versity, this time without opposition. It should bo here men- tioned that although tho P-.^uito party was a small one, tho abil- ity of its members was g^eat, and it therefore commanded a great- er degree of respect than has been the portion of mosfcorga za- tionsof similar numerical strength, and possessed an influence proportioned to this moral standing,. Parliament met or a short session before Christmas, when an — ^ ,,, .,,^,„„^j^^ vciine ap lOx uuuaiaerauoa. xne sus- 170 Progressinrj Towards Liberalism. 1^' pension of several banks in the United States had created a mon- etary panic, and the directors of the Bank of England, desiring to increase their issue of notes to meet the demand thus created, asked authority to do so. To grant this permission, the Govern- ment was obliged to ask for a suspension of the Bank Charter Act of 1844, and brought a Bill of Indemnity before the House for that purpose Mr. Gladstone did not oppose the bill, but ar- gued that it would be wiser to investigate the causes of the lato panic, and how far they wore connected with the state of banking. The effect of referring a heap of subjects to an overburdened committee would be to postpone legislation, and obstruct inquiry into the causes of the recent panic and the present embarrass- ment. When the bill came up for the third reading, Mr. Glad- stone reiterated these arguments, and showed what evils arose from the confusion prevailing between the functions of bunking and currency. The bill passed the House, an amendment pro- posed by Mr. Disraeli being rejected by a considerable majority. When the House met after the Christmas recess, there was con- siderable excitement prevailingoverthoattempt to assassinate the Emperor of the French which had recently been made byOrsini. There was a good deal of sympathy existing in England for the proposed victim, but this was not understood by the French, who charged that England afforded an asylum for conspirators against the peace and welfare of other stales. Foreign refugees, they claimed, were allowed to concoct and mature plots to be carried into execution elsewhere. This was not an accusation brought merely by agitators and irresponsible journals, brt gravely preferred by the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, though in such a modified form as diplomacy permits. He urged upon the Premier the necessity of legislation on this subject; and at the beginning of the session of 1858 Lord Palmerston in- troduced his Conspivac}'- to Murder Bill. The first reading was carried by an immense majority; but by the time that it came before the House again, the impression had obtained that the Ministers were simply puppets in the hands of Napoleon III. Mr. Gibson accordingly moved an amendment inquiring why the dispatch of the French Minister had not been answered. The statement that England was a lair of savage beasts and u labora- tory of assassins was quoted as die utterance of a prominent French orator; it was assorted that the bill was introduced at the dictation of a foreign government ; and Lord Palmerston Progressing Towards Liberalism. 171 was accused, by a quotation from tho Times which was cited with approval by tho speaker, of being capable of making any sacri- fice of principle or interest to secure the good-will of a foreign power which he had made up his mind to'court. But the most powerful speech that was made in this connection, and the on Iwo'th ""f/"'"'';V''"^""^^ * ^^-^^^ ^"'l statesmanlike t1^, V^ : "u "/ *^' *^^"^"' ^"« '^^' «f ^''- Gladstone, l^ord Palmerston had stated that tho dispatch referred to in the amendment had been answered verbally; but llv. Gladstone pointed out that this was the weakest kind of an answerro a, explanations which could be oifered to he House, this was the most ,,,3f,,,, ^,^ ^^^^^^^ ^.^.^^^^,^ ^ , as^^^ Innd ",l «"«w«red by stating the law already existing in Eng- land on the subject. In place of this reply, the Houses of Parlif- ment were asked to answer by passing the Bill whieh had been proposed by the Premier. Mr. Gladstone's peroration is a re m.ukable commentary upon tho English Government and its measures of repression thirty years later : "If there is any feeling in this House for the honor of Enir- necess ty of reforming tho criminal law. Let us insist nnon ih. necessity of vindicating that law. As far as justirrlXes le amend it if ,t be found necessary. But do not let us allow it to 1 under a cloud of accusations of which we are convinced hat t IS totally innocent. These times are grave for liberty We hvo in tho nineteenth century ; we talk of progress ; we'belil that we are advancing; but can any man of observation who has watched the events of the last, few years in Europe have fltd to perceive that there is a movement indeed but thalir. over doos re,,,„„sibility center upon the institutions of Zw and .f ,t does center upon England, upon her prineipir unon or 1.WS, and upon her governors, then I say \.t~Z- pa»sou oy ih,» iionso of Commons, the chief "hone of fT'T wh.ch attempt,, to establish a moral comptu/rweln ^^ aTd 172 Progressing Towards Liberalism. those who sock safety in repressive measures will be a blow ana discouragement to that sacred cause in every country of the world." After a number of speeches, chief among which was one in which Mr, Disraeli called the attention of the debaters to the fact that the real question before the HondC was not iiplomatic or political, but one between the House and the Ministers of the Crown, Lord Palmerston rose to reply. He deprecated the de- partures which hud been made from the topic under considera- tion, particularly by Messrs. Gibson and Gladstone, who, he com- plained, had entered into an elaborate attack upon his conduct when he was Secretary for Foreign Affairs; his attack upon Mr. Gibson was a bit- ter, pergonal one, which was interrupted by strong ex- pressions of disapproval from the House j and he ad- dressed himself to a consid- eration of the point at issue. His defense of the course of the Gove ament did not justify it in the eyes of the House, however, for the di- vision showed that the Min- istry was in a minority of nineteen. Many of those who thus voted did not wihh to overthrow the Government, and it is probable that if Palmerston had asked for a vote of confidence it would have been granted by a majority suf- cient to justify him in retaining the reins of power ; but his gov- ernment had been defeated very recently by a majority which, although small, Nvas such that the Opposition had expected the resignation of the Ministry to follow it ; he had appealed to the country; and although he had then received the encouragement for which ho had hoped, this fresh defeat, coming immediately after the reassembling of Parliament, determined his course. Am- bitious of office he might be, but ho had never shown an undue tenacity of it; and he accordingly resigned his post. Rt. Hon. T. Milner Gibson. o < > Hi -I 3 o ca UJ I I- > DC Q < I CO Lit z z < o < hi z o H o < o cc f' Proyressing Towards Liberalism. 173 o < > LU -I O oa LU I H Z P > o < I CO Ui z z < o H < Ui z o H co o < o oc s Lord Derby was sent for by the Queen, and accepted the task imposed upon him of forming a Ministry. With a good deal of difficulty he at last succeeded. In this cabinet, Mr. Disraeli was again Chancellor of the Exchequer. It is significant of tho grad- ual change in his opiiions that at this late day, Mr. Gladstone was offered a post (that of Colonial Secretary) in this Conserva- tive Government. We are not informed If ho proposed to extend only an independent support, or if ho positively and unhesitat- ingly declined the offer. Certainly he did not again take office under a Tory Minister. The Houses adjourned, to give the new Premioi an opportun- ity of forming his Cabinet; and reassembled March 1st. Lord Derby, in his first speech to the House of Lords, begged their forbearance for his failure to make a complete statement of his intended policy; the time had been too short to allow him to prepare such an important resume ; there were two points which required immediate consideration, however; these were the changes to be effected in tho system of government of India, and the question of parliamentary reform. The first of these had al- ready been under consideration for some time, a bill forthat pur- pose having been introduced into the House of Commons by Lord Palmerston. This, however, had not gone beyond its first read- ing ; and it became necessary for the present Government to pre- sent a measure in place of that proposed by its predecessor. Mr. Disraeli, who had by this change of Ministry become the leader of the House of Commons, brought forward the measure, usu- ally denominated India Bill No. 2, to distinguish it from that introduced by Lord John Russell on behalf of the Palmerston Ministry; but this bill, like its predecessor, never got beyond the first reading. A sort of compromise, however, was pro- posed by Lord John Russell, and gladly accepted by Mr. Dis- raeli, by which the question was dealt with by way of resolution. Before these resolutions could be considered, however, by the House, the Ministry was brought to tho brink of dissolution. Lord Canning, the Governor-General of India, sent back a draft of a proclamation which ho proposed to issue, announcing a scheme of confiscation which was certainly open to very grave objection, and which would probably have caused tho flames of rebellion, so recently extinguished, to burst forth with renewed fury. Lord Ellenborough, the President of the Indian Board of Control, wrote a strongly worded protest against the policy thus 174 Progressing Towards Liberalism. I recommended. This should of course have been kept private until it reached its destination ; but copies of it were sent to Lord Granville, the intimate friend of Lord Cunning, and to John Bright, who was the most eminent advocate of a mild and generous policy toward the natives of India. The consequence was that the purport of Lord Canning's proclamation and Lord Ellenborough's strictures upon it, became known, and Lord Shaftesbury in the House of Lords, and Mr. Ca^-dwell in the House of Commons, brought forward motions which were vir- tually votes of censure upon the Government. If these had been carried, there would of course have been a change of Ministry within a week of the time when Lord Derby had first addressed the House of Lords upon his accession to office; but Lord Ellen- borough, who seems to have boon the only one to blame in this indiscreet publicity given to unsettled questions, saved the Minis- try by sacrificinpr himself; and made room for his successor. Lord Shaftesbury's motion had been defeated by theliords be- fore this resignation was announced; but Mr. Cardwoll's was" still the subject of debate in the House of Commons. This dis- cussion had extended over four nights when Lord Ellenborough's resignation was announced, and the motion was withdrawn by the member who had presented it. Ho was induced to do this by the requests of many members who had agreed to support it, but declined to do so after the matter had taken this turn. Disraeli, whose power of coining telling phrases would have made him a power in a state which was, like the government of the First ITapolcon, " a despotism tempered by epigrams," has described this scene in such graphic language that, although it is a depar- ture from the strict line of our subject, we cannot refrain from quoting: "There is nothing like that last Friday i..^nt in the history of the House of Commons. We came down to the House expecting to divide at four o'clock in the morning; I myself probably ex- pecting to deliver an address two hours after midnight; and I believe that, even with the consciousness of a good cause, that is no mean effort. Well, gentlemen, we were all assembled ; our benches with their serried ranks seemed to rival those of our proud opponents; when suddenly there arose a wail of distress, but not from us. I can only liken the scene to the mutiny of the Bengal army. ELgimcnt after regiment, corps after corps, general after general all acknowledged that they could not march Progressing Towards Liberalism. 175 through Coventry. It was like a convulsion of nature rather than an ordinary transaction of human life. I can only liken it to one of those earthquakes which take place in Calabria andPeru. lt7iJZ "" '"S ^"^ r^'"'"'' "" ^'■^""' ^ «h^-^«k, asound of dis. tan thunder. No one knew whether it came from the top or the bottom of the Hou«e. There was a rent, a fissure in the ground and then a village disappeared, then a tall tower topple! down and the whole of the Opposition Benches became one grentS solving view of anarchy." ^ i.t'7f?3 *' ^"'"^ ^''^^' *^"* ^^^^'^ '"^^^ peculiarly apper- tamed to this passage, above wit, and clearness, and humor, was the undeniable truth ; it was not exaggerated, he adds, for ihere was no exaggeration possible; and this is the testimony of an eye-witness. j- vi »u There wero many passages in the address from which this ex- tract is taken which gave great offence at the time: they were strongly disputed by the late Ministry whose course ;as thus as' sailed, but still insisted upon by Lord Derby and Mr Disraeli After this interrruption, which had so nearly proved fatal to the new Government, the House of Commons^i-e'tumed to the consideration of those resolutions upon which India Bill m 3 was to be bused They provided that the government of India should be transferred from the Company to the Crown A Sep retail of State for India was to be appo'inted, wh was'to be s-" sisted by a counc 1 of fifteen. These advisers who were to I old office during good behavior, were to be nominated by different powers Of the number, eight were to held their app'^intm nt ft-om the Crown, while the remainder were to be no'^inatTd by the board of directors the first time; afterward by the councn Itself. The various civil offices, the appointments [o whi h had been under the direct control of the directors, were to be filled m future in accordance with the results of certain examinations which were to be competitive. This is the beginning of tZt Civil Service Reform which has since been so largely adopted in England and which has excited so much controversy 711;" ica. It had been advocated as early us 1827 hJ II vation upon English customs had been^to^tly reL's :d -te GoT ernment was quite willing to try an experiment in Inda hoT ever, which thev worn Ar.uh*M ^Ko-if W n •• • , ' The chief advocate of the s.-rtem, at the time of /hioh w write' was no less a political economist than John Stuart J ill. ' 176 Progressing Towards Liberalism. I This plan of govornment for India was earnestly opposed by- Mr. Gladstone, who enunciated principles in connection with the management of Indian affairs by the English Parliament which ho, long afterward, was brought to admit ought to bo applied to the case of another country. The interests of the people of In- dia had hitherto been protected by the Court of Directors ; but by the provisions of this bill they were left at the mercy of the ignorance, or error, or indiscretion of the people and Parlia- ment of England. There was no limitation to the power of the Executive through the treasury and army of India, by which wars might be commenced without the knowlege or consont of Parliament, and an accumulation of debt would be cast upon India. This bill was finally withdrawn by Mr. Disraeli, and Mr. Glad- stone endeavored to prevent further ill-considered legislation up- on this important subject by a resolution which he introduced June 7th. This resolution afRrm<id that it was expedient to create the Court of Directors of the East India Company, to ad- minister the government of India in the name of the Queen, un- til the end of that session of Parliament. It was not possible, he said, during the session of Parliament to perfect a scheme of government which would be worthy to stand as the plan for rul- ing a people like that of India j the problem was one of the most formidable ones ever presented to any legislature or any nation, and the evils of delay were insignificant in comparison with those of crude and hasty legislation. After a long discus- sion, this was negatived by a considerable majority, and the Government formally i .roduced the India Bill No. 3. Mr. Bright's idea of good government in India would be se- cured, he thought, by the constitution of five Presidencies of equal rank, among which there would bo a generous rivalry for good, instead of utter stagnation ; evil ambition would be check- ed, and there would be no governor so great that he could not be controlled. This, however, was not regarded as wholly practica- ble, Mr. Gladstone's amendment, which was proposed later on, met with more favor. It provid ;d that the forces maintained out of the revenue of India should not be employed in any military operation outside of India, except for ropelling invasion, or un- der some othei urgent and sudden necessity, without the consent of Parliament for the purpo^e. This amendment was carried, and on the 8th of July the bill passed the House of Uommoos. Progressing Towards Liberalism. 177 Another speech which Kv. Gladstone delivered during this session has great interest when taken in connection with his at- titude and utterances on the same subject some years later. This was on the subject of the Danubian Principalities, the people of wluch were extremely anxious foi- the union which had been dis- cussed at the Congress of Paris. The question had been submitted • to the people themselves, and they had boon found to bo almost unanimously in favor of it. They asked something more than Earl of Derby. mere union, however; it would bo necessary, in order to guard against local jealousies, that they should havo a prince or chief taken from a foreign family. This would secure peace between Turkey and Eussia by interposing a boundary of neutral terri- tory, or what would bo practically neutral, between the two fron- tiers. The feeling in these Principalities was favorable to Tur- key, because their rolfttinna with Tm.i.-.^Tr ^.r,,,./^ f^ 1_ j ^ , - '-J ^"^'^•■j iv>iiiiuu!.t, upon a liberal basis, and there had thus far been no sensible collision of interests. If the union did not take place, the Principalities 12 178 Progressing Towards Liberalism. would be a constant source of anxiety to Europe; nor could it have the slightest injurious effect upon the Ottoman Empire, which had never possessed the sovereignty of the Principalities. Ho said that it would have been far better to have said nothing about the union, than to hold out the hope of it, and then re- verse the policy. The speech concluded with these words : " I must really say that if it wore our desire to embroil the East, to sow the seeds and create the elements of permanent dif- ficulty and disunion, to aggravate every danger which threatens Turkey, and to prepare willing auxiliaries for Eussia in her pro- jects southwards, wo could not attain those objects by any means better than that of abandoning our pledges and promises, and giving" in to the Austrian policy." This speech, which was made in support of a motion to pres- ent an address to the Queen upon the subject, was answered by Mr. Disraeli, who said that he could not conceive a step which would be more embarrassing to the Government than che adop- tion of Mr. Gladstone's motion. Upon a division, the Government" obtained a majority of nearly two hundred votes. Many circumstances combined to make the financial outlook depressing, a^^d Mr. Disi'aoli's supporters looked forward to his budget with not a little anxiety and trepida^Jon. But when the statement was made, it obtained favor with the country general- ly ; and what contributed largely to its success in the House, Mr. Gladstone's speech on the subject was verj'- friendly to the schemes which were there proposed. The next series of duties in which we find Mr. Gladstone en- gaged differ bo widely from the Parliamentary routine which has been described in the present chapter, that its consideration muy well be postponed to the next division of this biography. CHAPTER VII. THE PALMERSTON MINISTRY. Lord Macaulay— Eminent Men in Pari iamont -The Ionian Inlands-Agitation in Greece -Parliamentary Itefomi- Foreign Kelatious of England — Mr JJriglit'H Keuirn to I'arliarnent-A Man Ahead of His Time-Controversy Over the Reform 15ill-Mr. (Jladstone's Speech on the Pending (^nestion^ Defeat of the Ministry- Appeal to the Cimtry-Palmerst-n in Otli.e- Fear of Invasion by France -Tax on Paper-Proceedings in the House of Lords- l..berai8 and Tories-Lord Knssell Withdraws His Keform Bill— Cr)88 Purposes in Parliament— Kivalry Among Opp)sing Factions. $'HE Ministry which camo into powt • at tho beginning of tho year 1858, was, fro n a literary point of view, a rc- ^ n^arknblo one j and one which woiiJd bo almost if not quite impossible in America, whore tho necessity of achieving name and place by his own exertions renders it less likely that a man can succeed in many di- rections, Tho Earl of Derby may becom^ omin- ont in literature and poli- tics with less exertion than is required for an Abraham Lincoln to gain admittance to the bar; it is for this reason that we find so many English statesmen and so few Americans excelling in other things than state- craft. It is true that all schokrly British states- men do not reach the em- Lord Macaulay. inence in letters of Macaulay, who died u . mt the penod wo have now reached in this his.ory. But, on the other hand. Ma- 179 180 The Palmerston Minis ry. cnulay, who figures ivith somo prominonco in ilio carl}' stages of tliis narrativo, in order to become great as an historian and ch- sayiat, was obiigod to rotiro almost entirely from the strife for political honors. At the head of tho Government at this date was that brilliant, impulsive speak .r, whoso words wore sometimes fiery eloquence, and sometimes grandiloquent nonsense; who was often carried away by tho jjassions which, subdued, ho might have useu a.i ef- ficient weapons against tho evils of tho cause which had aroused them; wlioso blunders often lost 'no victories which his head- long daring had almost won, so that Disraeli, his brilliant sub- ordinate had already clnistcned him "Tho Er.port of Debate," after the fiery Stuart; ho was long eminent as a statesman, first as Lord Rlanley, afterward becoming Earl of Derby, but had not at this time become known as a translator of tho Iliad, which will more surely perpetuate his name and fame than any repu- tation which ho over acquired witliin tho walls of Parliament. That chief subordinate, and tho leader of tho House of Com- ' mons, was better known and more highly esteemed as a rovclist than when he first entered Parliament; his reputation as a wri- ter, indeed, grew with his rank as a statesman, and tho novels which had been looked upon as tho mere ebullitions of an ec- centricity which ho himself mistook for genius, were now rank- ed as tho productions of a new school of fiction. The Right Honorable Benjamin Disraeli, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of tho House of Commons, was quite a different person- age from that loud-locking youth whose first speech had so en- tertained the Commons. Asulo from Lord John Manners, who was in control of the Woods and ;' .r. sla, and Lord Stanley, who became, on tho death of his fathi r, t'.e ^llecnth ''a;! of Derby, and attained some cmincnco m luo arena of pr.Itics, there is but one other name in tho list that is familiar to cur cars ; and b«. is less known to us in tho world of politics than in the world of letters. Edward Lytton-Bulwer, born tho same year as Disraeli, and consequent- ly bowecn fn .c and five years older than Gladstone, had enter- ed Parlia nent when barely twenty-one. It would have been long before he achieved eminence as an orator, for the few speeches which he m'ado in tho course of his parliamentary ca- reer were rather thoughtful and earnest, evincing a it.rgo and liberal view of national interests, than brilliant and "taking." The Palmenton Ministry. 181 Ho bogan lifo as nn cxtromo ndvocato of Eoform moasurijs j and ho wae scarcely thirty whon ho publishod ono of tho most pow- erful political pamphlets of tho century j a form of support which vaa so gnilcful to Lord Melbourne that tho author was at once offered a seat in the Cabinet. This, however, ho de- clined; but accepted tho baronetcy which iu 1838 was conferred for that and similar services to tho party then in j)()wer. Ouc- coeding in 1844 to tho estates of his mother's family, ho assumed hor name in connection with that of his father, and became Sir Edward Bulwer-I ytio \ About tho time that Gladstone finally left the Conservative yu.-ty (if tbut expression can bo iisod as in- dicating any definite period;, Hulwer-Lytton took tho opposite step, and left tho Liberals fur tho Conservatives. lie had not boon in tho Derby administrali«n as it was originally formed ; but vhen Lord Ellonborough , csigned tho control of Indian nffairs, Lord Stanley, who had been Colonial Socreta.y, was transferred to this position, and the brilliant novelist appointed to tho place thus v..jated. Perhaps it was natural that when tho necessity arose for sending a special envoy to Greece, u man like Bulwer-Lytton should think of a representative who had ulreadj distinguished Mmsclf in literature by his studies of Homer; and tho Premier who was afterward to bo known as tho translator of tho Iliad world bo likely to see a fitness in tho selection. The comments upon this appointment were not alto- gether favorable "A writer of novels is leaucr of the House of Commons," said tho scandalized politicians who did not pro- tend to scholarship ; "and ho has another writer of novels at his side as Colonial Secretary; worse than that, ho is actually a playwright; and betwcon them t'ley can think of nothing bet- ter than to send out a man to the Ionian Islands to listen to tho tirades of Greek demagogues simply because ho happens to bo fond of reading Ilomer." This readci- of the blind old bard was Jlr. Gladstone, who had already become well J nown as a scholar in this special depart- ment ; wo have not iiithcrto traced hie literarj' course, reserving that for another timo, wien our pages shall be free from the rush and W'.irl of political action. Tho Ionian Is'.ards had been erected in tho year 1800 into the Ecpublic of the Sever United Islands ; in iSlo, they were placed under the Protectorate of Great Britain; a few years later had come the assertion of the independence of Groece, finally ac- 182 The Pafincrston Mirustry. knowledged by the Powers, and forced upon Turkey. For many years after tlie achievement of this condition, the louians had looked longingly upon the country to whi^h they naturally be- longed by race, tradition and geographical position ; but they had no cause for formal complaint, and were not strong enough to assert themselves by force. They could only await the action of England. That the sympathy of England was on the side of popular liberty was well understood and needed no formal pr^of A weak power, Lord John Monno's, or ci feeble people struggling to be free, tan always depend upon the active suj)port of the masses of the j)eoplc everywhere. For years the lonians had been dissatisfied and earnestly strivir';; to better their condition. The popular constitution which had been given them about ten years before this time did not do away with this desire to be united to Greece; it only enabled the people to express their wish in a manner which would command more attention in England, because it was intensely resj^ectable ; the protest of a Iog!?latnre is or may be worth listening to, v.'hile the wish of the people expressed by themselves directly, is not The Palmerston Ministry. 183 to bo regarded, lest it lead to revolution. And now press, leg- islature and peop-le had but one vJce, and with that were cry- ing out for freedom. Were they not free? asked the British Govornmont. They had a constitution which guaranteed their rights, as the English had iheirsj they had their Legislative Assembly of forty mem- bers, and a Senate of a round half dozen. What if they wore presided over by an English Lord High Commissioner? His position was but an emblem of the watchful care which England kept over them. But the unreasonable Greeks were not satis- fied. All this was very true : they had a constitution and a rep- resentative government, and the English authorities had made excellent roads, improved the harbors, established regular com- munication by steamships with the rest of the world— far great- er conveniences than KingOtho's subjects had; but still these unreasonable Greeks did not think themselves free so Ion"- as this Lord High Commissioner was also Commander-in-Chief of a considerable body of British troops garrisoned among them. And though they had a representative assembly, the Lord High Commissioner aforesaid had a very ugly trick of dissolving it whenever it declined to legislate as he wished it to do. Taking it all in all, they did not quite believe the Englishmen who said that the Ionian Islands *»njoyed the blessings of liberty. The more loudly an Ionian politician exclaimed against this order of things, the more pleasing he was to the people; and the more the people clamored for freedom, the angrier grew the English public at such iiigratitude. Theio were but few men in public life in England wl>o were not thoroughly disgusted with the unreasonable Greeks; and this feeling was shared by som-o eminent Frenchmen; notably by M. Edmond About, whoso description of the oxuellent roads in these islands 's so earnest that we may almost imagine that he wrote with tears in his eyes. Others there were, of broader sympathies, who saw how far the Greeks were right; and of this number were the Colonial Secretary and his newly chosen envoy. Although Mr. Gladstone was simply dispatched upon a com- mission of inquiry, his appointment for that purpose was hailed by the Greeks as clear evidence that tho English Government intended to abandon its Protectorate over the Islands, Tho En- glish Government had no such intention; at least, it was not def- initely understood what would he best; but just at this time two 184 The Palmerston Ministry. dispatches were publishod by tho iVeu's which ht to have been kej)!, ijrivato until acted upon, but which some enterprising re- porter ha'1 got hold of. They were written by tho Lord High Commissioner, and recommended that all the islands except Corfu should bo abandoned to their own wili. This excepted island was to bo retained as a military post. A dispatch written by tho Colonial Secretary about tho same time seemed to point tho same way, and Mr. Gladstone was received with all tho effu- siveness of welcome of which the people of a Southern race caji show themselves possessed. He at once set to work to as- certain how fur the clamor for separation from England and an- nexation to Greece was the voice of the people, and how far it was simply the loud-mouthed vociferations of blatant dema- gogues. Ho seems to have been speedily convinced that this popular movement was one worthy the respect of all liberty-lov- ing men. After a number of weeks spent in the Islands, tho matter was formally presented to tbo Ionian Parliament, in the. form of a proposal to annex their republic to the kingdom of Greece. This obtained thi assent of tho representatives, and a petition to that eff'ect was presented to Mr. Gladstone. In in- forming the English sovereign of the result of his mission, he stated that "tho single and UT;animous will of the Ionian people has been and is for their union with the kingdom of Greece." This short dispatch tells the whole story of his embassy and tho accomplishment of the task set him, A couple of weeks after- ward, ho left for England ; his official connection with the Ionian "slands was at an end. Not so tho influence which he had over their fortunes. The hopes which had been rais(3d bj' his appointment were not to be readily dampened by his return ; the Greeks continued to agi- tato more strenuously than ever, and ti.ey were listened to with more respect at the Colonial Office and in Parliament^ sinco so eminent an Englishman had become impressed with tho justice of their claims. It vas some years before tho final result of this mission was achieved ; but when tho Ionian Islands at last became a part of the kingdom of Greece, it was in no small measure duo to tho influence which Mr. Gladstone's opinion had upon tho councils of his country. Mr. Gladstone returned to England in February, 1859. The Derby Ministry had been in offiro scarcely a year. It was al- ready beginning to show signs of weakness, of that inevitable The l^almerston Ministry. ^ 155 loss of power which sooner or later comes to every Cxovern- There were two important questions before the public mind ut this juncture: Parliamentary Reform and the state of the foreign relations of England. The measure which had excited such en- mitynuhe early thirties had become an insufficient measure for Mr. Speaker. exl'ZT^V'''T"" '' ^he people's rights; and a further sUu'ho r.. "^' ''"' ^""^'^ demanded. Unable to s uigglc against !,o unmistakable expression of the popular will but this had rather excited than allayed the popular feeling. ' 186 The Palmerston Ministry. 1 Iw! i It was hardly a time at which to bring up such a measure ; for all Europe was trembling at the innovations which were be- ing introduced, and a country like England would seem to have desired rather a continuance of the old state of things at this period of revolution. Under the ausiJces of Cavour, who ha( spent some time in England, and was a warm admirer of the En- glish system of Government, the petty state of which he was a subject had been modeled after the great empire, and Sardinia had, in consequence, attained a rank as a constitutional mon- archy for which she would otherwise have striven in vain. This country had first been heard of in European politics, as a state which was at all worthy of consideration, during the Crimean War, whei. it became the ally of England and Franco. Savoy had grown into Sardinia, Sardinia was soon to grow into Italy. It is not probable that the Premier had any decided wish for Parliamentary Eeform. Ho had thrown himself, heart and soul, into the work when the subject was first brought to the serious attention of Parliament; but that had been nearly thirty years before this time, and age was beginning to cool the ardor of his nature. The chief advocate of a further extension of the suf- fri had been Lord John Eussell, who had brought forward such a I 11 in 1852, and supported it with all his powers only to have it luil. Disraeli was now eager for Reform, because ho saw clear- ly enough that it was the only means by which the Conserva- tives could hope to retain power; the instant the Government should venture to oppose or disregard the popular wish, that in- stant their divided opponents would unite, and the union would be fatal to the fot.5 cf Reform. But chief among those who advocated the passage of such a measure was that stuidy Quaker whose earnestness in the cause of the people has gi-own stronger and stronger as the years have gone by. John Bright had been out of Parliament for several years, on account of ill health, when in 1857 he was returned for Birmingham. In the first period of his parliamontary life, he had been one of the most ardent supporters of the Fj-ee Trade system ; and ho -^ perhaps the most widely known advocate of it ; certainly tin, re was no one else who permitted himself to be so completely absorbed by this measure. He was one of the delegates sout bv the Society of Friends In the Cr.jvr "t the be- ginning of the Crimean War, to intercede for peace. This had been his last public act in this first period. His return to Parlia- The Palmerston Ministry. 157 ment was signalized by his opposition to the Conspiracy Bill which was the cause of Lord Palmerston's going out of office,' ho now threw himself with all his strength into this effort to se- cure a more universal suffrage, and never relaxed his endeavors until the attainment of that object, nearly twenty years after Lord Derby went out of office. il^nTtTT!; ^"^ ^'"^^'' ^'^' '"'""'^ ^'^^'^^ "ke a resurrec tion, so fully had people been convinced that he would be heard no more. It was small wonder, then, that his audiences should bo large and enthusiastic. His efforts were not wholly successful- though the popular outcry was loud, it was not universal : try- ing to arouse a Eeform spirit in the North, Bright himself said, was like flogging a dead horse." The upper and middle class- es cared very little about the quostion, for their rights had been assured by the measure of 1832; it was mainly tho laboring classes who were now dissatisfied ; and many of the Conserva tives were inclmed to treat the demand as the mere outcry of proxessional agitators. Bright himself was generally regarded by parliamentarians as only an eloquent and respectable dema- gogue; and most of the Conservatives, and some of tho Whiffs were inclined to look upon him as scarcely worthy of being ta- ken into account. Perhaps the Conservative who had the hiirh- est opinion of him was no other than Mr. Disraeli, who saw that the Manchester orator must be taken into account as a genuine political power. ^ Mr. Bright was persuaded to formulate a bill, expressing his Ideas on this momentous question of public policy ; but as Sight have been expected, his views were not those of the Ministry His enemies said it was such a measure as Jack Cade might have' proposed, had that ancient agitator ever got so far as the subject of Parliamentary Eeform; he had so few friends, as far as this bill was concerned, that it did not make much matcor what they said. Certainly the bill had but few supporters, though it was so near yl.Ke that which the party adopted later that we can only rate Bright as far ahead of his time. Disraeli who saw that he could not resist the tendency in that direction, had been studying the question of Eeform, and was ready with a bill at the beginning of the session of .859. It was tr.„i.in,!a.i^ a v.onsei-vuLivo measure, since it left things very near- ly as .t found them. The great need of the time was a law which would not only increase the number of voters, but would extend V - 188 The Palmerston Ministry. tho franchise to classes which were as yet without representation) but Disraeli's i)!iin did not aim at this. It was said by one of the opposite party that it looked like a bill framed to increase tho Conservative majority; and that was doubtless its intention. Tho chief change which was made was the extension of tho fran- chise to pf rsons who had property in the funds, bank stock, or stock in the East India Company, also to those who had a cer- tain amount of money in savings-banks or received a pension from the Government, aid to certain professional classes which had not hitherto been permitted a "^'ote. " The working-classes cried out for the franchise, and Mr. Disraeli proposed to answer tho cry by giving tho vote to graduates of universities, medical practitioners and schoolmasters," Tho bill passed the first reading by a party vote, procured by the unflagging efforts of the Whigs. But the bill was not a fav- orite with tho Conservative party itself. Tho Home Secretary urged that no member of tho Ministry would support such a biJl, were it brought forviird by Lord John Russell or Lord Palmer- ston ; and ho urged this in a letter in which he conveyed his res- ignation to the Premier. Mr. Henley, the President of the Board of Trade, followed tho example of Mr. Walpole. When the bill which had thus won the contempt of its proposer's party friends came up for a second reading, it met -with hard treatment at the hands of his foes. Lord John Eussell moved an amend- ment to the effect that the proposed readjustment of tho county franchise was unsatisfactory to the House, and that any bill which attempted to deal with this question ought to include a plan for tho greater extension rf the suffrage in cities and bor- roughs. Tho experienced statesman sup])orted this amendment with an able speech, expressing in touching language his long- continued clTorts for Parliamentary Eeform; and the debate bo- came animated. Mr. Bright and his immediate adherents of course opposed tho measure of tho Ministry, as it was very far from their ideas of what such a bill should be. More moderate Liberals thought it could be so modified in Committee as to meet tho requirements of the time. Mr. Gladstone, who, in the division which followed, voted against tho amendment, found it necessary to explain his course in a somewhat lengthy speech, an abstiact of which will state tho objections to this bill, and also the diflSculties ensuing from its rejection, more clearly than is otherwise possible. V - The Palmerston Ministry. 189 As there was no controversy traceable to differences between political parties, but a remarkable unanimity on all sides with -egard to the necessity for Ecform, ho regretted that the House was now in debate which would estrange those whose united ef- forts were necessery to a satisfactory settlement. Ho objected to the form of the resolution, and only the weakness of the Gov- ernment could induco him to vote for it. Like all others of the time, he saw grave evils arising from a chanf^-e at this jancturo; and tho Liberals especially had cause to fear such a change, for they would bo called to power, and that would only emphasize the divisions in that party. Mr. Gladstone was now identified with the Liberals, tho name Peel te having gone almost com- pletely out of use. Ho next proceeded to sketch the history of Ecform as his own recollection afforded him tho materials : "In 1851 my noble friend [Lord J. Russell], then the First Minister of the Crown, approached tho question of Ecform, and commenced with a pro'niso of what was to bo done twelve months afterward. In 1852 he brought in a bill, and it disap- peared, together with the Ministry. In 1853 we had the Ministry of Lord Aberdeen, which commenced with a promise of Ecform in twelve months' time. Well, 1854 arrived; with it arrived the bill, but with it also arri'f ed tho war, and in the war was a rea- son, and I believe a good reason, for abandoning the bill. Then came the Government of my n^ble friend tho member for Tiver- ton [Palmerston] which was not less unfortunate in tho circum- stances which prevented tho redemption of those pledges which had been given to tho people from the mouth uf tho Sovereign on the throne. In 1855 my noble friend escaped all responsibil- ity for a Ecform Bill on account of the war; in 1856 ho escaped all responsibility for Ecform on account of the peace ; in 1857 he escaped that inconvenient responsibility by the dissolution of Parliament; and in 1858 he escaped again by the dissolution of his Government." Frequently interrupted by the cheers and laughter of tho House while thus summing up tho history of Ecform during the past seven or eight years, the speaker proceeded to point the moral of this "ower true tale." Tho people had come to think that the House was only too willing to oppose this question; and this had made it hazardous to oppose the bill. Ho did not advocate the passage of the bill, however, as it stood, but urged strongly the reduction of the qualification, and declared that the small 190 The Palmerston Ministry. boroughs decerved more consideration. They were the nursery gronnd of men who were destined to lead the House and be an ornament to their country, he said ; and he maintained that the extension and durability of English liberty vero to be attributed, under Providence, to distinguished statesmen introduced into the House at an early age. Upon al) these grounds he urged the House to go into committee, thus to discuss the bill more freely, and to make such alterations as might be necessary. It should be remembered that the rules of the House of Com- mons preclude any member from speaking twice on the same subject ; but if the House go into committee, the Speaker leaving the chair, this restriction is removed and a freer discussion thereby made possible. The division was taken shortly after the conclusion of Mr. Gladstone's speech. Though the House of Commons consisted of six hundred and fifty-eight members, it is ri-re that over five hundred take part in a division ; :and the House frequently ad- journs for lack of the necessary quorum of forty. On thisocea- pioiJ, however, there were present the almost unprecedented num- ber of six hundred and twenty-one members; and by this pro- portion of the House was the momentous question decided. The division was taken, and showed that the Opposition had a majority of thirty-nine. This was a surprise to the members of the Government, and indeed to the Liberals ; for the whole ques- tion was so open, and party lines so confused, ♦hat the wisest old politician in the House could hardly have foretold the result with certainty. Lord Derby decided to appeal to the country; a stop which occasioned much inconvenience, said John Bright, but was con- stitutional and perhaps necessary. Parliament was prorogued April 19th, and dissolved the next day. Writs were now is- sued for a new election, returnable at once j and the new Parlia- ment met May 31st. In this assembly, Mr. Gladstoiie again sat for the University of Oxford. The Government was in a con- siderablo minority in the new House, and the eifects of thisstato of afi'airs were felt at once. A week had been spent in swearing' in new members, so that it was not until the 7th of June that Her Majesty opened Parliament in person, it having boen opened by commission upon first assembling,. The first business was the preparation of an address to the Queen ; the regular routine at the beginning of the session ; and to thip, address, as moved in The Pabnerston Ministry, jgj the House of Comraons, the Marquis of Hartington offerod an amendment. This was equivalent to proposing a vote of want of confidence, and the result was eagerly looked for. The debate lasted three nights, and ter:..inatod with a division which showed a majority of nineteen against the Minictry. Having been twice defeased in the House, there was no option but for them to re- sign; and resign thoy did. Lord Palmersion. The Liberal party, to whom the power had thus fallen, was divided against itself; Lord John Russell headed one portion while Lord Palmerston was the chief of the other. A coolness had existed between these two for some time, though it was said that at the date of Lord Derby's resignation they had been re- conciled, and V ould act together. But it was at least doubtful ow long Eusscll would endure Falraersion as his chief, and more than doubtful whether Palmerston would consent to act under Kussell. In this dilemma, the Queen sent for Lord Grai^ville, 192 The Palmerston Ministry. who ,vns the confessed loader of the Liberal Party in the House ol Lords ; and gave him her command to form a Ministry. Contrary to precedent, a portion of the interview in which this arrangement was made was published in the Times; and it is from this article that we learn the reasons for this choice, as well as the Queen'« fear of offending either of these eminent states- men by nominating tho other to the highest honor in her gift. Ihopubi.eutionof this account was regarded ly some of the 8tr,oter politicians of the old school as the sign of a general breaking up of all the boundaries of decency and respect for royalty ; but was easily and naturally explained by Lord Gran- ville who had obtained permission to state to his politicalfriends what hud occurred, and tho interview had thus indirectly cot around to the newspaper. But the Queen did not understand her ex-ministers as well as she thought. For some reason, which is not clearly explained. Lord Jol;n Russell declined to servo under Lord Granville but professed his readiness to accept office in a Palmerston Govern- ment. Under such circumstances, Lord Granville bavin., con- fessed that he would not form a Cabinet, the post was offered to Lord Palmerston. Three of the important offices in this Ministry were filled by the same men who had occupied those posts in tho first Palmer- ston administration ; of these, we are most interested in the per- formance of the duties of the Chancellor of the Exchequer which Mr. Gladstone was again called upon to perform. Regard- ing this appointment, Molesworth, whoso "History of En^rland from the Year 1830," John Bright commends as - honestly writ- ten, uses the following language : "Anothergentleman whoso accession to the Ministry gave it great streugth and stability, and whose presence in it was per- haps necessary to its existence, certainly to its permanence, was Mr. Gladstone. He had to face a strong contest for his seat for the University of Oxford ; but his friends succeeded, though not without difficulty, in obtaining his re-election, notwithstanding the opposition of many members of the university who had for''- merly given him their support, but who were becoming intoler- ant of the more and more pronounced liberality of his views and whoso anger and suspicions were further roused by his ac- ceptance of office in the Palmerston administration." i- Ithough Mr. Gladstone had at such length explained that his i'sS- ■'■.■TWr^m'^i '■'£;♦ y 'v,iHwK;:-»'-'9«^ The Palmerston Ministry. 193 voto for Mr. Disraeli's Eoform Bill was merely given because ho feared the results of a change of Government, and was not an indorsement either oi the mea.suro itself, or of the general course of the Ministry which had framed it, his opjjonent in this elec- tion was not slow to accuse him of tergiversation in accepting ofBce immediately in the Ministry formed by Lord Derby's op- ponent and successor. This charge was best answered by a plain unvarnished statement of the facts in the case, and quotations from Mr. Gladstone's speech on that occasion ; and seems to liave been lightly thought of by the electors; for the vote of 859 for Lord Chandos against 1050 for Mr. Gladstone is not a large one, when we consider how deeply Mr. Ghidstone's lihoralistic ten- dencies had offended many of the electors long \^h,\'q he signal- ized those tendencies by his course on tin present occiision. The Palmerston Ministry had been formed early in Juii<? ; the nominations at Oxford took place the 27th of the same month, and the polling continued for five days. But the new Chancel- lor of the Exchequer had his budget ready the 18th of July. His speech was given the same flattering reception which had al- ways been accorded him, the strict attention which was so rarely- given to speeches on financial questions. It was a thoroughly simple and at the same time a thoroughly honest measure. Ho had to provide for a largo addition to the naval and military os- tablishmi^nts, in consequence of which it was estimated that while the revenue for the ensuing year would bo £64,340,000, the expend"""re would be £69,207,000. True to the principle upon which lie had acted when the war created such an enormous deficit in the estimated revenue, Mr. Gladstone did not propose to mako up this deficiency of nearly five million pounds by a loan, or by any of the expedients usually adopted by those Chancellors of the Exchequer who aro desirous only of delaying the evil. By an addition of Ad in the pound to the tax on incomes above £150, a penny stamp on bankers' cheques drawn across tho counter, and by the diminution of the malt credits from eighteen to twelve weeivS, thus anticipating a portion of the next year's in- come, he calculated that the deficit would be met without adding to the debt. This budget was of course attacked by Mr. Disraeli, who ob- jected to the raising of seventy inillions annually, and urged that it would be brtter to hav-e some understanding with Prance, SO that the expense of maintaining the army might be material- t&4 The Palme-ston Ministry. I y rodueod. It may hero bo noted that a popular movement of this year accomplished more in this direction than any speech which was made in the House of Commons. The people had been considerably aln'-med by some intemperate languar^o used by wh cTfl T ' tr""' ''"" "'-^^ " ^•^«"'"^- ^'-«-" P-i' wh ch t le Pnme Mm.ster is sah! to have encouraged. The re' -iultof fins was the formation of rifle corps, whica, surviving the a,,rm that caused them to bo organised, made the reduction of the regular army possible, without reducing at the same time the available r,.htnry strength to resist invasion. Tho danger of invasion, as wo havo hinted, was supposed to thoC." W ^'^^"^^'^^^^ *-^ «-»^-- had been' allies in the Ci .moan War, wo can hardly reckon that Napoleon III. waj bulk 17Z ^T'l" '" ^"^'l""'' '^ -or thoroughly trusted by the bulk of tho thinking people. His allianco with England airainst Euss.a counted for nothing, for he had but used on? nation as a tool with which to wreak his ven^^eance upon tho other; ho had extorted Nice and Savoy from Sardinia, as tho price of 'the sup- port ,n the war between Italy and Austria which Cavour had forced him to giyo; ho had turned against Austria, with which heh.ad proviously been in firm allianco; and it was doubtful land. bo felt tho people of tho time; though tho record of sue!- fears reads strangely enough to us who have been told of Sedan and Chiselhurst, and of that fierce sortie of Zulu warriors, which finally extinguished his liiic. , ^ 'cu '.'^'-^Poloon III," saiU clover opigramatist, "deceived Europe ing It to believo that he was a statesman." At this time the im- pression obtained that ho was a statesman, and had the Eno-lish people but been .-ise, they might soon have discovered that Kice and Savoy were not what ho thought they would betohim; that th. Italians had decidedly the best of tho bargain. But they 1 ^ot w,so. Tho most reasonable and harmless actions of the i h Government were made tho ground of suspicion and a arm; It even occasioned uneasinc . that the Power across the channel sh..uld push the projoct of the "impracticable sL. Canal. It .vas under such circumstances as this that a commer- cial treaty with Franco was proposed in tho early days of ISGO- i-.^ .^nic!. hud uucrt arranged m a peculiar way: Mr Cob den, who was looked upon as being much safer and more' Con." "v.. -r- The Patmerston Ministry. 195 sorvativo than Mr. Bright, though ho wa« really tho more rest- ess roformor. was Bont to Franco to talk tho mattor over with tho Emperor. lN..poIoon III. novor let his dignity stand in tho w,.y of any real or fancied advantage, and readily agreed to d s! held I """T 'Vr T'"^'"'^ "'^^ '''-' ^^'^HlenfwU had never ston had offered h.m tho Board cf Trade in th. present Ministry Ih.s arranger.ent was mainly brought i .out by Mr. Gladstone who most ardently desired tho treaty. The grelt ma o! Uy of tho pooplo of Franco were ardent Protectionists , tho EmperorXm" self, however, was a Free ' Trader; and if tho treaty should bo concluded, it must bo by tho exertion of his imperial will and authority, not by any consent of tho representatives of tho peo- ple. The treaty itsclfwill be best summed up in ho words which Mr. Gladstone used in stating its provisions, to tho House of Commons. Tho occasion was the intro- duction of the budget in February, 1860. "Perhaps, sir, as tho oom- mittoo have not yot had an opportunity of reading the instrument itself, it may be conv< nient t^mt I should m the first place state to them very bHefly the p n^i pal covenants. Fust, I shall tuko tho engagements of F.a ee ^olZTfT^lZ'"''''''' *'" '"^^ ^'^ I^nglfsircoal and cokc^m en bor i860 "^L , ' "^ '"''^ "^' ma^lnory, from the 1st of Dec- in^ I Ll ' 1 """ {''"'"' ^"^ Soods in flux and hemp, includ- >ng, I behove, jute-this last an article comparatively new in n rr.l "?"r " T'^^'.^ ^ ^''^' ^"^ -^-^ -^ -t-st ^f't s tho firf ; ; 5 <^-tricts-from the 1st of June, 1861. That ::l/: VTf!!"^. ^"^'"^^^-"* -^^ -^-^ ^--o enters. Her ^ . Ki ,a ,, ,„^„^.^^^,.^^ ^^ postponed to tho Istof October th!t th f '' '" P'"^"^^^ '"^ '^'' knowledge of the committee' that this postponement is stipulated under a pledge given by th^ Richard Cobden. 196 The Palmerston Ministry. \i Govommont of Franco to the classes who there, as hore, have supposed thomsclves to 1 o interested in the maintenance of pro- hibition. On tljo 1st of October, then, in the year 1861, Franco engages to reduce the duties and take away the prohibitions on all articles of British production mentioned in a certain list, in such a manner that no duty upon any ono of these articles shall exceed thirty per cent, ad valorem. I do not speak of articl'-^ of food, which do not materially enter into tho treaty; but the list to which I refer, sir, includes all tho staples of British manufacture, whether of yarns, flax, hemp, hair, wool, silk, or cotton; all manufactures of skins, leather, bark, wood ; iron and all other metals ; glass, stoneware, earthenware, or porcelain. I will not go through tho whole list; it is indeed needless, for I am not aware of any great or material article that is om'tted. Franco also engages to commute those ad valorem duties into rated duties by a separate convention, to bo framed for tho purpose of giving effect to tho terras which I have 'described. But if there should bo a disagreement as to tho terms on which they should be rated by tlio convention, then tho maximum chargeable on every class at thirty per cent, ad valorem will be levied at tho proper period, not in tho form of a rated duty, but upon tho value; and the value will bo determined by the process now in use in the English cus- toms. "I come next, sir, to the English covenants. England engages, with a limited power of exception, which wo propose to exercise only with regard to two or three articles, to abolish immediate- ly and totally all duties upon all manufactured goods. There will be a sweep, summary, entire and absolute, of what are known as manufactured goods from tho face of the British tariff. Further, England engages to reduce the duty on brandy from 15s the gallon to tho level of tho colonial duty ; namely, 8.s2(Z tho gal- lon. She engages to reduce immediatelj'- the duty on foreign wine. In the treaty it is of course French wine which is speci- fied ; but it was perfectly understood between France and our- selves, that wo proceed with regard to tho commodities of all countries alike. England engages, ther to reduce tho duty on wine from a rate nearly reaching 5s lOd per gallon, to 3s per gal- lon. She engages, beside a present reduction, further to reduce that duty from the 1st of April, 1861, to a scale which has refer- ence to the strength of the wine measured by the quantity of spirit it contains," The Palmerston Ministry. 197 The provisions of the treaty would of course cause a reduction in the revenue ; but this was considerably less, Mr. Gladstone calculated, than the relief which the measure would give. The deficit thus occasioned would be made up, he argi .d, by the fall- ing in of long annuities ; and the measure which was designed to be a permanent benefit would thus bo attended by not even a temporary inconvenience. But the house was by no means ready to assent to this plan. Not only did the Conservatives oppose it, as might have been ex- pected, but some of the Liberals wore equally bitter in their de- nunciations of such a compromise measure. It was a curious fea- ture of the debate, that some of the most eminent Free Traders in the House, including Gladstone, Bright and Cobden, were ac- cused of renouncing their principles in favor of a measure of Protection; and by urging the conclusion of a treaty which could only be carried out on the other side by the will of the Emperor, opposed to the sentiments of his people, they were ob- liged to defend themselves from a charge of rejecting the prin- ciples of representative government. Such a charge, applied to Gladstone, is only less ridiculous than a similar one having Bright for its object. The Government did not attempt to deny that this was a com- promise measure ; but it was the best that could be done ; and as such it was presented to the House. When the budj^ot had been fully presented, the Opposition armed itself for the fight. The battle was opened by a shot from Mr. Disraeli, who offered an amendment affirming that the House was not ready to go into committee upon the Customs act until it should have considered and assented to the provisions of the treaty. The right honor- orablo gentleman attacked the treaty, attacked the Government attacked Mr, Cobden, with all the warmth which was character- istic of his SjOeeches on such occasions. Ho cited the example of Pitt in 1786; and doubtless considered his shot atelling one. But it had missed its mark ; and the return fire was one which rat- tled long about his ears and those of his confederates. Of the speech in which Mr. Gladstone answered this attack of the ex-chancellor, a contemporary newspaper said : <' The Chan- cellor of the Exchequer has won his Magenta gallantly, and with extraordinary d.amngo to the oncmy. The bnttle has boon ro- new3d, and is raging while we write, but the Opposition army is dispirited and charges lan^ruidl^, and all soom^ teiiding towftr4 198 The Palmevston Ministry. a ministerial Solferino. Mr. Gladstone distinguished himself in the first engagement by a feat of arms of the most brilliant char- acter, and none of his own Homeric heroes could have more ter- ribly poured in thunder on the foe. Dropping martial meta- phor, it may be said that the best debater in the House of Com- mons delivered, in answer to Mr. Disraeli — no unworthy antag- onist — a speech in which tiie lucidity of the argument was worthy of the powerful declamation of the orator. From the outset he Hon. John BrigkL showed his masterly grasp of the subject and an ability quite as conspicuous as if he had made this one question the great study of his life. With perfect ease and self-possession he rose to the occa- sion, pointed out clearly the salient features of Parliamentai}" action, and indicated the far reaching effects of the principles under consideration. He showed his familiarity witii minute details, gaining at once the attentive ear of his auditors. In all these respects he showed his mental superiority. "When Mr. Glad- stone addresses hSnself in his best manner to his work, as he di4 TAe Palmerston Ministry. 199 upon the occasion in question, the House of Commons is justly proud of its illustrious mcrabor. Sometimes, like Burke, " Ho goes on refining, And thinks of convincing, while they think of dining," (or rather of dividing, for ho seldom throws himseit away upon the Impransi); but there was no such waste of thought upon this occasion, when he closed with his adversary like a man who meant mischief— and ho did it. Mr. Disraeli knows best wheth- er it was wise to got his forces so exceedingly well beaten at the beginning of the financial campaign j but that is his affair and Prince Rupert's." The House divided upon the amendment which was thus ably argued against, and the Government found itself in a majority of sixty-three. An amendment to the budget brought forward by a minor member of the Opposition was less fortunate than Mr. Disraeli's had proved, for this condemnation of the propo- sition to re- impose tho income tax, though only for a brief per- iod, was defeated by more than one hundred. There was a'other important feature of the .udgot; tho pro- posed abolition of the tax on paper. When we consider the dif- ficulties with which newspapers, those principal consumers of pa- per, have had to contend, we should be astonished, not at the faults that they show, but that they exist. It is true that the great newspaper is a power in the community, no less in conser- vative England than in the United States, which sometimes ap- pears to be as fond of novelties as ever were the Athenians j but the English newspapers of the beginning of this century pro- ceeded upon a mistaken course; they encouraged tho tax which tended to raise the price of their publications, in the belief that their profits would bo diminished if they lost the practical mo- nopoly ; the ostensible reason for their opposition being that cheap journalism would necessarily be nasty. Originally im- posed with the idea of checking tho establishment of seditious newspapers, tho duty in 1836 was a penny upon each copy. Add- ed to this, there waa a sixpence tax on each advertisement; bo- sides this thero was a considerable tax upon tho white paper, represented by a duty imposed for the benefit of the manufac- turer. Tho tax on advertisements was abolished; in 1855 the penny duty upon each copy was no longer exacted ; it remained for Mr. Gladstone to take the final step in promoting the inter- ests of the million readers, by recommending the abolition of I i 1 f 1 200 The Palmerston Ministry, this p/otoctivo duty. Of course there was opposition from the nuinufacturcrs nrul their representatives in Parliament ; for the British Parliament differs from the American Congress in this, that most of the great interests of the country have their ac- knowledged represen tatives. There are others, as there must bo in every representative assembly, who care but little about such things, but are ready enough to vote for a certain measure to oblige a friciul. There was a good deal of rallying up of such men to sustain the cause of the paper-making and journal-selling monopoly. The result was that although the propositions of the Government .vero finally carried, they were carried by con- stantly decreasing majorities. In place of votes which ran a hundred or so ahead of the numbers on the opposite side, as the other portions of the same plan had received, the resolutions to abolish the excise on paper were won, on the second reading, by fifty-three ; on the third, by only nine. The bill which had met with this obstinate resistance in the Commons was not more fortunate in the Lords. It was fought with persistent argument; Lord Lyndhurst, who had been per- haps the most powerful supporter of tne Conservative party in his day, a. id the most able and distinguished member of the Peel 3Iiristry of 1834, as well as of the later Cabinets formed by Con- servative Premiers, was especially vigorous in his opposition to it. All the force of that brilliant and powerful oratory which hud secured his advancement a half-century before, was employ- ed by the old man, now nearly eighty-nine years old, to defeat this ])lan which was so distasteful to the hereditary legislators. While the question was still being debated in the House of Lords, where Lord Montcaglo had given notice of a hostile mo- tion, and Lord Derby had announced his intention of supporting it, although ho admitted that he thought, if the income could stand it, the tax ought to bo abolished, the members of the House of Commons were protesting indignantly against this usurpation of their privileges. Like our own House of Representatives, the Commons alone can originate bills relating to revenue; and this effort of the Lords to prevent the abolition of a tax against which the Commons had decided, was looked upon as equivalent to imposing a nevr tax. Perhaps the Lords would not have ven- tured upon this course, had the majorities in the House of Commons been greater; ccrcainly they only hold what power they have on condition of never using it, and their attitude of indepondencv The Palmerston Ministry. 201 i upon this occasion -was looked upon us subversive of all ropres- ontativo government. Public meetings were held, to protest against their usurpation of power, which Mr. Gladstone de- nounced as a " gigantic innovation." At these meetings, John Bright and his immediate adherents were of course the leading spirits, but there were others who did not always act with thom, Lo7'd Lynuhurst. who were now only too willing io bo at choir side. It was said •t the time that the Chancellor of the Exchequer showed himself the worst Eadical of thom all; quite " out-IIcrodod Herod" in his assertions of the rights of the people. The Lords kept on in the course which they had marked out for themsevcs, quite regardless of the popular agitation. The debate finally ended; not without some strange and apparently :-j| il ! t t ' Sil M ^J 202 The Palmcrston Ministry. irroconcilablo assertions from Lord Derby, the acknowledged head of the Conservative party; ho would support the abolition oi the tax, if ho thought that the revenue could stand it, ho said again ; forgetting that the recognized authority, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was in possession of data which others could not readily obtain, and who was besides his official advan- tages gifted as few financiers have been, had announced it as his deliberate opinion that the revenue could stand it; ho further acknowledged, to a deputation which waited upon him, com- posed of nijiny cminnt men who represented literature and jour- nalism, that the House of Lords had no right to modify a tux in the slightest degree. This last acknowledgment, however, was not to bo obtained from Lyndhurst, who had been Lord Chan- cellor during three administrations, and the clearness of whose judgments bad never been excelled ; the " old man eloquent" continued to maintain the privileges of that order to which his legal acumen had caused his admission. Others there were of less note to speak on the same side ; and wo do not hear of any strong speech in support of the Govern- ment in the Upper House. This branch of the national legisla- ture is always largely Conservative, if anything like its full strength be brought ^ut; and upon this division there were no fewer than two hundred and ninety-seven votes cast, or more than three-fourths of the whole number of peers, including those who, not being of age, were not entitled to a voice in the pro- ceedings. Of these votes, one hundred and ninety-three were against the Government, which was thus left in a minority of eighty-nine in the Upper House. The story goes, that Lord Palmcrston was asked what he in- tended to do about it; with the almost American habit of joking which characterized so many of his utterances, he replied : " 1 mean to tell them that it was a very good joke for once, but they must not give it to us again." Whether the Premier actually gave this reply or not, is a question which is not answered by any competent authority ; but it was quite in his line to have spoken so to any one who made such an inquiry; and this very policy was the one which ho actually pursued. Immediately upon the reassembling of Parliament, after the recess, Lord Palmcrston brought forward a scries of resolutions affirming Hint the Com- mons alone possessed the power of re-imposing taxes, and say- ing, in effect, that the Lords had better not try it again. The Palmerston Ministry. 203 Mr. Gladstone had done it all, said the Conservatives, who wore not far wrong. The whole question is of little importance at this da3% save as it bears directly upon our subject ; the Lords had had their lesson, and neither in the next session, when the same measure was again proposed, nor since that time, under similar circumstances, have they ventured to resist the abolition of a tax which the House of Conmons has decided shall be im- posed no longer. The main interest is that attaching to Mr. Gladstone in this question ; not as showing what eminence he had attained, or what influence ho possessed, for that is a thing which the veriest tyro in English history can tell us, but as evidencing the progress which ho had made in liberalism of opinion and feeling. Ho had even outrun some of his later Whig colleagues. The position which ho took in this controversy was entirely dif- fcient from that assumed by Lord Palmerston. Ho condemned without reserve or mitigation the conduct of the Lords, and the grounds on which he based this decision made it allthe'more welcome to the Eadicals. Ho did not indeed support the course of extreme self-assertion which some Eadical members recom- mended to the House of Commons; but he made it clear that he disclaimed such measures only because he lelt that the House of Lords would soon come to its senses again, and would refrain from similar acts of unconstitutional interference in the future. Hitherto he had been Liberal in feeling and opinion, but this was hardly patent to himself, so gradually had the change been wrought, and so faint were the lines between the moderate Lib- erals and the moderate Conservatives ; much less was it apparent toothers. The first decisive intimation of the course which he was henceforward to tread was his declaration that the constitution- al privileges of the representative assembly were not safe in the hands of the Conservative Opposition. Mr. Gladstone was dis- tinctly regarded during that debate as the advocate of a policy far more energetic than that supported by Lord Palmerston. The promoters of the meetings which had been held to protest against the interference of the Lords found full warrant for the course they had taken in Mr. Glaustone's arguments. Lord Palmerston, on the other hand, certainly suffered somewhat in the eyes of these stern and uncompromi.*- g upholders of the risrhta of the Commons. It was urged that he who was ready enough to sanction Eadical movement)? on the continent was far less tolerant of them at home. But whatever the reasons upon 204 The Palmerston Minist if. E :|| I which the two men based their disapproval, theirs, added to that which was heard on every side, was quite sufficient to frighten the Lords, who did not try their little joke again, even when the same measure was again sent up by the Commons. There rcjiiains one other important measure introduced dur- ing the session of 1860, to be noted in this connection. The Derby Ministry had gone out of office because of their failure to carry u Reform Bill. Lord John Eussell, whose efforts in this direction had been made the subject of Mr. Gladstone's kindly ridicule in the previous session, was naturally the one most inter- ested in the measure, and he was the Minister to whom the work was intrusted. The bill wasbrought in March 1st, and read for the second time on the 19th of the same month. The debate lasted, at intervals, until the 11th of June. A measure which thus hangs on cannot be said to be a popular one with the House ; nor was this. The bill as it was proposed was rather more offensive to the conservative Liberals than to' the Tories themselves; and of this division of the party in power the Premier was the head. Lord John Eussell was the chief of the more popular section, and his Eeform Bill, which was a moderate and simple scheme enough, was called The People's Bill. Palmerston was all but openly opposed to this darling measure of his colleague, how- ever J and although ho was usually a regular attendant upon the sessions of the House, he managed to bo absent at nearly all the sessions that the measure came up for discussion; when ho did chance to be present, ho preserved a silence, which on the part of the Prime Minister when a Government bill was being dis- cussed, was extremely significant. The bill proposed that the county franchise should be lowered to ten pounds, the borough to six; and made a considerable change in the apportionment of members; it also provided that where a constituency returned three members, the electors should vote for but two, thus giving a rcpresentntive to tho minority. This was in strict accordance with the ideas of the Manchester school, and partly because it was so pleasing to Messrs. Bright, Cobden, et ah, the more Conservative members of the Cabinet found it extremely distasteful. Had tho Premier spoken once in its favor, it would probably have been carried ; but tho Consor- vati"es had an cnsy task before them. The Opposition dared not oppose the measure openly: Disraeli saw that clearly ; ho might have occasion to intx'oduce a Eeform Bill some day himself • and 1 i] The Palmer ston Ministry. 206 tbough ho did not shrink from inconsistency, and had frequently disavowed principles of which ho hud formerly been the ardent Mr. Gladstone as Lord Rector of the University of Edinburgh. supporter, there was no use of providing his enemies with argu- ments against him. He contented himself with a quiet, languid stylo of speech, which seemed to say, "You may think that this is 206 The Palmerston Ministry. a Eoform Bill, but you just ought to sco what I could do, if I had tho opportunity and was so inclined." Tho bill needed norosis- tanco from its enemies; tho passivity of its friends was quite enough to kill it. There wore not wanting those who saw what the Premier's si- lence meant, and endeavored to reason with him. "Why should you oppose this measure?" asked a friend of him; " Tlio representatives who would be sent to a informed Par- liament would be men of tho same character und ...unding with those who sit in tho present Parliament." " Yes," ho answered, grimly, <' I suppose they would ; but they would play to tho galleries instead of tho boxes." Mr. Gladstone was a warm supporter of tho bill, und spoke in vindication of the conduct and consistency of tho introducer. He ridiculed the fears of those who thought that tho proposed fran- chise would deteriorate tho constituencies of the country; and urged that the new electors W(Suld bo fully as intelligent and capable of judging men und measures, as many who already held it. Tho apprehensions that tho six pound electors would becomo s > numerous as to swamp the representation of property und station in tho House were utterly unfounded and delusive. The bill was rend a second time withouta division, but finding k impossible to carry it through, Lord John Russel! withdrew it; preferring delay to defeat. As we began this chap' or with an account of a mission on which Mr. Gladstone was dispatched because he was a profound Greek scholar, wo close with tho mention of an honor which was shown him because of tho same eminence in learning. April 16th 1860, ho was installed as Lord Rector of the University of Edin- burgh, having previously to the installation received the def-oe of LL.D. " In an address, the great value of which was its practical view of the work performed by tho universities, and the responsibil- ities of those who were students there, Mr. Gladstone told the assembled students how broad was the field of knowledge which they were to till; and how broad the field of time over which tho human mind has sowed and reaped its harvest. and CHAPTER VIII. EMANCIPATION FROM TORYISM. Wet Weather and Poor Harvests-Dull Session in Parliament-Post Office Sat ings lianka -Garibaldi ana His Red Shirt— Mr. Gladstone Defends the Liberator of Italy— Improvement in the Nation's Finances— Prc^t of the Opiwsition- Bitter Attack on Gladstone— Repeal of the Paper Duty— The Ionian Islands again— English Opinion and the American Civil War- Reduction of the Income Tax— Surplus in the Revenues for 18G4— The Working Classes— Osborne's Amusing Speech— The (Question of Church and State— Mr. Gladstone Declares Himself Unranzzle<'.. 'O talk about tho weather of the present day is bad enough; but what shall wo say when the records of nearly thirty years ago are brought forward to explain tho course of politics '{ Yet so it must bo now ; for the weather in tho summer of 1860 was tho means of vindicating tho wisdom of those statesmen Avho had so persistently maintained tho doctrine of Free Trade. During the months of June, July and August, there was a provalenceof severe, cold, heavy rains, violent "Mes, and destructive floods j and the long continuance of this . or- able weather gave rise to tho fear that there would be a.. ..iitire failuio of the crops. Toward the end of August, indeed, there was somo slight amelioration; so that the crop was really bet- ter than was anticipated, though it was by no means up to the avr '-age. Tho removal of the restrictions which had so long im- peded the free intercha'ige of commodities with other countries now acted in a most salutary manner, when tho enlarged neces- sities of the country had driven her to the resources of a foreign supply. Under tho operation of protective laws, the country would have suffered most severely but the working-classes es- pecially, now realized tho beneficial effects of Free Trade; and tiiose statesmen who had advocated it so strongly became cor- respondi-^gly popular. Tho sp ech from the Throne .at the beginning of tho session of 1861 was a disappointment to many of the supporters of the Government, as well as to some actually in the Cabinet. Thero 207 208 JUmannpntlon from Toryism. was no mention of iho groat qnostion of Parliamentary Reform ; th'. only jH'oJiiiso of legislation which was hold out had roforonoe to some of those law-reforms which hr.d already boon under the consideration of Parliament. An umendmont oxpressive of the dissatisfaction that was felt at this notable omission was at once brought forward, but was opposed by Mr. Disraeli, who had no notion of the Liberals achieving distinction by their advocacy of Reform ; and by Lord John Russell, who eontnndod that it would bo better to take no action at all until such changes as would work definite improvement in tho existing system could be made. Though this view of the matter was strenuously oppos- ed by Mr. Bright, who spoko strongly in regard to the inconsisten- cy of Lord Russell in now manifesting such lukowarmnoss to- ward a measure which ho had formerly supported with such ar- dent enthusiasm. But tho Ministry was divided in itself upca this very question ; in tho previous session, the l^ill had been lost because of the Premier's open hostility; the majority of tho members of tho House of Commons wore beyond a doubt anx- ious to get rid of tho whole question ; and the amendment call- ing for a consideration of Reform was vetoed by a majority of eighty-three. ^ne Palmorston Government then, had replaced the Derby Government because the Reform Bill which tho latter had pro- posed was not sufficiently comprehensive to meet the demands of the people ; and the Ministry which had come into power "ri- der such circumstances had now coolly set aside the whole thing, as something which it was not expedient to consider nt all. Pal- merston's colleagues must of course share the blamo which attach- ed to such conduct by continuing to hold office under a Minister who had boon capable of such gross inconsistency. Tho debates of this session were characterized by unusual tamoness and dullness. In tho House of Lords, the Ec.rl of Derby strongly condemned tho policy of tho Government re- garding Franco and Italy ; a policy which he described as plac- ing upon the shoulders of the people " an amount of taxation absolutely unprecedented in time of peace, and only made more intolerable by the financial freaks of the Chancellor of the Ex- chequer." To this attack we ^avo the most eloquent of all ans- •^yerg — that which tho subsequent prosperity, brought about by those very financial freaks, gives for Mr. Gladstone. Perhaps the most important measure which was this session ISmancipation from Toryism. 20D brought forward by this high officer of the rovonuo wr% that which established th;3 Post, Office having Banks. This is uio sec- ond notable reform, esprciully affecting the nn('dle and low-r classes, which was the result of Gladstone's labors; the reader will recall the provisions of that bill which, while ho was Presi- dent of the Board of Trade during Sir Eobert Peel's administra- tion, established Iho Parliamentary Tr.-in on the Kailwuys of Great Britain, .ho ostablishmont of tl-o Post Office Savings Bank,' has undoubtedly been of incstim bio benefit to many classes of the British community. Following the course of the session, we find Mr. Gladstone •aking part in the discussion on the vexed subject of Church Rates. After an eloquent speech, ho concluded by suggesting that an arrangement might bo made by which the power of a majority of a parish to accept or reject Church Eates as a right, should be agreed to, at the same time allowing r. parish tc lax itself by the will of the majority. This proposit'on was assailed by Mr. Bright, as leaving the question exactly where it was al- ready, that whero you could not get Church Pates you were to let them alone. The bill to abolish Chuich Rates was carried by a small majority, which included Lord Palmerston and Loru John Russell, with other members of the Government; but Mr. Gladstone voted against the measure. If the questions which related to internal affairs were few and of but slight consequence, when viewed from this distance of time and space, those which had to do with foreign affairs were neither few nor unimportant. Italy was convulsed with that struggle which finally resulted in her independence and union; the United States were just beginning that war which was to rage for four years, with an incalculable expenditure of blood and treasure. Austria was defending her Italian possessions and allies ; France was drawn into the struggle, as an ally of Victor Emmanuel; the utmost efforts would be necessary to prevent England's being compelled to take part, either with Italy or Austria, with the United States or the Confederate States. Victor Emmanuel comes to our minds with the prestige of suc- cess for lin added jewel to his crown; and dazzled by that, and by the knowledge that his sovereignty of a united Italy has un- doubtedly worked much good to its people, we can hardly inder- stand how the King of Naples could find friends und defenders in liberty-loving England. Ferdinand II., who was responsible s*^ 1 m Queen I'^iciona at the Op,-iiiii(j of Padiament in 18G1. 210 T7i^.^ -* ^i^"4 -sr ■MMOb AiiiilMesBg TWM«M i tu >iaiMM«MMiea«iato^^ Mmaticipati > from Toryism, 211 for those abuses which Mr. Gladstone had been the main instru- ment in correcting by his fearless exposure of the condition of the J^eapol.tan prisons, had now been dead for nearly two years and hi8 son, Francis II., reigned in his stead. The new king was a not unworthy son of such a father, but his power had been first curtailed, then forever nullified, by the acts of Garibaldi. Ihe hero of Italy had more than twenty-five years before this time been condemned to death for participating in a futile revolutionary outbreak at Genoa; his life since the failure of that effort had been devoted to the cause of freedom. Pursued by the Austrians, his wif. had d;ed in his arms, exhausted by the dangers and terrible exertions of their flight. An exile from his country, he had made himself famous as the liberator of others When he returned to Italy, it was as the acknowledged repre- sentative of the people's desire for freedom and union. Success had followed him; and his army had grown steadily. In Sep- tember, 1860, he entered Naples; not at the head of his troops as a conqueror, but with one or two friends; that it might be seen how his coming was awaited by the people. At last the message was flashed along the wires, at the close of that last bat- tle which Garibaldi fought as commander ia this struggle— "Complete victory along the whole line." Victor Emmanuel crossed the Papal frontier and resumed command of the army • Garibaldi relinquished into the hands of the constitutional sover- eign, whose authority he had agreed to recognize, in place of that of a republic, the absolute sway which he had acquired over the ISTeapolitan provinces. Such was the state of affairs at the beginning of the year 1861 when the question was brought up for discussion in the British Parliament. At that time, as we have already said, there were some supporters in England of Ferdinand II., and Victor Em- manuel was strongly condemned by many for the recognition of Garibaldi, for supporti ig him and approving the invasion of iNapIes. Ihe conservative element was startled at the idea of a sailor's son presuming to interfere in the government of king- doms and the questions of dynasties and thrones, which belon^e"!! properly to high-born statesman ; and was scarcely loss shocked at the Idea of a scion of royalty accepting the assistance of such a man. Mr. Eoebuck predicted that if Garibaldi f^iiom^^i.^ tr. a^ in Venctia what he had already done in Kapler and Sicily, tie would bo hanged within a week. ' "■ ST,' < & mimm '.'■f-f. v. V .X-; !l 212 Emancipation from Toryism. A motion for goi»ng into Committee of Supply having been made in the Houso of Commons, Mr. Pope Honnossy rose to call attention to the "active interference of the Secretary of State in promoting Picdmonteso policy," and condemned that policy as causing the increase of the national burdens in Piedmont, the decline of its trade and commerce, the waste of the population in predator}' war, and the consequent decay of agriculture. This mo- tion gave rise to the most exciting debate of the session. It was warmly supported by Sir George Bowyer, who, in addition to the contrast between Piedmont and the Pa- pal States, which had been boldly drawn by Mr. Hennessy, urged that the English sup- port of Napoleon III. was paralyzing all other European allies. The policy of the present Grovernment, he said, had destroy- ed that prestige of honor and justice which used to attend the British flag, since it encouraged none but the revolutionary Garibaldi. party in Europe, who were the unprincipled tools of the unbounded ambition of the French Emperor. The second night of the debate, Mr. Gladstone rose to speak on the other side. There were other speeches, of course, in the defense of the liberator of Italy, and of England's recognition of his services to the race ; but his is, as usual, reckoned the most eloquent, the most crushing expose of the errors which his op- ponents were supporting. Had the debate been confined to criticisms of the King of Sardinia, he said, or if it concerned only the policy pursued by the English Foreign Minister, he would have remained silent. 1 i I Emancipation from Toryism. 213 confident of the wide-spread approval which that policy com- manded. He believed it to bo stamped with approval through- out the great body of the people of England, from the greatest to the least. But the speakers upon the motion had called upon the House to lament the foreign policy of the Government, which they alleged was founded upon injustice, and said that the cause which the Ministry favored in Italy was the pcrsscoution of righteous governments. The revolution in Naples was called a wicked conspiracy, carried on by an unprincipled king and a cunning minister; and the people of Naples had been said to bo governed by benignant laws, wisely administered, and were de- voted to their king. Mr. Gladstone, in reply tc this characteriza- tion, sketched the history of Naples from the accession of Fer- dinand II. ; and the story was an unanswerable argument against the house which had been so lately dethroned. Francis had been lauded for the courage Avhich he had displayed at Gaeta. To this Gladstone replied: "It is all very well to claim considera- tion for him on account of his courage; but I confess I feci much more admiration for the courage of the honorable Member for Dun- dalk and the honorable member for King's County (Bowyer and Hennessy); for I think I would rather live in a stout and well- built casemate, listening to the whizzing of bullets and the burst- ing of shells, than come before a free assembly to vindicate—" Mr. Gladstone was here interrupted by the tumultuous cheering, and was for some time unable to proceed. When the confusion had subsided, he continued : "—than to vindicate such a cause as that which those honorable gentlemen have espoused." With merciless exactitude he went on piling up accusations against Francis, and substantiating each by indisputable proofs. Nor was Naples the only state on which he turned the brilliant light of his eloquence. The Eomagna, Ferugia, Modena, all fell under the lash; and the Italians were exonerated from the charge of rebellion by a recital of the policy which had been pursued by Austria. Ho closed with a felicitous reference to the manner in which the revolution had been accomplished, and the lasting blessing which the consolidation of Italy, and her restoration to national life, would be to Europe at largo as well as to herself. So eloquent wore the supporters of the Government, and so popular was the cause of Garibaldi and Victor Emnumuel, that the debate terminated withotit a division. The subject again came up for discussion during the latter part of tho session, when ■mi II 214 Emancipation from Toryism. Mr. Gladstone took occasion to deny the charge of promoting revolutionary movements in Italy, which had been brought against the Ministry; and adduced facts and circumstances in justification of his previous attack upon the Duke of Modena, by which he showed how criminal justice was administered in that duchy. The budget of the year was presented to the House on the fifteenth of April. The House was densely crowded when Mr. Gladstone rose, immediately upon the opening of the d .ly pcssion. He briefly sketched the previous year's budget ana its provisions, and the financial history of the year. It had been signalized by the commercial treaty with France, by the re- moval of great national burdens, by the abolition of the last pro- tective duty from the system; it had been a year of the largest expenditure that had occurred in the time of peace, v/hilo it was characterized by an unparallelled severity of the seasons. The apparent deficiency was £2,559,000; but certain deductions re- duced this to an actual deficiency of £221,000. We need not here recount the various taxes which were held, by their reduction or abolition, to have brought about this deficit; we may barely say that Mr. Gladstone, in contrasting the revenue of this year with that of 1853, when there had been another such change in the sources from which the income of the state was derived, while he did not attempt to deny that the revenue was not so elastic in the latter case as in the earlier, contended that this was due in some part to the vast increase in the expenditure, which was full twenty millions sterling greater than it had been seven years before. Mr. Gladstone next proceeded to show that the legislation of the past year, especially that relating to the treaty with France, had not been without a salutary effect; for though times were hard," and many of the people without employment, that was owing to the unexampled harvest. He commended the efforts which the French Ministry had made to fulfill their part of the treaty, and again adverted to the service which Mr. Cobden had performed in negotiating it. The estimated revenue for the ensuing year was so considera- bly in excess of the estimated expenditure that the Chancellor of the Exuhcqucr stated ihtit it wns proposed to remit the ad- ditional penny of the Income Tax which had been imposed the year before. "Under the magic wand of the great financial en- 215 216 Emancipation from Toryism, Of this speech, a writer of the time said : "Amoj g those who ought to be judges there is an almost unanimous opinion that, take it for all in all, this was the very best speech Mr. Gladstone ever made. As wo now know, he was conscious that ho had a pleasant surprise in store for those hearers who had come to lis- ten to a woeful palinode, and there was a lurking sense of tri- umph over his avowed opponents, and still more over his skin- deep friends, which gave a lightness and buoyancy to his de- meanor which of course spread to his audience. It even gave a racincss to his occasional flights of humor. His quotations were happy and neatly introduced, and that in Latin was loudly cheered by the gentlemen below the gangway, probably because, they not understanding it, it had a great effect upon them. But the chief merit of the speech, in reference to its object, was the remarkable dexterity with which it appealed to the tastes, feel- ings, and opinions of the House. At one sentence, delivered with his face half turned to the benches behind, Mr. Bright would break out into an involuntary cheer, at once both natural and hearty j while the very next moment the orator would lean, with a fascinating smile on his countenance, over the table to the gentlemen opposite, and minister to their weaknesses or preju- dices with equal power and success. ***** In every possible respect it was a masterpiece of oratory j and as it in the result actually led to something tangible — that is to say, to a surplus and a reduction of taxation — it was in every sense tri- umphant." But this triumphant eloquence was not received by the House without a protest from the Opposition. Although the budget was generally regarded in a very favorable light, Mr. Bentinck, Mr. Baring, Lord Eobcrt Montagu, Sir Stafford Northcote, and cr.jcrs on the Conservative benches, warmly opposed it. Ben- tinck and Montagu, indeed, undertook several times during the session the task of demolishing the Chancellor of the Ex- chequei'. It would appear that they did not succeed. Mr. Gladstone defended his scheme in detail against these at- tacks, and demanded that a division should take the place of long debates J but the opposition to the budget did not assume that definite form. The Governnienl had determined to present the budget as a whole to the House; not, as was usual, in the form of separate propositions, which might be separately discussed, and meet with Emancipation from Toryism. 217 different fates in case of divisions. This was bitterly opposed by the Conservatives, who know that their only chance lay with some of the less popular features, not with the measure as a whole. The Opposition charged that this was done with the in- tent of compelling the Lords to assent to the abolition of the paper duty; and at the second reading, May 13th, the whole bat- tle was fought over again. Sir James Graham was the most powerful defender of the Government in the early part of this section of the debate. His speech was followed by what was perhaps the most violent personal attack which, up to that time, had ever been mado upon Mr. Gladstone; the speaker was Lord Robert Cecil (afterward Marquis of Salisbury). The budget was a personal one, he said; they had no guarantee for it but the promises of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and experience had taught them that he was not a financier who was always to be relied upon. At this stage of his speech, he was interrupted by loud cries of "Oh! Oh!", and it was some time before he could ugain make himself heard. He had already described the policy of the Government as worthy only of a country attorney; but now he thought that he had done injustice to the attorneys! Again interrupted by the cries of his colleagues, he went on, when order had been restored, to characterize the co irse which the Ministry had pursued as one distinguished by all the in- genuity of legal chicane— a dodge. Americanized finance was to be a consequence of Americanized institutions; with much more to the same effect. Mr. Gladstone made no answer to this at the time; nor, in- deed, did he ever make any direct and extended reply to this bitter personal attack. Speaking on tho same subject a few days later, he referred to the fact that perscnnl matters hud been intro- duced in the course of the debate, which ho thought it best to pass by without comment; but legitimate cri<iVv«rns upon his plan he would endeavor to meet. Whatever may be the censure passed upon the "Grand Old Man," he was never accused of vituper- ation, or unkindly treatment of those who had exposed them- selves to the terrors of that eloquence which might have been so sharp a weapon against them. His opposition was always to measures, not to men; and his enemies received as courteous treatment as his friends. Whatever change the proposed plan might make in the Con- stitution, he said, was one fully justified by the necessity of the i I' 218 Emancipation from Toryism. ^ 8 case, and by precedent. Mr. Horsman had declared that it gave a mortal stab to the Constitution. Mr. Gladstone thought that the Constitution would bo all the better for the operation. In re- gard to the Constitution as Mr. Horsman understood and ox- plained it, with that division of responsibility which most ef- fectually did away with all responsibility, Mr. Gladstone thought that the sooner it received a mortal stab the better. Mr. Gladstone's colleague in the representation of the Univer- sity of Oxford, and the Chairman of the Committee of Prece- dents, both prominent Conservatives, approved of the course which he recommended as strictly constitutional ; and in spite of Mr. Disraeli's active opposition, the bill was road the second time. The discussion upon the repeal of the paper duty on this sec- ond reading was the most critical stage at which the bill had yet arrived; and in some quarters the fall of the Government was confidently predicted. Among those who spoke upon this oc- casion were Lord Palmerston, Mr. Gladstone, Lord John Eussell, Mr. Cobden, Mr. Disraeli, and Mr. Baring. The question finally came to a division, the result of which was waited for with great anxiety. It showed a majority for the Government of fifteen, five hundred and seventy-seven votes being cast. The rejection of the bill was moved iu the House of Lords, but the motion was, upon the advice of the Earl of Derby, who seemed to be something of Viscount Palmerston's opinion about the action of the Lords on this subject, not pressed ; and the bill became law. The subject of the Ionian Islands again came up in this ses- sion, and Mr. Gladstone replied to the member who had demand- ed information about them. The information was withhold by the Government, who did not think it prudent to make all the circumstances public at that time and the conciliatory speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer caused the motion to be with- drawn. The budget for 1862 was of less interest than those which Mr. Gladstone bad previously presented for the consideration of the House. There were certain reasons for a decreased income. One of these was the depression arising from lack of cotton j for those were the days when the Confederates were asserting "Cot- ton is King," and seemed to have a fair hope of convincing neu- tral nations of the truth of their statement. But the treaty with France had accomplished all that was hoped from it; and al' Emancipation from Toryism. 219 though there would be no remission of taxation, there wonld be no new duties imposed. Mr. Disraeli attacked this bud- H, with what he called a his- torical survey of the finances oi entyearsj and Sir Stafford Northcoto examined it closely; but these critics were fully an- swered by Mr. Glac' .tone, to the satisfaction of the Liberals, as the result of the voting made evident. As in the previous session, there was an attack made by Sir George Bowycr upon the Government and people of Italy. To this, as before, Mr. Gladstone replied, though 3owyer's speech commanded little or no sympathy from the House. «' Bowyer's unrivalled capacity for ignoring the march of events was unden- iable," says one writer; and he repeated the same arguments which he had used ayoar ago, and heard them seconded, as before, by Mr. Hennessy. Mr. Gladstone's powcrfiii speech began with a state- ment of the reception which Garibaldi had met with at Naples, and argued that where an army of 80,000 men had melted away like snow before a handful of rcd-shirted volunteers, ti o people could not be said to be very warmly attached to their king. On the other hand, it was maintained that Italy was not a kingdom, because it had not been recognized as such by any of the Euro- pean Powers except England and France. To this Mr. Gladstone retorted that a kingdom which had secured the recognition of those Governments had made very considerable progress. When the cheers which greeted this sally had subsided, Mr. Gladstone proceeded to speak of the occupation of Eome, which he depre- cated, although ho desired to see the Pope's temporal power abolished. Turning from the English feeling and opinion regarding Italy, which were fairly expressed by Mr. Gladstone's voice in this in- stance, wo come to regard the English attitude with relation to the affairs of America. The engagements of Manassas and Shiloh had been favorable to the Confederates ; other battles, of less note, had followed, in which the success had frequently been on the other side. At this time, however, the palm remained with the Southern States; it was not until the middle of 1863 when the tide was finally turned, that it became evident to clear- sighted onlookers that the South was doomed to inevitable defeat. There had been many collisions between the British and Ameri- can Governments, when the direction of affairs at Washington was largely in the uands of Southern men ; and the Lincoln Ad^ 220 Emancipation from Toryism, ministration hoped, for that reason, tc secure the unshaken friendship of the English. But those conflicts wore remembered at London as differences with Americana, undistinguished by sec- tions; and British Government did many things which even a friend of the South cannot consider strictly impartial. We pass over the course pursued with regard to those Confederate com- missioners to London and Paris, who were forcibly taken, by a United States man-of-war, from under the protection of a neutral flag J for President Lincoln was the first to condemn the action of the officer who made the seizure, on the same grounds on which the American Government had resisted the right of British men- of-war to seize men from under the American flag, previous to the warof 1812, which was fought to decide that principle. But the action of the British Government in allowing privateers for the Confederate service to be fitted out in British ports was an un- mistakable evidence of tho. popular feeling. It is not our purpose to enter upon an extended indictment of of the Engl ish people or the authorities constituted by th e m, for the atttitude assumed during tho American Civil War. We have only to note the opinion which Mr. Gladstone held, having already shown what was the standpoint of his colleagues and their con- stituents. In a speech at Newcastle he expressed the decided convici/ion ^hat Jeff'erson Davis had already succeeded in making the Confederate States into a nation. As a member of the Min- istry of a neutral country, ho was undoubtedly indiscreet in saying so j bat the success with which the Confederate arms had met seems certainly to have justified him in thinking so. Writ- ing to a correspondent in New York, five years later, he said : "I must confess that I was wrong ; that I took too much upon my- self in expressing such an opinion. Yet the motive was not bad. My sympathies were then, as they are now, with the whole Am- erican people. I, probably, like many Europeans, did not un- derstand the nature and working of the American Union. I had imbibed conscientiously, if erroneously, an opinion that twenty or twenty-four millions of the North would be happic :, and would be stronger (of course assuming that they would hold to- gether) without the South than with it, and also that the negroes would be much nearer to emancipation under a Southern Gov- ernment than under tho old system of the Union, which hud not at that date (August, 1862) been abandoned, and which always appeared to me to place the whole power of the North at the com- ^ Emancipation from Toryism. 221 mand of the slave-holding interests of the South. As far as re- gards the special or separate interests of England in thj matter, I, differing from many others, had always contended that it was best for onr interests that the Union should bo kept entire." To retrace our stops a few months, there had occurred, in De- cember, 1861, an event which exerted a considerable influence upon tae English court. How far the death of the Prince Con- Prince Albeii. sort affected the history of the country, it is idle to speculate; but he so fretjuently took occasion to express his admiration of Mr. G ladstone and the measures which he proposed, that it is not improbable that, had the Prince Consort lived, the Queen would ..„Li.„..... ..i.,.,.^.G^i noi iTtrii-jiuuwu uisiiKo lor ine lorornost Jjib- eral statesman of her reign. On the other hand, it can hardly be said with certainty that the Prince would always have ap- 2}2^ Emanctpailon from Toryispi. proved tlio course which Mr. Gladstone has taken, tending aft it has to enhance the rights of the people to a greater degree than the prerogatives of the Crown, as well <.s to incroasuu lib- erality of sentiment. The session of 1863 promised little of into- est. The budget was the chief topic of discussion, and that did r.ot roach the point in men's minds which hud been filled by some of ita more notable predecessors. A considerable surplus of inoonio over expenditure having become a certainty, speculation was rife us to how it should be employed. In accordance with the dictates of public opinion, Mr. Gladstone recommended the reduction of the Income Tax and the abolition of tho war duties on sugar and tea. Tho causes which gave peculiar interest to tho financial statements of tho last few years vrcve not such, Mr. Gladstone said in tho speech in which ho introduced tho budget, as it was desirable should be permanent; and with this apology for tho tamencss of the plans which ho hud to propose, and tho state- ments which ho had to make, the right honorable gentleman proceeded to state tho case. His speech of three hours contains nothing more interesting than his tribute to Lancashire, that great northern county in tho metropolis of whic i he first sawthe light. It will bo remembered that at this time tho factory- hands of England wore suffering severely from tho effects of the American war, which deprived them of the larger part of their cotton supply. Nearly two millions of persons had been thrown out of employment, and fully half a million wero at this time wholly dependent upon charity. From tho QuvC.i to tho ag- ricultural laborer, who could hardly spar© from his own neces- sities tho occasiona. half-penny wh'ch ho gave, tho charity of tho nation flowed in upon these unfortunates j but there wa^ *> vast amount of distress which could not be relieved. But the burden had been borne manfully, and so Mr. Gladstone knew, when he said: "Towards that Lancashire, to which up to this time every Englishman has referred, if not with pride, j'et Avith satisfaction and thankfrlness, as among the most remarkable, or perhaps the most remarkable of all the symbols that could bo presented cf the power, the progress, and the prosperity of England — towards thit Lancashire we f?el now more warmly and more thankfully than ever in regard to every moral aspect of its condition. The lesson which within tho past twelve months havo been con- Emancipation from Toryism, 2^8 Voyed, if in ono aspect tho/ huve been painful and even bitter, yet in other aspects, and those too, which mere intimately and permanently relate to the condition and prospects of the coun- try, have been lessons such as I will venture to say none of us could have hoped to learn. For however sanguine may have been the anticipations entertained as to the enduriii<r power and pluck of the English people, I do not think that any one could have estimated that power of eL.' - *nce, that patience, thrt true magnanimity in h amble life, at a point as high as we now soe that it has actually roachoc^ " Unfortunately, this unoxpv-^ted power of endurance was to be yet more fully tested; for cotton had risen from 8d. per pound to 25. The blockade hcd not been raised, and there ^ as no cot* ton to export if it had been— that is, in ounts considerable enough to make any material difference to j^ngland; and India and Egypt, which have since entered into the competition, were not yet fully equipped for the contest. Another cause of de- pression was the condition of Ireland, which wj.s, as usual, worse than it had ever been before; the products being one-third less than the/ had been seven years previous. The remission of the tea duty and the income tax were rery popular with iho country; and the budget generally was more acjeptable to the House as a whole than any other had been for a number of year ^T" ^lisraeli even had not p, word to say against it, but ro? ; ^nc the House as soon as Mr. Gladstone had finished his sp i. The one proposition which aroused formidable ' Od'ility wa? that provision by which charities wero no longer c cmpt fron the Income Tax. One of the largest and most influent!;.' delega- tions that ever waited upon a Mmisier of the State endeavored to persuade Mr. Gladstone that this course was unjust and im- politic. The Duko of Cambridge and the Archbishop oi" Canter- bury headed the deputation, to which Mr. Gladstone renlied t'.iat he would statT the reasons for the course recommendei by the Government to the House of Commons, and that upon the decip' n of the Commons the questioi should rest. Ho accord- ingly addressed the House the same evening, shov.ing that many of the charities which would be taxed were of such a nature as to woi < a real injury in character to those whor hey professed to benefit, and that the measure was eminently a just one. The whole Ministry had agreed that it was a proper course to be pur- i^BB" ! 224 Mmancipation from loryim. sued but the sense of the House was so largely against it that the scheme was withdrawn by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. At a later penod, an amendment to the proposition regarding the Income Tax was introduced, providing that this duty should fall upon the not income of invested property, and the net amount of industrial earnings, which latter should be subject to such an abatement as would equitably adjust the burden thrown upon intelligcnco and skill ap, compared with property. This amendment, the substance of which was regularly brought for- ward whenever the Income Tax came up for discussion, and which had in this instance been negative^', by the committee which had first considered it, was rejected by a considerab' majority. . . Viewed from a standpoint of entire religious freedom, it is curious to note that in the year 1863, the British Parliament should seriously be asked to pass a law enabling Dissenters to be buried in the common cemeteries without the rites of the Church of En^rland being performed over the bodies. Yet so it was. Nor was it^a mere act of tardy justi-^ the repeal of a law which had bf^come a dead letter, and was therefore unanimously decreed should remain no longer upon the statute book ; there was ac- tive oppo-it^.on to it, and it was finally rejected by a vote of 221 to 0(3. Mr. Gladstone felt the anomaly, and did not hesitate to express himself freely. In his speech upon the subject, he said : " J. do not see tbat'thero is sufficient reason, or indeed, any reusop at all why, after having granted, and most properly granted, to the entire community the power of professing and practicing what form of religion they please during life, vou .-.hould say to them- selves or their relatives, when dead, 'We will at the last lay our hands upon you, and will not permit you to enjoy the privilege of being buried in the church-yard, where, i:crhaps, the ashes of your ancestors repose, or, at any rate, in too place of which you 'are parishioners, unless you appear there r.s members of the Church of Entr'and, and as members of that Chuich,havo her services rcad^'ovcr your remains.' That appears to mo an in- consistency and an anom^.y in the present state of the law, and is in the nature of a grievance." such utterances as this that Mr. Gladstone first cre- It by ated, and then wi dened, that bieuch between himtclf and his eonsiiiuency at Oxford, which eiidod in his failure to be re- Emancipation from Toryism. 225 elected. In some cases, it would appear, it is an honor to fail. On but one other occasion did Mr. Gladstone, during this ses- sion, engage in a debate of any importance j and the interest at- taching to that discussion rather arises from the fact that the Government was defeated by a considerable majority, than from any inherent value it may have for us. The proposition was made to appropriate a considerable sui'^, in addition to that which had already been voted for the purchase of the ground, for t-he buildings of the International Exhibition which had been held at Souch Kensington. Lord Palmerston being kept away from the House by illness, the duty of bringing this bill before the House devolved upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who pointed out that the Government was under the necess'+y of pro- viding suitable accommodations for the Portrait Gallery, the Patent Museum, and the Nat'.ral History Collections of the British Museum, and that this wns the only opportunity that of- fered, Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Lowe were both anxious to express their approvnl of this scheme of the Government, but neither of them could obtain a hearing, so great was the confusion in the House, the Independent members of which surprised both the Government and the Opposition by their attitude upon this question. Althougli the majority against the Government was an overwhelming one, the question was not of suff cicnt itnport- auee to warrant its being regarded as a vote of no confidence- and the defeat was therefore passed over as a matter of small moment. The budget c i.^64 was brought before the House in April. It was well known that there was a considerable surplus, and there was much interest manifested in the disposition of this sum. It proved to be somewhat larger than even the most sanguine had anticipated — more than two millions sterling when the expenses of fortifications had been allowed for. Mr. Gladstone's state- ment of tlie condition of the national finances commanded the same flattering attention which had oeen accorded to him en similar occasions pr.viously, the House being packed in every part, with the members, peers, foreign minisiors, and other dis- tinguished visitors crowding the places assigned to them. The prosperity of the country v/as indicated by the trade sta- tistics which he brought forward, and pauperism was shown to bo no greater, outside of Lancashire, which was stiii sufi^ering for cotton, than was usual. The estimated income and expendi- In — II h ' I ^1' 226 Emancipation from Toryism. ture for the ensuing year showed, upon comparison, that there would then be a considerable surplus. It was the duty of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to order the taxation in such a way that this suiplus would be returned to the tax-payers, by the re- Receiving News of the Miimterial Crisis. ductlon of certain duties. To do this required a readjustment of the taxes according to the best calculations possible, and even then it was not within human power to foretell what the actual result would prove to be. The tax on sugar was to be reduced, and also that on fire insurance ; and the Income Tax was to be i Emancipation from Toryism. 227 one penny less on each pound than it had been. The budget was most favorably received, and although there were notices given of opposition on some minor points, all the propositions were dnaliy carried without a division. A third measure which was conceived in the special interestof the working-classes was brought forward this session by Mr (xiadstone. This was a bill to amend the law relating to the pur- chase of Government annuities through the medium of savings- banks, and to enable the granting of life insurances by the Gov- ernment. During his long public life, Mr. Gladstone said in the debate on this question, he had never received so many letters as he had upon this measure, from various classes of the com- munity, all expressing their approval of the bill, and their grat- itude for it. Although this was the outside estimate of it, the House was by no means so unanimous, and there were many who inveighed against the evils of a paternal government. Af- ter the defeat of an amendment which was directed against the whole scheme, the bill was referred to a select committee, by which It was favorably reported back, with a few minor changes recommended, and finally it passed both Houses, being warmly supported by many of both parties. It was during this session that Mr. Baines brought forward his bill for lowering the borough franchise; and Mr. Gladstone startled the House, and ultimately his constituents and the country, by his utterances upon the subject of Reform. His words evince so clearly the advanced liberalism of his views and are so applicable, not only to English affairs of that time' but to the labor troubles of the present, that wo make no' apology for quoting them : " We are told that the working-class don't agitate; but is it desirable that we should wait until thev do agitate? In my opinion, agitation by the working-classes upon any political subject whatever is a thing not to bo waited for, not to bo made a condition previous to any Parliamentary movement, but on the contrary, is to be deprecated, and, if possible, prevented' by wise and provident measures. An agitation by the working. classes is not like an agitation by the classes above them having leisure. The agitation of the classes having leisure is easily con- '' r,.v,j. xioar ot thuix- iime has not u money value- their wives and children are not dependent on the application of those hours to labor. TThen a worki ng-man finds himself in such a w 1 i 228 Emancipation from Toryism. condition that ho must abandon that daily labor on which he is strictly dependent for his daily bread, it is only because then, in railway language, the danger signal is turned on, and because he feels a strong necessity for action, and a distrust of the rulers who have driven him to that necessity. The present state ot things I rejoice to say, does not indicate that distrust j but if we admit that, wo must not allege the absence of agitation on the part of the working-classes as a reason why the Parliament ot England and the public mind of England should be indisposed to entertain the discussion of this question." The resolution was defeated, but the majority was not a very largo one, and Mr. Gladstone's speech was thought at the time to have influenced many who would otherwise have voted against it The expression of such opinions went fur to restore conh- dence in the Ministry which had come into office pledged to Ke- form, but which had become divided in itself upon that very subject. • *v,« July 4th Mr. Disraeli proposed a resolution censuring the Government for its foreign policy, particularly in connection with the war then in progress between Germany and Denmark. This was the highest point which the hostility to the Govern- ment had yet reached, and Mr. Disraeli was loudly cheered by his political friends as he spoke in support of his motion It ieli to the lot of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to reply to the leader of the Opposition, and his eloquent speech was the open- ing of a protracted debate. The motion was so worded that, as Mr. Gladstone expressed it, it could not transfix the Government without first passing through the honor of England. An amusing feature of this debate was the speech of Mr. Bernal Osborne, in which he compared the Cabinet to a collection of birds of rare and noble plumage, some alive, some stuff-ed. Un- fortunately, ho said, there had been a difficulty in keeping up the breed and it had been found necessary to cross it with the fa- mous 'Peelitcs. The honorable member continued: ''Iwlldo them the justice t- say that they have a very great and able Minister among theia in the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and it is to his measures alone that they owe the little popularity and the little support that they get from this Liberal Party." Mr. „., 1 x.i ,^^c i;ir« iho flv in amber, as the wonder was *'how the devil he got there;" and he proposed, as an epitaph for the S0on-to-be-defunct Ministry, " Kest and be Thankful. ?^. m Emancipation from Toryism, 229 Although the inscription for the mausoleum was thus kindly furnished in advance, there was no immediate use for it, as a di- vision showed that the Ministers had a majority of eighteen. The Opposition had done its best to defeat the Ministry, and had failed ; it is then without surprise that we learn that there were no more debates of interest during the remainder of the s.)ssion. The session of 1865 affords us but one clear view of the central figure of our narrative, excepting, of course, his official speech as Chancellor of the Exchequer. In March of this year Mr. Dillwyn moved a resolution affirming that the state of the Irish Church was unsatisfactory, and called for the early atten- tion of her Majesty's Government. After several speeches, Mr. Gladstone rose and entered into a full examination of the ques- tion of the Irish Church. He frankly admitted that its state was unsatisfactory, but said that having regard to the difficulties which stood in the way of removing the anomalies it presented, he could not support the resolution. This declaration, to which , ubsequent events gave great significance, intimated that Mr. Gladstone, who had always been regarded as a firm supporter of the Irish as well as of the English Church, believed that the days of the former institution were numbered ; and that its dis- establishment was only n, question of time. This declaration car- ried consternation not only into the Conservative ranks but into those of the Government, and caused him to be regarded as the leader of the party which favored the disestablishment of the Irish Church. The opinions of Mr. Gladstone had more signifi- cance at this time than they had ever had before; for it was upon his shoulders that the mantle of the leader must soon descend. Lord Palmerston was now past his eightieth year, Earl Eussell, who had in 1861 ceased to bear the courtesy title of Lord John by which he had long been known, was considerably past sev- enty. The Premier could not long retain the reins of office, and then Mr. Gladstone must succeed to the leadership of the House or of the Opposition, as the case might be. In any event, whether the present Ministry retained office or not, the Liberal leader would have much to do with the question of the Irish Church. Mr. Baines again brought forward his measure during this session for the reduction of the Franchise. Sir George Grey, speaking on behalf of his colleagues in the Cabinet, maintained that they had fulfilled their pledges, but declined to make any promises for the next session. Mr. Gladstone sat by in silence lii' 280 Emancipation from Toryism. during the debate. It was reported at the time that his col- leagues had exacted from him a promise not to speak on the subject; but this has been authoritatively denied. Certainly such a promise could do little good, in view of the emphatio words which he had used in support of the proposed measure a year before. The budget of the year showed a considerable decrease in the distress which had existed for some time past; and the termin- ation of the American Civil War gave reason to hope that there would not again be a scarcity of that staple of manufactures which was now being in some measure supplied by India and Egypt. Eeductions of taxation amounting to nearly f ve and a half millions sterling were proposed; and the Chancellor as- sured the House that there would still be a surplu , at the dis- posal of the Government. The close of the session saw great irregularity in the number of members present at diifercnt times ; for a general election was rapidly approaching, and the representatives of the people fre- quently had occasion to leave their seats in Parliament to ad- dress their constituents. There were few or no measures of im- portance, the one of most general interest being the attack upon Lord Chancellor Westbury, originating in the House of Lords, but finally carried to the House of Commons, and resulting in his resignation. Parliament would expire by limitation that summer, and it was accordingly prorogued, with a view to immediate dissolu- tion early in July. The Conservatives looked for immense gains, basing their hopes upon some victories which they had recently obtained. The Liberals seem to have been doubtful as to the result. But the result for which one had hoped, and the other had feared, was not to be; the Conservatives had been far too sanguine. To turn from the general aspect to that which more nearly concerns the hero of our biography, is a duty which now be- comes especially imperative. Of all the elections of this period the one which excited the most intense interest was that for the fJniversity of Oxford, where Mr. Gladstone was opposed by Mr. Gathorno Hardy. Mr. Gladstone was there recognized as an H^.leman it is true- but he was thought too brilliant to bo en- tireiv safe. No such intellectual pre-eminence has ever been claimed for his opponent in this contest, as a historian of the r •'••%-■#' '^^^ '>^%w^-^^fi^^^m^w^'^ Emancipation from Toryism. 231 time naively observes. Certainly, Mr. Gladstone's advanced Lib< ralism was extremely distasteful to the Tories of Oxford, whom he was supposed to represent. In anticipation of his de- feat there, which was not considered improbable even by his friends, arrangements were made for bringing him forward for South Lancashire at. once. It is a somewhat singular phase of the question, that his Liberal friends were as desirous that he should bo defeated at Oxford as the most vehement Tory could be. ^ Finding that the seat was in danger, when the polling had con- tinued for four of the five days, the chairman of the committee which had Mr. Gladstone's interests in charge issued a circular to the electors who were still unpledged, pressing upon them the duty of recording their votes for the Chancellor of the Ex- chequer. " The Committee do not scruple to advocate his cause on grounds above the common level of politics," said this docu- ment. '' They claim for him the gratitude due to one whoso pub- lie life has for eighteen years reflected a lustre upon the Univer- sity herself. They confidently invite you to consider whether his pure and exalted character, his splendid abilities, and his eminent services to Church and State, do not constitute the highest of all qualifications for an academical seat, and entitle him to be judged by his constituents as ho will assuredly be judged by posterity." Among the voters who endorsed this document by their action, taken before or after its appearance, were some of the men whose names are most splendid in the roll of modern scholars. Keble and Pusey, Alford and Stanley, Wil- bcrforce and Farrar, Pnlgrave and Freeman, Max Muller, Lnd a host of others whom we have not space to record, upheld the scholarly financier as their choice. It was not academic Oxford which defeated him— for defeated he was— but the vast body of outsiders who had votes. The Thunderer launched its stately sentences against the in- stitution of learning which had thus rejected as its represent- ative a man of Mr. Gladstone's distinction as a scholar; and added to its fulminations against Oxford the assurance that "henceforth Mr. Gladstone will belong to the country, but no longer to the University. Those Oxford influences and tradi- tions which have so long colored his views, and so greatly in- terfered with hia bett.fir inrlo-mont mr"* "■"o/^nolK, !«„- ■'»--i- u-!-" upon him." To the words of the Times the crisper sentences of the Dally News, the chief Liberal organ, were a fitting echo: --gg|gg||||||||g|||g|g|g||||j|^^^^^ 232 Emancipation from Toryism. "The late Sir Robert Peel was but the chief of a party, until admonished by one ostracism, he linully became emancipated by another. It is thus that men rise from ojjposition to greater etibrt, and the instances are not few in which by facing public Cathedral of St. Paul — London. scorn they have risen to a hiprher piano, and have rendered their names illustrious — nam'^s that might have been almost buried in oblivion but for the ostracism they were compelled to suffer. Not every one is able to learn wisdom from past experi- ences. Then, as now, the statesman who was destined to give up to mankind what was never meant for the barren service of a Emancipation from Toryism, 233 party, could say to those honest bigots who thus rejected him: "I biinish you; Thoro is a world elsewhere." As soon as it became evident that he would be defeated at Ox- ford, Mr. Gladstone hastened down to Lancashire, and lost no time in presenting himself as a candidate for the southern di- vision of that county, where three Conservatives and two Lib- erals were already in nomination for the three seats. It was on Tuesday, the day of the groat Manchester weekly market, that he arrived there, and the exchange of the city was crowded, as usual, by the merchants and manufacturers, not only of Man- chester, but of all the populous district surrounding the cotton metropolis of Britain. About three o'clock it was announced that Mr. Gladstone was in Mancliostcr ; that ho had come for- ward as a candidate for the representation of the southern di- vision of the county; and that ho was about to deliver an ad- dress to the electors in the great room of Free Trade Hall. In a few moments that immense room was packed by an eager au- dience, the enthusiasm of which was raised to the highest pitch. In that silvery voice which was not the least charm of his oratory, the famous statesman began his speech, asking these ""stitu- ents, for the first time, for their suffrages. They heard o..^ sentence; it was enough to make their self-restraint no longer endurable. "At last, my friends, I am come among you ; and I am come — to use an expression which has become very famous, and is not likely to be forgotten — I am come among j-ou unmuzzled." The shout that arose as soon as these words were uttered was the expression of the Liberal triumph in the acquisition of such a leader from the enemy. From that time, the last tie was sev- ered that had bound the great statesman to the party of his early youth; from that time ho was only to grow into wider and deeper sympathy with the people of England, with the cause of human liberty. No longer trammeled by the thought of what was due to his constituents, when he would have spoken freely on the great questions which were awaiting solution, he was now rep- resenting men whose ideas, like his own, were in fuller accord- ance with the progressive spirit of the age. ^m&M nx m CHAPTER IX. REPRESENTESra SOUTH LANCASHIRE. ,* Love for the University — Address to the Electors of Liverpool — Popularity in the Lare:e Towns Death of Lord Palmerston — Grave Concern Over the Irish Troubles— Old Question of Church Rates— Criticism of the Reform Bill — "Cave of AduUam" — Extension of the Franchise — Gladstone's Victory— Speeches in Scotland — Ministry Formed by Earl Derby — A New Reform Rill — Raising Income for the Government — Public Comment on Mr. Gladstone— Scotch and Irish Affairs — The Irish Church — Majority for the Liberals — Various Bills in the Commons. E. GLADSTONE could hardly be said to have been elect ted by an overwhelming majority; for he was third or T the list of the six candidates for the three seats. Bui the majority of the votes cast were for Conservatives; for his new colleagues both belonged to that party, and the fourth on the list was also a supporter of the Opposition. This renders his election the more remarkable tribute to the man, independent of parties. That emancipation from the thraldom of the University's de- mands was not an unmixed joy to Mr. Gladstone, however it may have been welcomed by his friends. In that very speech, ihe first sentence of which had been so enthusiastically cheered, he said : "I have loved the University with a deep and passionate love, and as long as I breathe, that attachment will continue; if my aifection is of the smallest advantage to that great, that ancient, that noble institution, that advantage, such as it is — and it is most insignificant — Oxford will possess as long as I live, lint don't mistake the issue which has been raised. The University has at length, after eighteen years of self-denial, been drawn by what I might, perhaps, call an overweening exercise of power, into the vortex of mere politics. Well, you will readily under- stand why, as long as I had a hope that the zeal and kindness of my friends might keep me in my place, it was impossible for me to abandon them. Could they have returned me by amajority of 334 Representing South Lancashire. 280 one. painful as it is to a man of my time of life, and feeling the weight of public cares, to bo incessantly struggling for his seat, nothing could have induced me to quit that University to which I had so long ago devoted my best care and attachment. But by no act of mine, I am free to come among you. And having been thus set free, I need hardly tell you that it is with joy, with thankfulness and enthusiasm, that I now, at this eleventh hour, a candidate without an address, make my appeal to the heart and the mind of South Lancashire, and ask you to pro- nounce upon that appeal. As I have said, I am aware of no cause for the votes which have given a majority against me in the University of Oxford, except the fact that the strongest con- viction that the human mind can receive, that an overpowering sense of the public interests, that the practical teachings of ex- perience, to which from my youth Oxford herself taught me to lay open my mind, all these had shown mo the folly, and I will say, the madness of refusing to join in the generous sympathies of my countrymen, by adopting what I may call an obstructfve policy." In an address to the electors of Liverpool, he felicitously re- ferred to the peculiar features of the two constituencies. " We see represented in that ancient institution— represented more nobly, perhaps, and more conspicuously than in any other place, at any rate with more remarkable concentration— the most prominent features which relate to the past of England. I come into South Lancashire, and I find around mo an assemblage of different phenomena. I find development of industry ; I find growth of enterprise ; I find progress of social philanthropy; I find prevalence of toleration; and I find an ardent desire for free- dom * * * * I have honestly, I have earnestly, although I may have feebly, striven to unite in my insignificant person that which is represented by Oxford and that which is represented by Lancashire. My desire is that they should know and love one another. If I have clung to the representation of the Univer- sity with desperate fondness, it is because I would not desert that post in which I seem to have been placed. I have not aban- doned it. I have been dismissed from it, not by academical, but by political agencies. I don't complain of those political influ- ences by whi-h I have been displaced. The free constitutional spirit of the country requires that the voice of the majority should prevail. I hope tKat the voice of the majority will pre- i i ■'i! : ! 236 Bepresenting South Lancashire. vail in South Lancashire. I do not for a moment complain tl 't it should have prevailed in Oxford. But, gentlemen, I comr row to ask you a question, waother, because I have been dcclav 'dun- fit longer to servo the University on account of my politici'". po- sition, there is anything in tluvt position, tl>,-re Is anything ii what I have said and done, ill tlio ard-jnns office which T hold, which is to unfit mo for the rcprescntiition of my native co^'nt '"' Mr. Gladstone's strength, as shown by this election, lay in the large towns rather than in the country boroughs; for in Liverpool, Manchestei', and all the other towns in this portion of the county, his name stood at the head of the poll. Wo snail look to see him, then roj. resenting the sentiments of the Liber- als of the cities, rather than the more modified sentiments which are usual in the English country districts, which are Ir vge- ly Conservative. But although the han-^s of the Ministry wore strengthened by considerable Liberal giuns in this general election, contrary to the expectations of both parties, it had met with a severe loss in the death of one of its ablest supporters. This was Richard Cobden, who had been named " The Apostle of Free trade." Ho was not a member of the Cabinet, for he had declined the ap- pointment which Palmcrston had offered him, on account of his opposition to the Premier's ideas i.gurding the foreign policy to be pursued; but his closest political ally, Mr. Milner Gibson, had accepted the post which Cobden declined, and it was under- stood that th's was nearly equivalent to his taking office himself. He died early in April, 1865. While his loss was severely felt by the Liberals, it was still more a blow to that little band of Eadi- cals of whom he was really tho ffM-^most member, though the polished sauvity of his manner, contrasiod with the abrupt force of Bright, gave most persons the impression that he was rather more conservative than his great comrade. To the sturdy Quaker personally it was a severe blow ; and his tribute to his friend, spoken too soon after that friend's death to be esteemed a formal memorial address, is one of the most pathetic of its 'J kind: " After a close friendship of many years, I never knew how much I lov^ed him till I lost him." And the strong, firm-set man sat down and wept, regardless of the gaze of his colleagues. The death of Cobden had occm- during the session of 1865. Before Parliament was again called together, there was anoth- er vacancy in the ranks of the Liberal party— the man who wr.s Bepresenting South Lancashire. 287 nominally utits head, by reason of I. le position which ho had held. Lord Piilrnerston was nearly oigjity-onc, but although he had oc- casionally been kept from the House by attacks of tho gout, he was far more regular in his attendance thco than many a young- er man. While Premier, ho underwent an amount of work which at his age seemed phenomenal ; and all Iho strength and spright- liness of his character were maintained to tho last. Ho died af- ter an illness of six days, in tho latter part of October. There wa«' but C'lo man whom publi: opinion named as him to whom tho vacant post of right belonged. Earl Russell tho former op- ponent, the recent associate, of ♦he Head Premier, was appointed by tho Queen the First Min Lor of the Crown. His age, his great services, his high reputation, his honorable character, made his claims generally admitted. Five years before, tho Prime Min- ister would have been the leauor of the House of Commons ; but the courtesy title had given place to one borne by right, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer succeeded to tho first rank in tho lower branch of tho national councils. It may here bo no'ed, in explanation of tho apparent anomaly of Palmorston's being in the House of Commons, that ho was an Irish Poor, and as such not entitled to a seat in tho House of Lords unless elected to it by tho whole body of Irish Peers. Tho death of Lord Pulmerston removed all doubt as to what the Ministry would do upon the subjectof Eeform. But before en- tering upon this much vexed question, it will perhaps bo ^cst to consider briefly some other subjects which c.^iio before Parlia- ment this session. Having thus cleared the stage, the progress of iliat great political drama can be watched without interrup- tion. The budget was introduced May 3rJ, during a suspension of the hostilities then raging in regard to the GovernmeivL'a Reform Bill. There was a surplus of sufficient magnitude to warrant certain reductions of duties. The duty on timber was to be abol- ished, as well as that on pepper; and tho duty on wino in bottles and that on wino in wood Avero to be equalized. Certain changes were recommended la the duties on locomotion j but in recom- mending these changes the right honorable gentleman took care not to add to the burdens of the middle and lower classes. The tea duties were to be renewed, and the Income Tax was to be4J. in the pound. The National Debt had been reduced from £18,- 000,000 in 1858 to £8,267,000, and the time for further reduction 238 Bepresentiag South Lancashire. '. i I is was most favorable. T^heso provisions met with little opposition. A proposition to convert a portion of the National Debt into terminable annuities was made thn subject of a separate bill, which d-d not pass beyond the second reading, owing to the chang'js which took place during Ihe session. Mr. Gladstone had visited Glasgow in the autumn of 1865, a.ad had been, with due formalities, presented with the freedom of the city He had then spoken most feelingly of the loss which the country had recently sustained in the death of a statesman like Palmerston. He was now called upon, by the duties of hisposition as Leader of the House, for an official utterance. The subject was an address to the Queen, praying her to order the erection of a monument to the late Premier in Westminster Abbey. His eu- logy was a masterly analysis of the character of his late chief. He was followed by Ilr. Disraeli, who added another tribute to the memory of the popular Minister. The Irish troubles which had recently arisen, or rather gix)wn from their normal condition, demand some share of attention. Thosjwho had emigrated to America in consequence of the iara- iP-^ of 1846-7, and some who had been banished on account of the part which they had taken in the insurrection of the followingyear, had not been without warm affection for the country which they had thus been compelled to leave. The result had been an organiza- tion which originated in the United States-but which was by no means confined to that country-designed to establish u rep.ib- 1=-^ in Ireland. The cessation of the Civil War had given the Fenirns a considerable accession of dangerous assistants by re- leasing from their sworn duty to the United States or the Con- federate States a number of disciplined veterans, whose experience enabled th m to t.uin others for military service. In addition to this certain plans had been formed for seducing the Irish soldiers in the British army from their allegiance. At first the movement had seemed to be wildly impracticable; the end at which they were aiming seemed as little possible as the origin which they claimed, from some forgotten national militia, of Ireland, four hundred years before Christ. But the British Government soon found that the visionary character of its claims and its hope? was not all there was of it. Fenianism was a real danger men- acin- British rule :n Ireland ; the greater, perhaps, because the priests, whose counsels had generally ^een for moderation and patience, were carefully excluded from the control of thu Bepresentiny South Lancashire. 239 organization und from knowledge of its movements. The Gov- ernment was driven to propose a bill for .-ispending the Habeas rr\f'^i'' ^^""^ '''""^'^- ^^''' ^^^^^"^« "^^^ violently oppos- ed by Mr. Bright, who seems to have seen something of the wrong which the Fenians were striving to - ido. He called up- on the '' two great and trusted leaders," Gladstone and Disraeli to throw aside ali animosity for the time, and unite in some measure which would bring peace to Ireland. The cause of the discontentshouldbef und, and a remedy applied; therewassome way to make Ireland loyal, and it was the duty of the Imperial Parliament to find that way. So spoke this champion of the peo- ple more than twenty years ago ; fighting in hale of a wron^ not his own. ° It was the duty of the Leader of the House to defend this Government measure against the voices which condemned if and he was not without power in doing so, Howevor much we may admire the attitude of Bright, who would thus have yield- ed the rights that were demanded, or at least a portion of them we must recognize the wisdom of Gladstone in his arguments against this course. The Irish members had acquiesced in this bill, and they were the legal representatives of the Irish people Much of Mr. Bright's speech, he said, was open to question, and was ill-timod ; it was the duty of the House to strengthen the handsof theExecutivo in the preservation of law and order Mr Gladstone in later years showed that he was not so blindly prej- udiced in this course as the Fenians would have had us believe • when the Iruh people demanded their rights in moderation and self-control, he urged that these rights be granted; but it will be remembered that that demand had not then been made by the voice of their representatives in Parliament. '' The mills of the gods grind slowly;" and the Fenians were premature in the tur- bulent violence of their eftbrts. Ireland will some day be free as her sons, from Emmet to Parnell, have wished to see her- the day will sometime dawn when every nation upon earth shall have the American ideal of - a govern Tient of the people, for the peo- ple, and by the people." The Government carried out other vigorous measures for the suppression of the conspiracy, such as the suspension of the newspaper which was the chief organ, the arrest of suspected persons, theorder of additional troops to Ireland; soon leaving only those embers which tinaliy kindled the fires of ParnollJsm /^ 240 Representing South Znncashirc, The old question of Church Rates camo up again this session, id Mr. Gladstone pressed a measure providing for the abolition Earl Russell. of compulsory Church Rates; but the question was left in the same doubtful position which it had so long occupied. The war between Austria and Prussia brought about a warm mf:'~^,--^~ ^l!^.» Representing South Lancashire. 241 discussion on continental affairs, in which Mr. Gladstone warned the Foreign Secretary that the cause of Italy was dear to the people of England, who would not readily forgive a policy which attacked hor unity and independence. It may here be re- marked that Ve "a was added to Italy by the treaty which closed this war, a few months after Mr. Gladstone's speech on the subject; and with the exception of the States of the Church, which came under his dominion in 1870, the kingdom of Victor Emmanuel was the same as that over which Humbert has sway. Tlu. decks thus cleared for action, we come to the disenssion of the all-important measure of Parlianr ontary Eeform. When it was known that Earl Enssell had succeeded Viscount Pal. merston as the head of the Government, it was confidently an- ticipated that there would bo a sweeping change ui the mode of representation; that the franchise would be considerably ex- tended, in accordance with the veteran reformer's ideas as ex- pressed in that bill which his late chief had literally "damned with faint pniiso," The measure vas introduced by the Chan- cellor of the Exchequer on the 12th of March, and me^ with much opposition; not from the Conservatives only, from whom of course it was to be expected, but from many Liberals as well. It has been remaiked by the careful historian whom we have quoted several times before this, that it was scarcely politic, if the Min- istry had looked only to its "wn stability, to introduce, at the beginning of the first session of a new Parliament, a measure which would have the effect of renewing the risks and expense of a general election. If Earl Eussell and Mr. Gladstone had been content to wait anotlicr session or two before introducing the Eeform Bill they would have addressed themselves to mem- bers whose recollectioi. of the election was less vivid, whose pui'ses would have in sor ..j degree at least hnve recovered from the enormous drair .•. h'ch Englirh election expenses entail ; and the reception of r j oill would most probably have been more fortunate. But Lord Eussell b".d long been an enthusiast upon this suV jec! He hod mado his first motion in favor of Parliamentary Eeform dur'ng the year of Queen Victoria's birth; he had been one of the fou) members of the Government to whom Earl Grej'- intrusted the task of framing the first Eeform Bill, which passed in 1831 ; and ho hnd proposed that famous measure to the House of Commons. He was then verging close upon forty; more than l6 242 Itepresenting South Lancashire. thirty years later, his ancient ardor had not diminished; and he had a worthy second in Mr. Gladstone. " Too fond of the right to pursue the expedient," they considered thems(.lves pledged to the people; and they redeemed that pledge at the earliest pos- sible opportunity. The House was crowded in every part as it had been when Lord John arose to introduce the first measure of the kind. In a speech of two hours Mr. Gladstone explained the provisions of the bill. It did not deal with the question of redistribution of seats, but simply with the extension of the Franchise; nor did Mr. Gladstone promise that the important omission should be dealt with during the next session. The bill, though a good and honest measure, was evidently a compromise; for that scheme which Lord John Eussell had introduced, and which Mr. Glad- stone had so warmly supported in 1860 had advocated the re- duction of the franchise in the towns to £6, and in the counties to £10; and the figures in this bill stood at £7 and £14 re- spectively. As we have said, the bill met with uncompromising opposition from a considerable portion of the Liberal party. Of this sec- tion, Mr. Lowe and Mr. Horsman were the recognized leaders. Mi'. Bright, who was of course n, warm supporter of the measure, spoke in defense of it with all that keenness which so often makes his speeches unanswerable. The malcontent Whigs were the victims of his sarcasm, which was dealt out with no sparing hand : " The right honorable gentleman [Mr. Horsman] is the first of the new party who has expressed his great grief, who has retired into what may be called his political "Cave of Adullam," and he has called about him every one ihat was in distress and every one that was discontented. The right honorable gentleman has been long anxious to Torm a party in this House. There is scarcely any one on this side of the House who is able to address the House with effect, or to take much part in our debates, whom he has not tried to bring over to his party or cabal; and at last the right honorable gentleman has succeeded in hooking the right honorable gentleman the Member for Calne [Mr. Lowe]. I know there was an opinion expressed many years ago by a member of the Treasury Bench and of the Cabinet, that two men would make a party. When a party is formed of two men so amiable, so discreet, as the two right honorable gentlemen, we Representing South Lancashire. 243 may hope to see, for ^.he first time in Parliament, a party per- fectly harmonious, and distinguished by mutual and unbroken trust. But there is one difficulty which it is impohsiblo to re- move. This party of two reminds me of the Scotch terrier, which was so covered with hair that you could not tell which was the head and which was the tail of it." But Mr. Bright's contempt for the weakness of this party of . two was premature. Since the days when David retired into the Cave of Adullam, and there gathered to him every one that was in distress, or in debt, or discontented, there have always been found fol- lowers for such com- plainers against the ex- isting state of things. There were many Adul- lamites, as the Palmer- stonians, or anti-Ecform Whigs, began to be call- ed ; and the party was not without its influence. The speeches which were delivered against the bill by the members of this new party were of such a nature that the Conservative party Jii- Hofu Edward Horaman. took fresh courage. Had the Liberals remained united, there would have been little chance for the Opposition, so con- siderable was the majority which had been returned for the Government in the general election. The Conservative lead- ers summoned a meeting of their supporters for the purpose of considering the m..nncr in which they should deal with the min- isterial proposal. Lord Derby was absent on account of illness, so that Mr. Disraeli was the foremost figure. He delivered ar, address which aroused the enthusiasm of his auditors, and it was resolved that the bill should be strenuously opposed. Their hopes were no longer confined to mere de}ay, or some slight con- cessions which might be wrung from the Government; nothing ' : 244 Bepresenting South Lancashire. loss than a total rout of the ministerial forces --1^ satisfy them; and the alliance of the Adullamites would enable them to achieve this victory. It caused no small dismay in the Eeform camp when it was k^ own that Earl Grosvenor, the eldest son of the Marquis of Westminster, had gone over to the enemy; for they had confi- dently reckoned upon his continued support. Upon the second reading of the bill, however, he proposed a resolution affiiming that the House did not think it expedient to discuss any bUl for the reduction of the franchise until the whole plan of the Gov- ernment should have been laid before it. As Mr. Gladstone had already stated that the Government would not attempt anything that session beyond the extension of the franchise, this was regarded as a vote of no confiden o and coming as the proposition did from one who had so lately been an alty upon whom they could always depend, the effect was peculiarly discouraging to the friends of Reform. This opposition was natural on the part of the representatives of small boroughs, who were anxious that their constituents should not be immediately disfranchised ; there are few men capable of the serio-comic self-sacrifice of that Member for Lud- gershall who was his own constituency, ^s we have mentioned in L chronicles of the days of Earl Grey's Reform BilL Oh there were ^<ho were jealous of the influence which Mi. Bnght and his adherents were supposed to have cxortod over the Cab- inet, in framing this bill. Others still feared that if the exten- sion of the franchise were carried, it would be the means of ob- tainino- a much larger measure of redistribution than the old Whigmrty was willing to consent to. By the Conservatives it was regarded as a dangerous concession to democracy. Such were the sentiments of the majority of the House of Commons; but the bill was more generally approved in the country. The combination between the Tories and the Adu lamites was one which could not easily be defeated without makmg conces- rn^which, in the eyes of the Leader of the House, were ca cu- lated to lower the dignity of the Government; -"^ Mi GUd- stone was the last man in the world to compromise that dignity even for the sake of avoiding a defeat. At the same time it was his duty to avoid that contingency, if possible to do so by means cln^rtent with the honor of the Ministry. He there ore ^ave a short explanation on the evening before the House udjuux ue. for Eepresenting South Lancashire. 245 the Easter holidays. After the second reading of the franchise bill, and before it was committed, the Government would state their intentions with regard to the franchise of Scotland and Ireland and the questions connected with the redistribution of seats. After that they would proceed with the franchise bill un- til until its fate was determined. But the motion ot Lord Gros- venor would bo opposed as a proposed vote of want of confi- dence. During the Easter holidays, the friends of the Eeform Bill worked hard. Mr. Bright told a large meeting at Birmingham that their representation was a sham and a farce, and that if they wanted Eeform, they must bring a strong pressure to bear upon Parliament from without. Mr. Gladstone delivered two address- es upon the same subject at Liverpool, declaring that he and his colleagues had determined to stand or fall by their franchise bill; that ti.'y had crossed the Eubicon, whence there was no possi- bility of retreat. When the second reading of the bill came up, just a month af- ter it had been introduced, there was but little interest in the debate, for it was thought that argument on the topic had been exhausted; every one was looking anxiously forward to the di- vision. But the debate dragged on, night after night. It was the 28th of April before the divi;:lon was reached. The number of members voting was perhaps the largest proportion of tiio House of Commons that over expressed an opinion in that way ; no less than six-hundred and thirty-one votes were cast; so that there were but twenty-six, besides the speaker, who did not vote. The majority in favor of the Government was five. When the result of the division was announced, the excite- ment in the House was unparalleled ; it broke forth in shouts of triumph, not from the Ministry that had nominally conquered, but from the Adullamites who had so nearly defeated them. In- deed, such a victory was worse than a defeat; for while it did not permit the Ministry to withdraw the bill, it gave a most un- equivocal indication that it would meet with a decisive defeat at the next stage. The only alternatives were to dissolve or re- sign. The division had taken place Saturday morning, and at five o'clock Monday afternoon Mr. Gladstone rose to announce the programme of the Ministers. The bill was to be proceeded with ; in a week's time leave would be asked to introduce the bill for i '5 J if 246 Representing South Lancashire. tho redistribution of seats ; bills for Scotland and Ireland were to bo brought in on tho same evening, and would be proceeded with at the same time as the franchise bill. The House received the announcement in silence; the decisive battle was yet to be fought. Mr. Gladstone further announced, on the evening that these bills were introduced, that the Queen would not be advised by the Government to prorogue Parliament until these bills should become law. Tho franchise and redistribution bills were finally combined, and submitted to one committee. The question was not finally decided until Juno 18th, when, on an amendment pro- posed by an Adullamite, tho House divided, and gave a major- ity of eleven against tho Ministers. The Opposition, both Tories and Whigs, received the announcement with deafening cheers. The Eussell Government was to stand or fall by its Eeform measure, and the bill had failed. Tho Queen was in Scotland, and it was some time before the suspense of the House was relieved. Would the Cabinet resign, dissolve, or go on with the bill ? Eight days later it was an- nounced that they had determined to resign j and that her Majesty had finally accepted their resignations, though not with- out consideral 'e hesitation. Mr. Gladstone thus stated the rea- sons which haa actuated them in this course : "The question before the Government was, whether they should resign their offices or whether they should accept the vote that had been come to, and endeavor to adapt it to the frame- work of their measure of Eeform. * * * * By accepting the vote there would have been a breaking-up of the framework of the measure. But besides this, the Government had to consider the previous history of tho bill, especially with reference to the pledges given from time to time — advisedly and deliberately giv- en — to stand or fall by the measure. That is a pledge which should rarely be given by a government, but it has been given by this Government under the deepest conviction of public duty in regard to dealing with the question of Eeform, and with re- spect to tho character of public men and of Parliament. There- fore it was that the life of the Administration was attached to the life of the measure they proposed. ***** Looking, I say, at all this, the Government found it impossible to carry on the bill, and we had no alternative but a resignation, and a persis- tence in our resignation." Bepresenting South Lancashire. 247 Tho fact that the measure had met with such favor in the coun- try suggests that tho Ministry might have appealed to that last re- sort, and thus secured the victory ; but there were many "Whigs in the Cabinet, who were by no means friends of tho measure, though they could not openly oppose a bill introduced by their col- leagues; they were not willing, however, to make any sacrifices Mt. Hon. Robert Lowe. for it, nor would they make great efforts to push it; in view of this disagreement, such a course would have been impracticable. A new Ministry was formed, with the Earl of Derby at the head, and Mr. Disraeli as Chancellor of Exchequer itnd Leader of the House. The composition of the new Ministry was an- nounced on the 9th of July. In addressing the House of Lords upon the policy which the -,^^!^U^ f^ II M' '■:f^^ gf.'.-^ ?S ''WMW 248 Mepresenting ISouth Lancashire. Govornmont would pursue, Lord Derby said that they wore en- tirely unpledged upon the subject of Eeform j and that they would not take up the question unless there was a fair prospect oi carrying it through. With many promises of needed legisla- tion, he addressed himself to the task of winding up the business of the session as soon as possible; but this was not accomplish- ed in less than a month. During this time, when the question of Eeform remained in abeyance in Parliament, it was eagerly discussed by the people. Several associations were formed for the purpose of giving a plain and practical contradiction of the statement that the peo- ple were indifferent to it. The Eeform League was the most con- siderable of these. A London barrister, Mr. Beales, was its pres- ident, and it owed much of its efficiency to his energy and tal- ents. The League wished to hold a monster mass-meeting, and the president advised them that this might be done without in- fringement of the law. The place was fixed for Hyde Park, but the police forbade this, and the spectators, guided by Beales, went to Trafalgar Square, where the meeting was held. Eesolu- tions in favor of Eeform, and votes of thanks to Messrs. Glad- stone and Bright for their constancy in the cause which so many had deserted, were carried unanimously. The members of the leairue and their friends then dispersed quietly. There was no disturbance; though a number of roughs, who had followed them to Hyde Park and remained there when the League with- drew to Trafalgar Square, created considerable trouble, which was wrongly laid to the door of the advocates of Eeform. But this riotous conduct was not without its use; the Government heard the loud voices of the mob calling thus tumultuously more clearly than it had heard the voices of the more orderly who had been beseeching and claiming as a simple right the extension of the franchise. The Dorby Government could not shirk the question of Ee- form. They must go on with it, and it must be no half measure. But they left it in suspense almost to the last moment, for the Cabinet, as in the case of that which had been displaced, was di- vided upon the subject. Finally, however. Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli succeeded in persuading their colleagues to consent to the introduction o^ a bill upon this subject in the session of 1867. Mr. Disraeli's position was hardly an enviable one, unless we consider that man fortunate whose powers are displayed by the .« ->.^*> Representing South Lancashire. 249 magnitudo of tho obstacles which ho has to surmount. Ho was leader of a party that had all along dreaded and opposed any ex- tension of tho suffrage, being regarded with jealousy and suspi- cion by many whose support was necessary to tho success of his scheme. Opposed by a considerable majority, which, although divided, might unite at any time; supported by a party that fol- lowed him with undisguised repugnance, and which, to borrow his own phrase, required to be educated up to the point of accept- ing such a measure as ho would bo obliged, by the pressure from without, to propose; and hampered by tho declarations which ho himself had made regarding the numerous Reform Bills which his opponents had brought forward at different times — he yet rose to the difficulty of his task with consummate ability. There were two plans possible: one a mild and conservative measure, the other a bolder or ^. It was tho latter which was finally brought before the House. In less than a week after Parliament assembled, tho Leader of the House explained the provisions of the proposcdbill. He gave notice later that the bill would bo introduced March 18th. Mr. Gladstone spoke in answer to this notice, expressing a hope that when tho Reform measure appeared, i^ would bo simple and straightforward J not having a double &e.; of provisions, one of which seemed to give, while the other eally took away liberty. If the plan promised to effect good in a simple, straightforward, intelligible and constitutional mannc it would bo received on his side of tho House in no grudging s- it, with no recollection of the past, and no revival of mutual suspicions and complaints. It would have been well if tho Government could have embraced these generous overtures; but there was a considerable section of the Conservative party who wanted no Reform at all, and Mr. Disraeli was obliged to satisfy them as wel' as those who were clamoring loudly for the changes. Three of the Ministers had resigned because they could not give their assent to tho bill approved by the majority of their colleagues. Instead of drawing a five, six, or seven pound limit, to cut off those from the franchise whose extreme poverty would rondci them more susceptible to bribes, the Government boldly adopted household suffrage with the simple qualification of the payment of rates. Mr. Disraeli calculated that this would en- franchise 237,000 additional voters, and that of the whole num- ber of thoRo who would have a voice in tho election of the IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) #, // *A 4^0 V C^x ^^ '--tv^. o A^ MP- A 1.0 I.I 1.25 If 1^ 6' ||M 1.8 U IIIIII.6 ^. V] <P ^. '<> c^m # /i '^^ vV w F • Photographic Sdences CorpcTation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14^80 (716) 8724502 <5r. is 9 250 Representing South Lancashire. House of Commons, one-half would belong to the middle class and one-fourth each to the higher and lower classes. Such was: his much talked of " balance of power." But the bill did not give a vote to those householders whose rates were paid by their landlords ; so that although the bill was on its face extremely generous, it was not really as much so as that which Mr. Glad- stone had introduced. A novel feature of the bill, and one which was by no means approved of, was that provision which gave a man two votes if he paid the requisite amount of assessed taxes or income tax, and was also a rate-paying householder. This was strongly as- sailed by speakers on both sides of the House, among the most emphatic of whom was Mr. Gladstone. A meeting of one hun- dred and forty members of the Liberal party was held at Mr. Gladstone's residence early in April, to arrange what course of action should be taken in opposing this bill. Some difference of opinion was expressed as to what should bo done, but it was finally understood that Mr. Coleridge was to introduce a resolu- tion aflSrming that the committee should have power to alter the rating and make other changes. On that very evening a meet- ing of some forty or fifty members was held in the tea-room of the House of Commons, who agreed that they would unite to limit the instructions to be proposed by Mr. Coleridge. They then appointed a deputation to convey to Mr. Gladstone the feel- ing of the meeting, and to assure him that the members compos- ing this meeting would continue to give him a loyal support in committee. M-. Gladstoro, finding that by the defection of so many of his adherents he was almost certain to incur a defeat, yielded to their demands, and the resolution was altered accord- ingly. The House went into committee, Mr. Disraeli having ac- cepted the altered resolution. Mr. Gladstone gave notice of sev- eral important amendments, which Mr. Disraeli stigmatized as merely the resolutions which had been abandoned by the tea- room party, cast into another form; and he announced that if they were insisted upon, the Government would not proceed with the bill. As most of the tea-room party held together, the Government triumphed by a majority of twenty-one in the di- vision on the first of Mr. Gladstone's resolutions, After this, he could not hope to carry any of the others, and they were with- drawn. Nor was this all; he determined to withdraw from the leadership of the Liberal Party He announced his intention, Mepresenting South Lancashire. 251 Jtnd explained the reasons for it, in a letter to one of the vnem- bers for the City, who had asked him if he intended to persevere n moving the amendments of which he had given notice In taici ff";f • ^'^'^^^"^ ^^^^-'^ ^^P^'^^-^ his'intention of not taking further steps to combat the action of the Government- hough he promised to follow any one who would undertake the leadership in this matter. His action was sincerely regretted by those who still support- ed him though they saw that he was justified in the course which he had taken. Mr. Bright took the opportunity which a great Reform demonstration at Birmingham aflForded, to denounce the action of those Liberals who had thus dpserted their leader at sucu a critical time. Eulogizing Mr. Gladstoneas having brought to the consideration of this question of Reform more earnest- ness, conviction, and zeal than any statesman since the measure of Earl Grey had excited all England, he asked : - Who is there in the House of Commons that equals him in knowledge of all political questions? Who equals him in earnestness? Who equals him in eloquence? Who equals him in courage and fidelity to his convictions ? If these gentlemen who sav they will not fol- low him have any one who is equal, let them show him. If thev can point out any statesman who can add dignity and grandeur to the stature of Mr. Gladstone, let them produce him It is a deplorable thing that last year a small section of forty men or thereabouts, of professing Liberals, destroyed the honest and ac ceptable (I speak of the people) bill of the late Government, and with It destroyed also the Government which proposed it. About an equal number have this year to a great extent destroyed the power of tne Opposition, and may assist an anti-Reforming Gov- ernment to pass a very bad measure on the greatest question of our time. ***** What can be done in parliamentary parties If every man is to pursue his own little game ? A costermonger and donkey would take a week to travel from here to London • and yet, by running athwart the London and Northwestern line' they might bring to total destruction a great express train • and so very small men, who during their whole political lives 'have not advanced the question of Reform by one hair's breadth or one moment of time, can in a critical hour like this throw them- selves athwart the objects of a great party, and perhaps mar a great measure that sought to affect the interests of the country 'beneficially for all time." 252 Represent imj South Lancashire. The plain truth and justice of Mr. Bright's speech carried with his censures weight that made them to be folt by men, who, pro- fessing to desire a real extension of the franchise, were yet adopting a course which was nullifying that object, and were placing at the disposal of the minority a power which ought to be exercised by the majority. The bill made no provisions for granting the franchise to lodg- ers, but this was conceded as time went on. Other modifications were made both in the franchise and in the re-distribution of seats; and the Government announced that from this position they would not recede further. Various amendments were pro- posed, but the House was only too anxious to have the question settled, and these were rejected, though by very small majorities. Some other concessions were wrung from the Ministry, notwith- standing Mr. Disraeli's positive statement; so that one of those ministers who had resigned office because he could not support this bill, observed that it seemed there was nothing with less vi- tality than a vital point, nothing so insecure as the securities which the bill offered, and nothing so elastic as the conscience of a Cabinet Minister. Certainly he had cause for these biting re- monstrances, for the Conservative Ministry had so modified this measure that it was one which might have been introduced by Mr. Bright himself, and far surpassed the expectations even of the Reform League. The later clauses of the bill were hurried along, for it was the latter part of July; amendments were negatived after very slight consideration; and the bill at last came up for the third reading. The caustic severity of the language which was used in de- scribing Mr. Disraeli's course in this matter has scarcely been equalled in Parliament. It recalled to the minds of the elder members his own attack upon Sir Robert Peel. Mr. Disraeli, however, was not without weapons to repel such an attack; and answered by reviewing the action of the Palmerston Govern- ment, which had come into existence because the Derby Cabinet could not or would not grant Reform, and shirked the responsi- bility for which they Lad been appointed. The bill was read a third time, a single dissenting voice being heard when the Speak- er put the question; and when the motion was made, "that the bill do pass," the announcement of the vote was received with more than usually tumultuous cheering. Representing South Lancashire. 258 The Eeform Bill passed the House of Lords in August, and be- came law shortly afterward. Mr. Disraeli gave not a little of- fence to his adherents by the language which he shortly after- ward used in epeaking of it. *' I had to prepare the mind of the country," he said, at a Conservative banquet in Edinburgh, "and to educate— if it be not arrogant to use such a phrase— to educate our party." There was much comment upon the expression, and the newspapers continued to quote it for a long time. The author of this much amended Eeform Bill was shortly to be called to occupy a higher position than Lis talents had yet won for him. The Earl of Derby had been in ill-health for a long time, frequently being unable to attend the sessions of the House of Lords; at other times he forced himself to be pres- ent when he was manifestly unfitted for the exertion. He re- tired in February, 1868, and Mr. Disraeli became Prime Minister. Of this elevation, the newspapers had much to sayj and what they said was not always exactly. .;omplimontary to tYn brilliant novelist-politician. While not as violently worded as some of the attacks which the press of this country sometimes makes up- on high officials, from the President down— for they would not be guilty of formal disrespect to thetheFirstMinisterof the Crown —there was yet a mingling of unanswerable raillery and sar- casm. Perhaps an extract from the Pall Mall Gazette will be the best example : " One of the most grievous and constant puzzles of King David was the prosperity of the wicked and scornful ; and the same tremendous moral enigma has come down to our own days. In this respect the earth is in its older times what it was in its youth. Even so recently as last week the riddle presented itself once more in its most impressive shape. Like the Psalmist, the Liberal loader may v/ell protest that, 'verily, he has cleansed his heart in vain and washed his hands in innocency; all day long he has been plagued by' Whig Lords, 'and chastened every morning by' Radical manufacturers; as blamelessly as any cur- ate he has written about Ecce Homo, and ho has never made a speech, even in the smallest country town, without calling out with David, 'How foolish am I, and how ignorant!' For all this, what does he see? The scorner who shot out the lip and shook the head at hira across the table of the House of Cc m- mons last session, has now more than heart could wish ; his eyes speaking in an Oriental manner, stand out with fatness, he speak- 254 Representing South Lancashire. eth loftily, and prido compasseth him about as with a chain. * * * * That the writer of frivolous stories about Vivian Grey and Coningsby should grasp the sceptre before the writer of beauti- ful and serious things about Ecce Homo— the man who is epigram- matic, flashy, arrogant, before the man who never perpetrated an epigram in his life, is always fervid, and would as soon dia as admit that he had a shade more brain than his footman— the ;, Eadical corrupted into a Tory, before the Tory purified and ele- vated into a Eadical— is not this enough to make an honest man rend his mantle, and shave his head, and sit down among the ashes inconsolable? Let us play the too underrated part of Bildad the Shuhite for a space, while our chiefs have thus unwelcome leis- ure to scrape themselves with potsherds, and to meditate upon the evil ways of the world." Beneath the scoffing and pretended condolence of this para- graph, there is no small vein of truth. The characters of the two men are not inaptly drawn ; for although it is a palpable exag- geration to say that Mr. Gladstone would ''as soon die as admit that he had any more brains than his footman," ho is not keenly self-appreciative; and the quality thus lacking in his mental composition was possessed in double share by the most eminent of his rivals. Parliament had been summoned in November, 1867, to consid- er the Abyssinian War. This was uruiertai<en for the deliver- ence of certain British subjects who were hold captive by King Theodore. Mr. Gladstone was among those who spoke on the subject. There had been certain statements made by M: Dis- raeli during the recess, regarding Parliamentary matters, which he, as Leader of the Opposition, was fully justified in asking an explanation for; but the illness of Mrs. Disraeli had atthistime assumed such a form that she was in a precarious condition • and the brilliant novelist was as deeply attached to his wife as he •was indebted to her. Profticing his speech, therefore, with the statement that he would refrain from asking for any explana- tions, and by an expression of his sympathy with Mr. Disraeli in his domestic affliction, Mr. Gladstone pointed out that while there was a clear casws belli, it was not at all clear that there would be much gained by a war; the Ministry would have to convince the House that the objects of tho axpedition were ob- tainable, and show both how it was proposed to carry on the ex- pedition, and what would be its limits. He pressed for a settle- Representing South Lancashire. 355 ment of the troubles in Ireland, where the Fc-ian outbreak was ut Its height. Hetrusto.l that the r.inx.r was incorrect which assigned to the Irish Chmch Commission the function of draw- ing up plans for its reorganization. Mr. Disraeli was unusually moved when he rose to reply, thanking Mr. Gladstone for the expression of sympathy, and the House for the manner in which - u had been received. His speech did not promise m.ch defin- itely The Government hoped to accomplish all that was de- manded of them j they were still unpledged to the Abyssinian JUxpcdition; they would introduce a bill dealing with the Irish troubles; and were giving their earnest attention to Church mat- ters The House a few days later voted a sufficient sum to carry on the African war, and, agreeably to the plan for which Mr. Gladstone had on this occasion as on others so warmly pleaded imposed an additional tax to meet the expense without adding to the debt. The House adjourned about the middle of Decern- ber, the objects of this special session having been accomplished. _ -Kefoi-m Bills rclatingtoScotlandandlreland were carried dur- ing the session of 1868, and the work for which Earl Russell had so long hoped was thus accomplished by his political opponents, who had opposed nothing so vehemently and persistently A question whi^h had long occupied the attention of Parlia- ment was definitely settled this session, chiefly by the efforts of Mr. Gladstone The measure, which was the Compulsory Church Eates Abolition Bill, passed both houses, though not without some opposition from the Conservatives. It provided that there should be no legal proceedings for the collection of Church Eates, unless money had been borrowed on them as se- curity ; but voluntary agreements might be made, and the money so promised might be collected in the same way that any other contr^icts might be enforced. While this bill was looked upon as a Ead.cal measure, it is not clear that itreally made much change in the real state of affairs. Parliament simply agreed that the Church would waive the right which she had asserted, in case she could not secure the recognition of that right from those who supported ether places of worship. The Irish Cnurch had long boon a subject which had perplexed the legislators of the Empire. If the Dissenters in England had been strong enough to compel that act of justice which has just been chronicled, the Non-conformists of Ireland were strong enough numerically to have done much more, had all other 256 Representing iSouth Lancdishire. tilings been equal. But the mere assertion of a right by an Irish- man seems always to have been enough to arouse the opposition Hon. Charles Stewart. PmmelL wm^m k k of Engh'shmon. A nation which prides itself upon Its sense of jus- tice, its regard for the rights of man, its love of liljerty,. has never hesitated to grind a subject nation to the dust. The Irish Representing Houlh Ijiineashire. 267 Chnroh ya, oxotio, and only th» care which was given it by Par- country. A, long ago „s 1885, i„ t|,„t p„„p,,,„;. J^.i^^ ;„„" Irsrcwf, "' ''™'.,^'''"'''--^^""" l.a/said'that t.e woTd InshCnurch were the greatest bull in the language: that it was caled the Church of Ireland bc.ansa U was nSt tL C urcl diftcnlty which was experienced in collecting tithes; ihat diffi- culty had not diminished in the least. To men^'d the matter for t .ncumbents who were thus «nable to collect their incomes, he Government had formulated a scheme by which the Chnrch would belcs.,cmbarr..ssed, this was the plan of ch.argingthe andlord w, b the ti.hcs, .»„.! allowing him to add a corLpond^ .ng sum to the rent which had bcfo.-e been exacted. A refractory Irishman, who p..„d a hundred poundsaycar for hisho-ding, thus bad his rent raised to one hundred and ten pounds, in ordf; that a church or which ho bad no regard might be enabled to su;": er ministers. This -vas the chief change -bat i,ad been m.ade in the government of the Irish Church since the daysof O'Oonnell and It was one that bore heavily upon an alrcad^ over-burdened' On the I6th of March, 1868, Mr. Maguire having moved that the House resolve itself into a committee of the whole to con- „lar the Ir,.,h question, Mr. Gladstone struck the first blow in tl flght which was to end in the disestablishment of the Irish Church After speaking feelingly of the wrongs which the Irish had endured at the hands of the English for centuries, he Id m-i cZof r r "°''^'°"' "^""'"y ostablished; but that the piincip e of leveling up was a most pernicious error. The Irish people had repeatedly been urged to loyalty and to union ■ tTa was what he would advocate, too ; but it w.as idle, it w.^;, k Trf'v^iich !"• ,'''"•""T'"y'?^"°''''"'P'''"■''"S^f"»">»-■ ure which has long since bccomelaw; but his conclusion is perti- nent to the present, and will be so until Ireland is free • If we are prudent men, I hope wo shall endeavor as far asin uslies to make some provision for a contingent, a dinbtf I and probably a dangerous future. If we bo chivalro'us m n 't^st we hall endeavor to wipe away those stains which the dviuTd world for ages has seen, or seemed to see, on the shield of Eng laud ,n her treatment of Ireland. If wo be compassionate m™ ■If 258 Representifuj South Lancashire. |i I hope that wo shall now, onco for nil, listen to tho tulo of woo which comes from hor, and tlio roality of which, if not its jiis- tico, is testified to by tho continuous emigration of hor pooploj that wo shall endeavor to ' Razo out tho writton trouolos from her bruin, Pluck from lior memory tho rooted Borrow.' But, above all, if wo bo Just men, wo Bhall go forward in tho namo of truth and right, bearingtliis in mind ; tiiatwhoji tho ca8o is proved, and tho hour is come, justico delayed is justice denied." This eloquent appeal carried consternation into tho camj) of tho enemy. Mr. Disraeli bewailed his own misfortune in being confronted with this ancient problem at tho very outset of his career as Premierj tho same state of atfairs had existed whilo the Pt'Jmorston and Russell Governments were in ])ower, to both of which Mr. Gladstone bad belonged, and no attempt had been made to deal with it. lie strongly objected to tho de- struction of tho Irish Church, being personally in lavorof eccles- iastical endowments. At Mr. Gladstone's request Mr. Maguire withdrew his motion. But tho spectre had been raised, and could not bo laid. The Irish Cliurch question had moved forward an enormous stride when Mr. Gladstone had made that ap])eal, and it was impossible to go back, or even to stand still. Tho country speedily took up tho cry of disestablishment, and it became the ono aim of the Liberal party of tho time. Mr. Gladstone himself did notrecede from tho advanced position which ho had taken, but laid upon the table of tho House of Commons a series of resolutions, which he intended to move in committee of tho whole, affirming that it was necessary that the Estjiblished Church of Ireland should cease to exist as an establishment, due regard being had to all personal rights and individual interests; and that an ad- dress should be presented to Her Majesty, praying that her inter- erest in tho temporalities, dignities, and benefices in Ireland bo placed at the disposal of Parliament. To these resolutions Lord Stanley, a few days later, gave notice of an amendment to the effect that the whole subject might well bo left to tho considera- tion of a new Parliament. March 30th, Mr. Gladstone delivered his famous speech in con- nection with these resolutions. Having given assurance that his measure did not contemplate the violation of any vested right or interest, but would endeavor to work this great reform without Kepresentituj Simth hoirashire. 25d injiiMtico to any ono, ho procoodo.l briefly to .•tu.ftpitt.luto hjspor- Honul history in oonnrction with tho Huhjcntt. Wo no.-.i ncarcoly remind tho render what changes his opinions hud undergone: those who are so interested in tho subjeet as to desire u detailed account, may bo referred to the pages of Hanhard, or tho pub- lished speeches of the groat Liberal, or to that resume of hisown which we have before had occasion to quote, "A Chapter of Auto- biograj)liy." The speaker showed the futility of the attempt to Protestant- ize Irehmd by the maintenance of tho Establishment: though the census of 18«)1 showed a small proportionate increase, the rate was so small that it would take 1500 or 2000 years to of- foct tho conversion of tho entire people. lie recognized that many felt that it was an unhallowed act to disestablish a Church and while he fully understood the feeling, hothoughtitan error,' which it was lus duty to overcome and repress. Throughout the whole speech there ran a tone of deepest sympathy with those earnest thinkers who looked upon this measure as almost, if not quite, an act of sacrilege; a sympathy tho more profound be- cause tho speaker had himself passed through that sta-^o of thinking; he had held tho faiUi which they now held ; but hav- ing grown out of it, ho called to them to rise to tho level which ho had reached. That jounu,] which had called him a Tory ele- vated and purified intoaKadical, might well now have styled him a Churchman purified and elevated into a Christian. Lord Stanley justified his amendment upon tho ground that Mr. Gladstone's resolutions merely affirmed tho necessity for ac- tion, without spocifying what should bo done. Lord Cranborne, on the other hand, condemned tho amendment as ambiguous; it left all to the future policy of tho Government, which he would as soon undertake to predict as to tell the House which way the weather-cock would point to-morrow. This fling at tho Premier's inconsistency was followed by a thoroughly Conservative speech by Mr. Gathorne Hardy, who it will bo remembered was that successor of Mr. Gladstone as tho representative of Oxford who was not regarded as dangerous on account of any phenom- enal ability. Mr. Bright, of course, justified disestablishment, on the ground that the Irish Church had been, both as apolitical institution and a missionary church, a most deplorable failure. The Conservative party had resist^^d Tree Trade, Heform and other measures, and this was not more serious than they had been. 'Ill IP tSaiM M u I m 260 27ie First Gladair.ne Afinistry, Mr. Lowe spoke forcibly in fy.vor of (lisestabllslunent, arguing that the Irish Church was founded upon au Injustice, on the dom- inant right of the few over the many ; as a missionary work, it was a miserable faiiure; and, like Mr. Bright ht sliowed how disproportionate to tl^c eH(»rt in tiiis direction had been the resulJ, a fact that musL be universally conceded. Hon. Gathorne Hardy. To all these Mr. Disraeli answered in a speech which even for him was of an unusually personal character. Lord Salisbury, he said, wa*' a man of great talent, and had vigor in his language. As soon as the noble lord heard the amendment, he concluded that the Government was about to betray its trust. Mr. Lowe suiFered more severely at his hands. There was nothing that he liked, and almost everything that he hated. Mr. Disraeli then stated, with that coolness which distinguished him upon such ./". " Representing South Lancashire. 261 occasions, that ho had never attacked any ov^ in his life. He wan intorruptetl by loud erios, in which the name ot Pool wus'plain- ly heard ; and tliese became so numerous that he adroitly added Iho proviso, " unless I was first attacked." But even thisprudent audition did not hush the cries. H.- talked of having fathomed a conspiracy between Kitunlisin and Popery to overthrow the throne ; and declared that as long o«, by the favor of the Queen, he stood there, ho would oppose this nefarious effort of Mr! Gladstone and his friends. Mr. Gladstone retorted that there were some parts of Hie Prime Minister's speech the relevancy of which he cov'u not discern ; while others were duo to a heated imagination. For himself, he did not wish to deny that ho advocated the disestab- lishment of tlio Irish Church ; and he demanded that . .s Par- liament should at least prepare the way for that necessary meas- ure. The debate had lasted four nights before divisions were taken. In the two which were taken at the close of the discussion, the Government was defoated by majorities of fifty-six and sixty. The Liberals had not dared to hope for such a decisive major- ity. The party was now united as it had not been for & long time, and the popular feeling \va? largely with them in this ques- tion. But the Conservatives were not willing to allow that they were wholly beaten, especially in the opinion of the people. If a Liberal meeting wero held, a Conservative followed. Various means, not always fair ones, were resorted to, to prove the Op- position in the wrong. Serious charges wore circulated against the leader of the Liberal party. When he was at Eome, he had made arrangements wilh the Pope, being a CathoUc at heart, to destroy the Established Church of Ireland ; ho had publicly con- demned the support of the clergy in tho three kingdoms out of public or Church funds ; ho had, when at Balmoral, refused to at- tend the Queen to church ; he had received the thanks of the Pope for his course with regard to the Irish Church; and he was a member of a High-Church Eitualistic congregation. " These statements, one and all," wroto Mr. Gladstone, when they were brought to his knowledge, "are untrue iu letter and in spirit, from beginning to end." Mr. Gladstone's resolutions were stigmatized as unconstitution- al by Lord Derby, who spoke in the House of Lords while t..e measures were yet ©ending in the Commons. "When the debate 262 Representing South Lancashire. was summed up, on tho night when the fJrst resolution was car- ried, Mr. Gladstone repelled this charge, and d3clared that he would not take the word of command from tho House of Lords. Urging the resolution as a part of a policy which would add to the glory and strength of the Empire, he gave pkce to his rival, who merely reiterated his objections to disestablishment. The division followed the speeches of the two leaders, and the Op- position found that they had a majority of sixty-five. The decreac^e of the Government's strength was unmistakable, and Mr. Disraeli waited upon the Queen. Tho proper constitu- tional course, ho told her, was to dissolve Parliament and appeal to the country, though at the same time he offered the resigna- nation of the Ministry; but 'f the House would co-operate with the Government, he thought it would be better to delay dissolu- tion until the Autumn. But this was by no means what the Liberals wanted and had worked for. Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Bright and Mr. Lowe protest- ed against this failure to dissolve at once under such circum- stancos as unconstitutional ; but the Premier had laid his plans cunningly. To dissolve at once was to appeal to the existing constituencies J there must be an appeal very shortly to the con- stituencies established by the Eeform Bill of the previous year, so that the new Parliament would sit for only a single very short session. Under such circumstances, the desired delay was grant- ed ; and the Ministers having agreed to confine themselves to such business as was absolutely necessary, the Opposition yield- ed the point. The remaining resolutions which Mr. Gladstone had intro- troduced were put and carried without serious opposition. The Ministers negatived them as a matter of course, as they were but corollaries of the first ; but there was no division. Then arose such a scene as the House of Commons has seldom beheld. A Scotch member, a Liberal, elated with the victory which had al- reaciy been gained^ and thinking that matters might as well be pushed to the utmost, moved the abolition of the Maynooth grant and the regiur: domim (separate annual grants of public money by the Government to the Catholics and Presbyterian clergy in Ireland). This was more than Mr. Gladstone and his immediate adherents had bargained for, and the Liberals were at once re-dividcd among thomseives. Tlse Ministers walked out of the House, leaving the Opposition to fight out Bepresentiny South Lancashire. 268 their civil war in their own way. The uproar was at its height. Bellowing, screeching, cheering, yelling, echoed and re-echoed in that hall which should have been the scene of dignified delib- eration. Everywhere there was extravagant gesticulation from members who had the floor, and members who wanted it In the midst of the confusion the Pi-ime Minister returned. His ex- pectations had been realized, he said, and the ^ ..tlemen on the opposite side of the House were now quarreling over their booty. But this sarcasm did not shame them j it only added to the disordorj and in the midst of the confusion the Scotch mem- ber's rider to Mr. Gladstone's resolution was adopted. The Scotch Eeforni Bill necessitatf^d some further changes in that measure which applied to the souchern kingdom ; but these were passed without much opposition. There were some minor measures passed, and some of considerable importance to the country, such as the authorization of the puichaso of the vari- ous telegraph lines; but none that are of interest in connection with our subject. Mr. Gladstone was too closely identified with that great measure which he finally passed, to speak at length on other topics. His Suspenso. Bill, which was preliminary to one abolishing the Establishment inlrelii d, was at lust introduced and passed the House by a majority of fifty-four ; but it was defeated in the House of Lords, where the Conservative element so far outnum- bers the Liberal. If there were exciting times in the House of Commons, the memborc were not froe from cares connected with their seats when they had left St. Stephen's. Parliament was prorogued the last day of July, with a view to its dissolution +he middle of November. The candidates at once proceeded to make their canvass. The election speeches of Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Gladstone, while nominally addressed to their special constituents, were of course meant as general expositions c^ the policy of their re- spective parties. As such, wc need not qucte them, as they dealt mainly with that great question which had defeated the Ministry One sentence of a speech which Mr. Gladstone de- livered at St. Helen's is so apt a description of the Irish Church that we give it, alone: "You must not take away its abuses, be- cause, if you take them away, there will bo nothing left." It was well knoM^n that the Conservatives would spare no «f- 264 Bepresenting South Lancashire, fort to defeat Mr. Gladstone in Southwest Lancashire. Though the weather was bitterly cold when the nominations took place, the space around the hustings was crowded. The Conservatives had displayed their wit upon numerous placards, which were en- joyed by Mr. Gladstone as well as by his enemies. "Bright's Disease and Lowe Fcvor," "Time-table to Greenwich," and similar happy hits were to be seen. During Mr. Gladstone's speech of forty minutes, he was regaled with a choral perform- ance of the national anthem. Notwithstanding this, he proceed- ed, with much eloquence, to state the Liberal policy. While there was a great preponderance of feeling in favor of Mr. Gladstone at the hustings, the polls told a different story, and the foremost Liberal would have been left without a seat in Parliament, had not the Liberals of Greenwich, fearful of such a contingc , placed him in nomination and elected him by a triumphant majority. Other notable members of the party who were defeated at this el,ection were the Marquis of Ilartington and Mr. John Stuart Mill. But in spite of these notable single defeats, the Liberals had carried the day. More than half a million voters of the three kingdoms were the majority for the Opposition. Since 1832 no such party majority had been known. Under such circumstances, Mr. Disraeli did not think it nec- essary to wait until Parliament should assemble ; but at once tendered his resignation, and those of his colleagues, to the Queen. There was no question as to w^o was to be his successor; for although Earl Russell was still a noi inactive member of the House of Lords, ho had practicull}^ renounced the leadership of tho party. After him there was but one, the man who had been the most illustrious of his colleagues, who had occupied the most responsible post in t' Administration which had resigned to make way for Derby and Disraeli. For him the Queen sent • and William Ewart Gladstone now reached that highest emin- ence attainable by a British subject— that of First Minister of the Crown, or, as more familiarly designated, Prime Minister of Great Britain. CHAPTER X. THE FIRST GLADSTONE MINISTRY. Prime Minister of England-DibeHtablishmeut of the Irish Church-Disraeli's Sarcasm— Eloquent Defense by John E.ight— Opposition Among the Peers— Irish Land System— Bill for the Kelief of Ireland-System of Education - English Tourists Seized by Greek Brigands— War Between France and Pru.ssia— Russia's Control of the Black Sea-Marriage of the Princess Louise Army Regulation Bill— Tory Abuse of Mr. Gladstone- Ballot Bill— Proposal to Admit Women to the Franchise- Much Opposi- tion to the Government- Able Speeches by tlie Premier. R. GLADSTONE was fifty -nine years old the sumo month that ho became Prime Minister of England for ihe first time. There were scarcely any evidences of ad- vancing years to bo seen in his face and he had all the fire of youth in hlG voice and manner. Ho was at the head of a power- ful party, which had come into ofiice with a strength that had not been equalled for nearly forty years. His Government was a strong one; what might he not hope to accomplish ? When it was known that the Librrals were in the majority, no one had the least doubt but that Mr. Gladstone would be Prime Minister ; and it was equally certain that certain men would be included in his Cabinet. But there was considerable surprise ex- cited by one appointment which he made. This was the nomin- ation of John Bright to bo President of the Board of Trade. It was thought that Mr. Bright would not consent to be hampered in the expression of his individual opinions, as a Cabinet Minis- ter must be when ho is not in full accord with his colleagues; Lord Palmerston had humorously complained, some years be- fore this time, that a Prime Minister was no longer able to do just as he liked ; men with consciences, ideas, abilities of tl ir own, were in office, and w.uld not consent to be the mere clerks of their chief. It was indeed with soFno reluctance that Mr. Bright accepted this post, and he was careful to cxj)]ain to his constitu- ents that they must Tiot think he had changed his opinions, if the measures of th" ilinistry were sometimes opposed to his 206 I Win. E. Gladstone at Age of Fifty-nine. 266 The First Gladstone Ministry. 267 known ideas, unless ho himselfshouldannouncesuch modification to them. It had been originally planned to make him Secretary for India, but the possibility of circumstances arising in which he would be obliged to direct military operations made it desirable to place him in some office where ho would not be called upon to do that which was in direct antagonism with his opinions as a member of the Society of Friends. If the Government was a strong ono, it had need of all its strength. The task before it was an exceedingly difficult one J and although the policy of the party had been approved by such a vast majority of the people, there were not wanting those who regarded the disestablishment of the Irish church as an act of sacrilege, and did not hesitate to sa^ so. At public meetings it was characterized as a wicked, ungodly and abominable measure, framed in a spirit of inveterate hostility to the Church, a great national sin, a dreadful thing, a perilous weakening of the foun- dations of property, which the Queen must, at all hazards, inter- fere to prevent, as she had better jeopardize her crown than de- stroy the Church. These were expressions used by bishops and other clergymen and by noblemen, who were presumably civil-spoken. The laity of lower rank, as was to be expected, were even more unmeas- ured in their denunciations. The statements of the Liberal press and the Liberal speakers were lies ; the members of the Govern- ment were traitors, robbers, political brigands ; if there were any form of abuse that was not used, it was because it was unknown to these zealous defenders of the Establishment. Mr. Gladstone, of course, paid not the slightest attention to these outcries of the defeated party. He gave notice that he should bring in his bill on the 1st of March. His speech occupied three hours in the delivery, but even Mr. Disraeli, who seems to have been in an unusually complimentary mood, admitted that there was not one sentence that the subject and the argument could have spared. The bill was a simple one, and seems to have been a justly framed measure. The Irish Church was to cease to exist as a State Establishment, and was to become a free Episcopal Church. The bishops would of course lose their seats in the House of Lords. A governing body, elected from the eloi^y and laity, would be recognized by the Government; the union between the English and Irish Churches was to b© dissolved, and the Irish 268 The First Gladstone Ministry. Ecclesiastical Courts were to be abolished. Then there were provisions for the disposal of the revenue in such a way as to prevent any injustice being done to those who had claims upon the Establishment. There would be a considerable surplus after all claims were satisfied, and it was proposed to use this toallev- uite unavoidable suffering in Ireland. There was some discussion with regard to this, as it was thought to be somewhat indefinite j Mr. Gladstone spoke of making provision for the blind, the deaf and dumb, for reformatories, schools for the training of nurses and the support of county infirn.aries. Of this disposition of the funds Mr. Bright was the ardent champion. Along with the Establishment, the Maynooth grant and the regium donum came to an end. We have in a previous chapter spoken of the former; the latter was a royal allowance for the maintenance of Presbyterian ministe/s in Ireland. It had begun under the Stuart., and been abolished under the same iHouse • but was restored by William III., who had reason to be grateful to Irish Presbyterians. Both were small things, but their abolition established the equality of religious denominations in Ireland. The bill was of course resisted, but it was not such a resistance as IS opposed when the Opposition has any hope of succeed- ing. Mr. Disraeli spoke, but his speech was characterized as " flimsiness relieved by spangles— the definition of a columbine's skirt." "He began in the philosophical vein," said the Times which had given this definition; ''and while we acknowledge that Mr. Disraeli's fun is exquisite, his philosophy is detestable '" He had no faith in the possibility of success, it was evident to his hearers J the speech was a perfunctory one, a mero matter of form ; and contrasted badly, sparkling and bewildering in its conceits and illustrations as it was, with that in which the Prime Minister had introduced the measure, which was said at the time to be " a Parliamentary achievement unequalled even by him- self." But if Mr. Disraeli took little interest in the contest in which he had only to expect defeat, it was not so with some of his adher- ents. Mr. Gathorne Hardy, in particular, who is said to have been so constituted that he could see but one side of a question at a time, saw what was most decidedly the Conservative side of this one, and did not hesitate to say so, in a speech so filled with the conviotion that this was an act of spoliati-.n and sacri- lege that it was almost up to the level of eloquence. 269 2TO The First Gladstone Ministry. Mr. Bright was one of the most eloquent defenders of the measure. Ho spoke in reply to Mr. Disraeli's speeeli. Alvud- ing to the statement that the Establishment was a protect- or of the freedom of religion and toleration, which had been advanced by the ex-Premier, bo said that Mr. Disraeli "seem- ed to read a different history from everyone else, or else he made his own, and, like Voltaire, made it better without facts than with them." He closed what was justly called a magnificent oration, with a noble and dignified appeal, which, coming from any other lips, would have seemed daring, but which from him exercised a powerful and impressive effect upon the House. Mr. Lowe, who had come out of theCaveof Adullam long ago, and was now Chancellor of the Exchequer, made an Utack up- on Mr. Disraeli, and proved to his own satisfaction, if not to that of the Conservative chief, that the Irish Church had neglected all its opportunities of conciliating the people. Mr. Gladstone reviewed ithe course of the debate. Mr. Hardy, he said, had, by his accusations of the Irish people, shown that he dare do what Burke would not attempt—-' draw an indict- ment against a whole people." But .ven in this picture of the Irish people, which was little, if any, short of libellous, there were evils displayed for which Mr. Hardy had no remedy. He then went on to consider the charge that this bill would necessi- tate a change in the Coronation Oath, and showed the ground- lessness of that argument. One after another, the pleas which had been advanced for the maintenance of a Church in which the people had no part, save to be taxed for its support, were taken up and pulled to pieces. Mr. Gladstone showed that these arguments were like Mr. Disraeli's speech in one respect only- there was flimsiness without the spangles. The division was then taken. There was intense excitement throughout the House, though the Government was secure in a majority suflSoient to carry the measure through. But the whips had been hard at work, and it was not known how this might be diminished. There were actually present in the House six hun- dred and twenty-two members, a number which has seldom been exceeded, or even equalled. Much to the surprise of both sides, the majority was nearly double those of the previous year upon the same qr- tion ; and the progress of public opinion was -.iear- The furthei progress of the bill was slow, but sure. It was The First Gladstone Ministry. 271 three months before the final reading came on, and it was at last adopted by the Commons. The ordeal of the House of Lords yet remained ; and for some time its fate was doubtful. Some of the debates in the House of Lords are said to have been more in- teresting than those in the Commons. The hereditary legislators dared not set themselves directly against a clear expression of public opinion, but, mindful of the condition on which they are said to hold their power, contented themselves with discussing amendments. There was at one time a rumor that the Poerswould reject orgreatly delay the bill, and Mr. Bright wrote an angry let- ter on the subject, addressed to a Birmingham meeting, in which he said that if the Lords persisted in throwing themselves athwart the national cou'rse they might meet with accidents not pleasant for them to thi k of. The Peers were many of them shocked and scandalized that a Cabinet Minister should give such plain and forcible expression to his opinions, and it was made the subject of some sharp discussion among them as well as in the Com- mons. But the very publicity and unexpectedness of the menace gave it a force which made it irresistible. If Cab- inet Ministers had been in the habit of expressing themselves ■30 openly when they held such opinions, there would have been nothing thought of it; but even Pal merston, when he de- clared that the Lords should not be allowed to resist the will of the people, as expressed by the vote of the Commons, had put it into the form of a jest. Mr. Bright, however, had a peculiar priv- ilege in England ; he could say just what he meant. Perhaps this unusual permission was accorded him because it was well under- stood that he would do as he pleased anyhow. But the attacks which had been made upon the bill and its au- thor outside, were renewed in the House of Lords. The Earl of Winchelsea compared Mr. Gladstone to Jack Cade, and after hinting at the coming of an Oliver Cromwell, declared that he would go to the block before he would surrender. Lord Grey said that the Lords were humiliated and degraded. The passage of the Act for the Disestablishment of the Irish Church, introduced and carried within a space of five months has been called the most remarkable legislative achievement of modern times. It vas carried mainly by the resolute will and unflinching energy of the man with whom it had originated, and who had become Prime Minister because of it. But the thing could not end here. One reform is never ac- The Election Campaign— Mr. Gladstone in the Assembly Hall at Edinburgh. 272 The First Gladstone Ministry. 273 complishod without making another more necessary. There is no possibility of strict conservatism in politics; there must he progress, or there is retrogression. Having settled the question of the Irish Church, the Gladstone Government found itself face to face with t»^ Irish Land Problem. It had ried the one; but oven the prestige of that victory would not avail the.n if they failed to do anything with the other. There had been some who said that the State Church was merely a sentimental r,rievancej lut as an eminent Irish writer of the present day observes, if the land system were a grievance at all, it must be acknowledged that it was a terribly practical one. The Irish Land System is one which has seldom been under- stood, simply because a bare and simple statement of the facts seems incredible. The upholders of it have instanced landlords who were all that could bo wished, just as the upholders of ■slavery in our own country brought forward hundreds of cases in which the slaves were better off before than after emancipa- tion; It would of course be impossible to find any state of affairs however crying the evil, where there were not good men whoso conduct ameliorated the evil as fur as their influence extended- and there have been Irish landlords who have had consideration for their tenants, just as there were humane slaveholders. But a system which put such power 'nto the hands of any body of men, some of whom were certain to misuse it, was at best a faulty one. The Irish tenant held his land at the will of his landlord. If he cultivated the land so as to raise a greater crop than it had before produced, he showed that it was of more value than the owner had supposed it was, and his rent was raised. If he put any improvements upon the place, he added to its value and his rent was raised. If the little farm seemed a desirable'holding to any one else, and an offer were made to the landlord or agent in accordance with this opinion, the unfortunate tenant had reason to congratulate himself that his rent was simply raised, and that he and his family were not turned adrift to shift for themselves. The demand was so great that men would offer any price for land— a price which they must have known they could not get out of it. True, there was but a slip-shod system of farming in vogue among them, but what more could be expected? There was literally no room for improvement, until a better law should widen the limits of their exertions. i8 274 The First Gladstone Ministry. II It was not 8o in all parts of Ireland. Thcro was on3 province in which the stronger law of custom had ovorcon>e che weaker written rule. The principle of "tenant-right" prevail in Ulster — tenant-right, which Lord Palmcrston, with more wit than hu- manity or justice, had defined as " landlord-wrong." A man was oUowed to remain in possession us long as ha paid hi? rontj ho was entitled, on giving up his holding, to compensation for un- exhausted improvements ; and ho was at liberty to sell what may be called the good-will of his farm for what it would bring in the market. Wherever this tenant-right principle prevailed, there was industry and prosperity ; where it was unknown, there were idleness and poverty, with discontent and crime as their natural consequences. Hu i'T far the fact that this right had been asserted in Ulster and not in the other provinces was due to the character of the people, and how far the maintenance of it was duo to the diiferent estimation in whi'ih the inhabit;-.its of the North and of the South were held in England, is o question which each must de- termine for himself. It is difficult '•'» state one's opinion exactly without either unjustly accusing the English people of a re- ligious intolerance, which made an^- act of oppression seem justi- fiable, or, on the other hand, exonerating them from a charge which is not in all respects undeserved. Such was the state of aflPairs when, on the 15th of February, 1870, Mr. Gladstone introduced his Irish Land BUI into the House of Commons. It was thought inefficient and unsatis- factory by some of the Irish members, and was for that reason opposed by them. The mosL that it did was to establish as the law for the whole island what custom had already made law in Ulster. Landlords, under certain conditions, we allowed to contract for themselves out of the provisions of tho bill ; and hence it arose that these opposing members a]ip''ared to be justified in their course by the fact that eventually there were more evictions, immediately after the passage of tho bill, than there had been before. If the bill were regarded as a half-measure by the ^rish, it was not so esteemed by the landlords, who declared It to be revolu- tionary. It put an end to the landlord's absolute power, and recognized that the Government could interfere with the right of the land-owner, to limit it for the good of the community, just as it can interfere for the same purpose with the rights of others. The First Gladstone Ministry, 275 The bill was not put forward by the Government as a i^orfoct measure. The}' had worked hard at it, Mr. Gladstone told the House, and it was the best that they could do; but thoy invited, in perfect good faith, the co-operation of all parties and all mem- bers in its improvement. Thoy desired that the moaaure should bo a great boon to Ireland, and put an end to the grievances and sufferings which her people had so long endured. They had not knowingly proceeded in any spirit of partisanship; and as thoy had aftorded the occupier improved security of tenure, so they afforded the landlord a better security for his rent and for the better cultivation of his land. With regard to the Irish laborer, the only thing which thoy could hope to do for him— and it was a great thing—was to increase the demand for his labor; this wouM bo done by stimulatiug the agr-oultural interests of the country; a course which, by making more demand for labor, would raise the price o" it. The landlord might suffer some at first; but he would not ultimately be the loser. Ho believed that there was a store of uudevelopod wealth in the Irish soil which cou!d only be developed by che joint action of landlord and tenant. He hoped that this bill would be accepted by both classes, because it was just. He said that the Govcnment hoped by this measure to effect a great change in Ire!i»nd, but to effect it by gentle means. Every line had been carefully studied, so that it should import as little as possible of violent shock or al- teration into the existent condition of things ; it was desired that the operation of the bill should be like that cf nature, when she restores upon a desolated land what has been laid waste by the hand of man. This they know could not be done in a day. The evils had grown up through a long period of time, and could not be suddenly corrected ".ithout injuring many innocent persons. That the bill might pass, it was necessary to view it, not as the triumph of one class over another, or of party over party, but as a common work of common lore and good-will to the common good of the common country. The only enduring ties by which Ireland might be united to England and Scotland were freewill and free affection. The Opposition of course spoke against it with more or less effect— generally less. Sir Eoundell Palmer, while he described the bill as large and important, called it a bumiliaiing neces- sity ; ^xr. ri.srnen sasd fhat " a more complicated, a more clum- sy, or more heterogeneous measure was never yet brought before The Fird (Uudstone Ministry. the attention of Parliament." The sehomo of course included some means of enforcing the changes which were made, and Mr. Disraeli described at length, and with some effect upon the risi- bilities of the Hous^, the difficulties which would beset the courts thus established. v Sir Roundell Palmer {afterward Lord Selborne). In closing the debate, Mr. Gladstone had few arguments to re- ply to; the speeches of his opponents had been mainly invec- tive. One portion of this speech well deserves place in our re- cord, as an expression of the Government's duly: " It is our desire to be just, but to be just we must be just to all. The oppression of a majority is detestable and odious; the oppression of n minority is only hy one degree lens detestable and odious. The face of Justice is like that of the god Janus. It The First Glailstone Ministry. 211 is like the face of those lions, the work of Landseer, which keep watch and ward around the record of our country's greatness. She presents the tranquil and majestic countenance towards every point of the compass and every quarter of the globe. That rare, that noble, that imperial virtue has this above all other qualities, that she is no respecter of persons, and she will not take advantage of an unfavorable moment to oppress the wealthy for the sake of flattering the poor, any more than she will con- descend to oppress the poor for the sake of pampering the luxur- ies of the rich." The Opposition had not intended to divide, but a division was forced upon them, with an extraordinary result. Mr. Disraeli and many of his influential supporters went into the lobby with Mr. Gladstone, so that the whole number of votes for the Gov- ernment the first reading was four hundred and forty-two. The teller o.i the other side had an unusually easy time of it, for he h;ui but eleven men to reckon over. When the bill went into committee, there was more serious op- position. There were no fewer than three hundred amendments moved ; one of which, proposed by Mr. Disraeli, Mr. Gladstone declared was an effort to overthrow one of the cardinal principles of the bill. Upon a division on this question the Government had a majority of seventy-six. The further discussions in the House of Commons, prolonged as they were, did not aifeci the fortunes of the bill, which went up to the Lords at the end of May. It passed the Upper House without important alt-^ration, and received the royal as- sent on the 1st of August. Mr. Gladstoiio had said some t'me before this that the Irish Upas-tree had three Brandies— the Established Church, the Land System, ar.d the System of Education ; and that he meant to hew them al. down if he could. The figure met with not a little ridicule at the time it was used, but it expressed a resolute purpose, which was now two-thirds accomplished. Perhaps, in view of the principle before enunciated, that one reform is' al- ways followed by another, it would bo nearer the truth to say that his purpose was almost accomplished; for certainly the dis- establishment of the Irish Church, and the change which had boon effected in the tenure of land, had gone a long way toward preparing men's minds for the fall of the third branch of that deadly tree. 278 The First Gladstone Ministri The second important measure which had passed the House during this session related to elementary ediuation in England and Wales, which was in a very unsatisfactory condition. The Government bill which was introduced by Mr. Forster, was based upon the principle of direct compulsory attendance. The Government and the Opposition agreed so cordially about this measure that the ire of some of the Liberals was aroused, and the Ministry were charged with having thrown the Non-confor- mists overboard, in order to secure the support of the Conserva- tives. The Premier had led one section of the Liberal party through the Valley of Humiliation, complained Mr. Miall, speak- ing on behalf of the Non-conformists, and they would not again be betrayed by him. " Once bit, twice shy," he concluded, " and we can't stand this sort of thing much longer." This speech stung the Premier to an unusually sharp retort. If they thought it better to withdraw for the sake of the cause which they had at heart, let them withdraw from the support of the Government. The Government did not want their support any longer than it was consistent with their own sense of duty and right. But when the Government thought that Mr. Miall and his companions had the interests of the communities which they represented too mach at heurt, to the detriment of the gen- eral interests, the Ministry which was willing to co-operate with them for the common good of all, could no longer aid them; they must then recollect that they were the Government of the Queen, and propose to themseVes no meaner nor narrower object than the welfare of the Empire at large. The measure eventually passed both houses, and became law, in spite of the protests of Messrs. Miall & Co. A profound sensation was created in England by an outrage which was perpetrated in Greece during the spring of this year. A party of English tourist" W".s seized by Greek brigands, and held for an enormous ransom .u money coupled with a demand for certain immunities. An effort to rescue them resulted in the murder of the prisoners. The matter being formally brought to the attention of Parliament, the Government interfered with such effect as to secure the execution of muny brigands, and al- most complete extirpation of the band immediately implicated. It was thought at the time that this would lead to a complete in- vestigation o-f the condition of Greece, but the stirring events elsewhere during the latter portion of the year caused it to bo The First Gladstone Ilinistry, 279 came law. iorgotten by all except those families to whom it was a matter of sad interest, and who were obliged to content themselves with many sincere expressions of public sympathy, _ During the latter days of the session of 1870, there arose the dispute concerning ihe succession to the Spanish crovrn which ended in the Franco Prussian War. Isabella II. had abdicated Emperor Napoleon III. in favor of her eldest son, Alphonso, Prince of the Asturias; who was for some time a resident of England and a student at Wool- wich ; his nominal accession not bringing the cares of state witli it for some years afterward. But the Powers wore speedily busying iliemselves to find a successor to Isabella, whose forceii abdication was due to circumstances which naturally drove the whole family from Spain, for the time at least. Prince Leopold 280 Th^ Pint Gladstone Ministry. m sfan^nl'^'fllr? ^"^ "^'"''^ated. but the candidacy of a Prus Emperor persisted i„ making ,,1ema„d„ which the SVprl, sia was unable to ffrant IVannlpr^n ttt . ^ -rrus- disgrace which had a^t^nhp.! ? . T' '™^'*'°S under the and hadresultd in^t^h^^^^^^^^ r"' ""T '^''''''''' of Maximilian, FmnpZ. K u J . deposition and execution of the Mexican warlike hulr .t !?,« f ^jie English seem to have been in a waniKe Jiumor at this time, and determined to fight some onp if did not much matter who it mitrht bp- hnf f 7 f^^om, it the oMs..^^t T-:cz 1 tarr„7 S" 281 282 The First Gladstone Ministry. prisoners. The Fenians had actually oflFended against the laws, not only of the British Empire, but against those broader prin- ciples which are at the bottom of every legal system. They were in actual and open rebellion against constituted authority. As long, therefore, as that authority could uphold its jlf, just so long their rebellion was not revolution ; and they rauGi be punished as traitors. Whatever be our personal feelings with regard to the efforts which have been made, from time to time, for the libera- tion of Ireland, we must acknowledge that any government must punish rebels against its authority or consent to forego its right to govern. But with a generosity to the fallen, and with a wise recollection that persecution only strengthens a cause, Mr. Glad- stone declined to prosecute the prisoners who were accused of treason. They would be releab^d on condition of their not re- maining in the United Kingdom, or returning to it. This course, he said in his letter to the Lord Mayor of Dublin, he believed was <* perfectly compatible with the paramount interests of rub- lie safety, and, being so, wiU tend to strengthen the cause of peace and loyalty in Ireland." During the recess, the Government had to deal with the vexed question of Eussia's control of the Black Sea. The Czar had de- clined to recognize its neutrality any longer, and it was necessary for the Powers to take some action for the protection of Turkey and their own interests. A conference was held in London to discuss the question; and the assembled diplomats wisely con- cluded that as the Euxine was only a Enssian lake anyhow, do what they would, tho Powers might as well let that member of their body huve control of it. There were certain concessions demanded for the Porte, and these, being chiefly matters of form, were granted ; the Porte was permitted to open the Dar- denelles and the Bosphorus for the passage of vessels of war of friendly and allied powers, in case it should be necessary for the maintenance of the treaty which closed the Crimean Warj but the power of Eussia was too great to be easily limited. At the opening of the session of 1871, Mr. Disraeli severely criticised the foreign policy of the Government. The naval force particularly was the subject of his amusing sarcasm; and he en- tertained the House with an account of the "attenuated arma- ment" which made impossible au armed neutrality. Mr. Glad- stone retorted that what he now called an attenuated armament he had characterized as a bloated armament ten years before ; The First Gladstone Ministry. 283 and showed conclusively that England was not to blame for not having secured the strict neutrality of the Black Sea, since all the Powers besides were opposed to the continuance of a state of affairs whichallthestatesmen of theday, including Lord Clarendon and Lord Palmerston, had believed would be only temporary. The foreign policy continued to be the subject of discussion for some time, though the Leader of the Opposition would not bring the thing to a head by moving an amendment to the Ad- dress, or by any course which would cause a division to betaken. Mr. Herbert, however, soon brought forward a motion affirming that the House thought it the duty of the Government to inter- fere, together with other neutral Powers, to secure terms of peace as favorable as possible for the vanquished in the war which had cost Napoleon IIL his throne. Mr. Gladstone answer- ed that the attitude of the Government had not been one of self- ish isolation, as the speaker had stigmatized it ; that concerted ac- tion with Kussia was impossible ; that an extorted peace was what England had to fear; that the greater the magnanimity shown by the victor, the better it would be for all the neutral Powers, as well as for Germany herself; that neither of the belligerents desired the intervention of others; that England had no cause to be discontented with the position which she occupied in Eu- rope, but that the action of neutrals, to be effective, must be con- certed. Mr. Herbert finally expressed himself satisfied with the position of England, as stated by Mr. Gladstone, and withdrew his motion. The marriage of the Princess Louise occurred in March of this year, and Parliament was of course asked to make some provision for her. The proposed grant aroused the opposition of some members, who aflirmcd that they represented the inter- ets and sentiments ot a considerable number of the people. The position of the ministry was warmly supported by its head, who defended the moderate nature of the grant asked for, and showed with what economy the royal expenditure was managed. He also dwelt upon the value of a stable dynasty, and the un- wisdom of making calculations of a minute nature upon such oc- casions. "Whether the opposing members were converted to this view of tha mmsiinn ot* fiimnl''' oVv°"r'+"'' ■^'^ .o-u- -. - • came to a vote, does not appear ; but when the resolution for the marriage portion came to be reported, there was but one dissent- ing voice in a House of three hundred and fifty-one members. statue of Mr. Gladstone in St. George's Hall, Liverpool. 9fi± 284 The First Gladstone Ministry. 285 ^ Tho condition of affairs in Ireland again commanded the atten- tion of the Government. Tho special difficulty at this time was the spread of an agrarian conspiracy in Westmeath and the ad- joining counties. A motion was made for a .ommittce to inquire into the existing state of affairs there, Lord Ilartington, who was Chief Secretary for Ireland, admitting that it was with feel- ings of painful dismay that ho did so. The lawless condition of things in that particular section, however, was no criterion of the general condition of the country. Crime had subsided, and the constabulary reports evidenced a marked improvement. In West- meath, and the adjoining parts of Mcath and King's County, how- ever, tho state of things had become intolerable, and the appoint- ment of a committee was desired by the Government, so that when further powers were asked for, it would be certain that such ad- ditional authority was necessary for the maintenance of the peace. The policy of the Government was bitterly condemned by Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Hardy, who seems to have been at this time tho right-hand man of tho Tory leader. Tho Chief of tho Opposition said that Mr. Gladstone was regarded by his i.arty as having possession of tho philosopher's stone, so far as Irish ^ affairs were concerned ; that he had como into power with an im- mense majority, for the express purpose of securing the tran- quility and content of Jiat country; that neither time, labor nor devotion had been begrudged him ; that under his influence' and at his instance, Parliament had legalized confiscation, conse- crated sacrilege, and co..aonod high treason j destroyed church- es, shaken property to its foundations, and emptied jails; and now ho Dould not govern Ireland, without coming to Parliament for a committee. After all his heroic exploits, and at tho head of his great majority, ho was making Government ridiculous. Mr. Hardy's denunciations were hardly less unmeasured. Mur- der was stalking abroad, he said; the Government was becoming contemptible; with much more to tho same effect. Mr. Glad- stone, who has always appeared to be as nearly insensible to per- sonal attacks as it is possible for a man to be, and to content him- self with defending tho policy a-'-ocated by him, replied to these intemperate speeches with his accustomed coolness. Mr Hardy's heated language was rebuked; but that was the duty of the Head of the Government which had been so insulfngly characterized; and he announced that the Government could not, consistently with its sense of duty, withdraw the motion ^ 286 The First Gladstone Ministry. for a committeo. Mr. Disraeli's expressions seem to us sevoro • but Mr. Gludstono was happy to learn that tl.o right honorablJ gentleman had got down to expressions so moderate and judicial •as " legalized confiscation and consecrated sacrilege," after the language which ho had used in opposing the disestablishment of the Irish Church. Mr. Disraeli had admitted that in 18o2 he had not adopted the means which he believed most suitable for the •. protection of life and proj)crty in the three counties of Ireland because the Government was weak. Mr. Gladstone made most oifectivo use of this admission; and concluded by .raying that the Government, acting upon its immediate elementary obligations, to secure personal peace and freedom in the transactions of life' felt assured of the endorsement of the House. ' In a humorous speech by a member of the Opposition, the Cabinet was doscWbed as consisting chiefly of " Whig Marion- ettes;" the same speaker alluded to the changes which had been made in that organization as similar to a shuffling which left them in tho same positions ns at first. Over the door was plainly written tho legend, «' No Irish need apply." The Solicitor-Gen- eral replied to these strictures in a speech which was an argu- ment ad hominem; saying that if tho last speaker were given an ui'Hc^ he would speedily become a supporter of the Government • and that his boast that he was a member for an Irish constituen- cy, and his self-gratulations on that honor, would last till the next general election. This rejoinder seems to have silenced the Opposition, whoso chief strength lay in personal attacks; and tho committee was appointed. After events fully justified the course of the Government in this respect. An Army Regulation Bill was introduced by Mr. Cardwell, the Minister for AYar. This was the topic which excited the most in- terest of the session. His scheme for tho reconstruction of the army included several changes of importance. Tho various branches of the service, regular troops, militia, volunteers, and reserve, were to be combined und'^r one system of discipline. But the point which excited tho most opposition was the pro- vision that tho purchase systc.-i siiould be abolished. This was a great abuse, which, like other abuses, had grown up so gradual- ly that it has come to bo looked upon by many as a necessary con- dition of the existence of tho army. An officer bought his first commission, he bought his promotions, step by step. Mr. Card- woU's bill proposed to do away with this, and substitute pro- The First Gladstone Ministry. 287 motion by merit nnd soniorify. ('ommissionB wore looked upon as vested interests, us jjorsonul property, for the holders of them had bought thoni, and expected to sell them on promotion or re- tirement. The abolition of the purchase systom had boon advocated by generations of roformo -s, but withoutsuccess. Because tho army, when tiiis was tho rule, contrived to get along and do its duty in some sort of fashion, there wore not wanting inose who stoutly maintained that it was necessary ; that if it wore abolished, the army would waste away, and the military glory of Britain be forever at an end. For many years past there had boon a motion for its abolition made an- nually by Sir DoLacy Evans; but his unweari- ed persistence came to be tho laughing stock of many. Mr. Trcvolyan had supported it, and Lord Stanley, whose cool good sense saw the advantages of tho reform, hjid boon its friend. But there were none of these who had both tl.o will and tho power to press tho sub- ject upon Parliament in sucli a way that there was no getting rid of it. Mr. Gladstone, on his accession to power, had resolved to in- clude it in tho list of reforms to bo attempted by his Govern- ment. Of course it was bitterly opposed. It was essentially a Liberal measure, in the sense that tho Liberal party is the repre- sentative of tho people as opposed to the aristocracy, of which the Conservative or Tory party is the natural exponent. As such the reform was acrimoniously opposed by the Conservatives, who were convinced that the aristocratic system was the only one under which tho English army could prosper; that promotion by merit was too French or too American, or at any rate too un-En- glish. They therefore proposed all manner of amendments, and offered all kinds of obstructions. The same arg-arncnts were re- peated again and again, almost in the same words. Bes; ^x a the Rt. Hon. Edwc , Cardwell, 288 The First Ghuhtone Ministry. ! \ other ohjoctionnblo fcivtures, it was fur from being jin economical measure, as the Government would bo obliged to expend a largo sum of money to rc-purehase commissions lield ui the time that tho system shouhi bo abolished. The Liberal Gove/nmont had frequently been censured by the Opposition for its pinchingpar- simony, but here ; s an instance of unnecessary extravaganco; and tho Consorvnl'ro orators m.ide vho most of it. Meanwhile, tho ses.sion was wearing along; iT the matter were not speedily settled, it would Ho overuntil tho next session, when it would have to be tnlcon up again wi-th all tho disadvantr^o which at- taches to a bill abandoned in ono session and brought up again by the same ^Finistry in the next. The Governinont accordingly resolved to abandon the greater part of its complicated scheme for tho reorganization, of the army. Tho part of tho bill which was nearest the heart of tiie l^reniior, was that which related to the purchase system ; and this was almost all that was retained. Sh( vn of its fair proportions it passed the second reading, though not by a very large majority. Meanwhile tlie Lords had been looking on with ahirin. If this reform were demanded by tho Commons, they could not long resist it j but something must be done to express ti.eir sense of tho national danger. Tho bill iiad not yet come before them for action U, is true ; but for that they could not wait. At a sort of caucus of Conservative Peers, it was rr solved that tho Government should be asked for further infornrition before tho Lords considered the bill. It was worded cunningly; they did not object to the bill; <hey pimply askcJ u what it was to lead. The amendment of the Lords was adopted, and the bill was got rid of for tho present. Meanwhile, Mr. Gladstone was the object of a good deal of abuse by tho ultra Tories who so strenuously opposed the reform. The reason for this was the course which ho took to defe.tthe Lords. It was an ingenious plan, tho audacity of which almost took away tho breath of tho Opposition. A^". Gladstone announced that as tho system of purchase was reation of royal regula- tion, he had advised the Queen to t^,. . Jie decisive ster of can- celling the royal warrant which made purchase legal. It was a blow for the House of Lords. Having made public beforehand what tliey were going to say, they for.nd that there was no chance to say it. Tlie only part of the hill which remained was that relating to the compensation of officers, but which had been deprived of their money value ; to refuse to pass this would sim- / - -#b MRS. WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE 19 289 290 The First Gladstone Ministry. ply be to refuse the officers, for whose interests they were con- tending, the one small compensation which the Government would give thorn. Nothing was left for tho House of Lords but to pass the bill as quickly as possible, and this they did; coupling its passing, however, with a resolution announcing that it was pass- ed only in order to secure to officers of the army the compensa- tion they were entitled to receive, and censuring the Govern- ment for having obtained, by the exercise of the Eoyal P.-eroga- tive, and without the aid of Parliament, that which Parliament was not likely to have granted. When the course of the Government was announced in the House of Commons, it was received after a moment of bewilder- ment with a wild outburst of Liberal exultation. It was at once felt to be a splendid party triumph. But after the first enthusi- asm of victory was over, there were not a few Liberals who, looking at it more coolly, saw it with less favorable eyes. It was then felt to have beeh an act of tyranny, almost ; it was the ex- ercise of the Prerogative to combat the will of Parliament. Of course, Mr. Disraeli and his adherents were the first to utter such censures, but they were echoed by men who had heretofore supported the Government. Among the opponent!} of this course of proceeding, who had been counted among Mv. Gladstone's own friends, was Mr. Faw- cett, whose eminence as a Parliamentary debater was achieved in spite of disadvantages (he was totally Mind) which would have deterred many a man from the attempt. He was a thorough Lib- eral in principles, but absolutely independent of the expedients and sometimes of the mere discipline of party. If he believed that the Liberal Ministers wore going wrong, he censured them as freely as if they had been Tories; on this occasion he felt strongly about the course which Mr. Gladstone had pursued, and did not hesitate to condemn it before the House. Mr. Disraeli had characterized the action of the Government, and had reserved, until further consideration, the more objec- tionable epithet, illegal. There was no question of the legality of this step, however. At the advice of her principal Minister, the Queen had exercised what was undoubtedly her constitution- al power. It was strictly in accordance with the forms which custom had prescribed. But it was generally felt to bo an unfair course, one not sanctioned by the spirit of the constitution which had grown up by such slow degrees. The unfairness lay in this : The First Gladstone Ministry. 291 tvere con- intwould lit to pass pling its was pass- ompensa- Govern- Pi'eroga- irliament d in the Dewilder- is at once erithusi- als who, s. It was 1 the ex- ent. Of to utter jretofore who had dr. Faw- achioved uld have ugh Lib- pedients believed od them he felt ued, and rnment, e objcc- legality [inister, titution- 3 which n unfair n which in this : while the measure was before ParliarriPnf *r. ^u- u • . submitted With the tacH S.^Z^^^, " "'"' "^^ ts being pro- J-'rof. Fawcett l^...., ... ^,,^ xi^y^8vn,ihiit their decision wnnlH K^ ^ j • was suddenly, „,,„„ the first hint of tie r rt tio "tZ "f ' " the. „,™dieti„„,„„d piaeed in an entirely dSl'ltron'T 1^ Jll- Im 292 7he First Gladstone Ministry. the decision of the Lords and Commons wore not to be final, the question should not have been submitted to them at all, but the ±io/al Prerogative invoked in the first place. Certain'y- the reform was a much needed one, and the most vio- lent Tory would not now desire the restoration of the system which was thus abolished ; but whether or not Mr. Gladstone was j.istified in the means which he used for iis abolition, is an- o+licr qnr^tion. It was doing evil that good might come; and that which is wrong in a moral point of view can hardly be right in politics. Had he not taken this course, there would certainly have been delay ; the Lords would probably have re- jected the bill ; but it would have beon for one session only. If it were re-introduced the next session, it would again be carried by the Commons, and the Peers would not again dare to reject a bill thus doubly approved by the representatives of the people ; possibly it would haye passed the Upper House the same session, though not, of course, immediately. Whatever judgment we may now express on the matter, it was a course which brought about its own result. It was the cause of considerable loss of strength by the Government, whose major- ity was rapidly waning. Another important measure which w..3 brought before the House this session was the Ballot Bill. This dragged its slow length along the House of Commons, violently opposed by the Conservatives, and amended until it was but the skeleton of the original measure. It then went up to the Lords, where it was rejected by a considerable majority. The Lords had rejected the University Tests Bill which had been introduced the previous year, but a measure which was substantially the same was again introduced by Mr. Gladstone this session, and finally carried. The Peers amended it, but the Commons rejected the amendment; then the Lords rejected the very amendment which they themselves had proposed, and the bill went through. The substance of this bill was that all lay students, of whatever creed, should thereafter be admitted to the universities on equal terms. A bill to admit women to the franchise was proposed this ses- sion, but rejected. In a speech on the subject, the Premier caused a commotion in the House by tho assertion of hiy oT>inion that if the ballot were established, he did not see why the frai^- chise could not be extended to women. The First Gladstone Ministry. 203 Ipn^I'.f '^K^^', '''"'' Non-conformist who had tl .catened to was Vt HK ^7 ^r''^' \"^ ^^' ^"^ ^^^" ^"^^ ^y ^'' h«-^ that ho was at hberty to do so, brought forward a bill for the disestab- hshmont of the Church of England. This was opposed by both Disraeli and Gladstone. The former announced his belief that Mr. Edtuard MiuU. the great majority, both in the House and in the country we-e in favor of the Church ; and he opposed the motion more for the sake of the State than of the Church. The Premier said that the Government was emj.huticaily opposed to the motion, and showed clearly the distinction botwo.n the Irish Church, which had been a foreign church, enirvaftod bv conqueror^ upon the people, avd the English 'Church, which was essentially a nation- al institution, and had grown up with the nation. Space does 294 The First Gladstone Ministry. not permit us to quote his eloquent words defending the Church from this assailant; he claimed it was the mere effort of a dis- contented sect to do away with what was firmly established n the hearts of the people. , There had been considerable trouble with the United States, which at one time appeared to be growing beyond the bounds of peace. Tht tJnitcd States Government had always resented the part which England took in the War between the States, claiming that neutrality was not preserved. We have already spoken of ihe manner in which the Alabama was built and sent out to sea, notwithstanding the protests of the United States representative. The British Government was held to be re- sponsible for depredations which it had not tried to prevent. There were other subjects of dispute which had arisen, and each tended to make the others harder to settle peaceably. The threatened rupture was averted by a treaty concluded at Washing- ton in May of this year, by which it was agreed to referthe dispu- ted claims to two boards of arbitration, established by the treaty. The Government was fated to sustain some severe defeats on several different questions. One of these was on the match tax. The abolition of purchase in the army made the estimated ex- penditure much larger than it had been in time of peace, and it was proposed in the budget of this year to meet the additional expense by means o2 a tax upon matches. There was a general outcry against this impost, which threatened, indeed, the whole trade. Mr. Lowe, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer, finally found himself compelled to abandon this scheme, and to substi- tute an increase in the income tax for it. Several bills on finan- cial subjects were abandoned by the Government when their failure became apparent. A motion which proposed to secure the uninclosed portions of Epping Forest as an open space for the enjoyment of the people of the metropolis, was opposed by the Government, Mr. Glad- stone stating that the Government had secured one thousand acres of the inclosure as a pleasure ground for the public; but the motion was carried by a considerable majority. The loss of the Captain and the Magoiva caused the Admiralty to be gravely censured, but the conduct of the Board was elab- orately defended. This was the last action of interest on the part of the Government or the Opposition, and the session came to an end early in August. The First Gladstone Ministry. 296 During the recess, Mr, Gladstone was again called upon to disavow membership of the Church of Eome. While he was for a longtime, perhaps, the most popular of all Englishmen, he was well hated by a small portion of his countrymen, who nev- er lost an opportunity of villifying him. The reader will find an instance of one of these haters by reading Jenkin's work on the subject of the great statesman's life; if that r .thor's state- ments and sentiments are not hero quoted, it is because they have not the value which criticisms uttered at the time of any particular action must have, and do not seem to be in other re- spects worthy of the space which they would require. The question as to whether he was a member of the Catholic Church was put to him in a letter by Mr. Whalley, on behalf of his constituents of Peterborough. Mr. Gladstone, in reply, pointed out the insult which was contained in this question) since it presupposed that he had systematically concealed his re- ligion, professing to belong to another church. He concluded • " If I have said this much upon the present subject, it has been out of personal respect to you. For I am entirely convinced that while the question you have put to me is in truth an insult- ing one, you have put it only from having failed to notice its true character, since I have observed during my experience of many years that, even when you undertake the most startling duties, you perform them in the gentlest and most considerate manner." The last sentence irresistibly recalls one of Dis-ael's happiest epigrammatic speeches or letters. The member for Pe- terborough was generally and severely condemned for permit- ting himself to be made the mouthpiece of such an uncalled for inquisition into Mr. Gladstone's religious opinions. A speech of Mr. Gladstone's made during this'recess has a peculiar interest, in connection with the attitude which he after- wards took upon a similar question ; and his course upon this subject shows that capacity for growth which is manifested by few statesmen, unless they be of the highest rank. In receiving the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen, he alluded to the cry of the Irish for Home Eule. He said that he did not quite know what was meant by Home Rule ; but he was glad to know em- phatically that it did not mean a dismemberment of the Em- pire ; and he hoped that all who beard him felt the same, and intended that the United Kingdom should remain united. The Irish people were more or less liable to become from time to Ill 29C The First Gladstone Ministry. time the victims of this or that political delusion j but there was nothing that Ireland had asked which this Parliament had re- fused. There were no inequalities between England and Ire- land, he maintained, except such as wore in favor of the latter. But if the doctrines of Home Eule were to be admitted with re- spect to Ireland, ho did not see why they should not bo admit- ted with respect to Scotland and Wales, the latter especially as the people generally spoke the national tongue. Ireland might be conciliated, but Parliament had a higher duty to bo perform- ed than was included in conciliation ; it had to do its duty, and if this were done, and it set itself right with tho national con- science, with the opinion of tho world, and with the principles of justice, its position would bo invulnerable, whether Ireland were conciliated or not. To this speech even tho most inveter- ate Home Euler can give assent, affirming that when this is done Ireland will bo satisfied j that the opinion of tho world, and the principles of justice require all that Ireland demands; and that if the national conscience fell short, so much the worse for tho regulators of it. Mr. Gladstone defended the course of the Government in sev- eral other speeches during tho recess; but the very fact that it required defense was in itself significant. The popularity of the J'inistry was declining; many of the soberer Whigs were alarm- ed at tho reforms which had been carried through. Tho more conservative members of tho party were out of breath with the rapidity with which they had been hurried along from the abo- lition of one abuse to another; and they had begun to think that the Premier was a dangerously brilliant statesman. It was this feeling which induced a considerable number of his own constituents of Greenwich to draw up a petition requesting him to resign his seat for that borough. A meeting was called at the Lecture Hall in support of this requisition ; but the Liberals re- pudiated all connection with tho movement, and after a scene of considerable violence, the tables were turned upon the dis- satisfied Whigs, and a vote of confidence was passed, which was received with a volley of cheers for the distinguished representa- tive. Perhaps the reason of this decrease in popularity was due to tho elements of which the Cabinev; was c 'mposed. Mr. Lowe a.jQ Mr. Ayrton particularly, were hard to deal with ; for al- though they wore both men of unquestioned ability, they were Tke First Gladstone Ministry. 297 not skillfulin reading the popular pulse. However able were the measures which they advocated, they were almost sure to be such as could not by any possibility be carried. To make him responsible for the actions of such subordinates was to im- pose upon the First Minister of the Crown a burden such as no man could bear for many months. During October of this year Mr. Gladstone made his famous speech on Blackheath, to an audience of some twenty thousand persons. This address, which was in the main a review of the history of the last Parliamentary session, occupied two hours in its delivery. Mr. Gladstone was introduced to the vast assem- bly by Mr. Aigerstein, but such was the confusion that not one word of the introduction could be heard ten feet away. There was loud cheering when Mr. Gladstone stood forth; but in the intervals there was heard a steady, persistent hissing. As he seemed about to speak, an intense silence fell upon the vast crowd J but the first word that he uttered was a signal for a fear- ful din. From all around the skirts of the crowd arose some- thing between a groan and a howl; while, as if to drown this, the Liberals present again began to cheer. Still in the intervals between the cheering was card the hissing. At last there came to them something of a sense of shame, at not allowing this man to be heard in his own defense. While the battle had raged so fiercely between the two conflicting sounds, Mr. Gladstone had stood looking straight at the excited crowd — calm, resolute, patient. Perhaps it was this bearing which gained him a hearing at last. At any rate the confusion sabsided, and after that he may be said to have had it all his own way. Of course, there were instances when he was interrupted by their cries, but they wore comparatively few. When at length the speech was over, and the question was put, it being substantially whether Mr. Gladstone had cleared away from the minds of his constit- uents the fog of prejudice and ill-feeling that unquestionably encircled him and his Ministry, the afiirmativo reply was given in bursts of tumultuous cheering, as earnest as ever greeted and satisfied any political leader. lie had thrown himself upon the sympathies of the great mass of the people, and their verdict had not disappointed him. This unpopularity of the Ministry did not mean that they had deserved the censure of the people. The Liberal Government had come into existence because the people demanded that cer- Mr. Gladstone Beading the Lessons at Hawarden Church. 298 The First Gladstone Ministry. 299 tain abuses should bo reformed, and the Conservatives were unwilling to carry through the measures which would accom- plish this. The Liberals had made the reforms which were demanded; but they w^.o now as far ahead of public opinion as the Conservatives had bjen behind it. ]So' was this all; many changes necessarily weaken every Governnent; for there arc none so nr: -^ssary to the groat body of the people but what they V • distasteful to individuals, and will be opposed by them. The Gladstone Ministry had offended many; some by this re- form, some by that; their day was beginning to draw to a close; high noon was long past. 1—19 CHAPTER XI. THE FIRST GLADSTONE MINISTRY. (Cux-nxvED.) Dangerous ll!;,c, „f iiie PI , ,,, UM>,.„e, W,„.„ J "r ° " "»-Tr™bte „„ ,|,e Liquor Q„e„i„n_ Again ■n.roduL-™" ;Ltu:nH";r f .T''"'<'«-B.Ho. Bill .Mini,,rv-Di,,r,,c.|i'.M'S ° , ■^'«"-,'™l'»"«« Cl,„nge. in ,l,e 01».ta„„e™L r; r™ r^^^^^ "f '? "■7l'iP-E".lowed School. - paring for N.„ C,l" !« A • ''T'"''"': "' ">» Lil^ral Parly-P,^- , i-jj-p l-efc,»la(ion-Active interest in Public AHiiir, ^ P^urrr'th?, "rr T'"' " Thanksgiving Service i„ S,. T from tint :^ ; • '?'°, "r""-^ "" ""^ I"'--- "f ^Valos whatdtw VLTub,"' at.'''",'""- r '■'''' ■•°^-"' P-'o^'-"- -"'"• 'lament, for .a. „,c and " r '^b " "'"' "■''"'"''•''"fe- "f Par- nosp oially r„p„,„,. state Jan at thi tile tI.A ."T ""' Gladstone?, m^ty mIVZ^TJT ^'^ "'■'!"— "t of a "spiteful problem^ ,„,«;,r? '?" """"*"!, it was Gove'ntnenrtho nlir™ T dT : :"t''™;; th" '° """' °" "'" mediate .esnlt. The great qnes itn 'o CanToT "" ment, even ,vith the cordial Lolp of il., ,„ JV ot™ '"" iosineere friends, .anage .0 ree^eive the' "t:"' „:';rth:r r^ul^ 300 The First Gladstone Ministry. 801 f Question— -Ballot Bill 1 — Justice to nges in tlie bers of I'ar- ;d Schools - Party— Pre- ice in St. of Wales ir xtened 3SS n'onie- s of Par- " tho heir liero was it alvvaya that po- inatural- cumstan- ussplen- ' predict of 1872, f^ which nent of I, it was t on the nof im- xovcrn- ies and 3umula- iOO ted dislikes of so many different sections, and yot survive tho session ?" At tlio very beginning of the session, tho struggle began. In his speech upon tho Address to tho Throne, Mr. Disraeli re- marked upon tho frequent expositions of the Government's pol- icy which had been made during tho recess. *< Wo really have had no time to forgot anything," ho complained; "HorMaj'^ /a Ministers may have been said during tho last six lonths to have lived in a blazo of apology." He again brought up iho question of tho Admiralty's responsibility for the loss of two vessels; ho found fault with tho Treaty of Washington . rnd demanded to bo in- formed if tho Americans agreed to the iiiterpretatlon which the English Government had putupon it; ho referred sarcastically to tho third branch of tho Upas Tree of T^'oland ; and condemned tho Government for preferring the Ballot Act to the Mines Regv- latio.i Act and important sanitary legislation. Mr. Gladstone's answer was of course a justification of the Government. Tho concessions that had been made by England in tho treaty of Washington were justifiable, and tho Americans had by their silence accepted tho interpretation which the En- glish Government put upon cena'n clauses, which allowed room for difference of opinion. The 'reaty was not ambiguous in any of its parts ; and there was a friendly feeling between the two countries. The Leader of tho Opposition was assured that ho was mistaken in rv,gard to his assnwiption about Irish education, which would be taken up by Parliament at the earliest possible moment; and ho was assured likewise that the Government would fiiinish every assistance in the investigation of the charges agains+ +he Admiralty. Two appointments made under the authority of Mr. Gladstone gave rise to much debate, and finally showed how great was the loss of strength which tho Government had suffered since com- ing into power. It was desired to place Sir Robert Collier, the Attorney General, on the bonca of a new Court of Appeal, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. But for this position none were eligible except those who had been judge of one of the ordinary courts. To qualify him in this particular, ho was appointed to a Puisne Judgeship of the Court of Common Pleas. There was no question as to his real fitness fur the position; it was admitted that ho had helped the Government out of a diffi- culty by taking an appointment which several judges had de- 302 2! The First Gladstone Ministry. ch- i, and which had not quite such a position as that which the traditions of his office entitled him to expect. But it seemed to many as if it were something of a trick, this fct which passed h.m through one court in order to give him a technical qualifica- tion for another. The Premier was accused of casuistry, of Jesu- itism ; and the whispers that he was at heart a Catholic were re- newed at this evidence of his following in the footsteps of the famous order. So strong was the feeling that a vote of censure was moved in both Houces; the Lords rejected it by eighty-nine to eighty-seven, which was doing fairly well for the Conserva- tive Chamber J but when it came before the House of Commons upon a similar proposition, the Government's majority was found to have dwindled to twenty-seven. Another appointment was of a somewhat similar character. A clergyman was to be appointed to a living which must be filled by a member of the Convocation of Oxford; the Eev.W. W.Har- vey, a graduate of Cambridge, was made a member of thisbody by the University of Oxford, and was then presented to the Rec- tory of Ewelme. As in the former case, there was no question of fitness; the technical quaLacation had been provided, in or- der that a man possessing all other qu fications might' be ap- pointed ; but Mr. Gladstone was critici d as severely as if ho had given the places to men for whom he had provided the only qualifications they possessed. The Government had got i .to trouble on the liquor question. The United Kingdom Alliance for the suppression of the Liquor Traffic was represented in Parliament by Sir Wilfred Lawson who advocated the doctrine of Prohibition in spoeches which never failed to amuse and finally interest his listeners. At the instance of the Alliance, an effort was made to regulate the trade in liquors ; but the measure which was proposed by the Govern- ment pleased neither side; the Prohibitionists looked disdain- fully upon it as a half-measure, and the liquor-dealers of all classes saw in it only n renewal of that hostility to them and their trade which Mr. Gladstone had already shown, when he advocated that innovation upon the traditional ways of England by which light wines were allowed to be sold by grocers and pastry-cooks. There was a war of repartee, in which Mr. Gladstone was not the vanquished, when Mr. Ayrton's bill for the Regulation of Parks came before the House. Mr. Hardy stigmatized the Gov- The First Gladstone Ministry. 303 yrnment's eiforts to throw the responsibility of certain by-laws for the parks upon Parliament as a cowardly proceeding; whereupon Mr. Gladstone rebuked him for bringing an acrid and venomous spirit into the debate, and said that it was the late Government whose bungling and feeble conduct had led to the present diffi- culties. This brought Mr. Disraeli to his feet, who accused Mr. Gladstone of sitting sullen and silent when the question was before discussed, and only expressing himself to the crowd which gathered about his residence. Mr. Gladstone retorted with a quotation from that speech of Sheri- dan's in which the brilliant wit accuses his opponent oi drawing upon his memory for his jokes and his imagi- nation for his facts ; and ad- vised Mr. Disraeli, before he accuse* I others of forget- ting the course they had formerly pursued, to prac- tice what he preached, and oe sure that his accusations were well founded. The shot told homo, and the cheers and laughter of the House were renewed when Mr. Gladstone told Col. Gil- pin, a member of the Op- position who had renewed the attack, that he did no*, think the i.nagination which j)revailed on the front bench had extended so far back as the third and had infected that row of mcnnbers. The session of 1 <S72 is remarkable for one of the most tumult- ous scenes which ever took place in the House of Commons. Sir Charles Dilke had, during the previous autumn, been making him- self notorious as an advocate of Republicanism. He had during that time been the best abused man in Great Britain ; the comic papers and theatrical burlesques had made free with his name; the telegraph had carried his doipgs everywhere; newspaper corres- pondents had interviewed him, and then held him up to rdicile as the " President of England." When the Prince of Wales was Lord Littleton. 304 The First Gladstone Ministry. \\ \ taken sick, the abuse which was heaped upon Dili<o was such as might have been merited if he had had a hand in filling the roy- al system with the germs of disease. And yet, he was not so far ahead of the time. , The countries of Europe, which had at first looked upon the establishment of the American Eepublic as an experiment which was doomed to speedy failure, had come to have their doubts about it when fifty years and more passed by, and the United States still flourished. An eminent French poli- tical economist had declared that the only test which it had not stood was a great war; if it should be thus tried, and should come out triumphant from the ordeal, there was no other danger.. The war had come ; the very earth had yawned, as if to engulf the structure, which was shaken to its foundations ; but that structure stood firm ; and the seven years which had passed since the earthquake ceased had seen that " bloody chasm," about which we have heard so much, gradually closing. It was appar- ent then that a republic was possible, and the recent events in France had led the English to think a European republic might be as stable as the American. There has always been more or less republican sentiment on the surface of the radicalism of Great Britain ; and Dilke had but crystallized this in his own mind, and e;iven it expression. lie had been challenged to repeat in the House of Commons the statements which he had made in the country ; so in March ho brought on a motion for inquiring into the manner in which the income and allowance of the Crown are expended. What- ever we may think of the wisdom of the man who thus tackled, almost single-handed, a system which had been growing for more than a thousand years, and which limitation and change had but rendered more stable, we cannot but admire his courage in thus facing the House where all, save two or three, were bit- terly opposed to what he advocated. Ho faced his antagonists with dogged calmness; he brought forward his array of facts and figures, and presented them with well-arranged arguments; Vit his quiet, dry and labored style was far from being eloquent, and the House began to grow apathetic before he was nearly through. The duty of answering such a demand of course devolved up- on the First Minister of the Crown, and Mr. Grladstono did so with a zeal and warmth which surprised those who thought him half* Radical, and almost a sympathizer with Sir Charles Dilko The First Gladstone Ministry. 305 himself. No one thought that he could be so passionately mer- ciless as he shewed himself to be. He said that a detailed refutal of the charges against the Crown's extravagant expenditure would be impossible without some previous notice ; but he asserted that the information now before the House in another form would show that the Civil List had been largely reduced during this reign as compared with the two preceding it. He concluded by asking the House to reject the motion without further discus- The Speaker had not ruled against the motion as irregular, and the mover and sec- onder were therefore en- titled to be heard. But when Mr. Auberon Her- bert arose to second it, the scene which ensued was, it is to bo hoped, one which was never witness- ed before and will never be repeated. The author of a noted novel has told us how Tittlebat Titmouse defeated a measure against which his whole party was powerless, sim- ply by his imitations of the crowing of a cock, which caused a divorsion and gave the members time to alter their minds. There was a small army army of Titmouses present, to all appearance ; and the crowing, hooting, groaning, hissing, howling and yelling, drowned the voice of the unfortunate speaker completely. Nothing daunted, he waited until the cries had lulled sufficiently to permit him to be heard, though still with difficulty, when he apologized for Sir Charles Dilke, who had been far from wishing to make a personal attack upon the Sovereign, and announced that he, too, preferred a republican form of government. Here a con- siderable number of members arose and left the House, while those who remained renewed the noises which had before pre- Sir Charles Dilke. 306 The First Gladstone Ministiy. vented his being heard. Mr. Herbert sent out for a glass of wa- ter with as much sang froid as if his speech had been greeted with cheers, and continued speaking; but the remainder consis- ted merely of disjointed sentences. Many times during the period that he remained upon his feet he was interrupted by demands that the House be counted. No less than three counts were taken, but each time it was found that there were more than forty members present. At last the Speaker's attention was blandly called to the fact that there were strangers present. This, of course, included the reporters; and while the Speaker can be as blind as he pleases to their presence upon all other occasions, the instant a member of the Hou^e informs him that there are others than members present, he is bound to order their expulsion. The remainder of the debate was then without witness save the members themselves ; and the absence of the outsiders did not conduce to the order- liness of the debate. The question was at last put, and !he re- sult showed 2 ayes to 276 noes, those members who had left the House having returned in the meantime. The Ballot Bill was again introduced this session. An amend- ment was proposed, which was carried against the Government j but a modified form of it being accepted by the Ministry, the bill finally prevailed and went up to the Lords. It was there amended and sent back to the Commons, where the changes were at first hotly contested; but eventually a -compromise was effected, and this important measure, effecting a complete change in the system of voting, became a law, Mr. Gladstone had the satisfaction of seeing the first elections conducted under the law which had been one of his darling projects, of the most orderly and satisfactory character. Butwhilesuchan important measure excited little comment in the country at large, there was another subject on which the popular feeling was at white heat. This was the Alabama claims, as presented before the Arbitration Commission at Geneva! Much to the surprise of the English, it was found that the Uni- ted States claimed compensation for indirect losses as well as direct; and Mr. Gladstone was violently assailed for his assur-- ances that the treaty permitted but one interpretation. It was only another instance of his nice distinctions being misnnHor^ stood by intellects of less subtle keenness. The Commissioners finally decided that the British Government; •k.Sv. t:>i i -is 307 308 The First Gladstone Ministry. was not justly liable for claims for indirect damages, but was to pay for direct injuries inflicted by the Alabama, the Florida and the Shenandoah. The sum total awarded to the United States was a little more than one-third of the original claim. I The session of 1872 was not a barren one, as far as the enact- ment of laws relating to domestic affjvirs was concerned. JSTot only the Ballot Act, but various others, relating to the regula- lation of mines, the adulteration of food, the public health, and licensing, owed their final enactment to this session. Fifteen years after the date of which we are writing, one of the great London dailies styled the Irish Question " the Old Man of the Sea of Parliament." The comparison is no inapt one, and is unfortunately likely to be applicable for a long time to come. The Gladstone Ministry had made two great attempts to settle it, but there was a third task to be undertaken before Ihey should have accomplished all that had been promised in their original programme. Feb. 13th, the Government introduced the bill which it was hoped would hew down the third branch of the Upas Tree. It dealt altogether v.ith the state of education in Ireland. In his speech introducing the bill, Mr. Gladstone showed that so far from the Queen's Colleges which had been established, being the means of increasing educational facilities, they seemed rather to have alienated the Irish still further; for the number of collegi- ate students in 1872 was actually less than it hud been in 1832. The Eoman Catholic population of Ireland contributed but one- eighth of the whole number of students, and of these not more than one-half would in England be ranked as university stud- ents. The bill provided for the abolition of all religious tests; for the incorporation of Dublin University and the union of the Queen's Colleges with it; for the maintenance of all the chairs usual in such institutions of learning which were not incompati- ble with perfect religious equality for the students; this latter exception excluding, as was. specially stated, chairs in theology, moral philosophy, and modern history. The Government hoped that this bill would conciliate the Catholics by the concessions which were made to them, and the English Liberals would be pleased with its moderation. But as is usually the case when the attempt is made to please two parties of opposite opinions by one and the same measure, each one saw what the other was in- tended to see ; the Catholic Bishops denounced the measure, and The First Gladstone Ministry. 309 while they did not decline what it offered, let it be known that they wanted much more; the Catholic members, who had been expected to be its warmest supporters, were its bitterest oppos- ers ; and the Liberals objected strongly to the proposed omissions from the curriculum. At the request of Mr. Disraeli, the second reading of this bill was postponed until the beginning of March ; as the opposition desired time to consider so important and complicated a meas- ure. It was then demanded that the Government should specify the members of the governing body which the bill proposed for the university ; but this was, as Mr. Gladstone pointed out, im- possible; as the positions could not be offered until the bill had made some progress in committee, nor until there was some pros- pect that there would be positions to accept. The opposition to the bill was remarkable both for the variety of the arguments and the diversity of the parties represented by those who spoke against it. The debate ended with speeches by Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Gladstone. The ex-Premier's oration was a brilliant one, though not always relevant to the subject; it called forth vehe- ment cheering from the members on the Opposition benches. Be- fore this had fairly subsided, Mr. Gladstone arose to reply. His powerful speech was a summing up of the arguments pro and con, and a strengthening of those for the bill, with an appeal to the House for the justice which was demanded. In his eyes, it was all that was necessary to satisfy Ireland ; all that justice demand- ed for her; and so tiie conclusion of his speech assured them : " To mete out justice to Ireland, according to the best view that with human infirmity wo could form, has been the work, I will almost say the sacred work of this Parliament. Having put our hand to the plow, let us not turn back. Let not what we think the fault or pervei'seness of those whom we are attempting to assist have the slightest effect m turning us even by a hair's breadth from the path on which we have entered. As we nave begun, so let us persevere even until the end, and with firm and resolute hand let us efface from the law and practice of this country the last — for I believe it is the last — of the religious and social grievances of Ireland." All the eloquence of this speech, however, was not sufficient to convinco those who were opposed to it; and the division showed that the Government was in a minority of three. Up- on this defeat they bad not counted, as the bill had at first met 310 The First Gladstone Ministry. with a favorable reception ; even Mr. Horsman, who had vio- lently opposed it on tlie second reading, had in a letter to Mr. Lowe, written immediately after the first presentation of the bill, spoken of it in the most favorable terms ; the letter was read to the House during the debate, but seems to have pro- duced no effect upon the Opposition, Questioned some years af- terward regarding this measure, Mr. Gladstone said that consid- ering the extremely favorable reception with which the bill had met at the outset, he was most emphatically astonished at its ultimate fate. Although the majority of the Opposition had been so small, the importance of the measure which the Government liad wish- ed to carry was such that Mr. Gladstone determined to resign; and he did so at once. But then arose a peculiar difficulty. Dis- raeli was his only possible successor ; but it would have been im- possible for him to form a Government, with the majority of the House of Commons opposed to him, as it undoubtedly was ; a few days later, therefore, Mr. Gladstone announced that he and his colleagues had consented to resume the positions which they had felt obliged to resign. Mr. Disri^eli's refusal to accept office had been unconditional, and Mr. Gladstone contended that his action was contrary to precedent and parliamentary usage. Mr. Disraeli replied that a considerable part of the majority against the Government in the late contest consisted of Liberals, with whom he had no bond of union whatever. A Government could not well dissolve without entering upon its duties, and there was at present nothing to dissolve upon ; such a course required some definite policy, to be submitted to the electors for their decision. Mr. Gladstone, he said, had resigned upon very inadequate grounds; ana his return to office was the best possible solution of the difficulty. Ho had had some experience of the difficulty of carrying on a Government in the face of a majority opposed to it, and was not anxious to try it again. Mr. Fawcett, who had strenuously opposed the Irish Uni- versity Bill, brought forward a measure relating to the same sub- ject, during this session ; the changes made were such that it be- came simply an abolition of religious tests before it was carried. There were several bills relating to financial measures, which were carried by the Government. Mr. Miall pressed the Bill for the Disestablishment of the English Church, which was opposed by Mr. Gladstone in the strongest speech made during the de- The First Gladstone Ministry. 811 bate; and a proposal to permit laymen and Dissenters to deliver sermons in the churches was also negatived. Shortly after the close of the session, there were some impor- tant changes in the Ministry. Mr. Lowe having resigned the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Gladstone undertook the double duties of that office and of those of the First Lord of the Treasury. Throe otfc er members of less note, Lord Kipon, M.-. Childers, and Mr. Baxter, retired ; and Mr. Bright re-entered it as Chancellor ot the Duchy of Lancaster. The Government grew more and more unpopular as time went on. Its reforms had been too sweeping and sudden j they had frightened the people, whom the Conservatives easily convinced that everything was in danger from this mania for change j the by-elections which had taken place were all considerable Con- servative victories j not only was the Bible in danger from the course which the Liberal Government had taken with regard to the Irish Catholics, but the changes which had been made in the license law threatened Beer. Says one of Mr. Gladstone's most reliable and minute biographers: "The joint flag of 'Beer and Bible' having been hoisted the cry against the Ministry became irresistible " Mr Gladstone recognized that it would not be long after the meeting of the new session before he would be compelled to re- sign , be foresaw the difficulties into which the Opposition, thus transferred to the Treasury Benches, would be thrown ; and he knew that evil to the country would result from a weak Govern- ment In these circumstances, he determined to appeal to the country , that> if his course were approved, he might have the strength necessary to carry out his measures ; if it were disap- pioved, there would be fewer obstacles in the path of his succes- ors. He probably had little hope of the result when, on the 23rd of January, he issued a manifesto to the electors of Greenwich, announcing that the existing Parliament would be dissolved without defay, and writs immediately issued for a general elec- tion This document, which was an unusually long one, is fairly entitled, from its political and historical importance, to rank as a state paper. Reviewing the history of that Parliament, he retraced the steps by which the Cabinet had proceeded, from _-, „-,..K«i,v,;«n. rwr»nMl«irifv in the nresent state of unDODularitv ; and admitting that the state of affairs had not improved dur- ing the recess, asked that the people should show that they i The First Gladstone Ministry. 313 s :§ ft; were with tho Government which had wrought such important reforms. Ho reviewed tho policy which had been pursued in financial matters, and promised a reduction of taxation for the future. Eeferring to the charge which the Conserwtives had not hesitated to make, that the Liberal party had endangered the in- stitutions and worried all the intei'csts of tho country, he denied its truth, and claimed that if any were offended, it was because the Grovernment had honestly tried to do -11 that was in its power to promote tho highest interests of the nation. lie chal- lenged a comparison between the years of Liberal and the years of Tory rule, with their results. The newspapers of the day, of course, accorded a reception to this address which varied with the standpoint generally taken. On the one hand, the News said that it was a policy which would revive the enthusiasm of the Liberal party, and greatly benefit the country; on the other hand, the Standard declared that the policy followed must bo described as one of surprise and in- trigue. Mr. Disraeli lost no time in issuing a manifesto to his con- stituents, as a reply to this address of Mr. Grladstone's. It was brusque, in some parts at least ; and its flippanyy contrasted as strangely as usual with the dignity and gravity of Mr. Glad- stone's style. Parliament was dissolved the 26th of January, and the new House was summoned to meet March 6th. Thus there was but a little over a month for the electioneering campaign, and it be- gan in good earnest. It was the first general election at which the voting was by ballot, and it passed off with orderliness and peace. The result showed considerable gains for the Conserva- tives, that party having a majority of forty-six votes in a full house. There were many interests arrayed against the Ministry which had instituted so many reforms; and there were some whose support was given to the Conservatives in the hope that there would be legislation for their benefit as soon' as a Tory Ministry took charge of affairs. As soon as the national verdict was known, Mr. Gladstone placed his resignation in the hands of the Queen. Ho had in- curred the displeasure of the people of whom he had been the virtual ruler ; but, as it was said at the time that he went out of oflice, *'a great many people entercain towards Mr. Gladstone's Government the same sort of sentiment as that which worthy 314 The First Gladstone Afinistry. Mrs. Bertram, in Scott's romance, felt for the energetic revenue officer who would persist in doing his duty, instead of following the example of his predecessor, who sang his aong, and took his drink, and drew his salary without troubling any one." Such being the otfense which had been committed, it seems more honorable to have oflfended than it would have been to have pleased. ^ttv/t r\ a There were some political wiseacres who said that if Mr.triaa- stone had not dissolved, but had brought forward a budget an- nouncing the repeal of the income tax, a measure which he had announced as one which would be supported by his Government if the country endorsed its policy, he would have regained the support of the Liberal party in toto. But this was not done ; he had dissolved; his rival had come into office, and was, for the first time, at the head of a Ministry which was endorsed by a majority of the House. Nor was the election all ; there were not wanting former professed friends of Mr. Gladstone who jeer- ed at his fall from power. Shortly before the House met for active business, Mr. Glad- stone addressed a circular to the Liberal members of Parliament, reiterating the intention which he had expressed conditionally before the election, to retire from the leadership of the Liberal party. The condition had been fulfilled, in the failure to secure an endorsement of his policy; and he wrote to Lord Granville who had long been the leading Liberal Peer, a more explicit statement of his reasons for so doing. From this letter we learn little however, beyond the bare fact that he considered his age to entitle him to some rest; and he alleged "various personal reasons" for not engaging himself as closely with ParliameLtary matters as he had done- The new Ministerialists indulged in a little pleasantry con- cerning an Opposition without a leader, and the party which had so lately divided its support found how necessary Mr. Glad- stone was to its success. But the opposing parties did not measure swords at once. For a while there was quite a Utopian state of things in Parliament; true, an over-zealous Tory did propose a vote of censure upon the late Ministry for dissolving, but Mr. Disraeli promptly silenced him, making Mr. Gladstone s annihilation of his arguments quite un::;eco33ary. Tho new -...an- cellor of the Exchequer, Sir Statford Northcote, confessed that the calculations of the late Prime Minister -ere quite correct, The First Gladstone Ministry. 81b and there wi\8 a surplus, as stated, in the revenue. The Govern- irient made no pretensions to any original policy, but followed tha- which their yredecessors had intended to pursue ; and every- thing was lovely. Suf !i a state of affairs could not last very long, however, and the introduction of several important religious measur<58 speed- ily aroused the sleeping lion of contention. The first cf these concerned itself with the Church Patronage of Scotland ; this had been a subject of agitation for the last three hundred yeors, or ever since the regent Murray set aside the authority and the religion of his royal sister. The General Assembly had passed various resolutions expressing their dissatisfaction with the ex- isting state of affairs, but nothing definite had been brought for- ward by any Government until this time. The present bill, a short but comprehensive one, was supported by some influential Liberal Peers, being introduced in that House ; but was op- posed by the Liberal members of the Lower Chamber. The chief feature of the debate was a vigorous speech by Mr. Gladstone, who had not appeared in the House for some timj, and whose rising was therefore greeted with unusual warmth by his adher- ents. While the motive of tae bill was laudable, he considered its details as extremely objectionable, and as such opposed them with all the force of his eloquence. The statoment, " I am not an idolater of Establishments," called forth ironical cheers " ' ^ the Treasury Benches, which were speedily drowned in ger .d applnuse from his own friends. The opposition was frui. howeve., "or the second reading was carried by a considerable majority. A bill for the Regulation of Public Worship was introduced ia- to the House of Loi.'h ;by the Archbishop of Canterbury; and upon this, when it came down to the Commons, Mr. Gladstone made another important speech. " He fairly electrified the as- sembly," said a contemporary newspaper. It opposed the bill on the ground that it was an undue interference with freedom j and claimed that perfect uniformity of ritual was impossible. His speech was described by Sir William Harcourt who replied to it, as a powerful plea for universal Non-conformity, or optional con- formity; and the resolutions which he proposed as a substitute f-„+i. - uMi \A ««i^ «/^;»i+ o<-.f.rirHinof to M' . Disraeli's .^nder- Standing of them, to the abolition of that religious settlement which had prevailed in England for more than two centuries. 1—20 316 The First Glad/stone Ministry. The Governm-^nt, by these declaraiious and others of the same nature, clearly adopted the bill, and it soon became evident that Mr. Cxladstono s resolutions Were distasteful to many of \ is own supporters, lie withdrew his resolutions when it became ap- parent that the greater part of the House was in favor of the bill; and the measure eventually became law, though it has never accomplished the object for which it was intended The Endowed Schools Act Amendment Bill was looked upon by the Liberals as a step backward, and opposed accordingly Ihat party, when in power, had given into national control the schools which had formerly been under sectarian government- and this was a reversal of that policy, in effect. It was moved by Mr. Forster that the bill ghould be rejected, and the motion was strongly supported by Mr. Gladstone, The ex-Premier pointed out that this was a reversal of the policy of the last Parliament and was unwise a^ well as unusual. The Liberal party, ho said' during the last forty or fifty years, had taken the initiative of policy in almost every instance, and had been followed by the Conservatives, acting in prudence and honesty. It was the first instance, he claimed, of any direct attempt bein- madobyr.Min- istry at retrogression. The only similar case which he could find in history dated back to the reign of William IIL, and the act then passed was now proposed for repeal. Although the Govern- ment had a considerable majority upon the second reading and also upon the motion to go into committee, they found that it would bo so hotly contested in committee that they judged it best to make some important modifications; and it in its mutil- ated state finally passed and received the royal ass.nit. Mr. Gladstone's retirement from the leadership of the Liber- al party had been a igned a possible limit in his letter to Lord Granville J that limit was reached Jan. 1st, 1875, but the same cir- cumscances still existed, and he definitely withdrew from poiiti- cal life, so far as anything more than o-jcasional presence in the House of Commons was concerned. His withdrawal brought con sternation to his political friends, who had been willin- to -mi- duro his absence for a time, if they might look forward S) iiis re- turn ; but his resolution was unalterable. Words of praise were showered upon him by all alike; and it was feared that he had finally left the strife of party. It was of course necessary to elect a new leader There were two men vrhoso names first occurred to the observer of the field The First (iladstimc Ministry, t) 1 ' —Mr. Bright and Mr. Low«. Mr. Briirht, it was well known, would not accept thovnoimt post, for tlio .sjuno rouson tiiat \w had hesitated about accepting' office ; as for Mr. Lowe, ho was a man of undoubted ability— but— then the speaker would .shako his head significantly, and the listener would knowexaetly what was meant regarding that erratic g- .ins, and agree with him. The list was thus reduced to Mr. Forster, Sir W. Ilarcoiirt, Mr. Gosciien, and the Marquis of Ilartington. The first three 'w( re subsequently withdrawn, and Lord Uartington unanimously olectcu to the vacant place. T'le choice was not a*^ unwise one ; for although the now lead- er was indolent and la, ' m..ny of the brilliant (]ualities of his predecessor, ho defeate. Jie i)rophecie- f those who had i)re- dicted his failure; ai:d ju-Ufied verv largely the eulogy which Mr. Bright had pronounced upon him at the time of his election. Mr. Gladstone did not often appear in the Jloiisf> during the session of 1875. IFis first important speech was upon Mr. Os- borne Morgan's Burials Bill, which proposed that the friends of the deceased should have the privilege of deciding upon the ser- vice to bo used in a parish graveyard. It seems to bo something similar to that which Mr. Gladstone ..ad before advocate.!. JTe spoke in favor of this, as did Mr. Bright, but it was li.ially nega- tived by a majorifj of fourt(>en. The budget intr.xluced by Sir Stafford Northcote was the sub- ject of another speech. Mr. (Jla<lstono objocted to various me. '^■ ures which were propos'^d by the Chanceilor of the Mxche(| r, and maintained that the surplus for tlie ensuing yoai was over- estimated. Thoi)lan for reducing the National Debt, he maiii- taineu. was founded up^ , the supposition that there would be a large surplus every yea»> for the next thirty years, and that suc- ceeding Chancellors of the Exchequer would do the reverse of what Sir S. Northcote had done. The plafi was, howovor, adopt- ed. There were other speeches made during tho session, but not many; and they were upon topicsof ittlcor no j)ermanent intor- crt. During tho autumn, Mr. Gladstone met the Ilawarden ten- iintry, and made the most pleasing speech of the yur. The reason for his continued silence was found afterward" to be tho preparation '^f controversial works, which forever settled tlio question of hi.s secret membership of tho Catholic Church, and whi;.h we shall consider in a later chapter. •V- 1 CHAPTER XII. GLADSTONE IN OPPOSITION. Q Eastern Question — Turkey Does Nothing but Promise — Suicide of the Turkish Sii.Han — Oriental Races — Explanations by Disraeli — Raised to the Peerage Bulgarian Honors — Lord Salisbury in the East — Earl of Shaftesbury — Duke of Argyle — Lord George Hamilton — Gladstone's Pamphlet on the Turkish Question — Action in Parliament on the Turkish Situation — Pro- tracted Debate — Vote of Credit — "Peace with Honor" — Sir Stafford Northcote — Gladstone Arraigns tiie Government — Triumphal March Through Scotland — " Grand Old Man " — Great Ovations Everywhere. 'LTHOUGH Mr. Gladstone had thus formally retired from the leadership of the Liberal party, he was not destined to remain in retirement for a long period. Perhaps it would have been impossible for a man constituted as he was, and accustomed for many j^ears to take a prominent part in direct- in J the affairs of the nation, to content himself with merely liter- ary activity; certainly the events of the years immediately suc- ceeding his effort to demote himself to purely intellectual pursuits were stirring enough to arouse him from the repose which he had promised himself. When the Crimean war closed, Lord Aberdeen had said that the treaty might possibly remain intact for five and twenty years j ho was laughed at as a pessimist, but the event proved that ho was rather optimistic than otherwise. Before the quar- ter century had elapsed, the Eastern Question was once more the problem of the hour. The fact that many of the provinces of Turkey were inhabited by alien races wag bound to lead to foreign interference on the behalf of such peoples. Such interference was rendered more frequent because of the difference in religion, which was often made the excuse when there was no real need of outside assis- tance. The Danubian Principalities had been under the protec- torate of the Czar, but this state of affairs was never recognized at Constantinople, and the Treaty of Paris had restored them to Turkey. Their subjection was only nominal, however, for when bis he Turkish he Peerage aftesbury — hlet on the aticn — Pro- lir Stafford hal March ywhere. ired from destined erhaps it ) was, and in direct- I'ely liter- ately suc- 1 pursuits chhe had said that i twenty it pi'oved tho quar- more the inhabited on the [•ed more vas often ido assis- e protec- jcognized 1 them to for when 818 I In Opposition. 819 Moldavia and "Wallachia united themselves under one govern- ment, and expelled their ruler, tho Porto could only look help- lessly on. Encouraged by this success, and probably by the fact that the Cretan rebellion had not been a complete failure, tho Servians demanded that the Turkish garrisons should bo re- moved from their midst, and the Turks complied. Eussia had declared that she was no longer bound by the Treaty of Paris, and this gave fresh courage to the provinces which were always ready to revolt when occasion offered. But although the Turks hard withdrawn the garrisons when required to do so, they had not relaxed the oppression which was practiced in other ways. It has frequently been remarked that there is in Turkish rule no medium between neglect and tyranny; and that the portions of the Empire where tyranny might be excusable, as being the only means of maintaining public order, are the very portions where the hand of P^iaority is never felt. Tho strength which should be used, under a just government, in repressing crime and disor- der, is exercised in the oppression of those quiet and law abid- ing provinces which should be protected from others. It must be admitted, however, that the Christian provinces were not at this time, and had not been for many years, orderly and law-abiding; they had suffered so much from the tyranny of their Mahometan masters that they were always in a ferment of revolt. Early in July, 1875, the news reached England that the op- pression had at last become unbearable, and that tho Herzegov- ina was in open rebellion. It became quite clear at once that a new chapter of the old troubles was beginning. The Turkish statesmen insisted that the rebels were receiving outside assis- tance, and called upon England to interfere. England was the enemy of Russia, and as such was regarded as the friend of the Porto. Austria was one of the offenders against whom complaint was made. Servia and Montenegro were requested to stop send- ing supplies of arms and men to the insurgent^;. But none of tho Governments thus appealed to seem to have done anything. Lord Derby, tho Foreign Secretary, pursued a decidedly feeble course. Ho knew that tho oppression of tlie Turkish Christians would bo unpopuhu', but, on the other hand, the repression of tho Turkish cruelties would bo pleasing to Russia, who always desired to SCO tho Ottoman humbled ; and anything vvhich pleased Russia was sure to displease tho English people. Undei 3uch circumstances, ho decided to act with the Porte; and urged 820 In 0}i vosiiion the Government at Constantinople to put down the insurrection as quickly as possible, and not allow it to swell to the magnitude of a matter for European intervention. This offended, not only popular feeing, but the popular conscience; and somewhat in- terfered with the popularity of tho Disraeli Government. But the recommendation to the Porte was more than he could obey. It was impossible to put down tho insurrection, wl ich continued to spread. Finally, on the last day but one of the year 1875, Count Andrassy, the Austrian Minister, in conjunction with the representatives of Germany ,and Eussia, addressed a note to the Porte. This Note from the three great Empires de- clared that the promises of reform made by Turkey had been broken, and that some combined action of the Powers of Europe was nee essary to insure their fulfiilment. If this were not done they declared, the governments of Servia and Montenegro, would be compelled by the enthusiasm of those peoples to sup- port the revolutionary cause in Bosnia and Herzegovina; and this would mean a general outbreak. This Note was communi- cated to the Powers which had signed the Treaty of Paris; France and It'^Iy at once signified their concurrence ; England alone hesitated. It was not until Lord Derby received a request from the Turkish Government that he would join in it, that he complied. It seems at first strange that such a request should come from the Porte ; the reason for it is scarcely honorable to England, for she was regarded as a secret friend by Turkey. Lord Derby joined in the Andrassy Note, and it was sent to the Porte. Tho Turks listened gravely to the complaints and de- mands, and promised all sorts of good behavior for the future. The Powers had evidently gained their point at once. But Turkey did nothing but promise. Not one of the griev- ances was redressed, and it soon became apparent that she did not intend to take any steps to meet the demands. The Berlin Mem- orandum was accordingly drawn up by the three Imperial Min- isters, pointing out the increasing danger of disturbance, and tho necessity for carrying irto ett'ect i\t once the objects of the An- drassy Note. It was proposed that hostilites should bo susper /• ed for two months between the Porte and the insurgents, while a peace was being negotiated ; and that tho consuls and other rep- resentatives of the powers should watch over tho proposed re- forms. Tho Memorandum significantly intimated that if the desired objects were not attained during the period of two ~-^ J-'»sJ In Opposition. d2i months, the Powers would have to see what should be done. This threat meant tliat the matter must be settled as the Note and Memorandum had intimated ; for Turkey could not think of resisting the arms of united Europe. Unfortunately, the English Government did not see its way clear to join in this Memorandum. The general impression was, that Eussia had been stirring up the discontent which had cul- minated in these difficulties, that the Christian Powers might be compelled to interfere in Turkish matters, to the manifest disad- vantage of the Porte. Lord Derby himself was of the opinion that a secret agreement had existed among the empires since 1873, and ho feared that England would be drawn into a danger- ous complication. His refusal made concert among the Powers impossible for the time, and the Memorandum was never pre- sented. Then every one in Europe and America knew that war was certain in the East. This refusal of the English Govern- ment seems to have given fresh courage to the Turks, who had been pretty well frightened by the magnitu le of the storm which had threatened them a little while before. There was an out- break of Mussulman fanaticism at Salonica, and the French and German consuls were murdered. There was a revolution in Con- stantinople itself, and Abdul Aziz was dethroned to make way for a sultan capable of carrying on a war with an empty treas- ury. This rara avis, it was thought, they had found in his nephew, whom the Softas made Murad V.; but three months af- ter this remarkable discovery was made, they had proved to their own satisfaction that they were mistaken ; and Murad siepjied down and out to make room for his brother Hamid. Nobody expressed any special regret when Abdul Aziz open- ed the arteries of his arm, and bled to death in his palace; but thei'e were circumstances more terrible than these changes, which were soon to alarm and horrify all Europe. An insurrection broke out in Bulgaria, and the Turkish Government sent large numbers of Bashi-Bazouks and other irregular troops to crush it. The insurrection was duly crushed, but the Bashi-Bazouks did not cease their horrible work. Eopression turned to massa- cre, and rumors began to reach Constantinopleof hideous whole- sale unprovoked murders in the northern province. Tho cor- respondent of the London Daily News heard them, and resolved to investigate them ; ho did so, and found that tho reports were but too well founded in fact. In a few days afterward accounts 21 822 In Opposition, were published in England of what has ever since been known as the Bulgarian Atrocities. Thousands of innocent men, women and children had been slaughtered; at least sixty villages had been destroyed, after the extermination of their inhabitants j for- ty girls were shut up in a straw loft and burned alive ; the mosi unnamable outrages were committed ; and a district once the most fertile in the Ottoman Empire had been ruined. While the English public was reading these tales of horror, and shuddering at the tortures to which the prisoners had been subjected before death came to relieve them, the Prime Minister was taking things very coolly. He made it very evident that he did not know much about the Turkish provinces of the time, nor about Turkish affairs in general; he had not considered the charges worth investigating ; but assuming that such atrocious crimes were greatly exaggerated in the telling, endeavored to set the matter before the House of Commons in the light in which he saw it. The newspaper correspondent had been in search of sensations ; of course ho had not mado the picture any the less dark ; rumor has a thousand tongues ; juul there must be much allowance made for "coffee-house babble." The Bashi- Bazouks, ho informed his hearers, were the r>jgular occupants ot Bulgaria, being a Circassian race who had settled there long ago, with the concurrence of all Europe. As for the torture, Orient al races "generally terminated their connection with culprits in a moi'e exjieditious manner.'* Mr. Disraeli's debonair treatment of the question did not sat- isfy the House. The Bashi-Bazouks were not the gentle, harm- less creatures that he had represented tliem to be ; tliey believed that the statements in the Kews were entitled to more creditthaii he was willing to give them ; and they grew more and more in- dignant that the Prime Minister of England should speak thus lightly of the outrages committed by Mahometan soldiery. That the newspaper statements were not exaggerated, was shown by the report of Mr. Barinsjr, who was sent out to investi- gate the matter ; he reported that so far from the only deaths be- ing those which took place in battle, between armed insurgents and the soldiers, he had himself seen whole masses of the bodies of woman and children piled together. In places whero no bodies of combatants were to be seen. iSo fewer than twelve thousand persons had been killed in the single di i ^t of Phillppopolis. This report from a man who was generally supposed to be ir) In Op2JOsUion. 823 sympathy with Turkey upon tho question as a whole, was indis- putable; and tho Turkish Government showed that they had no intention of disowning thf^so n' oeities by their action, soon af- terward, in rewarding tho chief perpetrators by now honors con- ferred upon them, presumably for the part borne in these mur- ders. What followed in England ? The Premier became only too anx- ious to explain away his words. There had been no levity, he assured his listeners, in tho expression which he hdd used when he spoke of tho improbability of Turks torturing their prison- ers ; he had not denied the existence of the Bulgarian atrocities, but having no oiiicial information that they had taken place, was bound not express his intentions regarding them. The public excitement was at white heat; the words of Mr. Disraeli were regarded simply as another instance of his inconsistency ; they were swept impatiently aside, while the people looked about them for a leader. N^ot the man who had scoffed at the story of outrage ; not any of the Government which had half condoned the offenses oT the Turks; not Mr. Bright, whoso health was too uncertain to allow him to take tho part which his down- right antagonism to what he believed wrong would have led him; not the n(w leader of the Liberal party, who was some- what slow ; but a man whose eloquence could inflame the cold- est; a man whoso principles were unquestioned ; a man whose standing was such that lis slightest word must command atten- tion ; a man skilled in dealing with others — such was the leader that was sought for what Bright characterized as " an upris- ing of the English people." Was there such a man ? And would he lead them when he was found? Such were the questions which were earnestly asked. The former was perhaps easily an- swered, as men turned their eyes to one who was but seldom heard now-a-days ; tho latter was fully answered when William Ewurt Gladstone, casting aside polemics and criticism, forgetful alike of the Bard of Greece and the Popo of Eome, emerged from his semi-retiremeut and took up the gauntlet which Dis- raeli had allowed to drop from his over-careless hand. He had now nearly approached the limit of three score and ten ; at six- ty-seven wo scarcely expect much ardor from the advocate of any cause; but ho flung himself into the contest with all the keen and impassioned energy of a youth. "Ho made speeches in the House of Commons and out of it ; he attended monster 324 In Opposition. '-\ Benjamin D-itti'atll, tlarl vj Jieucoriitfiekl. meetings in doors and out of dnors ; lie published p{UTi))iilets; h(> wrote letters ; lie brouglit forward motions in Parliament; lie In OppoaiUon. WIU AowonnvoA tlio (!ritn(^s of Tiirki^y jiiid llio |t<»li<iy which woiilfi sii])|)()rt, Tiirkoy, with iiii ci()([Uoiic!o timt lor tho tiino.sot l^lngiiiiul uflaino." Princo Milan liad loft Bol/^rudo in ,TinH>, (hjcliirioi; thut Stirvin could not loiigor ondiiro tho oi)])rcssions of Tiirkoy ; uiid his ]):'ovinco was, liko its noif^hbors, in ojxu; revolt. Wo iiood not follow tho wholo courso o.f cvi-nls in tho l*];ist ; woni'o intorostod only in what was dono in Knglainl. T ■vo woi-o frctnuMit do- hates in Parliament upon tho suhject, ana Mr. Gladstone, who had so rarely boon present at tho daily sessionH, now Bpoko al- most every ni/^ht upon some t(>i)ic oonncelcd with tho outrages and tho course whi(;h the (Jov(M-Mm('iit ])iifsiiiMl. It was in vain that Mr. Disraeli explaincil tliat the Hi'itish (Jovernment liad /'c- fiised to join in tho Berlin Memorandum, hecauso that represented a policy of aggression, with which England would have nothing to do ; that tho British fleet liad boon sent to Besika Bay, not for tho ])rotection of tho Turkish Em])ire, Init to maintain tho rights of tho British ; it was in vain that Ijord Dcuhy defined the (!(Mirso of tho Government as one of s^riet n(Mitrality, and approver! by tho other Powei-s. Tho ])ooplo had made up their mind, and their decision was not favorable to tho stand which tho (loverninent had taken. August 11th, li^in, Mr. Disraeli made his last reply to Mr. Gladstone and his adiiei-eiits in the House of (!ommotis. It was upon this suhject ; ho afllrmed that tho Turks Wiiie not the es- peeial proteges of Kngland, and that sho was not responsible for what bad occurred in Turkey ; ho announced that tho solo duty of tho Government, according lo his understanding of tho case, was to maintain tho Kmpiro of England, and that they would never agree to any step which bazardcd tho existence of tho l']m- piro. After this speech, Mr. Disraeli left the House, neveragain to address it from tho Ministerial or ()p])osilion benches; for tho next morning's ])apers contained wiiat Ikk' hithei'io been a well-kept secret: The Prime Minister had been ci'eatcMl Earl of Bcaconsfield. Perhaps it will not be out of place to tui-ri aside at Ibis mo- ment to note what was the nature of this i-eward, and for whatit was bestowed. Mr. Disraeli had long been a faithful servant of the Crown J iio had served it with the best of what was no mean ability; upon entering on tho discharge of tho duties of the First Lord of iho Treasury at tho beginning of the present session of Parlia- 326 In Opposition. mcnt, ho had dotormined upon tiio aggrandizement of the Crown by every legitimate moans j there was to bo another Eiizabclli- un period, tho I'ooplo were told; and every one waited with confident f xi<c' laney to see tlio Elizabethan revival. To some extent they did see it; but whatever power great men may pos- sess to inould circumstances to their will, they cannot wholly create those circumstances. There was much that was lacking to make the Victorian Era a. i oprodnction of tho Elizabethan ; per- haps, if tho matter had L .in. strictly analyzed, tho Tories would not have become tho more popular by their efforts to bring back tho glory of tho tyrannical Tudor; but tho phrase, like so many to which tho brilliant novelist gave currency, was a taking one, and tho Ministry was lauded lor tho intention. Tho Queen was given tho new title of " Empress of India," though tho Op- position carried an amendment which prohibited tho uso of the new title in tho United Kingdom ; the Princo of Wales was par- aded through India, that ho might see some of tho princes who were well-disposed toward his royal mother, or who were afraid to bo anything else ; tho Government bought a certain number of shares in tho Suez Canal, which were just then goingbegging, and thus acquired tho controlling interest in it; and tho Eliza- bethan revival was completed. When Mr. Disraeli resigned at the close of the year 1868, he was offered that reward so dear to the heart of an Ei)glishman — elevation to tho peerage. Somewhat to tho surprise of those who knew him, ho declined it for himself; accepting it for the wife to whom ho owed so much. The Viscou.ntess Beaconsfield died four years later, childless. Tho Premier, by his talents as a debater, and his persistency under defeat, had won tho admir- ation of his opponents as well as of his adherents; personally lie wasmostacceptable to the Queen ; and it was not a matter of won- der when tho announcement above meiitioned was made. JNTo one objected ; no one cried out that he had not deserved well of the Sovereign ; if ho wanted an earldom, by all means let him have it; and his enemies were among the first to applaud the royal recognition, for his transfer from tho House of Commons to tho House of Lords was a material weakening of his party m the legislative chamber where his party was tho less strong. Throe <h\y?r, after this, Parliament was prorogued. In tho very beginning of tho recess appeared tho official report of Mr. Baring concerning the Bulgarian atrocities ; and Beaconsfield was con- In Opposition. 32T victcd by the evidence of one of liia own subordinates of gloss- ing over crimes wbich well deserved punishment, because he did not choose to investigate the truth of the charges until public opinion compelled him to do so. Far different was the course taken by the great Liberal leader, as be still ranked in men's minds, though ho had chosen that another should have that title. Scarcely a month after the prorogation, ho published a pamphlet entitled, ''Bulgarian Horrors, and the Question of the East." Eng- land, he maintained, should not only aim at the termination of the war actually in progress, but should demand the accomplish- ment of three groat objects, before she rested from her labors. The first thing to be done was to put an end to the anarchical misrule, the plundering, the murdering, which still desolated Bulgaria; there must then bo effective measures taken to pre- vent the repetition of such outrages as had been recently perpe- trated under the sanction of the Ottoman Government, by ex- cluding its administrative action for the future, not only from Bosnia and Herzegovina, but from Bulgaria as well; the latter province being the one, really, which it was most essential to protect in this manner. The third object to be attained, to which these were the steps, was the redemption of the honor of the British name, which in the deplorable events of the past year had been more gravely compromised than ever before within his recollection. He supported his position with all the force of his powerful eloquence ; and that had ripened year by year, so that now, when be had so nearly reachcc^ lo limit of average human life, this f-iculty was at its very zt th ; nor could that star, which had thus risen, and which cast so glorious a light upon the progress of human liberty, decline until everlasting night should blot it from the vision of men. A few days after the publication of this pamphlet, Mr. Glad- stone addressed his constituents at an immense meeting on Black- heath. The speech, which was among the most eloquentand im- passioned of his political orations, furnished the watchwords of his party in the campaign which followed. At various points in his address the audience was completely carried away by the emotions which bo aroused. There had been an effort made to compare these to other massacres and outrages, of which his- 4-^,.,, VjoH to-'- " bu^ 'ihc f>Mport was sb.nwn to he futile and Duerile. But, he told them, if all these dark pages in English history gould be conqenti'atQd into a single spot, that spot would not b© I I In Oj)j)OsitioH. 329 ,3 worthy to apponr "pon *ho p. ^ro» which should horoaftcr toll of tlio infutnous j»"c i!^nMiin';'8 of tho Turl'.s in JJiilguria. llo iidvo- cjitod, not the >b()lit;;>ij of tho Turkish Ern[)iro, but tho limita- lion of its pow r in luch manner that it could not again practice thoso diro rofinri m • of cruelty. This could only bo Hono by tho combined action of all tho Power? ; though there wore two whoso rospon?'>i i'\s were greater than any other's ; these two were England and Jtussia. lie d"d not claim that Ilussia was ex- empt from ambition ; but sho had within her tho pulse of human- ity, and it was this pulse which ho now believed was throbbing almost ungovernably in tho minds of her people. Tho power of liussia \^^on land was irresistible; that of jiMgland by sea was at Ic! st as great J lie closed with tho signiUcant question, wh'C'h tho Foreign Secreta y essayed to answe/ not long afterward : " I ask 3''ou, what would be tho condition of tho Turkish arm- ies if the British admiral now in Besika Bay wore to inform tho rfovornmcnt that, from tliat hour, until atonement had boon made — until punishment had descended, until justice had been vindi- cated — not a man, not a ship, not a boat should crf)ss tho waters of tho Bosphorus, or tho cloudy Euxine, or tho bright vEgean, to carry aid to tho Turkish troops?" This address created too much enthusiasm among tho people to be loft unanswered ; and tho Premier himself undei-took tho task. Speaking at Aylesbury, ho admitted that the JMinisterial policy was unpopular, but strongly condemned those "designing politicians who take advantage of sublime sentiments, and apply them for tho furtherance of their own sinister ends," This lan- guage was of course quoted with approval among tho ultra-Con- servatives ; but it was warmly denounced as extraordinary tri- fling, by those who were less bitter in their persoi'al dislike of tho great Liberal and his followers. Lord Derby directed tho British embassador at Constantinople to lay Mr. Baring's report upon the Bulgai-ian atrocities before tho Ottoman Government, and tc demand that tho offenders should bo punished. This was said at tho time to bo an answer to that question which Mr. Gladstone propounded to his listen- ers on Blackheath, and which wo have quoted above; and it would have been, had tho demand been enforced. But that was tho last of it ; the British Government never pressed tho Porte for a definite answor, and tho Government which had rewarded Ach- niet Agha, the Turkish general in Bulgaria, with Ihe Order of 330 In Opposition. tho McfJJidie, was not likely to givo such satisfaction until -. om- pcU'd to do ro. Turkey finally agreed to an armistice cf eight weeks, and tho Czar who had brought tho pressure to bear which resulted in this, pledged his sacred word of honor to tho En- glish ambassador that ho had no intention o. occupying Constan- tinople ; and that if necessity compelled iiimto occupy a portion of Bulgaria, it would only be provisionally, and until tho safety and peace of tho Ciiristian population were secured. A week after this. Lord Beaconsfield delivered a warlike speech at the Ministerial banquet at Guildhall ; whereupon the Czar declared tha if Turkey did not acccdo to his demands, Eussia would be prepared to act independently. Lord Salisbury, who had been accredited as che English rep- resentative at the Conference of Constantinople, arrived in that city Dec. 5th. Three days later, there was a great meeting at St. James' Hall for tho purpose of discussing the Easterii Ques- tion. The Duke of Westminster was tho Chairman, and the meeting was addressed by men eminent in politics, letters, science, religion and tho army. At a second meeting, the even- ing of tho same day, Lord Shaftesbury, tlie well-known and now lamented statesp an and philanthropist, presided, and the address- es were at least as interesting as in tho afternoon. Mr. Gladstone spoke at this time, in company with Mr. Fawcett, Canon Liddon, Mr. E. A. Freeman, and others of similiar standing. Mr. Free- man urged that the right must be maintained atall costs, even of the interests of England ; Mr. Fawcett, referring to tho injunc- tion, "forgive and forget," insisted that there was one man whose acts ought never to bo forgiven by Englishmen, and that man was tho Prime Minister of England. After such speeches as ihcbu, Mr. Gladstone arose, to clinch their denunciations with his own. As at Blackheath, he was receivovi with deafening cheers. Repudiating tho accusation that these meetings were neld for tho purpose of embarrassing tho Government, he charged Lord Beaconsfield with pursuing a policy which he knew was in direct antagonism to the sentiment of the country ; it was not until the Aylesbury speech that Lord Beaconsfield had given any evidence that he thought England had duties toward tiie Christian population of Turkey. This acknowledgment was one which tho Opposition '^ ad tried in' vain to draw from the Ministry during tho last session j the first declaration of this knowledge was made by Sir Staflford iVorthcote, who had re- In Opposition. 331 marked, daring a speech somewhere in the North, " Of course wo are all aware of our duties to the Christian population of Turkey." Mr. Gladstone said that he was glad they were aware of it, but the recognition of that obligation was not to be found Lord Shaftesbury. in the proceedings of Parliament or the official correspondence lor the past year. Expressing a hope that Lord Salisbury's instructions were not in accordance with Lord Boaconsficld's recent speech at Guild- hall, which had so directly influenced the Czar, he trusted that tlie English representative would be permitted to give scope 332 In Opposition. to bis own generous in;itincts, and that the Plenipotentiaries in general would insist upon the future independence of the provin- ces, or at least upon such a form of government as would insure them freedom from oppression. _ While the meetings at St. James' Hall were not without their effect, their influence would have been even deeper and wider if it had not been for the fact that the Conference at Constan- tinople was sitting, and was expected to accomplish all that could be hoped. These hopes were, however, doomed to be dis- appointed ; for the Confuience found its demands rejected by the Turkish Government. These demands had finally been reduced to two : that the Powers should nominate an International Com- mission, without executive powers ; and that the Sultan should appoint governors-general, holding their office for the terni of five years, the appointments to be subject to the approval of the guaranteeing Governments. But the " Unspeakable Turk, as Mr. Gladstone was fond of apostrophizing the brutal Ma- hometans, found these propositions ''contrary to their. integrity, independence and dignity," and would have none of them. The responsibility of this situation of affairs, Mr. Gladstone did not hesitate to declare, belonged to the Government. He and hi-* friends had been told to mind their own business. To this exceedingly impolite injunction, the statesman replied that the Eastern Question was their own business. The plea was urged that the Treaty of 1856 had been broken. To this he made answer that Turkey had trampled all treaties under foot. If the treaties were in force, they were as binding upon Turkey as upon England ; but when one disregarded them the othe was not bound to observe them. Whei. Parliament opened, in February, the war wnich had been laginr in meetings and other public gatherings broke out afresh in the two Houses. In reply to the Duke of Argyll, who had urged the necessity for decisive action upon iho Govern- ment the Premier said that any interference at the present would tend to make the condition of the Turkish Christians worse than it was at this time. Mr. Gladstone, in the House of Commons, enlarged upon the contradictory statements of recent negotiations. Foreign Office documents, the Queen's speech, and the orations of the Ministers. Mr. Hardy replied for the Gov- crnment, and p.aid that the time had not yet come for England to cut this Gordian knot with the sword. In Opposition. 833 aries in Mr. Chaplin complained that Mr. Gladstone and other Liber- als had endeavored to regulate the sentiment of the country by the publication of pamphlets upon the subject, and by the deliv- ery of numerous speeches, and by the so-culled National Con- ference at St. James'. There was one of two things which >. Gladstone must do— he must either make good or withdraw nis assertions; the-e was was no other course which was open to a man of honor. The last expression was ruled out by the Speak- er as unparliamentary, and it was accordingly withdrawn. Mr. Chaplin then went on to say that he regret- ted most sincerely Mr. Gladstone's course du- ring the recess ; he had done so much to impair the respect and esteem which were felt for him by all members of the House and to shake to its foundations the reputation of a man whom all England had long boon accustomed to regard as one of the greatest of her sons. He moved the adjourn- ment of the debate. Mr. Gladstone's re- ply io thi attack was ' •' . , Duke of Argyll. an impromptu one, which fully sustained his reputation as one of the ablest dobaters who over t . ■ : ^- the House of Commons. In seconding the mo- tion for an adj<; .rnment, ho said that he was surprised to h, - cused, for the first time in a public career extendlig over near- ly hf^.''' a cntury, of an unwillingness to meet his opponents in fairf '..u Why had not the honorcble gentleman attended tl..j<sy meetings of which he complained so much? He spoke of his own reluctance to enter upon this question, and declared that it was only the strength of the public sentiment which had made him feel an avoidance of its manifestation impossible. Ho adminis- tered a scathing rebuke to Lord George ilamllLon, who had in- \.mm '■■-<^^' S34 In Opposition. torrupted him twice, and then turned again to the original assailant. Upon him '.o floods of wrath were poured. If he (Mr. Gladstone) by his speeches and his pamphlet had done all this mischief, why did not Mr. Chaplin write another pamphlet and make other speeches, which would set the people right? It was the nation which had led the leaders and the Classen's in this matter, not the classes and tho leaders who had led the nation • the speeches and pamphlet had been no more than the match which is applied to fuel already prepared. The attack had been a viru- lent one ; the reply was such as to make Mr. Chap- lin sincerely regret that he had aroused the sleep- ing lion. Said Mr. Glai stone: "He says, sir, that I have been an inflamma- tory agitator, and that as soon as I have got into this House I have no dis- I position to chant in the r same key. But before these debates are over, before this question is set- tled, tho honorable gen- ,-„,.-/ /^. t^ -.u tleman will know more Jjoi-d (ieovqe. Hamilton, , .nuio about my opinions than he knows at present, or is likely to know to-night. lam notabout to reveal now to the I'onorablo gonfleman tho secrets of a mind ^o inferior to his own. I am notsoyoungas tothink thathisobiigin.r inquiries supply me with opportunities tho most advantageous to the public interest for laying out the plan of a campaign. By the time the honorable member is as old as I am, if becomes in his turn to be accused of cowardice by a man of the next generation to himself, he probably may find it convenient to refer to the reply I am now making, and to mako '• a model, or, at all events, to take from it hints and suggestions, with which to dispose of the antagonist that ma}- then rise against him. * * * j ,vi!i |..j{ tho honorable gentleman something in answer to his questions, In Opposition. 385 and it is that I will tell him nothing at all. I will take my own counsel, and beg to inform him that ho shall have no rea- son whatever to complain, when the accounts como to be settled and cast up at the end of the whole matter, of any reticence or suppressions on my part." Mr. Gladstone went on to correct the mis-statements of what he had really said at Taunton. Ho hiid said that it was neces- sary to watch closely the policy of the Government; that ho had great confidence in Lord Salisbury, but he did not know whether tho Government had one policy or two. This was the greatest question, he added, which had come before Parliament in his time ; and it behooved all who were responsible for the course of England to consider that course most carefully. He urged upon them tho setting aside of all party considerations, and the duty of striving to tho utmost that justice should be done. It 13 rare that Mr. Gladstone condescended to a personal speech ; he was in general so taken up with measures that ho had nr time in which to consider men; his opposition to tlie course which a Government might pursue did not involve any personal animosity to its members ; but the above extracts will show that he was perfectly able to defend himself when neces- sarJ^ Certainly Mr. Chaplin was provided with an excellent model for the repelling of future attacks on himself. The appeal which closed this speech was received with pro- tracted cheering. Su( h was its effect upon those who heard it, that the Chancellor oi the Exchequer himself remarked that he was not surprised at the enthusiastic applause which followed the speech. Mr. Gladstone's pamphlet before mentioned had argued thai tho only way to secure any permanent good for the Christian provinces of Turkey was to turn the Turkish officials " bag and baggage" out of them. His enemies were not slow to quote garbled extracts from this argument to prove that Mr. Glad- stone favored nothing less than tho expulsion of all the Turks from Europe. Against this accusation, }>nd against the charf^o that ho had advocated a different policy at tho close of the Crim- ean war from that which ho upheld now, he was obliged to de- fend himself in Parliament as well as out of it. But tho mis- chief was more easily done than undone. He was represented as demanding tho instant expulsion of every Turk— man, wo- 336 In Opposition. 337 man and child — from Europe; if this were done, the Russians would at once occupy Constantinople, and the power of Russia be indefinitely increased. Lord Bcaconsfield, on the other hand, was opposed to any extension of the Czar's dominions, and took f^reat care to keep this continually before the minds of the people. There were many sneers, too, from the Government and its supporters, about sentimentality introduced in questions of statesmanship. Thus it came to pass that Lord Bcaconsfield was looked u})on as the champion of England, and the enemy of licr enemy ; while his great rival was openly accused of being the friend and instrument of Russia, by thousands of English- men -who honestly believed what they said. So, by degrees, the great masses of the people began to look with different eyes upon the war, and to think that the interests of the country were perhaps safe in Beaconsfield's hands after all. But Mr. Gladstone was not left without suuporturs of his cause. There were still many who thought as ho did. A close observer has said that men who prided themselves upon being practical politicians upheld the course of the Government, main- taining that Turkey must bo held as a barrier against Russia at all hazards J while men who held that sound politics cannot ex- ist without sound morals, protested with the Liberal chief against England making herself responsible for the crimes of Turkey. The one cried out for the interests of morality, the other for the interests of England; and exclaimed against the ambition of Russia or the atrocities of Turkey, as the case might be. A Protocol was signed at the English Foreign Office on the last day of March, 1877, stating that the Powers intended to watch carefully over the Christian provinces of Turkey, and if their condition should not be improved, in accordance with the demands which had already been made, in such a way as to pre- vent the return of the complications which periodically disturb- ed the peace of the East, such a state of aff'airs would be con- sidered incompatible with the interests of Europe in general, and the Powers in particular. The Turkish Government pro- tested against the humiliating situation in which it was placed by the Protocol, and Russia accordingly declared war April 24th. A week later, England, France, and Italy issued proclam- ations of strict neutral itj*. On the 7th of May, Mr. Gladstone gave notice of certain reso- lutions which he intended to move, and which on the face of 22 ^ ii m In Opposition. them were extremely hostile to the foreign policy of the Gov- ernment. Many members of the Libenil party declined to sup- port them, on the ground that they pledged England to co-op- erate with EusSia's policy of force; and Mr. Gladstone ultim- ately amended them so that they did little more than affirm that Turkej'^ had forfeited all claim to moral or material support from the British Crown. In the speech which introduced these altered resolutions to the House, Mr. Gladstone called attention to the vast numbers of meetings which were being held for the discussion of tne subject; and assorted that in nineteen eases out of twenty, the general scope of the resolutions passed at these meetings had been co-extensive with, not the mild and moderate declarations which he now offered to the consideration of the House, but the more incisive statements which he liad first proposed. His speech was a noble effort; fixing the responsibility for the atrocities upon the shoulders of the Turkish Government, ho declared that the remonstrances of England had no efi'ect, because tne Porte knew that they began and ended in mere words. Hetaughtthem what right the Christians of Turkey had to look to Christian Europe for protection against their Mussulman masters ; he told of the time when England was the hope of f eedom, when the- eyes of the oppressed were always turned to her, as the home of so much privilege and so much happiness; and pleaded that this should still be the light in which she was regarded. He told of the hci'oism of the Montenegrins and the Bulgarians; and what a great and noble prize was the privilege of removing their load of woo and shame. The debate lasted for five nights, and some of the most elo- quent speakers in the House, if not all of them, were heard up- on the subject. Some of the Liberals spoke in support of the Government, whose policy was defined, now that the war had actually begun, as one of strict neutrality; among these was Mr. Roebuck, who, however, paid high tribute to Mr. Gladstone as " a man whom the country has believed to be one of its greatest and most deserving and patriotic Ministers at one time or an- other; a man endowed with great ability, with vast power, with a winning manner, and whose influence in this House has been almost illimitable." It is well said by one of Mr. Gladstone's bioerrapbars that it was the high moral courage and loftiness of purpose which had been so conspicuously displayed in iiis atti- In Opposition. 839 tudo npon that Eastern Qnestion, which had given him this " al- most illimitable" influence. Lord Hartington, who had opposed the resolutions in their original shape, was now one of their most determined support- ers. Mr. Gladstone, in closing the debate, pointed out the dif- ferent courses which the Government had seemed to pursue at different times. Ho did not believe that the time when united Europe could make an authoritative demand had gone by; that demand should bo made at once; coercion did not moan war. If Kussia failed in the work which she had undertaken, he pointed out, the condition of the Christian Provinces would be infinitely worse than it had over been before ; if she succeeded, as she de- served, to do in such a cause, the performance of such a work would secure for her undying fame ; v/hen that day came, he con- cluded — " When that work shall be accomplished, though it would not be in the way and by the means I would have chosen, as an Eng- lishman I shall hide my head, but as a man I shall rejoice. Nev- ertheless, to my latest day I shall exclaim : Would God that in this crisis the voice of the nation had been suft'ered to prevail; would God that in this great, this holy deed, England hi*d not been refused her share !" But the eloquence was in vain; the re-action against the so- called sentimentalism had strengthened the hands of the Govern- ment; and the first resolution was defeated by a majority of one hundred and thirty-one. Mr. Gladstone addressed a large meeting at Birmingham, be- fore the close of the session, upon the topic of the hour; and up- on his return from a visit fo Ireland in the autumn he again spoke at various points. While the country, as represented by the House of Commons, seemed to bo content with a policy of strict neutrality and watchfulness, the people themselves seem never to have tired of hearing the great advocate of the rights of the Turkish Christians. In November of this year Mr. Gladstone was again elected Lord Eector of the University of Edinburgh, Lord Beaconsfield retiring. His opponent was Sir Stafford Northcote, the Chancel- lor of the Exchequer ; but the member of the Government re- ceived only a little more thr.n one-third the whole number of votes polled. We need not follow the fortures of the Eussians and the Turks t 340 In Opposition. upon the field of battle, or tell of the fall of Kars and Plevna, or the capture of Schipka Pass. It in enough here to record that on the 23rd of January, 1878. the Turkish Plenipotentiaries at Adrianople received orders from the Porte to accept the bases of peace as submitted to them by the Grand Duke Nicholas. jjj^j^ /Wl ^6*.>^//^'^-^ % J t uU Vv^ tJXA. u^A^t-vCZA Td Iv. tuyt K luX. ^ u/LU- VrrTCf t^ fuJ^A^ ^ ^ru.*>s^ ^■y •/^A/^fr-Ki-t**-^ y^ LicM^ tAA. ^U^^^^'^^M "^ ^^ ^A^ 'UtA' ^La^^ 'St Cv*%yh •*#»-« %fT^ 'Ol/i^ "Tlf^ ik<*'^Jv*^ Aa y- f/n^i^f ^t^t^Ju.*^ /U^fC P^ U^i%^'/A fii t^tfU^ C/L*/UL>t.^ ft ■e^ ^M }^ ^U^ -« ^,<nr>U^ 1^^..^^ Ovu. A^>Jif- A. Li4^ iry- /^ /Uu^-f^ ^ 332«, Fac-Simite of Mr. Gladstone's Letter to Lord BeacoTu^field. A week after this, Mr. Gladstone addressed a meeting which was held at Oxford, by a number of the umler-graduates, to cele- brate the formation of a Liberal Palmerston Club. He said that for the past eighteen months he had been styled an agitator ; the accusation was well founded; during that period he had been an M'A^wmm In Opposition. 841 agitator. He had never once lost sight of his purpose, which was to counterwork what ho believed to bo tiio policy of Lord Beaconsfield. The vote of credit for which the Government had asked he condemned as the most indefensible proposition which iiad been in his time submitted to Parliament. Lord Beaconsfield attacked Mr. Gladstonefor the personalities which he had used in his various speeches upon the subject. Mr. Gladstone courteously requested that reference to those person- alities should be furnished him; the Premier declined to search over the speeches of the past two and one-half years, and admit- ted that certain expressions which he had accused his opponent of using were not to be found in the Oxford speech or elsewhere. This was the only reparation which Mr. Gladstone could obtain from the brilliant but erratic Minister of the Crown. In the House debate upon the vote of credit, Mr. Gladston' alluded to the vileness of the motives which had been con- stantly imputed to him, while he had not impugned the motives of an;/ one. He was willing, however, to let bygones be by- gones ; and with this amicable declaration proceeded to give his reasons for opposing the vote proposed. It would not strengthen the bands of the Government; it was unconstitutional, because its necessity had not been clearly shown; it would be destructive of the peaceful character of the Conference which was about to meet, thus to usher it in with the news that the war establish- mont of England, which was now upon an equality with that of other Powers, should be thus increased upon the eve of its meet- The Government would have the support of the Opposition, he said, if certain points were in^^isted upon at the Conference. A cession of Eoumanian territoiy, which would interfere with the .Voedom of the mouth of the Danube, must be resisted ; the claims of the subject races to a fair and just government must be supported; though he saw no reason why Bulgaria, having re- lied upon the efforts of others for her liberty, should not pay a tribute. He suggested that the Government should postpone the proposed vote for a time, and renew it if it became necessary; and closed by saying that an address should be presented to the Queen by both Houses, expressing their readiness to support the Government in bringing about a permanent peace. The vote of credit was ultimately carried by a very large ma- iority, the Marquis of Hartington and several other ■^rorainent IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARG£T (MT-3) m V // k /j^\ C «'' Q- f^r /^ /i/.. Mv A 10 I.I '■'■IIIIM IIM I ^ ir S 1^ 112.0 12.2 1.25 1.4 1.8 1.6 V] ^ om, '/ m Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 \ ^q\' ^9) V <F ^^ A v» 842 In Opposition. Liberals not voting at all. Shortly afterward, the conditions of the treaty were announced J but the terms were regarded us op- pressive by the British Government, and the demand was made that the whole question should bo submitted to the proposed Congress at Berlin. Before the end of the month (March) there was considerable public uneasiness in England. Not only were the chances very shadowy that the Berlin Congress would ever meet, but the Gov- ernment had taken the extreme step of calling out the reserves. In consequence of this action of the Cabinet, Lord Derby resign- ed his post as Foreign Secretary. The Marquis of Salisbury be- came his successor, and distinctly expressed the opinion that a Congress under the limitations on which Prince GoHschakoff insisted would not consult the interests which England was bound to guard, nor the well-being of the regions with which the treaty dealt. A long diplomatic correspondence ensued, and Salisbury and Gortschakoff finally agreed upon terms, so that the Congress met the last of June. The course which Lord Beaconsfield took in connection with this Congress was a surprise to most persons. He was himself one of the Plenipotentiaries of England, Lord Salisbury being the other. It was the first instance in which a Prime Minister had left England, while Parliament was sitting, to act as the rep- resentative of England abroad. It was an irresistible temptation to one of his nature, essentially barbaric in its love of show and state and pomp, and its manifestation was fitly termed "Jingo- ism" by his opponents. His journey to Berlin was almost a tri- umphal progress; at every station crowds turned out to look upon him — the determined enemy of Russia It suited the plans of Prince Bismarck that at this time he should act as peacemaker; and he was a most effectual one. The Congress of Berlin was in session but a month before the four or five distinct and important questions were decided, the treaty prepared and signed. Lord Beaconsfield returned home. If ho had been honored when he set out upon this mission, what shall we say of his reception when he returned ? It was a series of ovations, from the time that he landed upon English soil until he reached London. He had brought back " Peace with Honor " he told the wildly enthusiastic crowds that had gathered about the Foreign Ofiice to hear the popular idol speak ; and the phrase wr-8 caught up, like so many others from his speeches, and ran In Opposition. 343 inditionsof rdod us op- was made e proposed onsiderable lauces V(!ry utthe Gov- 16 reserves, srby resign- ilisbury be- ion that a »rtscIiakoff gland was vith which nsued, and so that the ction with IS himself bury being Minister as the rep- iemptation show and d "Jingo- nost a tri- tt to look 8 time he 1 one. The he four or ho treaty le. If ho ?hat shall series of •il until he Honor," 'ed about he phrase and ran like wildfire. It was the highest altitude that he had yet attain- ed in the minds of men. It was the highest that he was ever to attain. Meanwhile, what was the standing of Mr. Gladstone in the popular estimation? In the provinces, Liberalism was still pop- ular; and the Liberal chief would still have been su.'e of the cheers of a great provincal meeting. But in the metropolis, which often stands for the.whole country, so much more loudly are its opinions expressed, he was completely overshadowed by the glory of his rival. Of the great newspapers, the daily News was the only one which did not laud Beaconsfield to the skies; the Spectator and the Echo were allies of the News among the weeklies, but there was not one besides. Nor was it the newspa- pers alone that were opposed to him; they reflected the public sen- timent of the city. There now came a day when this man, who had held the highest office in the gift of his sovereign, and had commanded an overwhelming majority of the representatives of the people, could not puss through the streets of London in safe- ty with his wife by his side; but was obliged to seek the shelter of a friendly hall door, until the little mob of patriots returning from a Jingo carnival should have ceased their threatening dem- onstrations. Secure in the consciousness of his own rectitude, Mr. Glad- stone did not falter in the course which he had murked out for himself, but pursued it as calmly and with as certain a step as if he had been supported by such a majority as had voted with the earliest measures of his Ministry. The employment of the In- dian troops, who had been ordered to Malta by the Government, gave rise to a spirited debate. The Chaucellor of the Exchequer was accused by Mr. Gladstone of an unconstitutional act in con- cealing a heavy item of expense which he know was to bo incur- red; the Government ought to have consulted the House upon the subject before taking any action at all. By their violation of the Bill of Eights and the Indian Government act, they had made a most dangerous precedent. But the clear violation of the statutes was supported, as Lord Beaconsfield had calculated it would be, by many whose eyes were dazzled by the glory achieved in bringing home " Peace with Honor." Men had not yet discovered that what was so called was, emphatically, "Peace v/ithout Honor." The Government was supported by a majority of more than a hundred when the o[uestion came to a vote, T "V mmt mm in- 844 In Opposition, Marquis of Salisbury compared his relative and predecessor, the Earl of Derby, to Titus Gates ; an article of Mr. Gladstone's in tht Nineteenth Century was made the pretext for a charge of treason, which was gravely brought against him in the House of Com- mons. But the Conservatives themselves saw that this was carry- ing things a little too far; and the motion was quietly dropped. Mr. Gla^'stono was " not greatly concerned" about this accusa- tion; if it were treason to spoak in condemnation of the Gov- ernment's course, he was determined that there should be no half-way guilt; having been thus warned of the consequences. he went on exactly as he had been doing. In an address deliver- ed toward the last of July at a meeting of Liberals in Bermond- sey,hepolntcdouttho necessity for union in the party; postponing merely sectional questions, out of consideration to the elections which would follow dissolution, now not long to bo delayed. He spoke freely concerning the course which the Government had pursued, and while ho expressed his satisfaction that it was not the Liberals who had carried through such measn^es, he regret- ted that there was any party in England capable of such a course. Shortly before the close of the session, a great debate upon the whole of the Eastern Question was brought about by a resolu- tion which Lord Hartington proposed, affirming that the House was dissatisfied with the provisions of the Berlin Treaty; the undefined engagements entered into by the Government having imposed heavy responsibilities upon the State, with no means of securing their fufiUmcnt; such engagements having been enter- ed into without the knowledge or consent of Parliament. Mr. Gladstone's speech on this occasion was characterized as " un- surpassable for its comprehensive grasp of the subject, its lu- cidity, point, and the high tone which animated it throughout." Lord Bcaconsfield had alleged that his attacks upon the Govern- ment constituted a personal provocation. If criticism of this kind were forbidden, ho said, they might as well shut the doors of the House. " The liberty of speech which we enjoy, and the publicity which attends our political life and action are, I be- lieve, the matters in which wo have the greatest amount of ad- vantage over some other countries of the civilized world. That liberty of speech is the liberty which secures all other liberties, and the abridgment of which would render all other liberties vain and use«ess possessions." In Opposition. 345 Butthemajorityof the Ministers were still unchanged; nndthe resolutions were lost by a large adverse vote. There .vas a The Front. Opposit'nn Bench in a Night Session During the Beaconsfield Administration, growing fear, however, that the Imperial Policy i-f the Govern- raent was working against the interests of the people; and that 846 In Opposition. thoco«rsewh>ch the Ministry had marked out, would, if pursu- sued to us egitimate end, make the English Parliament what Napoleon III. had made the French Parliament-a merely lorm- al assembly which was really powerless to resist his will It wonld have been the part of wisdom if Beaconsfield had dissolved immediately after his return from Berlin. A dissolu- tion was confidently expected by all, but their expectations were d.sappointed. He was urged by some of his advisers not to put the country to the expense of a general election at that time, as the drain caused by bad trade had been so heavy as to make this course un.dvisable. It wo.ld have given him an ir- rosistib.e majority had he appealed to the country in the first flush of his immense popularity; but ho failed to do so. From UK.tt,,ne, his star having reached its zenith, began to decline. Iheie were many circumstances which combined to destroy the prestige which the Ministry had acquired; some of these would have operated equally against any Government which mi-^ht nave been in existence at that time; but by far the greater namber of reasons for the final fall of the Conservatives was due to their own actions. The secret engagements which the Plenipotentaries had en- red into with both Eussia and Turkey becLe known, and did much to rob Beaconsficld of all the honor which he had gained by his pare n the treaty, ai,. perhaps more. When all was known people saw that this professed enemy of Eussiu had ce- ded to her all that she demanded; that of those provisions of the treaty of 1856 which had been distasteful to heVno on remained in force Nor was this all. To counterbalLnce the concessions which had thus been made to Russia, England had jeed to guarantee to Turkey all her Asiatic poss;ssiot against all invasion, on condition that Turkey handed over CypL to th':; the r" '^ \^'r ^' "'"^- ^'^"« '' -- made manife and that '^ Peace with Honor" had been secured b/agreeinT: beforehand to give the enemy what was demanded. ^ ^ ^ Iherewere other circumstances besides this, which was not wholly sufficient to hav3 accomplished such 1 result. There was great depression of trade throughout the country; the (government was not of course responsible for this in the first place; but their policy, which had consisted so largely of a se- ries of surprises, had tended to unsettle affairs and mak^ hard In Opposition. 347 times still harder through the uncertainty of the future. They had not satisfied the country party, to which the Conservatives are always so largely indebted ; the malt tax remained a griev- ance, in spite of the strictures upon the course pursued by the Gladstone Government; and thoy had bogun to clash with the Homo Eulo party, which was then beginning a new life. The former loader of this organization, Mr. Butt, had long been fail- ing in health, and of late months his place had been supplied by a young man who was destined to become far more prominent than Mr. Butt— the most remarkable politician, says McCarthy, who had arisen on the field of Irish politics since the day when John Mitchell was conveyed away from Dublin to Bermuda, This was Charles Stewart Parnell, whose obstructive policy was, during this administration, highly successful. The Government was blamed for allowing the course of legislation to be thus imped- ed; but good-natured men of respectable ability and no great force of character, like the Chancellor of the Exchequer, were hnable to oomo off victor in a contest where such tactics wore employed. A new chapter of the Irish Question would begin be- fore the Eastern difficulty was fairly settled ; and those who dis- liked the prospect blamed the Government that it should be so. In addition to all this, there was an evident disagreement among the members of the Cabinet as to the general tendency of the policy of the Ministry. In his speeches in the House of Lords, the Premier always endeavored to magnify his office and to glorify the ambitious imperial policy which he had adopted. When such a speech was made, Sir Stafford Norlhcote and Mr. Cross would follow it up with explanations in the House of Com- mons of all the questionable points and reduced to the must practicable limits the objects of the ruling foreign policy. Mr. Gladstone having announced his intention of retiring from the representation of Greenwich at the next general elec- tion, paid a farewell visit to his constituency Nov. SOth. In a speech delivered before a meeting of the Liberal Association, ho urged upon them the necessity for united action ; the votes which the Liberal party had given to its opponent at the last election were tw aty-six in number; and the Government had at times been carried on for years \/ith a majority no greater. At a subsequent meeting, an address was pres(!nted, expressing the regret of his constituents that he should have thought it neces- sary to retire from the representation of this borough. 348 In Opposition. Tho position of tho Govornmcnt with regard to Russia was a subject upon wliich ho dwelt with special emphasis in his reply to this ati.lross, showing that wiiilo tho Oppocition had been charged with undue leanings to that Power, the Ministry had been the real friend of her ambition , lince it was the British Govern- ment wbioh nad been concerned in the conclusion of that treaty Sir Staford Northcote [nftenuard Earl of Iddesleigh). which had given her all that she had lost in 1856. Passing from this topic to the subject of the Afghan War, which was then just begun, he blamed the Government severely for its injustice to an inferior Power, on which il had forced a war. This war was another thing which contributed to make the Ministry less popular. The Ameer had declined to receive Euro- pean Residents at his capital ; Russia, in violation of the treaty by In Opposition. 349 which she had covenanted to exercise no influence in Afghanis- tan, sent a Mission thither, which, when the English Govern- ment remonstrated, she declared was no more than a Mission of courtesy. The Government " sang small to Russia," us Mr. Gladstone expressed it, but dispiitched troops to Afghanistan, to force the Ameer to receive an Eni^iish Resident. The war had been begun upon the responsibilily of the Ministry j Parliament would shortly bo called upon to divide the responsibility with them J and to the people, who would soon have to indorse or re- pudiate the policy of the Government, ho called for a rebuke of this great injustice. His closing words are significant, not only in connection with this long-past war, but considered as a com- mentary upon all governmeiital action : " It is written in the eternal laws of the universe of God that sin shall be followed by suffering. An unjust war is a tremend- ous sin. The question which you have to consider is whether this war is just or unjust. So far as I am able to collect the evi- dence, it is unjust. It fills me with the greatest alarm lest it should bo proved to be grossly and totally unjust. If so, we should come under the stroke of the everlasting law that suffer- ing shall follow sin ; and the day will arrive, come it soon or come it late, when the people of England will discover that national injustice is the surest road to national downfall." There was a short session of Parliament held in December, during which there was a long debate upon this war. Mr. Glad- stone's speech was a powerful arraignment of the Government for the blunders and the negligence which, joined to its insane desire for the extension of its imperial policy, had led to this war. The vote of censure was, however, defeated ; though it is not improb- able that many voted for the Government who w^ere really op- posed to this war, but would not lend their voice to call for the downfall of Disraeli. A question which engaged the attention of the House of Com- mons early in the session of 1879 was the claims of Greece, which had been provided for by a Protocol of the Berlin Con- gress; but which the English Government had taken no steps toward recognizing. Mr. Gladstone supported the resolution which called for an inquiry into the state of the case, and urged the redemption of the pledges which had been given by England. The Chancellor of the Exchequer replied that the matter was one which engaged the serious attention of the Government, and 350 In Opposition. n'j 10. he hoped thai his assurance of that fact would be sufficient ibr the House. It was sufficient, and the question was allowed to rest upon the promise of the Government; a promise, which, we need hardly say, there was never any attempt made to fulfill. There was a debate of some importance upon the use which the Beacon:sfiold Ministry had made of the Prerogative j and a motion was introduced by Mr. Dillwyn, affirming that it was necessary to look more strictly into the mode and limits of its action, in order to correct the growing extension and abuse of it by the Ministry, who had used the supposed personal interposi- tion of the Sovereign to forward their policy. Mr. Gladstone said that this abuse of the Prerogative had been sanctioned in every case by a large majority, and that censure ought to be di- rected against the whole number of members who composed that majority. After a debate upon the Zulu war, which is of little interest now, wo find what is the first instance of serious conflict be- tween Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Parnell. Tiie Speaker had order- ed notes of the proceedings and debates of the House to be tak- en for his own private use. The Home Eulers interpreted this as aimed especially against their small but active party ; and Mr. Parnoll brought forward a resolution that this was contrary to precedent, a broach of the privileges of Parl'ament, and a dan- ger to the liberty and independence of debate. Mr. Gladstone was among the first to speak upon the subject, after the resolu- tion had been proposed. It was the first instance which he had witnessed of a House impugning the motives of its Speaker. lie demanded that the motion should be subjected to a direct nega- tive ; this was done, and a majority of two hundred and sixty- eight, in a House but half full, demonstrated that the Home Rulers could not depend on any one but the immediate members of their own party in such a question. The Liberals, led by Mr. Gladstone and Lord Hartington, made a gallant effort to abolish corporal punishment in the army; but the Government, so rapidly losing prestige outside, was still strong in the House ; and they were not successful. Nor was the financial policy such as the great financier could approve. The course of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in submitting two budgets a year, was subversive of the principle that the Government should bo immediately dependent upon Parliament for a ratification of its plans in this respect. Mr. In Opposition. 861 Gladstone's donunciationa of the Government have Ijeen called unmeasured and unwarruntjiblo; but surely he whoso own ox- cellence in this dopurtment of the Administration has never been questioned was entitled to judge of the success which others had attained, and the measure of praise or censure which justly be- longed to them. He had done the work well ; the present Gov- ernment was not content until it had reversed every point of his domestic policy. The future pointed out which was the wiser course. John Sfunrt Mill. Ii would seem, indeed, that the Conservative party has never possessed the wisdom of the Liberals, in dealing witf« questions which affect the domestic policy of the Government. The Tories have never led in such matters, but have been content to follow, at long distances in some cases, in the footsteps of their rivals on the path of i form. Part of this disposition is doubtless duo to the composition of the party, which includes many timid and fearful souls. Some there are, as Mr. Gladstone once pointed out in speaking of S'w Eobert Peel and other leaders, who have been as far advanced as the Libera! leaders themselves ; but there is I 352 /; Opposition, 863 much meaning in John Stuart Mill's dictum regarding this party. He had been accused of saying that they were all stupid. " 1 did not say that all Conservatives were stupid," he replied, with elaborate euro; *' what I did say was that all stupid people are Consorvativoa." The House of Commons was becoming demoralized. What would have boon tho case if Mr. Disraeli hud retained the leader- ship, it is impossible to say j but Sir Stallord Northcote generally tried to bo strong where he ought to have been yielding, and was frequently compelled to be yielding where he ought to have boon utrong. A scheme for university education in Ireland was brought in by the Government, which was really a mutilation of Mr. Gladstone's rejected measure. It was carried through both Houses vory quickly, and ■''-e Ministers flattered themselves that they had secured tho attachment of tho Irish witliout alienating their Conservative suppo'ers in Great Britain. But tho Irish were n(>t conciliated by a iaw which did net concede nearly enough of their dom?. i' ■; ; and many of the Non-conformists were oflFendod oven by this moderate measure. Tho Liberals loudly demanded dissolution Tho Parliament would expire by limitation the next year, and many of the Op- position, among whom Mr. Gladstone was the most prominent, urged that tho Parliament ought not to run to its full length. But the Government would not listen to this argument; indeed, the persistency with which they shut their ears to it caused the frequent remark that they wore afraid to meet the people at the polls. This once said, it was eagerly caught up by the Liberals, who insisted vehemently thai all they wished was an appeal to the people. Perhaps in their hearts thoy wore not at all certain of the effect of such an appeal j but thoy kept up a bold front and persistently demanded dissolution. Tho more the challenge was repeated, the more tho Government held back. Tho result of several byo-elections during the autumn of 1879 and the suc- ceeding winter revived the spirits of the Conserv.-itives, which hs>,d begun to droop under tho persistent boasts of the rival par- ty ; ar"* of course had the opposite effect upon the Liberals. It mattered little that in the most notable of these Conservative victories tho question had been ono of en luther JxziX of par- ties, and that the personal popularity of the su:3essful candidate was such that defeat would have been most improbable; the ef- fect upon the parties was the same 23 i m w m I 1 ' 1 li 1 ■ 1 i 354 In Opposition. 355 Becoming the candidate for Midlothian, in the latter part of the year 1879 Mr. Gladstone visited Scotland and poured out the floods of his eloquence in vigorous attacks on the Govern- ment and its policy. His progress through "the land o' cakes" was a continued ovation from all classes. Beceptions, proces- sions, illuminations, followed one after the other, while the "Grand Old Man" delivered his most telling and sledge-hammer- like blows upon his opponents. Scotland has generally been loyal to her eminent son, and it seemed as if the enthusiasm of the people knew no bounds. Eeturned to the House by his \k\mi\ triumphant majority, Par- liament met in Fobrujiry, and there was no promise of a dis- solution before the expiration of the legal term. It was to be a fair working session, the Government declared. Suddenly, to the surprise of all, it was announced that they had accepted Mr. Gladstone'^ challenge; they would dissolve at the Easter recess. The dissolution accordingly took place March 24th, 1880, and writs were at once issued for a new election. For a graphic de- scription of the result, the reader is advised to turn back to the page where Mr. Disraeli's words are quoted as the most eloquent account of the rout of the Opposition in Lord Derby's time. Put "Ministerial" in place of "Opposition," and the change makes it entirely applicable. With all the buoyancy of youth, Mr. Gladstone immediately returned to Scotland, and the scenes of his just previous visit and election were gone through with again, with, if possible, more enthusiasm than before. Speech followed speech, and po- litical excitement raged in all its intensity. Of the result here and over the whole kingdom, there is no need to speak. Local influence and opposition in every shape were doomed to igno- minious failure. Young Lord Eosebery, standing by his side on the balcony of the Eosebery mansion at Edinburgh on the even- ing of April 5th, declared to the delighted populace heaving and cheering below, that "it was a great night for Midlothian, for Scotland, for Great Britain, and for the world," whilst a wag in the crowd capped the climax by adding, "and a bad night for Dizzy." For the very first day of the election demonstrated that the Conservatives would be defeated. The certainty was made more apparent as time went on ; defeat became disaster; disaster be- came utter rout. The Liberals came back to power with a ma- 356 In Opposition. jority of u hundred and twenty— unparalleled in the history of the party. There had been one man who had brought this about, by a persistence under defeat which had scarcely been rivalled by Bcaconsfield himself. When others would have sat still, folding: their hands when they saw that failure was inevitable at the Mr. Gladstone Speaking at Lurd Ruxebenjs Huuse after the Election. time, ho had labored. " Tic had draij^.ujcd his party after him into many a daiit^er. Ho had compelled thorn more than once to fight where many of them would fain have held back, and whore none of them saw any chance of victory. Now, at last, the battle had boon given into his hands, and it was a matter of necessity that the triumph should bring back to power the man whof,"! energy and oloqucucc bad inspired the struggle," To him In Opposition. 357 all cyos in Britain were turned as the next Prime Minister. But the Queen, whose shining domestic virtues arc not incom- patible with an overweening appreciation of her own dignity, Chance/for Norfhcote Announcinrj the Dissolution of Parliament. could not forgive the overthrow of the Minister who had done so much to magnify the respect paid her. To Beaconsficld she owed, not only the empty title of ''Empress of India," but a more real extension of the power of the Crov;n, since his Gov- 358 In Opposition. eminent had so frequently invoked the royal Prerogative. To the man who had opposed su^h measures, and successfally, she was not willing to accord the reward which the popular voice would have given him. The Liberals must certainly have the direction of affairs; but Mr. Gladstone should not be at the head of the now Ministry. The post was offered to Lord Hartington, , the chosen leader of the party and the chief figure in the Oppo- sition—whenever Mr. Gladstone was absent. But the noble Mar- quis declined the offer of the post, and assured Her Majesty that there was only one Liberal Premier possible. The Queen was obdurate, and persisted. Lord Granville, the leading Liberal in the House of Lords, was sent for; he attended Her Majesty, but declined, like his Commoner associate, to receive the command to form a Ministry; there was but one man, he assured the Queen, who could fill that position. The ease was a hopeless one. The Liberal party was indeed united in this hour of tri- umph. The Queen sent for Mr. Gladstone at last, and command- ed him to form a Cabinet. There was no hesitation this time. CHAPTER XIII. THE SECOND GLADSTONE MINISTRY. Great Liberal Majority-Importance of the Irish Question-Mr. Bradlaugh in Parlmment-Lord Kandolph Churchill-Great Expectations from the Gladstone Ministry- Treaty of Berlin Concerning Montenegro-Claims ot Greece-Trying to .Adjust Domestic Taxes-Game Laws-Post-office Department-Illness of Mr. Gladstone-Irish Land Law not Satisfactory -Peace Preservation Act-Irish Evictions-Home Rulers-Land League -Long Debate-Coercion B'^.s-Eloquent Speech of John Bright-Mem- orable Scene m the House of Commons-Ludicrous Incidents-Mr Par- nell and Irish Legislation-Final Passage of the Irish Bill. ^^HE Immense majority which had swept Mr. Gladstone into {^ power did not remove the first difficulty which presented ^ itself after his appointment as First Minister of the Crown. If he had had about six Cabinets to form, it might have been all very well; but having only one, there was con- siderable difficulty in deciding upon the rival claims of the many men who were thought to be entitled to positions in it. Of course Lord Hartingtoi, who had been the leader of the Lib- eral party under peculiarly trying circumstances, being con- stantly overshadowed by Mr. Gladstone himself, who could not keep away from the House of Commons or political life in gen- eral, must be included in it; equally certain was it that Lord Granville must bo offered a post of importance. Mr. Bright was likewise necessary; and, much to the dismay of the Whigs, the Eadicals demanded recognition. Eadicalism was indeed what had helped to swell the Liberal majority more than any other element except the party itself; Radicalism was too formidable an ally to be offended ; it would be better to let the Whigs growl. Mr. Chamberlain and Sir Charles Dilke were the most promin- ent men of this party, and they agreed that each would heartily support the other. The former was accordingly made Presi- dent of the Board of Trade, and the latter, for whom no seat in the Cabinet eouid be found, was made Under-Secretary for For- eign Affairs. Lord Granville being Foreign Secretary, Lord Hartington, 359 ,1 The Second Gladstone Ministry. 361 sSecrotary for India, and Mr. Bright, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, there was but one more office of importance to the after history of the Ministry. This was filled by Mr. Forster as Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant. The Irish Question was indeed one of importance. It was the prime cause of the late unexpected dissolution; and Lord Bea- consfield had characterized the Home Rule movement as "scarce- ly less disastrous than pestilence and famine." Perhaps support of that movement waa the legitimate outgrowth of that anti- imperialism which had brought the Liberals back to power; it became later the cause ^f division in the party which material- ly increased the strength of a Conservative Government, and de- layed still longer the justice for which Ireland had been crying out so long. The Irish vote, while it was not large enough in many constituencies to send a representative to Parliament, was yet often the casting vote between Liberals and Conservatives. In the election of 1880 their voice was wholly for the Liberals; not because they were Liberals, but because they were not To- ries, "Anything to beat Bcaconsfield," was the motto under which they i-a!lied ; if we may be permitted so to parody a cam- paign battle-cry of American politics. The places in the Cabinet having all been filled, there were some men omitted who must be placated ; and to these a title wasoffered. Among them, Mr. Lowe was the chief. Mr. Lowowas not reliable as a supporter of his chief; he was too incapable of sacrificing his own opinion or abandoning his own ideas ever to become a successful assistant to any minister; Mr. Gladstone had tried to get on with him, but was well assured by that ex- perience that it would be much easier to get on without him. Mr. Lowo accordingly disappeared from the House of Com- mons as Lord Sherbrooke took his seat in the House of Lords. But the bitter, brilliant speaker, a man of splendid gifts and wide and original ideas, as well as profoundly cultured, seemed to find the atmosphere of the Upper House anything but stimu- latin--^. He sank into a state which was almost apathy, as com- pared with the finriness of Mr. Lowe, and he seldom addressed the Peers upon the subjects of debate. Among the most remarkable circumstances attending this change of Ministry, was the conversion of Lord Derby. This nobleman had, as wo have already seen, held no mean post in the late Conservative Cabinet, wnich he had resigned when he saw •t \ 362 The Second Gladstone Ministry. that the coui-ho which the Foreign Minister was expected to par- sue was one which he could not follow. He was openly compared to Titus Oates by a political ally and a near relative; but Lord Salisbury, in so resenting his change of political opinions, was apparently oblivious of the fact that his chief had begun life as a Radical of the most pronounced type. At any rate, the Earl of Derby now ranked himself as a Liberal Peer. There had been other changes than this. Mr. Bright, who had been regarded as a Eadical of the Eadicals, when he first came in- Lo7'd Granville. to political prominence, had paled into compai'ative conservatism beside the new apostles of that school, of whom Mr. Chamber- lain was the accepted representative. Sir Charles Dilke, who had openly announced himself as a Ecpublican, and been stern- ly rebuked therefor by Mr. Gladstone, had now softened his be- lief so far as to accept a post in Mr. Gladstone's Ministry. Lord Sclborne's political views, on the other hand, had been modified as gradually as Mr. Gladstone's own ; and even at this date, he did not admit that he was altogether a Liberal, but The Second Gladstone Ministry. 363 styled himself a Liberal-Conservative. As Sir Eound 11 Palmer, ho had opposed the action of the Ministry in the disestablish- Members of a New Parliament Signing the Roll. ment of the Irish Church ; but he had proved himself a sound lawyer and an honorable politician ; so that his appointment as Lord Chancellor and Keeper of the G-reat Seal was felt to be a real recognition of desert. 364 The Second Gladstone Ministry/. Great interest was awakened during this session concerning the admission of Mr. Charles Bradlaugh to the House of Commons. He vfzs born near London in 1833, of very poor parents, and early gave promise of a remarkable career. Having become an atheist, and being widely known as a writer and speaker upon atheistical subjects, his next achievement was to obtain an election tv. \irlia- ment. On the 3d of May he presented himself at the table of the House of Commons, and said that he wished to be allowed to make affirmation, instead of taking the oath in the usual manner. His reason was well known to be his aversion to acknowledging the supremacy of the Christian religion, or, indeed, any religion at all, as he must do in taking an oath. The Speaker declined to take the responsibility of a decision, and left the matter to the judgment of the House. It was proposed to appoint a select committee to decide the question, and the motion was approved by the Opposition as well as by the Government. The Government, however, aroused the indignation of the House ay proposing the names of several members who had recently taken oflSce, and were therefore not in the strictest sense members of the House, since they were obliged to go before their constituents again. The ministry was accused of weakness in its desire to hurry matters, and the accusation was perhaps not undeserved. After a sharp debate, however, the Government carried its point, and the com- mittee was nominated. Mr. Bradlaugh had claimed the right to make an affirmation under the Parliamentary Oaths Act; but the committee decided, by the casting vote of the chairman, that Mr. Bradlaugh did not belong to the privileged classes of Moravians and Quakers, who Vi'ere the persons for whose benefit this act had been passed. This was an unexpected difficulty for the Government, which had fully expected the decision to be favorable to Mr. Bradlaugh. The Opposition flattered itself that it had got rid of Mr. Bradlaugh, but now arose a new difficulty. Mr. Bradlau'^h presented himself at the table of the House of Commons again and announced that he was readv to take the oath. A new committee was appointed, and this authority decided that Mr. B-radlaugh ought not to be permitted to take the oath, though it might be wise to let him affirm. Mr. Labouchce, his colleague ning the ommoiis. iiid early 1 atheist, tbeistieal ^ ^irlia- le of the to make er. His ging the on at all, sion, and jposed to e motion ernment. le House tly taken rs of the its again. '• matters, r a sharp the com- firraation decided, did not :ers, who it, which "adlaugh. 'adlaugh, 1 hiniself iced that lided that 1, though colleague 365 866 The Second Oladstone Ministry. In the representation of Nortlmmpton, otfereil n it-solution declaring his rigiit to make aiHrniation. This resolution war- nuppor<«Hl by the Prime Minister; but thia measure, the first trial of strengtn between the Ministry and the Opposition, if a question which involved no part of the Government's policy could be so coiled res< ilted in a defeat to the Cabinet's cause. Tl'e resolution was lost by a vote of two hundred and seventy-five to two hundred and thirty. But Mr. Bradlaugh was not willing to accept defeat. On the following day he presented himself at the table to be sworn. The Spea'cer gravely informed him of the resolution of the House, and re<iuested him to withdraw. He claimed the privilege of being hoaid at the bar of the House, and this he was not refused. His speech was an eloquent one, but it did not avail him. Advancing at its conclusion to the table, he again demanded that the oath be administered; the sergeant-at-arms touched him on the shoulder, and he again retired below the bar, but nly to advance and plead, from the very floor of the House, for wh.it he believed to be hi • right. The S[>eaker appealed to the House, and Mr. Bradlaugh was arrested in due form. He was not kept under restraint for a long time, h(>wever, but was released in the course of the week. Immediately upon his release, the Government introduced a resolution to the effect that any one claiming the privilege of making an affirmaaon should be allowed to do so, at his own risk of the statutory penalties provided in case of any one not duly qualified to sit and vote, attempting to do so. This resolution was carried, and under it Mr. Bradlaugh was finally rd lowed to take his seat. An action was immediately brought against him, however, to recover he£.vy penalties for having sat ana voted without having previously taken the oath. As the penalty for each vote so cast was £500, the sum claimed rapidly grew to tremendous proportions. The Bradlaugh episode was a windfall to the Conservatives, dis- heartened as they had been by the severe losses in the late election. They saw that the immense Liberal majority was not a sure support of the Government ; that the party was not really as united as the leader would have had it. It was an unexpected source of strength ; if not of absolute ■nowfsr in debate it was yet a powerful with which to annoy tlie JMinistry. The Second Gkuhtone Ministry. J67 There waa yet another effect of *ie Bradlaugh controverHv. Ont of it arose the Fourth Party, as .. was called, derisively at first. In the House of Commons th.re was the sou of a great Tory duke, to whom uohody had ever paid much attention. He had boeu listened to, of couise, but simply beoau3e he was the son of the Lffi'd Randolph Churchill. Duke of Marlborough ; not for any interest which he had been able to excite by his speeches. This was a golden oppovtrnity, and 'le seized upon it. He was the bitter opponent of the atheistic claimant of a seat, -"..id of the Government which suppofte<l that cla: m. All the members laughed at the young Lord Randolph Churchill, as they have laughed in other days at many who became famous in spte of the laughter; remembering Burke and Disraeli, Lord 368 The Second Gladstone Ministry. Randolph paid no attention to the ridicule, and spoke when he pleased ; he also said what he pleased, regardless of the Conserva- tive traditions whicli were constantly being thrown at his head. He soon found adherents. In the days of the Adullamites, Mr. Bright liad quoted authorities to prove that two men might con- stitute a party : Lord Randolph had a superabundance of followers, reckoned on that basis, for, including the leader, the Fourth l*arty soon numbered four members. These fated invigorators of the enervated To'-y Party were Sir Henry Wolff, Mr. Gorst and Mr. Arthur Balfour. When the intentions of the new party were announced by its leaders, the gentlemen sitting on the Treasury benches were accus- tomed to smile in a good-natured sort of way, as indulgent elders smile at wayward children; the gentUmen on the opposite side of the House would reflect this smile; and perhaps it would often extend to the small Third Party, the Parnellites. But this was soon changed. They saw that the Conservative jiarty, since Sir Stafford Northcote had succeeded Mr. Disraeli as its leader in the House of Commons, had lost "all of its passion and most oi" its vitality," Its chief characteristic, says a keen-sighted critic, ap- peared to be a " comprehpnsive amiability." But there was noth- ing amiable about the Fourth Party, politically considered. It was their business to annoy and obstruct the Government ; and their perseverance and unflagging energy certainly entitled them to the success which they obtained. Passing now from the diflSculties which encompassed the Gov- ernment in its foreign policy, we come to the domeiitlc legislation. It was but a broken sess'ou, and theie was not much accomplished in this direction. The supplementary budget wis introduced by Mr. Gladstone early in June; the Premier holding the double oftice of First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Ex- chequer. It was proposed to reduce the tax on liglit foreign wines, to re-adjust the tax upon alcoholic liquors; to abolish the malt-tax, and substitute a duty upon beer; and to supply the deficiency which these changes Avould create by adding a penny to the income tax. This budget was accepted with slight modifications, though then; waa some dissatisfaction expressed that it said nothing about the Tlie Second Gladstone Ministry. 369 Indian deficiency ; Mr. Gladstone stating in the speech with whicli lie introduced the financial scheme of the Government, that he was- not as yet prepare(? to make any statement on that subject. The old measure to permit the burial of Non-conformists in church yards with the rites of the sect to which their friends be- longed was again brought forward this session. It originated iu the House of Lords and was finally carried. iliis session. "S'lV William Vernon Harcour*. Other very important legislation was carried Among this was an amendment to the iniquitous game laws. Hitherto no tenant farmer dared kill a hare or rabbit, no matter how his crops wore damaged, and these pests were preserved for the landlords' sport. Harcourts' " Hare and Rabbit Bill," how- ever, gave the right to the tcnan.t to kill in fiertain seasons and made such right inalienable. There was also a n-easure for the remission of cumulative penalties for failure to vaccinate, but the 24 370 Tlie I? lond 0-ladstone Ministry. Government "'as obliged to withdraw it, as it was bitterly opposed by many L. als as well as Conservatives. The Government also brought forward a bill to regulate the responsibility of em- ployei-s with regard to accidents by which their workmen might be injured. Under the old law, an employer was not responsible unless the accident were proved to be the result of his direct personal negligence ; the bill thus introduced made his immediate delegate or person implied as such, his full representative. While this bill did not go far enough to please the advocates of the workingmen, it went too far to please the Lords, who desired to limit its operation to the term of two years. The Commons extended this to seven, when the bill came down again with the amendment of the Peers, and the Upper Chamber accepted this compromise. This action was perhaps due to the fact that the workingman was represented 'in this Parliament as he had never been before. T^'' r the first time in English history, men who had supported themselves and their families by actual manual labor sat !i the House of Commons, and took part in the councils of the nation. There had been theorists there, who had contended for the rights of the lower classes as something in which they took a kintlly interest or which they advocated because, without any speeia regard for the workingman individually, they saw that his welfare meant the welfare of all other classes ; out never before had one of themselves spoken for him. It was the direct result, Jie ultra Tories told each other, of that Reform Bill, which had been entirely too sweeping in its provisions ; and the Tory advocates of the Reform Bill were forced to admit that it was. Of course the workingmen sat on the benches at the right of the Speaker, and that made it all the worse. Mr. Fawcett made a number of propositions in connection witli the Post Office Department, over which he j)resided. With that same resolute determination which put aside his blindness as no insuperable bar to political prominence, he had mastered the details of his work, and had seen clearly what clianges were needed. Perhaps the best tribute to the wisdom of the measures which ho proposed is to be f')und in their speedy passage. They were recog- nized as things which the public demanded, and as valuable aids to Tfie Second Gladstone Ministry. 371 increasing the prosperity of the people. The Post Office Savings Banks which Mr. Gladstone had advocated so strongly in 1861 had proved a great success ; and Mr. Fawcett secured the extension of tneir influence. He also passed a bill providing for the issuing of Postal Notes, similar to those which were subsequently introduced into use in this country. The proposal to erect a tablet in Westminster Abbey to the memory of the young Prince Imperial, who had been killed a year before in the Zulu war, excited intense opposition among those members who had been so bitterly opposed to Napoleon 111., and the motion was not carried. A debate which was not of much interest otherwise, and of no more importance than this nieasu-e, was the nomination of M. Challemel Lacour as Frencn embassador to England. Mr. O'Donnell having attacked tlie proposed representative of France for his actions during the Commune Mr. Gladstone moved that Mr. O'Donnell be no longer heard. This was a revival of a custom which had not been in use for more than two centuries, and was adversely commented on at the time, as tending to recall the days of the first Stuarts In the latter part of July Mr. Gladstone fell ill. His disease proved to be but a slight fever; but for a few days there was intense anxiety regarding him. Visitors thronged tlie door of the house in Do-nf„. street, among whom Lord Beaconsfield was a conspicuous figure. His medical advisers forbiddino- him to return to political life for a time, upon his partial recovery he acceptecl the use of Sir Donald Currie's vessel. ^Grantullv Cas- tle, and did not return to Parliament until Sept. 4th. His place m the House of Commons as leader of the Government, was of course fi led by Lord Hartington, who plodded along with that sturdy determination which has always been characterisfc of Ins political life. The Indian Budget was brought before the House during Mr Gladstone's absence. There was, as had been supposed, an enor" mous deficit. Lord Hartington declined to make any definite statement as to how this was to be met until the exact amount was known : but it wa. proposed to supply the deficiency tern- porarily by means of loans. In connection with the session of 1880, there remains one sub- 372 Tlie Second Gladstone Ministry. ject to be noticed ; a subject whicb was brought up first in the Queen's speech, and which at tlie close oi' the session was left in 1 Lmd Hariing'on. nrettv mnch the same state as it was at the beginnine:. This was nothing else than the Irish Question. If the spirit of all the men who ever sat iu the House of Commons could be assembled in The Second Crladsfone Ministry. 373 ghostly conclave, they would, from sheer force of habit, fall to discussing the Irish question; it is the only topic which could interest all, from the days of King John to the days of Queen Victoria; other wrongs have been redressed, other rights have been asserted and maintained ; the rights and wrongs of Ireland and Ireland alone, are the unfailing source of the waters of strife. The first Gladstone Ministry had passed two measures which were intended to give the long-delayed justice to the unfortun?^te sister-island, and had fallen on the attempt to pass a third. But the Land Law then passed was far from being satisfactory. What were known as the Bvight clauses, intended to make the pur- chase of land by the tenant possible, were found especially im- practicable. By the law disestablishing the Irish Church it was arranged that the church tenants who wished to buy their hold- ings outright should be allowed to do so, certain very easy terms being arranged. Mr. Bright endeavored to incorporate something of the same kind in the general Land Law ; but the land was so encumbered with tithe-charges, and quit-rents, and drainage charges, that there was a constant wrangle between the original holders and the pur- chasers. Besides this, the necessity for a strict investigation of the title, and other expenses of the transfer, sometimes amounted to as much as thirty per cent, of the whole value ; for the law required the title to be a Landed Estates Court document, which is abso- lutely binding, no matter what claims may be made after the con- veyance. The Government had aimed to establish a class of peasant proprietors ; but the scheme was an impracticable one. There was really but one thing accomplished by this act, and that was the establishment of the Ulster system of tenant-right, as far as a custom varying on each estate could be reduced to a general system. That was I it one of the things at which the Gov- ernment aimed. Something at which they did uot aim, but which the la,w did, nevertheless, was the fresh impetus v/hich was thus given to the Land Question. The Irish began to feel that this was not all that would be done ; that there really was some hope of a better time coming. The Queen's speech at the opening of the session made one most important announcement with regard to Irish affairs. The V - 374 The Second Ghdstone Ministry. Peace Preservation Act v/ould uot be renevvetl. This meant that the ordinary law would be allowed to take its course, and the Govern tnent would try to rule Ireland without resorting to coer- cion. Another important point was the promise that the borou<;h franchise of Ireland should be extended. Notable as these prom- ises were, the Irish leaders were scarcely satisfied, however ; there should be something done to stay evictions, they thought, since these had increased in an alarming ratio of late years. The Irish members made a gallant attempt to perform the duty for which they had been elected, in preparing a bill for the purpose of staying evictions. This the government refused to accept ; but proposed in place of it a Compensation for Disturb- ance bill, which adopted some of their suggestions. In cases where a non-payment of rent was due to insolvency caused by a failure of crops, the county court judges were authorized to allow compensation. Mr. Forster explained to the House that this was simply an extension of the act of 1870, and denied that it was a concession to the anti-rent agitation. At the same time he admitted that since 1877 the annual rate at which evictions had increased was nearly double that of previous years. The bill passed the House of Commons after a protracted de- bate, and went up to the Lords. But the Peers did not see as the Commons^: did, and rejected it by an immense majority. The vio- lence with which many evictions had been resisted, and the out- rages which had been perpetuated in revenge for the wrongs in- flicted, in the eyes of the peasants, by the landlord class, were an insup rable bar to any favorable consideration of the claims of the Irish. Perhaps, had this measure passed the Lords, there would have been less agitation in Ireland since that time ; but after the lapse of a decade the same state of affairs obtained. Thvj Irish members pleaded vainly with the Government for some resistance of this fiat of the Peers. The most that the Min- istry would do was to promise a comprehensive measure next session with a committee, for the present, to inquire into the agri- cultural condition of the country. Perhaps the Ministers, in t'le absence of their chief, hesitated to take any decided action ; and certainly such action, taken by Hartington, would have had much less weight than if Gladstone had insisted upon it. Tlie Second Gladstone Ministri/. 375 The Home Rulers were of course bitterly opposed to this quiescence, and did not hesitate to say so, in many speeches which the Government considered inflammatory ; and this judgment was perhaps not without foundation. The Ministry had made the mistake of not cousuli-ng a single Irish member in connection with fcf-a^ S-;^,_«=g^ I'-^^S^* -^ "-i Hon. Edward Forster. its Irish policy ; incredible as it may seem, not even those moder- ate members, who, under the leadership of Mr. Shaw, 5at and. voted with the Liberals, were treated as political friends an 1 allies in this respect. Among the speeches outside of Parliament which thus aroused 376 The Second Gladstone Ministry. the ire of the Government waa one delivered by Mr. Dillon, in which he called upon the young farmers of Ireland to defend those wiio were threatened with eviction. The attention of the Irish Secretary having been called to this speech, he denounced it '•s wicked and cowardly. Mr. Dillon replied ; Mr. Forster retorted. Then camo one debate after auother, upon Irish topics; during one of these discussions, the Secretary took occasion to defend the Irish constabulary for the use of buck-shot as ammunition, and thus built himself an everlasting name, as " Buckshot Forster." Parliament was prorogued September 7th, noth'ng of import- ance havmg been done toward the settlement of this vexed ques- tion. But the Land Leaguers were not silenced. The tenants were advised to form a sort of protective union, for the purpose of oppos- ing a passive resistance to evictions, and also to the exactic n of an unjust amount of rent over the valuation authorized by the Par- liament of 1824, And finally made in 1852. The leaders of the Land League were anxious to avoid all vio- lation of the law; and hence a strictly legal mode of freezing out the obnoxious landlords and agents was resorted to. This was called, from the name of the first victim, " Boycotting ; " and was an ingenious means of evading the letter of the law, worthy of an Irisn man's quick wit. Still there were outrages, though the Land League claimed that it did all in its power to prevent them. '* While we abuse coer- cion, we must not be guilty of coercion," was the principle which Davitt and his associates constantly enunciated ; but there was much for which the Government held them responsible ; and the trouble culminated in a State prosecution of fifteen prominent members of the society, among whom Messrs. Parnell, Dillon, Sexton, Sullivan and Biggar, all members of Parliament, were of course included. The charge was seditious conspiracy, but the jury was unable to agree, and the trial came to nothing. At the end of the session of 1880, Mr. Forster had said that the Gover'^ment would introduce an Irish Land Bill a: ■ a Coercion Bill the next session. He intimated that coercion would precede 1/1n.1Q1o4■i/^n nn +V>P ^anA nr.oafmn Tbo TriaVi mpmhprfl vvprp hiirdlv surprised then, when at the opening of the session of 1881, the Queen's speech declared that the multiplication of agrarian crimes. Tlie Second Gladstone Ministry. 377 and the insecurity of life and property in Ireland demanded coer- cive measures. On the otlier iiaud it wa.< admitted that the con- dition of Ireland called for an extension of the Land Act of 1870. MoLuay, January 24th, Mr. Forster introduced his first coer- cion measure. Liberals and Conservatives alike loolc^d at his statistics of outrages perpetrated in Ireland with horror, until Mr. Labouchere showed that in most cases one outrage was made to stand for several, by multiplying ''t by the number of men con- cerned with it. This somewhat weakened the force of the argu- ment based on the statistics, but Mr. x^'orster did not look upon it in that light. The bill gave the Lord Lieutenant the power of arresting any one who was suspected of treasonable practices, and tho commission of crimes of intimidation, or incitement thereto. It was an ex-post facto law, as it did not limit the arrest to those who had offended after the passage of the Mil. On the day after the introduction of this bill, Mr. Gladstone moved to declare urgency for the coercion bills, and thus give them precedence over all other business. Then ensued a series of sittings without precedent in the history of Parliament. The first sitting of the House at which this was the business of the hour wa& prolonged, not only all night, but until two o'clock the next afternoon. The debate was resumed on Thursday, with a speech from Mr. Bright. The Radical of the old school had long been regarded as a friend to Home Rule, and it had been confi- dently asserted that the silence which he had hitherto preserved upon this all-absorbing topic was due to his disapproval of the course which his colleagues were pursuing. But if this opinion really obtained, it was most effectually dissipated by this speech. The Land League had oeen compared to the anti-Corn Law League, and the impression that Mr. Bright was a devoted friend of the Irish was perhaps due in no small degree to this compari- son. But now he angrily denied the parallel, and with more than his usual vehemence literally flung himself upon the Irish party. The Irish national press was exasperated to find Mr. Bright thus decisively arrayed upon the side of their enemies ; he was the last link thac had bound the extreme Irish party to tae vjovernnient ; and now that had been snapped. But Mr. Bright's speech, eloquent as it was in its fierce denun- 378 The Second Gladstone Ministry. ciatious of the Land Leaguers, was completely overshadowed by one from Mr. Gladstone the next day, upoi« the same subject. His speech was a justification of coercion in the disorganized con- dition of Ireland, and a bitter denunciation of many of the si)eechea which had been made by Mr. Parnell and Mr. Biggar. The fierce- ness of his attack had had no precedent since the time when he had defended the mona-chy against the republicanism of Sir Charles Dilke. " Passion is the spell which most sursly uulocks Mr. Gladstone's ski)l as an orator of attack. The fury of his indignation swept over the House and stirred it to its depths, arousing tumultuous enthusiasm in the majority of his hearers, and angry protest from the minority he was assailing. The pale, unmoved face of Mr. Parnell occasionally showed tiirough the storm as he rose to cor- rect the Prime Minister in his quotations from his speeches, and was howled and shouted, if not into silence, at least into being inaudible." Such is the description of an eye-witness, who was certainly not unfavorable to Parnell. But the House was not to be swept along on this tide of fiery eloquence. There were breakers ahead, in the obstruction policy of the Irish members ; the members of the Gov- ernment sat in their places; some doggedly defiant of these efforts, some appearing to be extremely depressed because the measure was not carried through with a rush. Entirely different was the atti- tude of the Opposition during this prolonged sitting ; what was death to the frogs in the fable was fun for the boys ; and the members of that party whose Irish policy had been so severely condemned by the party in pov/er, and who were promised that they should see how speedily the Irish difficulties would be settled by the Liberals, enjoyed themselves immensely during this exciting debate. Finally the Speaker proceeded to put the main question. An Irish member rose ; the Speaker refused to hear him. Then there arose a cry which had not been heard in the House of Commons since 1 642, when Charles I. suddenly appeared in its sacred pre- cincts and demanded that the members whom he accused of hi~b treason should be delivered up to him. " Privilege, Privilege !" shouted the whole Irish party, leaping to their feet as one man. wm TAc >SIeconi Gladstone Ministry. 379 Then, bowing to the Chair, they marched out of the House in the same unbroken phalanx. ""■hus ended a 8cen'3 without parallel in Parliamentary histor/. The long sitting was the first actual triumph of obstruction, which had often delayed business, but which had never before revolu- tionized parliamentary law and precedent. The occasion was full of weird interest, and was chiefly remarkable for the daring audacity of the pj'incipal actors in it. Again and again did the Irish patriots move that the House adjourn, that progress be reported, that the Speaker leave the chair, and a variety of similar motions. Again and again did the sonorous voice of Mr. Biggar break the stillness of the air with his peculiarly pronounced " Misthur Spake, 3ui-r-r." Under cover of motions to adjourn, the whole question was re-opened, until, on tHe morn- ing of the second day, it was discovered that one of the solid gang hud not addressed himself to the bill itselfl Up rose this zealous patriot, and when it was found he insisted on reading the measure, clause by clause, a groan escaped from a score of li)>s. When the lights were put out at daybreak on Tuesday, the ap- pearance of the House was miserable. The uaual sweeping and cleaning had been impossible, and the floor was strewn with rubbish of all kinds, torn newspapers, and even pieces of orange peel abounding in every direction. Then the Liberals commenced going home to sleep in sections, and every few hours a score or two members would appear clothed and in their right minds, to replace an equal number of dirty and sleepy legislators, who in turn went home to recuperate. For the nonce all party feeling was forgotten, and the Opposi- tion loyally supported the Government in its attempt to silence Irish protests and Irish demands for justice. Sir Staflbrd North- cot'^ personally appealed to Mr. Gladstone to go home and sleep, pledging himself to remain in his absence and " keep a Hor.se." Of ludicrous incidents there were several. It is " strictly out of order " for members or strangers to bring ref'^3shments on to the floor of the House. This rule did not hurt the English and Scotch members, who could easily ""et awav to eat • but it was not so with the Irish, who ate sandwiches and drank out of flasks to their heart's c>-ntent. Among the lunch eaters was an Irish obstruc- :80 'Uie Second Oladdonf Ministry, tionist whose reputation as a drinker of whiskey exceeded his elo- ([uence. Mr. Wharton called the Speaker's attention to the fact that tliis gentleman was eating and drinking, whereupon the wine- bibber proceeded to sta'id up and empty his flask in face of the Speaker's studied rebuke. The bill was immediately brought in, and the first reading car- ried. The House adjourned till noon of the same day, this single .sitting having lasted about forty-one hours, and being the longest then on record. The Irish members thought better of it when the time came for re-assembling, and were promptly on hand to criti- cise the action of the Speaker in thus bringing tho debate to a close upon his own motion. The Speaker ruled that it was not a question of privilege ; whereupon an Irish member moved the adjournment of the House, and the debate on that question was kept up until nearly six o'clock, when, Upon division, it was found that but forty-four members out of more than three hundred were in favor of it. As it was six o'clock by the time that the result of the division v/as announced, and the day was Wednesday, the House was obliged, by its own rules, to adjourn. The Irish were resisting with all their might. They could only hope to weary out the Govern mer*, and thus obtain some conces- sions. If the ministry would not pass a law for the relief of Ire- land, they should not pass one for her oppression. So they rea- soned ; and the members who sat on the right hand of the Speaker were doubtful as to the result, until their chief found a way out of the difficulty. The obstruction policy of the very small Irish party must be the excuse for the revival of rules which had been allowed to sink into oblivion. The Irish had brought th j cry of •* Privi- lege" from the echoing chambers of the past and they were silenced with thunders from the same stormy reg >n. When question time came on Thursday, Mr. i*:;rnell suddenly asked if it were true that Mr. Davitt had been arrested. The Hoi^e Secretary answered that he had; whereupon the wildest Peering ensued ; when the noise subsided, Sir William Harcourt went on to state that the Irish Secretary and he, after due consulta- tion with their colleagues and the legal advisprs of the Govern- ment, had decided that Mr. Davitt had violated the conditions of 7^ Second Gladstone Ministry, 381 his ticket-of-leave. Mr. Parnell trio<i to apoertain wlnt conditions had been broken, but the Speaker decided tliat Mr. Gladstone, who was waiting with his Urgency Motion, had the floor. Mr. Dillon arose to a point of order, but was not allowed to stote it. Amid much noise from all parts of the House, the Speaker declared that Mr. Gladstone was entitlefl to be heard. Mr. Dillon did not sit down when the Speaker rose, but remained defiantly standing facing him ; Me demanded his privilege of speech. In the noise which ensued there were few or no me iibers silent. The Irish members shouted vociferously, "Point of Order I" The other members, with more volume of voice, but with no more vehemence, demanded t' t Mr. Dillon should be named by the Speaker. This last demrtud was the one Vv'th which the Speaker complied, the offense which was thus punished being Mr Dillon'' defiance of the rules by remaining on his feet after the Speaker lu. . risen. In view of the somewhat frequent use of this means of dis- cipline of late years, we may here remark that the last member " named," prior to Mr. Dillon on this occasion, was Fergus O'Con- nor, who, in the heat of debate, had struck the member sitting beside hi n in 1848. Mr. Dillon was silenced for the time ; and the Prime Minister at once move 1 that he be suspended from the service of the Honpe for the remainder of the sitting. This wai? carried by c.n immense majority, and the speaker called upon Mr. Dillon to wit'>draw. He began to speak, but there was such confusion that nothing could be distinguished ; finally, the Sergeant-at-Arms approached him, accompanied by several attendants, and Mr. Dillon left the Iiouse. After the excitement had somewhat lessened, Mr. Gladstone made another effort to go on with his s )eech, but v^as interrupted by several Irish members, chief among whom was INIr. Parnell, who moved that Mr. Gladstone be no longer heard. The Speaker declined to recognize the member for Cork; thp member from Corkdeclin 1 in effect to recognize the Speaker, since he refused to sit down. This was the very oflFense for which Mr. Dillon had just been expelled, and a similar fate awaited Mr. Parnell. Thirty- ^li-ec members had voted against the expulsion of Mr. Dillon ; there were but seven in the minority when Mr. Gladstone proposed 382 The Second Gladstone Ministry. a similar course with regard to Mr. Parnell. The Irish members remained in tiieir seats, refusing to vote when the division was called for. It was not without reason that they complained of the treatment v/hich they had received. This was indeed an antiquated mode of procedure, to demand that a Speaker be no longer heard ; but Mr. Parnell would hardly have made use of it had not the Prime Minister himself done so in the first place. It was simply a turn- ing of his own weapon against him, though the majority decided that the Premier might use arms which were not permitted to others. Mr. Gladstone, who was literally speaking under difficulties, was again interrupted by an Irish member, Mr. Finigan, and there was a repetition of the little comedy which had been twice before per- formed before the House. There were twenty-eight members of the Irish party remaining, and the Speaker having called the attention of the House to their refusal to vote, named them one after another. Mr. Gladstone moved their expulsion in a body ; it was carried with but six dissenting voices. Then ensued a scene which was ludicrous in its monotonv. Each member as he was named, rose and made a speech protesting against the action of the Government, and declining to obey the order to leave unless compelled to do so; the sergeant at aims would solemnly approach him witii his attendants at his heels; touch him on the shoulder witnout saying a word. In most cases the memb(T obeyed this mute summons; but in some cases they refused to do so until a sufficient number of attendants had been brought to show that resistance was absolutely hopeless. Mr. Gladstone again rose and tried to go on with his motion, but it v/as not to be as yet. Some of the Irish party who had not been in the House while this was taking place now returned, and tried the same tactics. It was necessary to suspend six of these before he was at last permitted tc proceed. Steps were at once taken to amend the rules of the House in such manner that the obstruction policy could not be used to such an advantage. A fall upon the ice having confined Mr. Gladstone to his house for a few days, the final passage of the bill took place in his absence. February 27th, Lord Hartington moved that the sh members iivisiou was le treatment ted mode of d ; but Mr. the Prime iply a turn- rity decided ermitted to iculties, was d there was before per- nembers of called the 1 them one in a body ; onv. Each ing against lie order to i-ms would ;els ; touch t cases the hey refused en brought lis motion, ho had not urned, and X of these House in led to such Gladstone took place id that the Inquiring Concerning Mr. Olaislcme's Tnjuriut. 383 384 The Second Gladstone Minidry. debate on the bill, which was at that time in committee, and about to be reported, should end at seven the next day. Any amend- ments which were unreported upon at that time were to be denied consideration. This motion, which did not admit of being dis- cussed, ;vas carried, and the Speaker promptly cut the debate shor*^ at the hour named. The Coercion Bill was carried with but thirty- six negatives in the Commons, and passing rapidly through all its stages in the House of Lords, became a law March 2d. The long premised Land Bill was introduced April 7th. It was supposed to be based upon the reports of two Commissions which had been nppointed, one by the late and one by the existing Gov- ernment, for the purpose of investigating the land question in Ire- land. The number of reports presented by these two Commissions seems to have been limited only by the number of gentlemen who had been appointed to investigate the subject ; but with one excep- tion they agreed th?.t there ought to be a court which should decide between \? .dlord and tenant when they differed with regard to rent. Fair rent. Fixity of Tenure, and Free Sale— the three F's, as they were called— were the main objects of the Bill ; and the vexed question of peasant proprietary was not omitted. It was a moderate measure ; and if it should prove practicable, the Gov- ernment hoped that the condition cf the Irish would be greatly ameliorated by its action. It was bitterly opjiosed by the Conservatives, who characterized it as communistic, revolutionary, socialistic, and by any other epitliets that appeared sufficiently condemnatory. The Irish mem- bers, perhaps, were astonished at the introduction of such a measure by the Government ; but although it was more than they had hoped for, it was less than they wished. They set themselves to work to widen its scoi)e, and in this they were fairly successful. It was nut finally presented to the House until tho end of July, when it passed the third reading. The Bill was tiien sent up to the Lords If the Irish members had done their best to obstruct tlic Coercion Bill, the Lords were equally imreasonable with regard to the Land Bill. It was amended so that it was hardly recognizable, and the Peers, flat- tering themselves that they had done great things, passed it in its altered form, and it went again to the Commons. The Second Gladstone Ministry. 885 The Commons declined to accept the changes, and sent it back to the Lords. The Lords made new amendments, p.ud sent it down to the Commons again. The ministry made some minor conces- sions, but declined once more to accept those sweeping changes on which the Peers had insisted. At last the Lords, afisr all their bluster, yielded some points, and the Land Bill of 1881 became law. In the meantime Mr. Bradlaugh's seat had been formally de- clared vacant, and a writ for a new election issued. He was iigain elected, and the old trouble began afresh. The Government held to the opinion that the House could not interfere when a duly elected member presented himself to take the oath, as Mr. Brad- laugh now did ; and the Opposition having carried a resolution affirming that Mr. Bradlaugh should not be permitted to repeat the oath, which he regarded as a mere, meaningless, empty cere- mony, Mr. Gladstone informed them, in answer to their inquiries, that it was their business to carry out that resolution, against which he had voted. The government promised to deal with the question in the usual way, and the Parliamentary Oaths Bill was brought in ; but it was finally decided that it would be impossible to proceed with it, and the matter was allowed to lie over until the next session. The disturbance excited by Mr. Bradlaugh's persistency in urging his claims to a seat therefore continued until nearly the time for pro- rogation. Cobden, speaking to a friend of Disraeli and his brilliant career, had asked, '* How will it be with him when all .< retrospect?" That solemn question, like an echo of the archangel's blast, now was brought to the minds of men. On the 19th of April, 1881, all became restrospect with the great Tory statesman. The long, long rivalry was ended, and Mr. Gladstone was left without a peer in the ranks of living Englishmen. After the passage of a number of measures of special im- portance only in a local or temporary sense, the stormy session came to a close. Up to its end the Government had not shown any special animosity to the Irish members, and seemed disposed to treat the Land Leaguers in general with more lenity than ever. This was evidenced by the release of Father Sheehy, who had been imprisoned as an agitator. But the advocates of T ish freedom 25 386 The Second Gladstone Ministry. from British rule contirued their self-appcinted task, and the patience of the Ministry was finally worn out. Mr. Gladstone spoke at Leeds on the 7th of October, in reply to an address from the Mayor and Town Council. His speech touched upon the all- absorbing Irish Question; and as he warmed to the work, he spoke of Mr. Parnell in such terms that he was accused of a bitter, personal attack. The extreme views of the Parnellites were com- pared unfavorabl} with those of the men of the 1848 school, and even with those of the moderate men of to-day, like Mr. Dillon. Mr. Parnell promptly replied to these strictures, and Mr. Dillon refused to accept Mr. Gladstone's compliment. One speech fol- lowed another from the lips of the incensed Irishmen, and the Government finally issued warrants for the arrest of the prominent Land Leaguers. This was announced by the Prime Minister in a most dramati- callv effective manner. In the midst of an address to a crowded assembly at Guildhall, he made an eloquent plea for the preserva- tion of law and order. Suddenly he produced a telegram, an- nouncing that the Land League leaders had been arrested and conveyed to jail. The effect was marvellous. Friends and foes strove to outdo each other in their wild applause. CHAPTER XIV. i_. THE SECOND GLADSTONE MINISTRY. (Continued.) Mr. Bradliuigh Once More— Home Rule— The Lords and the Land Act— Amend- ment of the Rules— Arreai-8 Bill— Concessions to the Irish— Phcenix Park Murders — Crimes Bill — Obstruction — Friends Failing— The Egyptian Question— Bombardment of Alexandria — Autumn Session — Forster's At- tack on Gladstone— The Reply— Explosives Bill— And Still, Mr. Brad- laugh— Minor Le^'islation— The Soudan DitBculties— Irrepressible Mr. Bradlaugh — The P^gyptian Trouble Continues— The Afghan Boundary- Failure of the Soudan War — The Budget— A Sleepy Time— Waking Up — A Remarkable Speech — A Great Surprise — Fall of the Ministry. p^ARLIAMENT opened February 7, 1882. The chief ♦^^opic of discussion, always excepting the omnipresent Irish Ques- tion, was the amendment of the rules. This had been in- trusted to a committee the year before, and was expected to come up before the House very early in the session. The subject was of special interest, because, upon the passage of a rule which would render obstruction more difficult, the Irish Question could be more speedily discussed, if not more easily settled ; and the reforms in this direction had gone just far enough to make the oppressed more eagerly desirous of aid. But the first question which came before the House was the Bradlaugh difficulty. Mr. Bradlaugh had been excluded from the House the year before by a sessional order, which, of course, re- mained in force only until the prorogation. On the demand of his rights, Mr. Gladstone expressed the opinion that the courts of law were the only authority competent to deal with the question ; but the matter was otherwise decided by the House of Commons, and Ml-. Bradhii crh was once more directed to withdraw. Mr. Labou- chere having moved for a new writ for Northampton, the motion was negatived by a large majority. Thereupon Mr. Rr.n.dl.ojig],^ ,^.f^yarj(.|ng fj.f)|^ ^iie seat which he liad been occupying, and which was not in the technical limits of the House, drew a New Testament from his coat-pocket and gravely 387 388 The Second Gladstone Ministry. proceeded to swear himself in as a Member of Parliament. This done, 'le produced a paper stating that he had duly taken the oath, signed it and laid it upon the table. The House was literally struck dumb by this performance, and only began to recover itself as Mr. Bradlaugh concluded the extraordinary ceremony. Then there was " confusion worse confounded." Lord Randolph Churchill led the argument, and when that has been said the aggressive nature of it may be inferred. But the law-offi(!ers of the Crown could not decide that Mr. Bradlaugh had really violated any statute, and Mr. Gladstone succeeded in postponing the con- sideration of the question until the next day. The wrangle thus delayed ended in the expulsion of Mr. Brad- laugh, the issuing of a new writ, and the re-election of Mr. Brad- laugh. This had come to be quite the recognized order of things ; but there was a slight change in what followed. Mr. Labouchere having proposed that Mr. Bradlaugh should be heard in his own behalf^ instead of addressing the Commons from below the bar, as usual, that gentleman boldly advanced to the sacred precincts of the House itself, and, taking a seat below the gangway, proceeded to argue the point with the Speaker as a member of the House of Commons. He was expelled by a vote of 297 to 80 ; a new y.Tit was immediately granted, and Mr. Bradlaugh was again re-elected. A resolution of Sir Stafford Northcote, carried by a majority of fifteen, affirmed the sessional resolution, and forbade him to take the oath. The strife extended to the House of Lords, where there was a bill brought in to exclude all atheists from Parliament, suc- ceeded, when it was lost, by an Affirmation Bill, which shared the same fate. The Government arrived at an understanding with Mr. Bradlaugh, by which he was to be permitted to occupy a seat on one of the benches, on condition that he did not join in the debates, and did nothing to disturb the House. The Irish Question had been broached during the debate upon the Address, but had not been discussed in any other form. But this debate is not without interest, since it disproves the assertions which have sometimes been made, that the alliance of Mr. Glad- stone with Mr. Parnell v/as merely a device to reg.ain power by tlie aid of the Irish vote. If, in the height of his career as Prime Minister for the second time, he began to advocate Home Rule, it iiisiiaift .■»,., '-'tv 390 The Second Gladstone Ilinistry. is clear that it could not have been a sudden change, made for any sinister motive. It was quite characteristic of the man, whose whole political life was signalized by gradual growth from extreme Toryism to extreme Liberal views. Had it been poasible for Gladstone to have lived ten years longer, in the full possession of his mental and physical powers, it is not improbable that he would have come to uphold those very principles which he had so severely condemned wiien answering Sir Charles Dilke's speech on Republicanism. The change would have been no greater than others which took place in his life. Mr. P. J. Smyiii had moved an amendment supporting a restora- tion of the Irish Parliament, but this had been lost after he oifered to withdraw it. Mr. Gladstone had spoken upon the subject, and, in a later stage of the controversy, he was called to account for this speech. The Irish members themselves demanded the explanation, some passages seeming to indicate that he was not averse to Home Rule. Mr. Gladstone replied that he had always considered that a demand for the local government of Irelanc' was not too dangerous to be considered, as it was rated by the Conservatives ; but up to this time no case, which combined a jiroper formulation of the Iri.sh claims with a due regard for the supremacy of the British Crown, had ever been submitted to the Government. Such cautious admissions meant that the time would come when Gladstone would advocate Home Rule. The utterances Woit ,.ot so interpreted at the time, for the party most interested scarcely dared to trust such hopes, and the Irish Question was considered of less importance for the present until the working of the new Land Act should be tried, than it had been the previous session. But to give the new Land Act a fair trial was just what the Tories did not intend to do. It was agitated anew in the quarter whence trouble was least expected — the House of Lords. Many of the peers regretted bitterly that the Land Act had been forced upon them, and they embraced the first opportunity to protest. The Miniftry was now embarrassed by the Bradlaugh difficulty. Their action was unpopular with the great majority of people, who looked upon atheistical tendencies with horror. The landlord party in the House of Lords attacked Mr. Glad- r/ig Second Gladstone Ministry. 391 stone fiercely because of his utterances upon Home Rule, and dwelt with malicious emphasis upon a pamph'et which had recently been reprinted by its author, who had been appointed Secretary to the Irish Land Commission. This pamphlet defended peasant pro- prietorship, and spoke of the " cause for which Parnell and Dillon and Davitt had labored and snf jred." Although the writer re- signed his office as soon as the pamphlet became the subject of unfavorable comment, this did not serve to excuse the Government. A motion for a select committee to inquire into the workings of the Land Act was made and carried by a majority of more than forty of the Lords, and in spite of the attitude of the Commons, the com- mittee was appointed. It must have delighted the soul of Sir Charles Dilkeand his co- republicans when the vote concerning Prince Leopold's allowance, in view of his approaching marriage, was announced ; f^^ the pro- position to increase it from £10,000 to £25,000 was carried against the largest minority that ever opposed a grant to a royal prince. It was the general opinion among Englishmen that Protection had been dead and buried long ago, but during this session there was an effort made to revive it, under the name of fair trade. The motion for a committee, in the interests of fair trade, to consider the operations of foreign tariffs upon British commerce, was nega- tived by a vote of 140 to 89. All this time Mr. Parnell was in prison. It is true that at some time during the month of April he was released on parole, to attend the funeral of a relative, but he was not free to occupy his seat in Parliament. He occupied his time in drafting a bill to meet the diflSculty of the arrears of rent, which weighed down the tenant farmers. This Irish Arrears Bill was kindly received by Mr. Gladstone, as an evidence that the Irish members would do their best to make the Land Law of 1881 effective. But this attitude of the head of the Government was not a little puzzling to observers. Would the Ministry accept a measure proposed by a man whom they had imprisoned for his course in this very matter? The thing was so glaringly inconsistent that it was speedily rumored that the Irinh ■nolicy would immediatelv be ."ihanfed. The prisoners had been privately offered their liberty if they would leave the country, if for ever so short a time; they might 392 The Second Gladstovi. Minhtry. only cross the Channe; and return at once ; but to this they wouUl not agree; they had been imprisoned unjustly, as they consids'-ed, and they would make no compromise to secure their release. Mr. Gladstone's significant words to which we have before alluded seem to have been prorapied by a kindly feeling for Ir-- land; he was already progressing toward his later attitude. And here we may add a word regarding this change in opinion. The subject of Irish affairs is one on wiii(!h the densest ignorance pre- vails in England, cr di '■ prevail until the time of which we write. Mr. Gladstone was no exception to the rule ; he has told us himself that he did not undeistand the case until the beginning of his second administration, when he set to work to study it more thoroughly than ever before. He had been devoting himself mainly to this subject, and the more he studied it, the more he was convinced that Ireland was the victim of tyranny. Finally, on M^y Ist, Lord Salisbury addressed a string of ques- tions to Lo: d Granville, who was the head of the Government in the House of Lords. In answer to these, Lord Granville announced that Earl Cowper had resigned the Lord-Lieutenancy of J land some weeks ago, but had left it with the Premier to say when it should take effect ; that it had been accepted, and Lord Spencer appointed in his stead. The Government had decided to release the three imprisoned members, and would introduce legislation on the arrears question and the Bright clauses of the Land Act. An Irishman might say that everything was rose-colored in the Emerald Isle; it was indeed true that the Irish Question was nearer its solution than it had been for many a day. The Govorn- ment was favorably disposed, or at least Mr. Gladstone was, and his strong will controlled his subordinates. But from this cltar sky fell a thunderbolt. The announcements thus made, and similar ones in the Hou.^e of Commons at the same time, were the most important, as indicath\ff a change of ministerial policy, that had been made since Sir Robert Peel informed the House that he had abandoned the principle of Protection ; and they produced a corresponding effect. Of course there was but one line of action for Mr, Forster to follow, his Irish policy had been severely condemned by the colleagues who had thu^ decided to pursue exactly the opposite course, and he resigned. ft-**-.".,,* -*.»'»■<•■««. .• ; s . ' ,■!,* ■ ,-" •• ■■! V- ■■^•■'"t'B*^ r/ic Second Gladstone Ministry, 393 This was highly satisfactoiy to tlie Irish members, one of whom had said that under the new Government Ireland had suffered from three things— famine, the House of Lords, and Mr. Forster ; the speaker and his hearers inclining to the opinion that the last was the worst infliction. Earl Spencer. But everything was not lovely as yet. The Opposition de- manded to be informed if the withdrawal of the famous No-rent manifesto \. 3 a condition of the release of the Irish members. Mr. Gladstone replied that information tendered the Government had justified and mainly prompted their action in releasing the prisoners, and that this was one of the subjects upon which that information had touched. Thereupon Mr. Dillon demanded to know if his •^ *■ fcj iT"* > * « jiS* ^ I r»Ti».\r» -s^jM - SB.'" - **t* • ■'ill-- .^ • ' * )«>; 394 TAg Second G/fulslone Ministry. name had been used in connection with the manifesto. Mr. Glad- stone replied in the negative. Similar questions were asked by Messrs. O'Kelly and Sexton, all three disclaiming such use of their names, if it had been made ; but Mr. Gladstone answered as before. Pressed for a definite reply, he said that the information had been voluntarily given by members of the House, viiose duty it was to make explanations when they were present, but he declined to answer further questions <)n the subject for the present. This was followed by a speech from Mr. Forster, who desired to explain the reasons for his resignation; and who, in doing this, managed to attack the whole policy of the Government. ^. was a man who made carelessness an art ; even the arrangement oi his hair, which had the appearance of never having been combed, was always so exactly the same that it, studied effect became evident. His speech on this occasion had the appearance or candor and rug- ged honesty; but like the disorder of his dress, it was carefully prepared for the occasion. In answering this speech, Mr. Gladstone assumed a more defiant attitude than on the occasion when he was questioned about the mr ^iifesto. After the usual compliments upon a late member of the Government, he regretted that Mr. Forster shou' have allowed hin^self to charge the Government with giving the q'^estion of the rules precedence over all others, regardless of the condition of Irish affairs. As far as the release of Mr. Darnell and his associates was concerned, the Government was fully responsible for it as for their arrest. There had been no concessions made, because there had been none required. Mr. Parnell and his friends had not been required to make any statement that their views had changed. The promised arrears bill had nothing to do with their release, for when it was promised the Ministry had not come into possession of the information which prompted their action in this matter. Possessed of this informa- tion, it was not possible for Ministers of the Crown to behave as if it had never reached them, and continue the raembpr? in their con- finement. This speech was the prelud<^ to a snirlted debate, in the course of which the Government was bitterly attacked by the Conservatives, and defended by Lord Hartington and Sir William Harcourt, since ■41 The Second Gladstone Ministry. 395 the rules would not permit Mr. Gladstone to speak again on the same subject. Three days later, the Euglish public— indeed, the reading public of the world — was horrified by an occurrence in Dublin which was speedily told by the wires. The place which Mr. x .rster vacated had been filled by the appointment of Lord Frederick Cavendish, a younger sou of the Luke of Devi^nshire, and a brother of the xfiarquis of Hartington. The new Secretary arrived in Dublin, Saturday, May 6th, and to k r>art in the procession which attendecl the entry of Lord Spencer, i lie ceremony over, he took an outside car to drive to his new official residence. As he drove through Phoenix Park, he overt'^ok Mr. Burke, a Castle official of long standing; and alighted to walk with him. Some bicyclists met the two within a few yards of the monument ; going around the monument, these mei-. met an outside car with four men in it driving rapidly a'viy. During the bri^f interval. Lord Spencer and some of his /riends, looking out from the win- dows of the vice-regal mansion into the moonlighted park, had seen some sort of a scuffie going on in the road, but thought it was only rough horse-play; but it had been the struggle -otween Cavendish and Burke and their murderers. Tht assassins had made their escape before any susi)icions were aroused; it seemed that the earth had opened and swallowed them up. The news created the most profound sensation everywhere. Some of the more violent Tories shook their heads and bade their lis- teners see what came of a promised abolition of coercion ; but in general there was no wild ''nwl for revenge upon the Irish people. The Irish parliamentary leaders held a hurried consultation, and most emphatically and publicly condemned the deed of the un- known assassins ; solemnly declaring that until the murderers were brought to justice, a stain would rest upon the good name of the Irish people. Public meetings were held at various points in Ire- land, and responsibility for the murder, or sympathy with the mur- derers, solemnly disclaimed. Up to the date of this murder, it had seemed that Ireland was at last to be ;^overned in acoordanne with Uio ideas of her reoresenta- tives; but the dreadful crime had made that, for the present at least, an impossibility. The very day after the murder took place. 396 The Second Gladstone Ministry. there was a hurried Cabinet meeting, at which it was resolved to abandon the rules for the present, and bring forward bills for amending and extending the Land and Coercion Acts of the pre- vious session. It was perhaps unfortunate for Ireland at this time tliat Sir Charles Dilke and Mr. Chamberlain would not accept the Secretaryship without a seat in tlie Cabinet, and this the Govern- ment would not consent to; so that Mr. George Otto Tre- I velyan was up})ointed to the I position. 3 We may here note that there I were several other changes in the Ministry at this time; but the more imj)ortant ones came later on, when Mr. Gladstone resigned the Chancellorship of the Exchequer to Mr. Chil- ders, Hartington and Ivimbcr- ley assumed other duties than those for which they had been originally appointed. Lord Derby became Colonial Secre- S tary, and Mr. Bright resigned the post of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Mr, Herbert Gladstone had been appointed to a subordinate post in the summer of the advanced to a vacancy in the Hon. Herbert Gladstone. previous year, and was now Treasury. He had been for some years rather a pt'oniinent figure in parliament, though so woefidly overshadowed by the greatness of his name. The funeral of Lord Frederick Cavendish took place May lltli, and on the evening of that day the new Crimes Bill was introduced into the House of Commons. This was a meu.-)''ire with which Mr. Gladstone does not seem to have been in full accord ; it was one instance in which his dominant will had to give way. It had fre- quently been remarked that he was the one prominent figure in the The Second Gladstone Ministry. 397 Ministry; it was he who replied to all questions, on all subjects whatever; the spociril Minister contenting himself with the briefest of answers; but Sir William llarcourt had threatened to resign if the Government would not support his bill ; and Mr, Gladstone did not feel his support so certain that he could afford to dispense with so great an ally in debate. ' The Whigs were almost mutinous; they had never thoroughly trusted the " Grand Old Man," thinking him, as did the Tories of Oxford, too brilliant to be entirely safe ; and the progressiveness of his policy alarmed them ; they were not his only foes concealed under the guise of friends ; for although Mr. Forster had not gone so far as to take a seat on the Opposition benches he was ail but an avowed enemy to the Government. The Crimes Bill was, to say the least, alarming to the Irish members. Its first provision was for ihe abolition of trial by jury in certain cases, when it was supposed that jurors would be pre- vented from returning a condemnatory verdict by intimidation. This v/as not in itself specially objectionable, for the necessity of it was recognized ; but what was strenuously opposed was the inclu- sion of treason and treason-felony in the list of crimes to be so tried. The danger of such a provision to the Irish members themselves will be readily seen, and the Bill was bitterly opposed. While the new Bill was still pending, the question of the Kil- mainham Treaty, as the agreement by which Mr. Parnell and his colleagues had been released from jail was called, was again brought before the House, After what an Irishman would call " A very pretty quarrel, barring no heads were broken," Mr. Balfour attacked the Government for making a compromise with Mr. Par- noil, Mr, Gladstone angrily replied that there was no truth in the assertion wlii(!h Mr. Balfour had made about the part of the Gov- ernm^jni. The Kilmainliam business was not settled by this debate, but kept cropping up throughout the remainder of the ses- sion ; though the interest was lessened by the condition of the main Irish Question. The Irish members obstructed the passage of the Crimes Bill by everv means in their power; but so cunningly was their work done that there was no excuse for an " urgency motion," or for other strong measures. The obstruction came to a head on the last % ■^^S^^^BffiL.^- ^^^mimr^^i 398 The Second Gladstone Ministry. night of June. Early in the afternoon rumors of an all-night sit- ting began to circulate in the lobbies, and the prediction did not lack fulfillment. It was nine o'clock in the morning when Mr. Playfair rose to warn the Plouse that legislation had been system- atically obstructed, and that he should have to indicate the members who were engaged in it. At this warning, those members who had been in other parts of the building came hurrying to the legislative chamber, and there was a good audience when, in accordance with his threat, Mr. Playfair rose to indicate the obstructionists. Fifteen members were found in the list ; but Mr. Childers, whose duty it was, in the absence of Mr. Glad- stone, to move their suspen- sion, inserted another; and the motion was carried by a vote of a hundred and twenty- six to twei'ty-scven. The remaining Irish members, nothing daunted by the fate of their colleagues, carried on the debate with as much vigor as ever, until the sus- pension of nine more of them rendered it possible to rush the bill through. After a Hon. Arthur Balfour. Continuous sitting of twenty- three hours, the comnuttee of the whole was enabled to report pro- gress, and the bill was passed as far as the thirtieth clause. Mr. Gladstone moved Miat the business of the House was urgent on the following Tuesday (July 4th) ; but the haste with which the bill was pushed was not altogether favorable to the Government, for the Irish members who had not been suspended refused to take any further part in the proceedings, and their withdrawal from the House caused the defeat of the Government on one of the amend- ments ; since the Whigs were opposed to any amendment whieli lessened the stringency, and their defection made the Government l^ili^liiPiiii The Second Gladstone Ministry . 399 dependent upon the Third Party. There were many prophecies of a change which was supposed to be imminent — either a resignation or an appeal to the country ; but Mr. Gladstone explained that the state of Ireland was such that he would not withdraw the bill, nor would he resign. The bill was finally passed on the 9th, and went up to the Lords. Tiiey accorded it a much more gracious reception than they gave to the Arrears Bill, a measure which they sent back to the Commons with several amendments which rendered it practically valueless. It was a direct challenge to the Premier, who very coolly picked up the glove thus arrogantly flung down. He would compromise with the Peers ; certainly, but the compromise which he was \»illing to make consisted in the acceptance of an amendment which did not mean anything, and the rejection of those which did. Lord Salis- bury wanted to fight it out, but Mr. Gladstone had the House of Commons at his back, and the House of Lords was by no means ready to follow Lord Salisbury into the battle ; so the Peers yielded, and passed the Arrears Bill. The debate on the Crimes Bill and the difficulty with the Arrears Bill had been such that it was confidently expected that the Government must fall. We have alluded to the stand which the Whigs had taken of late, and have seen that no help was to be ex- pected from those Home Rulers who ordinarily sat on the Liberal side. Mr. Forster was no mean adversary, and many of the Min- istry were bitterly angry with Mr. Gladstone for his dominating control of the Government. Mr. Bright was almost the only man of prominence who clung to the Premier with all of his old admira- tion, which amounted almost to adoration ; and the middle of July saw him leave the Ministry. His resignation was forced upon him by the action of the Government with regard to Kgypt, it being well known that he could not be a member of any Ministry which was a party to war. It is time that we should give some attention to this contest in which England was now involved. The financial condition of Egypt was such that the Khedive had requested the intervention of tiie Powers, and a Ministry has been formed with an Englishman and a Freiufhman in it; the latter being appointed solely to satisfy France tnat England was not seeking any undue advantage. But 400 The Second Gladstone Ministry. there was a National Party in Egypt which resented these appoint- ments very much, and finally succeeded in making its power felt. The Khedive found that he had exchanged masters ; for Arabi Bey was the real ruler. During the first months of 1882 there was indeed a calm, but it was the calm which precedes the storm. The English Government regarded Arabi as simply an adventurer, who was not worth any attention. France and England were both agreed, however, that they would have a hand in the g vernment of Egypt, and Egypt could not defy both. But a change of Ministry in France caused that country to change her policy, and the Egyptian Nationalists saw that this was their opportunity. In April, 1882, a plot was discovered, so said Arabi's oflScer8,to assassinate that high dignitary. The accused were tried in secret and found guilty of a plot to overthrow both Tewfik and Arabi, and restore Ismail Pasha ; but the Khedive refused to sign the decrees of the court. It was hinted that this refusal would cause the massacre of foreigners in Egypt, and the English and French Governments at once ordered their ironclads to Alexandria, the order coupled with a demand that Arabi Pasha, as he was now titled, should be compelled to leave the country, along with his imme<Hate allies. In the meantime the utmost confusion reigned in Alexandria, where there is a considerable number of European residents. The crisis came June 11 ; we do not propose to discu s who struck the first blow, for that has never been definitely settled, but there were many people killed, and all the Europeans who could get away did 80. The British Government hesitated about landing troops, even after this riot, and much was trusted to diplomacy. But suddenly England, after many endeavors to secure European concert, resolved to act alone. Due notice was given of the proposed interference by arms; but the Egyptians kept on with their fortifications. Tlie French fleet steamed away ; the English vessels took up their positions for the siege. The bombardment continued until a flag of truce was raised; but the admiral had not a sufficient force to occupy the town, and a scene of the wildest confusion ensued. Finally, order was re- stored by the stern action of the marines, and the Khedive was The Second Gladstone Ministry. 401 escorted back to the city. The action of the English Government was bitterly condemned as inconsistent with the former opposition of the Liberals to war, when the Conservatives had been in power ; and the progress of the war during the summer of 1882 was such tliat their fault was not hidden by their success, as the faults of a Ministry sometimes are. The health of Mr. Gladstone during these months had been such as to give room for the gravest apprehension. Not only was his physical strength rapidly failing, but it was seriously alleged hat his mental powers were g-iving way. Still, with a dogged persist- ency, he kept on ; and his ircn will still made itself felt in the Cabinet. Parliament was prorogued in August until October 24th. During the recess, the war with Egypt became a little more popular, the battle of Tel-el-Kebir resulting in a victory for the British. This was practically the end of the war, for Arabi was a prisoner ; and although there were some positions which the Nationalists still held, it was not long before they surrendered. The autimn session was for the purpose of considering the new rules which had been set aside when the Phoenix Park murders made coercion the question of the hour. Mr. Gladstone at once made an urgency motion, which was carried without difficulty, and the House adjourned. The debate began again the next day, and was continued with varying interest. The Conservatives had no leader worthy of the name, and the party suffered thereby. Sir Stafford Northcote was nominally the head of the Opposition, but there was no attention whatever paid to his opinions. His mild urbanity was not sufficient to make him a trusted and efficient leader ; and the members of his own party, notably of that branch of it which was led by Lord Randolph Churchill, lost no opportu- nity of displaying their contempt for him. On the other hand, Mr. Gladstone seemed to have regained all that he seemed on the verge of losine;. Richard was himself again, and the Liberals had fresh courage. Said a newspaper writer of the time : " It is marvellous how small need be the occasion to elicit from him a speech which dazzles, amuses, inspires and be- wilders the hearer. When poor, dull, shambling Sir Stafford Northcote gets up after one of these displays, the effect is about as 26 402 The Second Gladstone Ministry. pleasant as the shrill note of a tin whistle after the sublime notes of an organ fugue." At this time the figure of Gladstone towered higher than ever above the level of the House of Commons. He was without a rival of importance; all his enemies seemed utterly powerless against him; it was Gladstone or utter chaos; and the Tories ground their teeth when they saw that it was so. If the leader of the Conservatives was like oatmeal porridge, well sweetened, palatable and nutritious, but not in the least stimulating there was one man who aspired to his position who was decidedly champagny. This was Lord Randolph Churchill, whose long- continued contempt for Northcote culminated in an open attack during this autumn session. The Opposition was badly demoral- ized, and the Government carried its point in regard to the long discussed rules. Mr. Gladstone's improvement in health had been only temporary, and at the beginning of winter he was advised by his physicians to try the south of France. He had of late been subject to fits of pro- found depression, and this was regarded as a most ominous symp- tom. He remained at Cannes all winter, not returning to Parlia- liament until March 10th. It was during his absence that the evidence of Carey regarding the Phoenix Park murders was taken. The prosecution of Messrs. O'Brien, Harrington and others also took place; but these events hardly have a place in the biography of the Premier. There was very hearty advice tendered him by his colleagues to remain at Cannes until after Easter ; but although the mild climate had not done all that it was expected to do, he was unwilling to give more time to the care of his health. The Ministers without Mr. Gladstone were like schoolboys in the absence of their teacher; they enjoyed their liberty exceedingly, and we cannot say that they made good use of it in all re- spects. There had been a very distinct announcement that this was not to be an Irish session ; but the Parnellites kept hammer- ing away at the Irish Question as if they had heard nothing of the kind. This gave the impression that the Irishmen would break the session, and the session would break Mr. Gladstone, The Second Gladstone Ministry. 403 His critics did not know what a wonderful fund of vitality there was in the man of seventy-three. But if Mr. Gladstone were hardly equal to any sustained con- test, there was no prospect that the Conservatives would be able to force any such upon him. Their ranks appeared to be hopelessly disorganized; Sir Stafford Northcote had added ill- ness to the natural unfitness for his position; and Lord Ran- dolph Churchill and his allies never failed to cast disrespect upon the titular leaders of the party. It was openly said that the young nobleman was but an instrument of his father, the Duke of Marlborough, in the endeavor to make Lord Salisbury the chief of the Conservative party ; an effort which was not with- out success later on. The Tories, thus disabled from serious combat, adopted the tactics which had been so brilliantly successful under the skillful management of the Irish leader, and became indomitable ob- structionists. If the Conservatives had their worst enemies within their own party the Liberals were hardly more fortunate. Mr. Forster had never recovered his good temper since the Government so emphatically condemned his Irish policy, and the culmina- tion of this ill humor came in a bitter personal attack upon Mr. Gladstone. This was fun for the Tories, who frequently interrupted him by their ecstatic cheers, for his speech was chiefly about the war policy of the Government. This attack was a most successful one, for it had a tremendous effect upon Mr. Gladstone. He was naturally easily affected, and when he arose to reply his frame fairly quivered with his emotions. He slashed at Forster without stint or mercy, calling him '<the man of peace who preached war." The storehouse of his scorn was ransacked for expressions su?':ed to the occasion. Meanwhile Mr. Forst.;. sat ixembling at the spirit which he had himself invoked ; shading his face with his hand he made no sign of reply to the great orator. The Government found itself involved in difficulties which threat- ened to be very serious, when the result of the negotiations with M. de Lesseps was announced. That eminent engineer was then advocating the cutting of a" second Suez canal, and in this project 404 The Second Gladstone Minvdry. the Ministry agreed to help him. But the plan raised opposition at once ; not only among the Tories, from whom it was only to be expected, but among many of the Liberals as well. Under such circumstances, the Government quietly withdrew its promises to M. de Lesseps, on the ground that it had acted in the way that it thought would be most acceptable to the country, but the country had emphatically disapproved of that course. The Opposition at one time had an excellent opportunity to defeat the Government upon this measure, but lost it by their bungling. The Gove'-n- ment had stood many storms, and was not to fall for two years. But before this had come up for discussion, there had been a measure forced upon Parliament by the attempt to blow up the public buildings. About the middle of March, there had been an effort directed against the oifice of the Local Government Board, but beyond the breaking of a great many windows, and the shat- tering of one wall, there was not much damage done. Other attempts were frustrated by accidents to the infernal machines used, but some were partially successful. Finally, in the first week of April, the police discovered a conspiracy of eight men who were engaged in the importation of the materials for the explosive, and the manufactured article. Their connection with Irish-American advocates of the use of dynamite was clearly provsd. To meet SMch cases the Explosives Bill was introduced into the House of Commons, April 9th, and passed through all its stages within two hours, was sent to the Lords, and became a law at once. The Bradlaugh question came up again this session. Lord Hartington had announced at the beginning of the session, in answer to a question that the Government intended to bring in a bill affirming that members who objected to the oath should be permitted to affirm ; and this bill came up for its second reading early in May. There was a bitter debate, and the defeat of the Government was inevitable; it was thought that the Opposition would have a considerable majority. But the Ministry took care to state that this was a question upon which the House must decide, not a measure which would by its passage or otherwise mean a defeat for the Government. When, therefore, after a scene of intense excitement, the division was taken, the only thing surprising about the vote was the fact The Second Gladstone Ministry. 405 that the nays had a majority of no more than three. But although the Government had declared that this was not regarded as a vote of confidence, the defeat had its effect upon the minds of mrin. Difficulties had ""set the second Gladstone administration since its very inception; hung, ofttinies, by a thread which a single vote mi^ht snap ; and men felt that that thread wdtz worn thinner and thinner by such events as this. The Egyptian troubles of the Government had not come to an end with the victory of Telel-Kebir, but were to continue for some time yet under the form of the Soudan difficulties. Briefly stated, the people of the Soudan had revolted against the authority of Egypt, their leader being El Mahdi, or the Prophet, as he was called by his followers. The coming of a prophet who was to perform certain things for the waiting Mussulmans had been foretold, it was said, by the Koran; and this man's career was a fulfillment of the prophecies. Armed with such authority as this claim gave hii.'' over the people of this section, he had defied the rule of the Khedive. The Soudan was a desolate district, the Government argued, and not worth asserting a claim over ; and it was far from certain that the Khedive had any real right to control it. England, therefore, advised Egypt to abandon it, and fix the southern boundary of her possessions considerably to the north of the late position ; but there were European residents and garrisons in the disputed territory which she was thus virtually commanded to relinquish, and the safety of these must be cared for. It was to protect these that England was now anxious ; and the disasters which, later on, made the name of the Soudan memorable, were directly traceable to this endeavor. Such was the mai.. question that occupied the minds of the Min- isters during the recess. Other threatened troubles there were, in connection with other Powers ; Russia appeared to be aiming at more than her due share of Asiatic territory ; and France was apparently offending in the same quarter. The Russian advance was considered especially inimical to England, as threatening her overland intercourse with her Indian possessions. Parliament opened February 5th. Mr. Gladstone was in more robust health than he had been for some time, and had amused 406 The Second Glachtone Ministry. himself during the recess by felling trees, as if it were the midst of summer. It was well that he had this store of strength in reserve, for all of it was to be needed dining the coming session. At the Cabinet meetings preceding the opening of Parliament it was decided to introduce a Reform measure. Such a bill was accordingly considered, and the conclusion arrived at that, notwith- standing the dis- turbed state that country, Ire- land must he given her share of the extended rej)- resentation. But the Conservatives Mr. Gladstone as a Woodman — His Favorite Recreation. were bitterly opposed to any measure of Reform, considering that the Act passed by the Disraeli Cvernment had been quite liberal euough ; and their opposition manifested itself long before the opening of the session. One prominent Conservative declared that the session would begin, continue, and end in a storm. But the chief difficulty of the Government was in regard to the Egyptian troubles. The problem received its solution, they thought, The Second Gladstone Mmistry. 407 when "Chinese" Gordon agreed to nndertake the task of pacifica- tion. He was appointed I'or this task in January, and was on his way to the Soudan before the session began. He refused a military escort, believing that it would render his plans futile, and set otF across the desert with a mere handful of followers. The character of Gordon has been too often delineated of late years for it to be necessary here to expatiate upon his virtues ; and we shall take for granted that our readers are well acquainted with the course of these comparatively recent events, and make only such reference as may be necessary to explain the position of the Gladstone Ministry, It remains only for us to say, that the course which England had nursued in this matter was unanimously approved by the other nations of Europe ; and that while the general anxiety regarding the fate of Gordon was intense, ii was felt that he could settle the difficulty, if it were in human power. The Queen's speech promised a great deal of legislation. It was naively remarked by a journal of the day, that the Ministers seemed to think that Parliament met with the intention of transact- ing business. It was announced that there would be a Bill for the Extension of the Franchise, which would apply to Ireland as well as to the sister kingdoms ; that the extension and reform of local government would be considered ; that it was proposed to extend municipal government to the whole of the metropolis; and many minor reforms were promised. The Houses had hardly met before the Egyptian troubles came up for discussion. An amendment to the address, censuring the Government for its course in this matter, was presented ; but although there were but ninety-seven membere present when the division was taken, the Ministry had a majority of fifty-five. The vote was the more favorable, because of the disaster to Baker Pasha's force for the relief of Tokar. But this was not the last of the subject. A week after Parliament met, there was a vote of censure pro- posed in both Houses. This, of itself, indicated the growing con- fidence of the Conservatives, since the proposing such a vote, when there was small prospect of carrying it through, was a great mistake. In the House* of Lords the vote was carried by a majority of or ? 408 The Second Gkiutitone Ministry. liundred, after a very brief debate ; but the Commons had more to say about it. The Preinier deunded his course ' \ a spoecii which was remark- ably eloqueut even fo* him. Tiic troubles Imd ij^rown directly out of the Dual Control, a syst< m which had been the result of Con.serva- tive ingenuity when tiiat party held the reigns of power, antl for which the Liberal (iovernment could not therefore be held fairly responsible. lie was ably seconded by other members of the Ministry; indeed, the LiUu-als had by far the best of the argu- ment, and as the Irish members had promised to hold aloof from the question, a considerable majority was hoped for. But the Parnellites reconsidered this pledge, and finally followed the Con- servatives into the lobby. The debate had lasted a week, and resulted in a -.najority for the Government of forty-nine. This result was without doubt brought about by the success for the time being of the Government's policy ; had the fortunes of war been less favorable, the majority might have been on the other side. During the time that the vote of censure was still pending, Mr. Bradlaugh showed him.self as irrepressible as ever; but being excluded from the House, he a})plied for the Chiltern Plunureds. an office without pay or duties, but appointment to which is inconi- patible with membership of Parliament ; as the latter is an honor which cannot be resigned, a British legislator who desires to retire applies for this post, forfeits his seat, and resigns the stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds ..t :>nce, that it may be vacant and wait- ing for the next applicant. Mr. Bradlaugh, having gone through this little ceremony, the Government went through that other little ceremony of issuing a new writ for Northampton, and Mr. Brad- laugh went through the third ceremony of being elected. The two Houses of Parliament may be said (somewhat irrever- ently) to resemble that little girl T^ongfellow tells of, who, " When she was good, she was very gooil indeed, But when she was bad slie was I'orrid." They showed themselves very good indeed over the question of erecting better dwellings for the poor in the great centres of j)v)pu- lation ; and there was quite a remarkable case of party union. In the meantime the Egyptian question had raised its head again, "' .^ '\ The Second Gladstone Ministry. 409 and was spittiiif? fire at the Ministry. In a debate which took place at the beginning of April, Mr. Gladstone inveighed bitterly against the opposition's constant harping on this subject; sevente»'n nights, he said, had been spent in fVuitlcss discussion of the Soudan question, and the Ministry had been much embarrassed by this crijwf' QmercU (Chinese) Gordon. Mr. Gladstone, it was said, had ''rarely, if .'vcr surpassed, this re- markable philippic for energy or earnestness. ' T'; i Government was sustained by the testimony of Gordon himself at this time as com- munication with Khartoum had rot yet been interrupted, and dis- patches were frequently received I'rom him, stating that he was entirely safe, and had much '* pe of the success of his mission. A little later, however, the dispatches assumed a less confident 410 The Second Gladstone Ministry. toue, and the Government determined to send an expedition to rescue the popular hero. This determination was perhaps the result of Mr. Gladstone's restoration to health ; as there was a perceptible difference in the vigor of the Government's Egyptian policy during his pros- tration and after his return to the active conduct of affairs. But the Conservatives were not deterred from the'»' attack. Sir Michael Hicks- Beach replied to Mr. (xladstone's speech a few days latei", by moving a vote of (iensure upon the Government's Egyp- tian policy ; a vote of cen- sure had come to be quite the usual thing at this me. Mr, Gladstone's im- passioned spc .1 during nis debati pledged the Government to secure Gor- don's personal safety, if such a thing were within human power. The debate was a warm one, and in- cluded a bll'-^r personal at- tack upon the Premier l,y his pretended ally and late colleague, Mr. Forster; who was answered by Lord Hartington, since the rules of the House did not allow Mr. Gladstone to speak the second ti'^- on die question then jtforo it. There was consi»lerable anxiety to know what would bo the course of the Parnollites upon thio occasion. They remained stub- bornly in their p its as the Liberals and Conservatives filed out to the lobbies; then rising at last followed the Opposition. Notwith- standing this adverse vote, the m..tion rvas lost by a majority of twenty-eight; and the members of the Government party went '-ome triumphant through the gray of that early May morning. The Government Jiad certainly lost prestige, but it was ecpinlly certain that the Oppositio;: had not gained any. Prorogued in August, I'arlianient did not meet again uutil iS"):;- Michficl Ilicki^-Bmch. The Second Gladstone Ministry. 411 October 24th. In the meantime, Mr. Gladstone had paid a visit to his Scotch constituents and their neighbors, and been received with an enthusiasm which made amends for much that was unpleasant in his parliamentary life. His passage through the crowded streets of Aberdeen was a veritable triumphal progress. Parliament adjourned over the Christmas holidays, not meeting again until February Ib'th. The debate upon the Address furnished an opportunity to Lord Salisbury to attack the Government on the old question of the Soudan troubles ; Sir Stafford Northcote also proposed a vote of censure in tne lower House. Mr. Gladstone, who had looked care- worn and pale at the opening of the session, was more like himself when the resolution came up for debate, and addressed the House with his usual vigor. After a thrilling eulogium of Gordon, he asserted that the pcMcy which the Governuient had pursued had maintained the safety of Egypt, and Iiad checked the progress of the slave tnide. It should be noted that while the Opposition never lost an opportunity of attacking tho Egyptian policy of the Government, the Cotiservatives appeared to have no other course to recommend ; they did not know just bow to do it, excepting that they did v.-^t like the Government's way. Anothe- difficulty had arisen in the Russian advance in Central Asia. Russia teemed to be tiie embodiment to the Britisii mind of all that is selfishly ambitiop'', and every m'>vement was watched with a distrustful jealousy. The English had had more trouble with Afghanistan than it was w '11 worth, but they wore willing to take nmch more rather than see their overland patii to India barred by Ilussian encroachments. Mr. Gladstone, however, was ill hopes tha*^^ tiie troubles would be siviisfactorily settled by negotiations which were in progress, but it proved that he was too sanguine. The Russian Government continued to disown the acts of its agents and to proiiJse to give instructions that would prevent fur- ther diflficulties; but the agents were evidently not advised that they were acting contrary to the Government's wishes, and the instructions were never given. AVar was therefore imminent, and the (Tovernmont as'-ed for a war votv of i:ll,()(K),000. This was not to be applied exclusively to military uses in Afghanistan, but might also be applied toward the exi)enses of operations in the V • 1 I I 412 The Second Gladstone Ministry. Soudan if necessary. To this the Conservatives would not consent ; the Soudan had cost the country enough already, not only in money, but in life ; above all, in the loss of gallant Gordon, whose death had saddened many a heart in England. Kartoum had fallen, the Soudan expedition was practically a failure, and the Opposition did not believe in sending good money after bad ; if the Government wanted two war votes, let them ask for them separately. Mr. Gladstone made one of the most remarkable speeches of this Ministry upon the occasion of asking for this vote of credit, and the request of the Government was finally granted. But it proved that the fears of war were not well grounded ; for the resumption of friendly relations was duly chronicled by Mr. Gladstone, whose statement was received with enthusiastic cheers. The budget was introduced April 30th. Those of the preceding two years had been simple measures ; the most notable provision of that of 1884 l)eing the issuiiig of ten shilling tokens, worth intrin- sically only nine shillings ; the difference between the real and the legal tender value being intended to defray the cost of calling in and recoiuing the numerous coins which had become light weight by long wear. Though this plan had received the approba- tion of many leading economists, it was hotly opposed by Lord Randolph Churchill and some others, and ridiculed by most of the newspapers. The budget of 1885 was much more complex, dealing with the war vote as it must. The estimated expenditure was £99,872,000, and there was an estimated deficit of .£14,912,000. To meet this enormous deficiency, it was proposed to raise the income tax one penny, increase the duty upon spirituous and malt liquors, and raise some other duties of minor importance. The Conservatives opposed these taxes on spirituous and malt liquors, on the ground that there should be a corresponding increase in the tax on wines, but it was not thought that this contest v/ould assume a % ery serious form. About the middle of May there were two announcements made, which showed well for the country's prosperity; the troops were to be finally withdrawn from the Soudan, thus doing away with that sour(!e of expense ; and the two governments had agreed as to the Aftrhan boundary. On the occasion of the vote upon the Civil Service and Revenue m The Second Gladstone Ministry. 413 Departments' Estimate, Lord Randolph Churchill and some others having indulged in frequent interruptions of Mr. Gladstone's speech, the venerable statesman uttered one ot the most touching rebukes which the House of Commons has ever heard. It was not that he complained for one whose term of membership in that House might be numbered by da^'s, he said, and must certainly be bounded by months rather than by years, but for the sake of the dignity of the House, he protested against these frequent and un- called-for interruptions. The rebuke seems to have had its desired effect. The budget came up for final discussion June 7th. The House seemed half asleep. It looked as if there was nothing which could rouse the members on either side to the height of cheering ; and Sir Michael Hicks-Beach spoke unaided by signs of sympathy from the Conservatives, uninterrupted by dissenting voices on the Lib- eral side. Nobody seemed to care whether he spoke or not, and even Mr. Wartou, who nearly always caused the House to unbend to merriment, found the members unresponsive. There was no ex- citement in the lobbies ; there was no interest anywhere. It was after midnight when Mr. Childers concluded his speech, and Mr. Gladstone rose to close the debate. His appearance was not promising; for some time past he had been accustomed to leave the House before this hour, and he looked thoroughly tired out. His voice was feeble, and his manner deprecatory ; the House pre- pared to doze again. But suddenly he burst into brilliancy. The speech which began thus unpromisingly was the brightest and most vivacious that had been heard from his lips for many a day. There were not wanting those who said that it was the best speech he had ever deliv- ered ; but this was perhaps an exaggeration, due to the immense difference between this and the ])revious efforts of the night. He seemed to court the interruption which he had rebuked a short time before; it only afforded opportunities for him to retaliate upon his enemies He was especially strong in his attacks upon Lord Randolph Churchill, and one of his happiest hits was in speaking of the Op- position which " calls itself sometimes Conservative and sometimes the Tory Democracy ; " in reply to which Lord Randolph took off ■M-iM^^^.^^:9 414 The Second Gladstone Ministry. his hat with a bow in ironical acknowledgment. " To sum up, Mr. Gladstone thoroughly enjoyed himself, and the House thor- oughly enjoyed Mr. Gladstone." The great speech ended amid the vehement cheers of the Ministry, and the division was taken. There was no hope among the Tories ; the only question was, what would be the Government's majority? And this did not excite any special interest. The suspicion of the real state of affairs did not begin to dawn upon the Opposition until the division was approaching its end. Then, as they saw that the stream of men going into the Conser- vative lobby was as full as ever, that going into the other was per- ceptibly diminishing. Then began the excitement of the night, or rather morning, " What's your number?" was eagerly demanded of each Conservative as he returned to the House, by a score of his eager comrades. At last the teller for the Government was seen approaching tlie table, and there was an intense stillness until they had heard the number — two hundred and fifty-two. Had the Con- servatives beaten this ? It was soon known that they had, and then began the uproar. The most vehement was of course Lord Randolph Churchill. He was like a schoolboy whose club has beaten in a great match. He waved his hat at arm's length, then got upon his seat and waved it over the heads of the excited assemblage, There were others to follow his example, and they cheered until they were hoarse. The Ministry answered by defiant counter-cheers, and the Parnellites took up the cry. " Coercion ! " " Buckshot ! " " Spen- cer ! " they shouted, forgetful of all that had been done for them by this Government. There were but two men in the House who were entirely silent. One of these sat among his handful of followers, a happy smile upon his pale face, but his habitual self-control strong now as ever; he was Charles Stuart Parnell. The other sat with his portfolio on his knees, writing as composedly as the reporters in the gallery above the account of the fall of his Ministry. At last the numbers were told, and the House was reduced to some sort of order. Then the man who had been thus coolly writ- ing arose. There was a burst of enthusiastic cheers from his fol- lowers, answered by loud siiouts of triumph from the other side. -'<1f,. .. The Second Gladstone Ministry. 415 For a moment it seemed as if he would not be heard at all ; but he stood calmly waiting for quiet, now and then dotting an i or cross- ing a < in his dispatch. At last he made his voice heard ; he simply moved an adjournment. The House began to empty at once. The Conservatives went home to dream of the success which they had so unexpectedly achieved ; the Liberals to brood over their equally unexpected defeat. It seems strange that a Government whose fall had been predicted so many times should at last succumb when it was thought to be strong ; after tottering so many times from its incep- tion, its iiual fall was a surprise to all. CHAPTER XV. THIRD AND FOURTH ADMINISTRATIONS. Mr. Gladstone Again in Scotland — Lord Salisbury on Public Questions — Eesult of the Elections — Third Gladstone Ministry — Advocates Giving Ireland the Eight to Make Her Own Laws — Irish Land Purchase Bill — Second Heading of Irish Home Rule Bill— Eloquent Appeal on Behalf of Ireland — Irish Bills Condemm by John Bright — Rupture Between the Two Great Leaders — General Election of 1886 — Defeat of the Liberals — Policy of Coercion — Action of the Torv Government — The Premier's Retirement — Lord Rosebery Successor to Mr. Gladstone. TTTHE first general eleouon under the new Reform Act was held (^ I fe in November, 1885. Mr. Gladstone again appeared before his Midlothian constituents, and, although nearly seventy- six years of age, spoke with an energy md force far beyond all his contemporaries. By his attitude on the Disestablishment question he drew back many wavering Scotch votes. Discussing the Irish question at Edinburg, he said that, so long as we dealt liberally, equitably, and prudently with Ireland, this country had nothing to fear from any change ; but whatever demands were entertained must be subject to the condition that the unity of the empire, and all the powers of the Imperial Parliament for maintaining that authority, must be preserved. In a second address he affirmed his conviction that the day had not come when the disestablishment of the church should be made a test question. Land reform, local government, parliamentary procedure, and the imperial relations between Ireland and England were questions pressing for settlement by the next Parliament, and every sensible man would admit that it was right to direct attention to them rather than to a matter impossible of immediate solution. In a speech at West Calder, Mr. Gladstone approved Lord Salis- bury's action with regard to Servia, complained of the ministerial condemnation of Lord Ripon's Indian administration, ridiculed the idea of benefit resulting from a royal commission on trade depres- sion, warned the electors against remedies which were really worse than the disease, and defended free trade principles. He further 416 ■}^ fm r 1 # ! M 27 f^ Ci to 27 417 418 Third and Fourth Adminlatrations. advocated comprehensive land reforms, including free transfer, facility of registration, and the uprooting of mortmain. Again speaking at Edinburgh, he vindicated the policy of the late Government in the Transvaal, and, alluding to Mr. Parnell's manifesto directing that a solid Irish vote should be cast for the Tories at the impending elections, he said that the Liberal party would continue to act in the same friendly and generous spirit towards Ireland as it had shown during the last fifty y-y ^ unde- terred by the threats or opprobrious language of Mr. Parneii. The elections resulted in the return of 333 Liberals, 249 Con- servatives, 86 Parnellites, and 2 Independents. The Liberals thus secured a substantial triumph ; but one of the most gratifying fea- tures of the electoral contest was the return of Mr. Gladstone for Midlothian by an overwhelming majority. The parliamentary session of 1886 had scarcely opened before the Salisbury Gbvernment was defeated upon an amendment to the Address, moved by Mr. Jesse Collings, affirming the necessity for aifording facilities to agricultural laborers to obtain allotments and small holdings. Several influential Liberals opposed the amendment, but Mr. Gladstone warmly supported it, as a recog- nition of the agricultural laborer's position, and of the mischiefs arising from the divorce of so large a portion of the population from the land. The Irish membera coalesced with the Liberals, and the Government was placed in a minority of 79. Lord Salis- bury immediately resigned. Mr. Gladstone was sent for by the Queen, and succeeded in forming his third Ministry, February, 1886. The new Premier was faced by unusual difficulties; but after anxious thought he had come to the conchision that it was no longer possible to deal with the Irish difficulty upon the old stereotyped lines. He was resolved to treat this all-absorbing question upon large and gener- ous principles. Accordingly on the 8th of April, in a House densely crowded and profoundly interested, the Prime Minister brought forward his Bill to amend the provisions for the future government of Ireland — in effect, a measure for granting Home Rule to the Irish people; but with certain Imperial reservations and safeguards. Mr. Gladstone traced the history of the Irish question, and ex- Thii'd and Fourth Adminiatrationa. 419 preb^^d his conviction that the time had come for granting to Ire- land that which she liad long been loudly demanding — the right to make her own laws. The bill, however, was not only opposed by the Conservatives, but by Lord Hartington, Mr. Chamberlain, and other Liberal dissentients, who wei*e subsequently known as Liberal Unionists, in contradistinction to the Gladstonian Liberals, who Hon. Joseph M. Chamberlain. continued to form the great bulk of the Liberal party, and who are still in fact the Liberal party. The Bill having been read a first time, on the 16th of April Mr. Gladstone supplemented it by introducing the Irish Land Pur- chase Bill, which was intende<l to come into operation on the same day as the Home Rule Bill. The object of the measure was to give to all Irisli landowners the option of being bought out on the terms of the Act ; to give all Irish landowners an opening towards the exercise of that option where the rent was from agricultural 420 Third and Fourth Adminutrationa. land. But it did not pretend to deal with mansionii, demesnes, and woods. The State authority was to be the purchaser, and the occupier was to become the proprietor. In certain congested dis- tricts, however, the State authority would also be the proprietor. The Premier proposed to fix the nominal purchase-price at twenty years' purchasi! of the net rental, ascertained by deducting law charges, bad debts, and cost of management from the judi<!ial rent. Where there was no judicial ren- tal, the Land Couit could, if it chose, make use of Griffith's valuation for coming to a fair decision. To meet the demand for the means of pur- chase thus estab- lished, Mr. Gladstone proposed to create i;50, 000,000 Three per Cents. The re- payment of advances would be secured by a Receiver -general, appointed by and acting unaer British authority. The Land Purchase Bill was also opposed, and it was the final cause which led to Mr. Chamberlain's retirement from the Government. The Land scheme was not destined to make progress, in consequence of the defeat of the Home Rule Bill. The country speedily became agitated on the subject of the latter measure, which was energetically supported by Mr. John Morley at Glasgow, and by Mr. Gladstone in a letter addressed to his Midlothian constituents. The second reading of the Irish Home Rule Bill was taken on May 10th, when the Premier replied to the criticisms of his oppo- nents, and denied that he had ever, at any period of his life. Jlon. John Morley, Third and Fourth Administrations. 421 declared Home Rule in Ireland to be incompatible with Imperial unity. He now accepted it as a remedy imperatively necessary for the repression of social disorder, and pointed out that while the policy of the Opposition was coercion, that of th^ Government was autonomy. " We have before us," he said, " a great opportunity of putting an end to the controversy of seven hundred years, ay, and of knitting together, by bonds firmer and higher in their character than those which heretofore we have mainly used, the hearts and affections of this people, and the noble fabric of the British Empire." The debate extended over many nights; and while it was in progress, a Bill directed against the carrying of arms in Ireland was introduced, and pushed forward rapidly through both Houses until it became law. The position of Ministers on the Home Rule and Land Bills was explained by Mr. Gladstone at a meeting of Liberals, held at the Foreign Office on the 27th of May. The Premier stated that the Government at present only asked for an endorsement of the leading principles of the two measures; and in afterwards closing the debate on the second reading of the Home Rule Bill in the House of Commons, he made an eloquent appeal on behalf of Ireland. The division, nevertheless, left the Govern- ment in a minority of 30, the numbers being — for the meas- ure, 313; against, 343. It was found that 93 Liberals had voted in the majority. Mr. Gladstone now appealed to the country on his Irish policy, and on the 14th of June issued his address to the electors of Midlothian. He stated that the ministerial plan gave to Ireland, imder well considered conditions, power to transact her own atFairs. This would secure a real union, and not a mere paper union, between the two countries. The Premier folic wed up his address by a visit to Midlothian and likewise to Glas- gow, where he delivered powerful speeches in favor of the Government policy. On the 25th of June he appeared at Manchester, and was the subject of a magnificent and enthusiastic reception at the Free Trade Hall. With unusual force and elonuence he in- sisted that while Irish nationality might be enlisted in the service of law and order with infinite advantag*!, yet if Eng- 422 Third and Fourth A<lmhmlratioaa. land made it an enemy, it w .A teach her ly sorrowful and painful lessons, that ita claims . .*" not .e resisted with im- punity/ Passing on to Lv/crpooi, ae here also pleaded the Irish cause, aid called upoi. .W people to "ring out the old, ring in the new." Mr. Bright whi had separate, i'rom his old colleague and leader on liie Irish question, ad'^»- . ;.d his constituents at Birming- ham, condemning the Houk i.aie and Land Purchase Bills, and making some observations which Mr. Gladstone felt called upon to challenge. In a letter addressed to Mr. Bright, the Premier denied having successadly concealed his thoughts on the Irish question in the previous November, seeing tiiat he had expressly st-ted that if the Irisli elections went as was expected, the magnitude of t'e Irish question would put all others into the shade. Mr. Gladstone also pointed out that the position in^ Ireland had wholly changed from what it was in 1881, when there was a conspiracy for marching through rapine to the disintegration of the United Kingdom. The right honorable gentleman also denied that he had en- deavored to thrust the details of the Land Purchase Bill upon his colleagues and upon the House of Commons. *' If I am a man c»nable of such an intention, I wonder you ever took office with one so ignorant of the spirit of the Constitution and so arbitmry in its character. Though this appears to be )our opinion of me, I do not think it is the opinion held by my countrymen in general. You quote not a word in support of your charge. It is ab'-olutely untrue." Mr. Bright replied, remarking that trie liberal leader had asked the constituencies to send him a majority large enough to make him independent of Mr. Parnell and his party, and yet he had since completely surrendered to Mr. Parnell. Mr. Bright s letter was not a satisfactory answer to the various points urged by Mr. Gladstone, but the member for Central Bir- mingham addea, " Though I thus differ from you at this time and on this question, do not imagine that I ever cease to admire your great qualities, or to value the great services you have rendered to your CO ^ry." A correspondence between Mr. Gladstoni.' and Mr. A. J. Bal- '■A: Tlurd and Fourth Admlfiidrationa. 423 four, published in July, demonstrated that the former had urged upon Lord Salisbuiy the absolute necessity of dealing immediately with the Irish question, and expressed a strong hope that the sub- ject should not fall into the lines of party conf iot. The general election of July, 1880, was fought out under cir- cumstances of great excitement, and much misropresentn;'* • of the Liberal position on the part of Conservative and Lib* *' iJnionist candidates. The Liberals were defeated, and the new House of Casket Presenlid t Mr. Oladstone hy his Liverpool Comtitiienfg. Commons v/as composed as follows: Conservatives, P)16; Lib- oral Unionists, 78 ; GladstonijM* Liberals, 191 ; and Irish Home Rulers, 85, With such a decided majority against him, Mr. Gladstone resigned office, and Lord Salisbury again became Prime Minister. Mr. Gladstone congratulated the Government on not announcing a policy of Coercion in the House of Commons, and said that with every admission that '"^oercion would not be applied again, he Koljoved Home Rule came nearer and nearer. Until law was administered in Ireland in an Irish spirit, there would be no security for social order in the siste" country. ^tv-AJt^i ^L24 Third and Fourth Administratmia. Mr. Gladstone left England for a tour in Bavaria in the autumn, but before doing so he issued a pamphlet on the Irish question, divided into two parts : I. History of an Idea ; and, II. Lessons of the Elections. In the former section he traced the several stages by which the great question of autonomy for Ireland had been b -ought to a state of ripeness for practical legislation ; and in the second part showed that, of the four nationalities in the United Kingdom, Scotland approved his Irish policy by three to two Ire- land by four and a half to one, and " gallant Wales " by five to one ; whilst England decided against Ireland by returning 336 op- ponents to 129 supporters. In October Mr. Gladstone received five deputations at Ha warden. One of them presented an address from 400,000 women of Ireland, while the other four conveyed to him the freedom of four Irish cities — Cork, Limerick, Waterford, and Clonmel. The Liberal leader expressed his conviction of the success of Home Rule, and denied that Ireland wished fo*" separation. Much to the surprise of the Liberal i)arty, the Tory Government introduced a Crimes Prevention (Ireland) Bill of exceptional severity in the session of 1887. It had been u-nderstood that there was to be no Coercion, and many Conservative members were returned on this clear understanding. Moreover, Ireland was far freer from ordinary crime than England. The Bill was obviously drawn to suppress the fre<i expression of political opinion in Ireland, and to destroy the influence of the National League. Mr. Gladstone and the great bulk of the T.jberal party strongly opposed this arbitrary and unnecessary measure, but it was carried by the aid of Liberal Dissentient votes. The Act was applied with groat stringency during the recess, and Mr. O'Brien and other Irish members were thrown into prison, but the Coercion Act entirely failed to achieve its leading object, namely, the suppression of the Land T,eague. Irish debates were of frequent occurrence in the House of Commons in 1888, but the session was chiefly signalized by the passing of the Local Government Act, a measure of a democratic character, establishing County Councils throughout the kingdom ; and by the appointment of a Commission, consisting of three judges, to try the Timoi' charges against Mr. Parnell and various siasm *.jc Third and Fourth Administrations, 425 other persons. The Commission sat for upwards of fifty days, and then passed through a series of sensational and startling episodes. Tlie letters alle'^ed to have been written by Mr, Parnell implicating him in assassination and crime were confessed to be forgeries by an Irish witness .amed Richard Pigott, and the Times abandoned tha charges for ded upon the letters and made an apology to the Irish leader. In November, 1888, Mr. Gladstone paid a memorable visit to Birr ingham. On the 5th he appeared at the Town Hall, which was crowded to excess. Replying to an address from the Birming- ham Liberal Association, he first paid a touching tribute to John Bright, expressing a fervent wish for his restoration to health, and then went on to condemn the administration of the Coercion Act, dealing also with other public questions. Next day he received a deputation from Walsall, assuring them that the Liberal Unionists were visibly approaching their doom. It was a question between doing justice to Ireland on the one hand in conjunction with the Liberal party at large, and on the other of swallowing Toryism bodily and wholly. In the schoolroom attached to the Church of the Redeemer, Edgbas^on, Mr. Gladstone received a number of handsome pres- ents from the workingmen of Birmingham. He afterwards visited the Council House and Art Gallery, and attended the Mayor's reception in the evening. On the following morning he accom- j)anied Mrs. Gladstone to Ashfield House, where a medallion cameo portrait of the ex-premier was presented to Mrs. Gladstone by the Liberal ladies of Birmingham. On the evening of the 7th a great demonstration was held in the Hingley Hall, a building which in its normal state is capable of holding about 20,000 people, but which for this occasion was made to hold many more. The meeting was one of the most enthusiastic and remarkable in the annals of ihe Liberal party, upwards of one hundred members of Parliament and many other influential per- sons supporting the ex-Premier on the platform. The chair was taken by Mr. Osier, President of the Birmingham L'beral Association. When Mr. Gladstone rose to speak an unparalleled scene of erthn- siasm cjcurred. He was kept standing for some minutes, while 426 Third and Fourth AdnunktrauK.n9. volleys of cheering rang through the hall, and handkerchiefs were waved hy the ladies. When quiet was at length restored, Mr. Gladstone at once plunged into the subject of Ireland.' He impeached the Government as a government of unequal law, as a lawless government, a government whose policy and operations the Irish people had a right to resent. The right of combination given in P:ngland, was withheld in Ireland ; and the right of public meeting was in the hands of the Lord-Lieutenant, whose will was executed and confirmed by magistrates removable at the will of the Executive. Irish members were tried for offences far less series than sedition, and treated as common felons. He believed that the world generally looked upon our treatment of Ireland as dishonor- able to England. Mr. Gladstone forcibly said—" You are invited to maintain this system— and why? Is it economical? The waste of Imperial treasure under this system is enormous. I ought to know some- thing of the finances of the country, and I do not hesitate to say that to place the waste of the present system of governing Ireland at from three to four millions a year of hard monev, is but a moderate estimate of the facts. This waste to produce what ? Not to produce content, but to produce discontent. Does it ji-oduce Imperial strength ? Suppose we were involved in great diffifulties, suppose we had-God forbid that we should oave— a crisis like the original American war brouglit upon us. At this time would Irelnnd add to our strength what she ought to add ? No. We have now got Ireland making a thoroughly constitutional demand— demand- ing what is in her own language a subordinate Parliament, acknowK edging in the fullest term., ^he supremacy of the Parliament at Westminster. How can you know that under all circumstances that moderation of demand will continue?" Another scene of intense eu-'.usiasm was witnessed when the ex-Premier resumed his seat, after having spoken with great energy and clearness of enunciation for a hour and fifty minutes. On the 8th Mr. Gladstone recf ,d a deputation and an address from the Irish Nationalists of Birmingham and district. He subsequently planted a tree in Sir Walter Foster's garden, and then left for West Bromwich on a visit to the Hon. P. Stanhope. Replying to a number of addresses presented to him at West Bromwich. he said K4 ■^TO. ' :'*>Vfm Third and Fourth AdministratioriH. 427 the balance at the last election was cast not by the true sense of the population considered individually as men, but by plural votes given by owners of property, who had already enjoyed occupation votes. Mr. Gladstone's prediction that the policy of Home Rule would make rapid progress was abundantly justified by the course of events. A number of Liberal dissentients, like Sir George Tevelyan, who had promised to support Home Rule if certain Imperial guar- antees were conceded, re' urned to the Liberal fold on receiving Mr. Gladstone's assurances ; but Mr. Chamberlain, who had also asked for these safeguards, instead of accepting them as he agreed to do, attacked his old leader and his plans with a rancor and hostility which lost him the esteem of all true Liberals. Wherever the country had an opportunity of declaring itself on the burning question o^ the day- -from Southampton in the extreme south to Govan and East Perthshire in the north — it pronounced an over- whelming verdict in favor of Home Rule, and in condemnation of the policy of L^rd Salisbury' s Government. In December Mr. Gladstone wjat to Italy for the benefit of his health, making his headquarters at Naples. He was warmly greeted by the Italian people, gratitude mingling with their enthu- siasm for the important services which the Englic^h statesman had rendered in the past to the cause of Italian freedom and unity. After a sojourn of two months in the south of Europe he returned to England much refreshed and invigorated, and ready to take part in the labors of a session which promised to be unusually animated and t ■, entful. On August 4, 1892, Mr. Gladstone, in his eighty-third year, begUxi the administration that most statesmen twenty years !*s would have hesita^od to undertake. iiinii le was rot destined, however, to witness the triumph of his ambition to confer home rule upon Ireland. His intellectual vigor continued unabated, and on October 24, 1892, he delivered the first .<t the Romanes lectures at Oxford, his subject being " Mediaeval Universities," and his welcome at his old university was enthu- siastic. He was presented with the freedom of the city of Liverpool on December 30th, shortly after paying a visit to Biarritz, where his eighty-third year was spent. On April 6th of the following year I Lord Rosebery — Oladstone's Successor, he moved of Comm( bin with I During his life wi t'flfect upo opening ol Reprosenti ing at Edi returning bling of ] weeks wit the Hous ch>se,=t frii Tiie Pc hy publi.s from pub Mr. Glad Before th( of the daj afterward first time sight and During right eye him to a ia Parlia b queatht a poetica write and close of I cing and His ch nient froi Salisbury Christian were spe advanced 428 Third and Fourth Administrations. 429 'i he moved the second reading of the Home Rule bill in the House of Commons, and subsequently superintended tlie progress of the bin with unparalleled vigor and patience. During that month a lunatic made n unsuccessful attempt upon his life without disturbing his serenity or producing any apparent effect upon his nervous system. He delivered a speech at the opening of the new Havvarden Institute on May 23d on "Labor Representation." He made a trip to Scotland in September speak- ing at Edinburgh on the relations between Lords and Commons, returning to his place in the House of Commons on the reassem- bling of Paliament. During the winter recess he spent several weeks with his family and a few close personal friends at Biarritz, the House meeting in his absence. It was now evident to his closest friends that his great work as a statesman was nearly done. The Pall Mall Gazette, early in 1894, startled the English public by publishing a report that Mr. Gladstone contemplated retiring from public life. The report was contradicted for the time, and Mr. Gladstone returned to his seat in the House of Commons. Before the end of February, however, he, in speaking to the order of the day, aiuiounced his own retirement and resigned very shortly afterward, to be succeeded by Lord Rosebery. It then, for the first time, became known to the public that he was losing both sight and hearing. During May, 1894, a successful operation was performed upon his j-ight eye for cataract, but the restoration of his sight did not induce him to again enter public life. He .shortly after resigned his seat ia Parliament, and engaged in the formation of a library to be b queathed to the public and in important literary work, including a poetical translation of the Odes of Horace. He continued to write and lecture in defense of the Christian religion until near the close of his remarkable life, and what was probably more convin- cing and important — lived the faith he professed. His chief public utterances on political subjects after his retire- ment from public life consisted of trenchant criticLsras upon the Salisbury Government for its course in abandoning the Armenian Christians to Turkish massacre and spoliation. His closing years were spent in such domestic enjoyment as the infirmities of his advanced age rendered possible. CHAPTER XVI. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS, DOMESTIC RELA- TIONS, AND LITERARY CAREER. 1 I f URNING back to the earliest time at which the personal ® I ® appearance and manner of Mr. Gladstone were of sufficient general interest to warrant a descriptior. in the journals of the day, we find him noticed in Mr. Cornelius Brown's "• History of Newark." At the date of his first election to Parliament he Avas somewhat robust in appearance, and was considered a handsome man, possessing a most intelligent and expressive countenance. He made friends, says one who speaks from a personal recollection .f this contest, by his tiioughtful look and attractive bearing. A portrait in oils, executed a few years later fcjr the Newark Conservative Club, was engraved, though but few copies of the engraving exist. At first sight, says one who has seen it, it is hardly recognizable as the former appearance of the rugged face with whose outlines we are all familiar; the plump face soon became thin and furrowed by the cares of state, and it is only after a closer look that we recognize the somewhat prominent nose, the intellectual forehead, the anxious eyes, and the earnest expression which even then gave promise of his conscientiousness in later years. It is perhaps significant, in this connection, that these early de- scriptions, especially those which are drawn from the newspapers of the time, invariably speak of Mr. Gladstone as older than he really was at that date. Whether it was his mental or moral char- acteristics that gave him tiie appearance of a longer acquaintance with the world, would require the contemporary testimony of an eye-witness, and this we do not jwssess. Although Mr. Gladstone had impressed all with whom he came in contact with the idea that he was a young man of considerable ability, his later pre eminence was not universally accorded to hitn by the prophets of the political world ; but it can hardly be matter 430 .:::.^'- ■s- ■^-.■. ^rc■^^%^:!;^=^5^i^r£^^^:^•T^^^•■ v Personal Oharaderiatics. 431 for wonder that those observers who sneered at the pretensions of young Disraeli as absurd should be mistaken in his great rival. In the work, "The British Senate in 1838/' the writer, after speak- ing of the great things which Mr. Gladstone's party expects from him, and alluding to the successes with which he had already met, goes on to say : "He is a man of very considerable talent, but has nothing approaching to genius. His abilities are much more the result of an excellent etlucation, and of mature study, than of any prodigality of nature in the distribution of bar mental gifts. I have no idea that he will ever acquire the reputation of a great statesman. His views are not sufficiently profound or enlarged for that; his celeb- rity in the House of Commons will chiefly depend on his readiness and dexterity as a debaier, in conjunction with the excellence of his elocution, and the gracefulness of his manner when speaking." So much for a general estimate of the man, written at a time when he had been long enough in Parliament to afford data for a reasonably fair criticism. When the writer leaves prophecy, and devotes himself to description, he is more interesting : "Mr. Gladstone's appearance and manner are much in his favor. He is a fine-looking man. He is about the usual height, and of good figure. His countenance is mild and pleasant, and has a highly intellectual expression. His eyes are clear and quick. His eyebrows are dark and rather prominent. There is not a dandy in the House but envies what Truefit would call his fine head of jet- black hair. It is always carefully parted from the crown down- ward to his brow, where it is tastefully shaded. His features are small and regular, and his comi)lpxion must be very unworthy witness if he does not possess an abundant stock of health. " Mr. Gladstone's gesture is varied, but not violent, When he rises he generally puts both hands behind his back, and having there suffered them to embrace each other for a short time, he un- clasps them, and allows them to drop on either side. They are not permitted to remain long in that locality before you see them again closed together, and hanging down before him. Their re-union is not suffered to last for any length of time. Again a separation takes place, and now the right hand is seen moving up and down before him. Having thus exercised it a little, he thrusts it into the 432 Personal Characterhlicn. pocket of his coat, and then orders the left hand to follow its exam- ple. Having granted them a momentary repose there, they are again put into gentle motion, and in a few seconds they are seen reposing vis-a-vis on his breast. He moves his face and body from one direction to another, not forgetting to bestow a liberal share of attention upon his own party. " He is always listened to with much attention by the House, and appears to be highly respected by men of all parties. He is a man of good business habits ; of this he furnished abundant proof when Under-Secretary for the Colonies, during the short-lived adminis- tration of Sir Robert Peel. ... His style is polished, but has no appearance of the effect of previous preparation. "He displays considerable acuteness in leplying to an opponent; he is quick in his perception of anything vulnerable in the speech to which he replies, and happy in laying the weak point bare to the gaze of the House. He now and then indulges in sarcasm, which is, in most cases, very felicitous. He is plausible even when most in error. When it suits himself or his party, he can apply himself with the strictest closeness to the real point at issue ; when to evade the point is deemed most politic, no man can wander from it more widely." In the case of an individual .so eminent as the " Grand Old Man," it is scarcely an idle curiosity which delights in such details. It may fairly be claimed that the mo.st determined enemy of per- soual gossip might listen with delight to those trifles which indicato the character of the man, and something of the advantages which he has enjoyed, or the disadvantages which he has conquered. Of the latter there are few or none that beset the life of Mr. Gladstone, outside of the difficulties which the constitution of his own mind placed in his path. Delaying the consideration of these qualities and their results for a moment, we would point out that the ges- tures, so fully described in the above extract, are not without meaning. Young Disraeli, mocked and ridiculed as he was by the House of Commons during the very time that Gladstone was winning such golden opinions, would never have changed the position of his hands so frequently during the course of a speech. Tiiese are the movements of a man whose earnestness is so great that it Personal Characteristics. 433 makes liina distrustful of his own powers; who feeliJ that the bur- den of oare may weight him to the ground ; they are the move- ments of a man capable of ohanging his course when his opinions have changed, regardless of the sneers which his inconsistency may provoke. Out of his very conscientiousness arose this inconsistency, as his enemies are pleased to call it. In his work, " Mr. Gladstone : a Study," Louis J. Jennings has taken some pains to collate all the unfavorable criticisms of the eminent Liberal ; three of these are applicable to the portion of the subject now under consideration. We append them : " His conscience is so tender, he will never go straight." Rev. Augustus Page Saunders, in 1832 (later, the Dean of Peterborough). " I think his intellect can persuade his conscience of anything." Dr. Lake, Dean of Durham, in 1860. " He can persuade most people of most things ; but above all, he cm persuade himself of anything." Rt. Hon. W. E. Forster, in 1883. This is the testimony of his enemies ; for although Forster had held office under the Liberal Premier, these words were uttered in a speech delivered in the House of Commons after his resignation from the office of Irish Secretary, while he was smarting under the sense of defeat, and the knowledge that his policy in that position had been condemned by its results. To these words we add no comment; believing their recognition of his conscientiousness as of more import than their insinuated criticisms upon his judgment. The one is a fact ; the other is a matter of opinion. We are prepared to admit, with the author whose description of him in his youth has already been quoted, that Mr. Gladstone does not possess the highest of all attributes, an absolutely informing genius. But if not " born for the universe," he has never narrowed his mind to cater to the requirements of any party, or any portion of the community; he has never concerned himself with one de- partment of public affairs to the exclusion of all others. This has been well put by R. H. Hutton, the author of " Sketches in Parliament : " *' He cares even more than trades-unions for the welfare of the workingmen ; more than the manufacturers for the interests of 28 434 Personal Clui ruder U lea. capital ; more for the cause of retrenchment than the moat jealous and avowed foes of government expenditure; more for the spread of national educatioQ than the advocates of a compulsory national education; more lor careful constitutional precedent than the Whigs; and more fbr the spiritual independence of the Churcl. tlum the Tories. Pie unites cotton with culture, Manchester with Oxford, the deep classical y>y over the Italian resurrection and Greek mdependence with the deep English interest on the amount of the duty on Zante raisins and Italian rags. The great raj]. way boards and the bishops are about equally interested in Mr Gladstone. Mr. Gladstone's mind mediates between the moral and material interests of the age and rests in neither. He moralizes finance and commerce, and (if we may be allowed the barbarian.) institutionalizes ethics and faith." Perhaps it is this very appreciation of all interests that has led to his defeat and unpopularity at times ; since the attention paid f, one would often be offensive to the other, each demanding all the aid which the statesman had to give to all interests. Thus the rail- way boards would he displeased when lie neglected them for churcl, matters, and the bishops would feel themselves aggrieved when he devoted himself to matters of transportation. This union of qualities had hardly been fully evidenced at tli< time of whicjh we write ; we have anticipated somewhat our analy- sis of his character. Let us proceed to another topic, upon which we have already touched. In July, 1839, Mr. (Jladstone married Miss Catherine Glynno the daughter of Sir Stephen Richard Glynno, of Ilawarden distle,' Flintshire. The bride was not remarkable for her personal beauty,' being not very flatteringly described as a tall, long-featured, sedate Englishwoman, whose manners were shy to awkwardness. The same authority which speaks thus of her personal appearance pays ample tribute to her amiability ; and the awkward shyness in the presence of others gave place in privacy to the quiet strength whi<Ii has sustained the statesman in many an hour of trial. Her name was not unknown, at an early day, as a practical philanthropist ; and later on she became something of a power in the political world ; deriving her strength from her intellectual character and her high womanly integrity. ;:i^iite-if#^ Personal CharacUriatics. 435 Seven of licr eight children have atUiined to years of discretion. Of the four sons, two have taken part in political life, though tlipy are, of course, overshadowed by the greatness of the name which tiiey bear; but they have shown themselves not unworthy of their father. One is a nian of business, as his grandfather was ; and the other is tiie rector of Ifawarden. Two of his daughters are niar- ried ; not wisely, according t(> the voice of the world, which gauges wisdom in such matters by tiie establishment which is secured ; but certainly very well, when the character of their husbands is consid- ered. Miss Helen Gladstone has made herself a name in educa- tional matters, and is at the head of a department of Newuham College for Women. We see from this that the home which has become so famous, belongs not to the master, but to the mistress of the household. Mr. iiladstono inherited from his father a considerable fortune, but it was not in the enduring form of real estate, and much of it has been dissipated by the expenses of traveling, and in the gratification of refined tastes. There is considerable disparity in the statements which have been made regarding his circumstances in the later years of his life, some writer appearing to think that he was on the verge of genteel poverty, while others maintained that he was pos- sess(!<l of a considerable income. His removal from Carlton House Terrace, and the sale of his collections of china ai -rticles of virtue have always been regarded as evidences that the n-. who could take such excellent care of the nation's finances had sorely neglected his own. However this may be, it is certain that his income has never been permanently increased by the princely salaries that he has received, while there have been many and heavy drains upon it. There was no expense spared in the education of his children, as there was none spared in his own, and as we have before said, the family ha.s had every wish and taste indulged. The estate connected with Hawarden Castle consists of about seven thousand acres, and is supposed to yield an annual income of $90,000, so that there is no danger of coming to real want. The house itself is a noble specimen of the " stately homes of England." It was built in the year 1752, and its solid masonry may defy the ravages of time for centuries to come. The venerable trees sur- BMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) / {/ "% o w. I/a fA 1.0 I.I 1.25 U4 ■ 50 m - IM M 2.2 lis 10 |||||m 14. Hill 1.6 ^^ .^^ ^ *# s^ y Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 '<! €S ,-\ iV ^ w^ % ^v- 436 Personal Characteristics. rounding it give beauty and grandeur to the scene without dwarf- ing the work of maa. The granite towers reach skyward so far that they can be seen above the intervening screen of trees at Queen's Ferry railroad station, a mile and a half away. Just across a beautiful ravine, and within the grounds of the modern dwelling, m the ancient edifice of which this is the suc- cessor Old Hawarden Caotle dates from the eleventh century, being one of the earliest of that army of military posts which the victorious Normans used as sentinels over the conquered land, and within the grim walls of which they were equally ready for ban- quets and music or for resistance to the king and oppression of the commons. It is on an elevation of ground so steep that it is only with some difficulty the modern tourist can reach the base of the building ; and the military advantages of its natural position have been heightened by art. The dungeons have been compared by an irreverent Amer- ican newspaper correspondent to an immense brick oven ; space does not permit us to give a more dignified comparison, or, indeed, to say more upon the subject. Let the graphic art be more eloquent than words. It was in this atmosphere that the career of the great statesman was planned ; it was in smoky, busy London that those plans were carried out. Here again we see some of the strange contrasts which environed the man, and helped to shape the character. Having thus dealt with the personal history of his earlier life, and described his appearance at that period, we come to a time more nearly approaching the present. We have quoted an extended description of his appearance and manner in 1838 ; let us listen to the comments of H. W. Lucy upon that very passage, premising that Mr. Lucy is one of the best authorities upon Gladstonlana : " It is curious to note that some of these mannerisms of forty years ago [Mr. Lucy wrote in 1878] are preserved by the great statesman we know to-day. It is particularly notable that to this day, when Mr. Gladstone rises and begins what is intended to be a great oration, he has a tendency to clasp his hands behind his back. This attitude, however, like the subdued mood of which it is the indication, prevails only during the opening sentences. Age has fired ratlier than duUed his oratorical energy. Personal Charaderistica. 437 "He has even, during the existence of the present Parlianaent, increased in rapidity of gesture almost to the point of fury. The jet-black hair of forty years ago has faded and fallen, leaving only a few thin wisps of gray carefully disposed over the graadly-formed head with which, as he told a Scotch deputation the other day, London hatters have had such trouble. The rounded cheeks are sunken, and their bloom has given place to pallor ; the full brow is wrinkled ; the dark eyes, bright and flashing still, are underset with innumerable wrinkles ; the good figure is somewhat rounded at the shoulders ; and the sprightly step is growing deliberate. " But the intellectual fire of forty years ago is rather quickened than quenched, and the promise of health has been abundantly ful- filled in a maintenance of physical strength and activity that seems phenomenal. Mr. Gladstone will outsit the youngest member of the House if the issue at stake claims his vote in the pending divi- He can speak for three hours at a stretch, and he will put sion. into the three hours as much mental and physical energy as, judiciously distributed, would suffice for the whole debate. His magnificent voice is as true in tone and as insensible to fatigue as when it was first heard within the walls of the House. " By comparison he is far more emphatic when addressing the House of Commons than when standing before a public meeting. This, doubtless, is explicable by the fact that, while in the one case he is free from contradiction, in the other he is, more particularly in a period of Tory ascendancy, outrageously subject to it. Trem- bling through every nerve with conviction and the wrath of battle, he almost literally smites his opponent hip and thigh. Taking the brass-bound box upon the table as representative of the right honorable gentleman or the noble lord opposite, he will beat it violently with his right hand, creating a resounding noise that sometimes makes it difficult to catch the words he desires to emphasize. " Or, standing with heels closely pressed together and feet spread out fanwise, so that he may turn as on a pivot to watch the effect of his speech upon either side of the House, he will assume that the palm of his left hand is his adversary of the moment, and straight- way he beats upon it with his right hand with a ferocity that causes to curdle the blood of the occupants of the ladies' gallery. At this 438 Personal Characteristics. stage will be noted the most marked retention of the early House of Commons habit, in the way in which the orator continually iunu around to address his own followers, to the outraging of the funda- mental point of etiquette that all speech should be directed to the Chair." His manner as an orator brings us to the consideration of his qualities as an orator. Our space has not permitt'-i us to give many or long extracts frora his speeches, but perhaps enough has be3n quoted to show what is his literary style. His enemies find fault with it in two respects : he is too verbose, and his statements are often so indirect as to be ambiguous. As to his verbosity they may well complain, for it is the heaping of argument upon argu- ment, of epithet upon epithet, of invective upon invective, which makes him so terrible a foe. The charge that he can talk a good deal without saying anything is perhaps true; but their caviling is mere jealousy, for it is often an inestimable power to the minister of the Crown who must reply to questions, but is not yet ready to announce his policy. Mr. Hayward, in his "Critical and Biographical Essays," awards the first place among parliamentary debaters to Mr. Glad- stone, on the ground that he has made more fine speeches than any other orator of the day. " He may lack Mr. Bright's impressive diction, impressive by its simplicity, or Mr. Disraeli's humor and sarcasm, but he has made ten eminently successful speeches where Mr. Bright or Mr. Disraeli has made one." To this dictum eTustin McCarthy demurs, on the ground that it is not the number of pro- ductions, but the merit of the best, that makes a man pre-eminent over his fellows. " We are not, therefore, inclined to call Mr. Gladstone the greatest English orator of our time when we remember some of the finest speeches of Mr. Bright ; but did we regard parliamentary speaking as a mere instrument of parliamentary busmess and debate, then unquestionably Mr. Gladstone is not only the greatest, but by far the greatest, English orator of our time, for he has a richer combination of gifts than any other man we can remember, and he could use them oftenest with effect. He was like a racer which cannot, indeed, always go faster than every rival, but can win more races in a year than any other horse. Personal Characteristics. 439 Mr. Gladstone could get up at any moment, and no matter how many t:raes a night, in the House of Commons and be argumenta- tive or indignant, pour out a stream of impassioned eloquence or a shower of figures, just as the exigency of the debate and the moment required. He was not, of course, always equal, but he was always eloquent and effective. He seemed as if he could not be anything but eloquent. Perhaps, judged in this way, he never had an equal in the English Parliament. Probably no one, past or present, had in combination so many gifts of voice, manner, fluency, and argu- ment, style, reason, and passion, as Mr. Gladstone." The style of his speeches is wonderful, when we consider that he never writes out a line of them, and that some of his most effective orations have been delivered in reply to those which had just ended when he rose to his feet. Mr. Bright, on the contrary was in the habit of writing out the peroration of his speeches, and not infrequently sent the slip of paper to the reporters, that they might be cr: - lin to get his words correctly. Mr. Disraeli some- times wrote out the whole of a speech which he intended to be especially effective; and on one occasion at least a speech of his was in type before it was delivered. Mr. Gladstone's eloquence, however, is in a certain sense spon- taneous. A notable exambie of this faculty was the speech at the close of the debate on the Irish University bill, a rare example of close reasoning, brilliant illustration, and powerful eloquence. This was begun when Mr. Disraeli sat down, and was for the greatest and best part an answer to what the Tory leader had just said. We have limited the assertion that Mr. Gladstone's eloquence was spontaneous. While he never wrote out his speeches, and apparently could speak as well without preparation as with it, he was always careful to inform himself fully upon the subject' on which he intended to speak. Fortified with facts, and if noed be figures, his command of language was such that he was enabled to put these not only into the best form possible, but what was of more immediate importance, into the form most acceptable to his hearers. We have alluded to what is sometimes termed his verbosity. He was often diffuse, because oi' his extreme care to state the case just as he saw it, with all the arguments which led him to a given determination ; but he could be concise if .here was a reason for it. 440 Personal C/iaracteriaties. Mr. Werayss lieid, in liis " Cabinet Portraits," describes a scene in which Mr. Gladstone held in check his tendency to extreme flueucy : " He is never seen to so much advantage as when, at the close of a long discussion, he rises in the raidst of a crowded House, in^pa- tieut for a division, to rep'y to Mr. Disraeli or Mr. Hardy, Tiie readiness with which he replies to a speech just delive ed is amazing. He will take up, or-j after another, the ars^uipents of his opponent, and examine them and debate them with as much precision and fluency as though he had spent weeks in the prepara- tion of his answer. Then, too, at such moments time is precious, and he is compelled to repress that tendency to prolixity which is one of his greatest faults as an orator. His sentences, instead of wandering on interminably, are short and clear, and from beginning to end of the speech there is hardly a word which seems unnecessary. "The excitement, too, which prevails around him always infects him strongly ; his pale face twitches, his magnificent voice quivers, his body sways from side to side as he pours forth argument, plead- ing and invective, strangely intermingled. The storm of cheers and counter-cheers rages around him, as it can rage nowhere except in the House of Commons oa such an occasion ; but high and clear above the tumult rings out his voice, like the trumpet sounding through the din of the battle field. " As he draws to a close something like a calm comes over the scene, and upon both ' es men listen eagerly to his words, anxious to catch each sentence of his peroration, always delivered with an artiatic care, which only one other member of Parliament can equal, and seldom failing to impress the House with its beauty. Then it is that his great powers are seen to the best and fullest advantage — voice and accent and gesture all giving life and force to the words which he utters," There have been many witty sayings regarding Mr. Gladstone's oratory. It was said that he was the only man in the House who could talk in italics — a significant saying. It was something like the American talent for exaggeration which prompted another observer to say that Mr. Gladstone could speak upon a subject every night for a week, and then say coolly : " After these Feraonal Charactenstics. 441 few preliminary remarks, I will proceed to the full discussion of the subject." Assertions that he never seemed weary must of course be limited; perhaps it would be nearest the truth to say that up to the age of seventy- live he was indefatigable as a speaker. His voice seemed not to grow weak or husky, what, ever the demands that were made upon it, but rang out in all its silvery clearness at the close as at the beginning. So much for Mr. Gladstone ai ^n orator. As a party leader he did not meet with the same unvarying success. The reason of this was that he was never able to understand a mind of less power than his own. "He is incapable of making any allowances for the weaknesses of his fellovv-<;reatures," says the excellent analyst above quoted ; " he has great strength of his own ; his soul, when he is engaged on any question of importance, is filled with an earnest- ness which is almost heroic, and he sees only one road to the end at which he aims — the shortest, "Under these circumstances he is incapable of understand- ing how any of his followers, who share his creed, and pro- fess to be anxious to reach the same goal as himself, can demur to the path he is taking. For their individual crotchets he makes no allowances, and he is especially regardless of the unwillingness of the English gentleman to be driven in any particular direction. It is curious to see as the result of this how much needless Irritation he succeeds, at times, in causing among his followers. Over and over again the Liberal clubs have rung with complaints of his 'temper' — it ought rather to be temperament — of his want of consideration for the ideas, the foibles, the prejudicas of the rank and file of his party. " The general result is that he makes a bad leader. Indeed, it would be safer to say that he does not lead at all, in the common sense of the word— others lead for him. Equally certain is it that he has a will of enormous strength. Lord Salisbury has spoken of it in Parliament as an arrogant will, and it is un- doubtedly in the 'Cabinet a dominant will-— that he holds, in a very considerable degree, that the end justifies the i jans, and that he is in the heat of debate a victim of an impetu- osity which sometimes hurries him into false positions, from which he is generally too proud to retreat afterward." 442 Personal Charaderistioa. The last sentence is hardly just, though we have quoted it With the rest. Perhaps it would be nearer the truth to say that when Mr. Gladstone was thus hurried by impetuosity into false positions, he has argued the case with himself until he has persuaded himself that the position was not a false one Taken in connection with the judgment of the Dean of Peters^ borough and his brother of Durham, this theory is not untenable As a Parliamentary leader, Mr. Gladstone stands in strong contrast to his* great rival, who was never so thoroughly in earnest that he forgot to consider the failings of those who were his followers, or who might be made so. These failings of the great Liberal may be well illustrated by two anecdotes which are told upon good authority. One of the Ministers was twitted by some friends with hav- ing supported by his vote certain measures to which they had supposed he would not consent, as a member of the Cabinet • and it was rather broadly hinted that a Minister who protests' unavaihngly against a policy has always the privilege of re- signing. "I have not agreed with a single measure that Mr Glad- stone has brought in this session (1882)," he returned somewhat indignantly, « but I voted for them all, and I have not felt called upon to resign, for I was never consulted about any of them." On another occasion, when the division of the Liberal party had become a fact, a prominent member of it asked a Gladstoniau what was done at a considerable meeting of the party. "Nothing," was the nonchalant reply. "Nothing?" repeated the interrogator; " then what was the use of the meeting? " "Oh, it put us all in a good humor." Mr. Gladstone is full of reminiscences, and thinks that every- body's memory ought to be as tenacious as his own. One night during his second administration he sat on the Treasury bench with only one colleague beside him. He was apparently aslesp, and the other man thought that he might venture on a doze. But presently the Tory who was opeaking ventured upon some histori- cal statement. Mr. Gladstone was at once on the alert. "That is entirely wrong," he said, rousing himself and turning Personal Charaderisticfi. 443 to his colleague. "This fellow is mixing up his facts and his dates. Don't you reraember so-and-so." He proceeded to recall, in all its minuteness, some obscure pas- sage of political history, of which the subordinate was obliged to confess that he knew nothing. Mr. Gladstone looked at him a moment in pitying wonder, and as soou as he dared the hapless man slunk away In the lobby he met a friend to whom he said : '' xm go.iig hon^e. I can't staud that fiendish old man any more. Why, he actually cross-examined me about something that had happened before I was born." Having thus briefly reviewed Mr. Gladstone's career as an orator and a party leader, we come to the consideration of his work as a stunent and a man of letters. He was distinguished from the very first as a hard worker. While at Oxford he was accustomed to iintertain in no niggardly way ; but when his friends had left him, for further pleasures or for rest, he was hard at work once more. It was the marvel of all, l>ow he managed to get so much done, without devoting himself to study to the exclusion of all besides. The secret lay in the system with which he labored. " It mattered not where he was, in college rooms or in country mansion, from 10 A.M. to 2 p. M. no one ever saw William Ewart Gladstone. He was locked up with his books. From the age of eighteen to the age of twenty-one he never missed these precious four hours except when he was ^raveling. And his ordeal in the evening was not less severe; eight o'clock saw him once more engaged in a stiff bout with Aristotle, or plunged deep in the text of Thucydides." As a reader, he devoted himself to those books which would be useful to him; and was especially averse to reading a borrowed book, since it denies the reader the privilege of making notes upon the margin. His immense library at Hawarden has never been catalogued, such a thing being unnecessary to a man who could go to the shelf and put his hand at once upon the very book he wished. Within the walls containing the finest private library in the world (for so his book-treasures have been ranked), the thoughtful writer did most of his writing. But he never confined his reading to the one apartment ; that was done anywhere, in the house or out of it ; he accustomed himself even to read while strolling along the country roads and across the fields ; throughout, his residence 444 Personal Characteristics. at Hawarden became, at an early period, pre-eminently a stu< dent's life. The productions of this life have their chief interest in their authorship ; though they are of no small literary value. His first published work was " The State ii* its iielations with the Church," to 'vhich ample reference has already been made. Twenty years afterward, or in 1858, he publi3he<l a work in three volumes, entitled " Homer and the Homeric Age." This has been descril)e(l as a great, but very unequal work ; though the same critic says that as the work of one of the first of orators and statesmen the volumes are altogether wonderful. From the overflowings of this vast reservoir of Homeric knowl- edge, have been gathered a number of magazine articles, which have excited much interest among scholars ; and the earlier important work has been followed by two others, involving scarcely less labor and thought — Juventus Mundi and Homeric Synchronism; the former in 1869, and the latter in 1876. During the period that Mr. Gladstone professed to be in retire- ment, though it soon became evident that retirement from political life was impossible for him as long as his health, physical and mental, permitted him to take part, he chiefly occupied himself with controversial writings. To this period we must assign his pamphlet on " The Vatican Decrees," and that on " Vaticanism," written in reply to those who had answered the first. The essays on Ritualism had preceded those upon Catholicism ; and he had not done with his criticisms upon Pius IX, before the necessities of the political situation demanded that he should turn his pen to another use — the picturing of the atrocities perpetrated in Bulgaria. Mr. Gladstone was long a valued contributor to the Reviews, his subjects being drawn from the wide range indicated by the varying nature of his published volumes. These minor contribu- tions to literature were collected some years since into a series of seven volumes, entitled " Gleanings of Past Years." These include all of his essays except those of a controversial or political charac- ter, as far as then published ; but this is a most important excep- tion. His writings on Vaticanism have also been collected and published in two volumes. Of the " Gleanings of Paot Years," perhaps the essay of most k Personal Characteristics. 445 interest to us as Americans is that entitled " Kin beyond Sea," which originally appeared in the North American Review in 1878. Mr. Gladstone was most severely taken to task for this essay, as he had di-olared in it that America would ultimately become " the head servant in the great household of the world," and that Eng- land would do well to prepare herself in time for the loss of this position. Mr. Gladstone's style as a writer can hardly be called an attrac- tive one ; it " looks fatiguing." But the force of his words is such that we are carried along in spite of ourselves ; the untiring energy and earnestness of the man become infectious ; and we are hurried along on a swift stream of thought, where we had supposed we would find it hard work to row. In the midst of profound research and scholarly thought, of the statesman's anxious cares and the financier's close calculations, he great Liberal never shut himself away from his kind. A discern- ing writer says of his social qualities : " He is as merry as a child when acting host or being a private guest. But however gay his talk, there is always a pervading dignity in his bearing and language, and no one will ever presume to be fi miliar with him. Lowell says, you remember, that John Milton was not a man to be slapped on the back. Neither is Gladstone. You may laugh at his jest, and return anecdote for anecdote to his gleeful satisfaction. But no man ever saw him out of that noble suavity which be^^omes so well his age, his rank in the world of state-craft and of letters, and his achievements in both. " His conversational capacity is evidently boundless. Having a memory almost phenomenal in range and tenacity, he draws upon it as gaily as a vintner upon his cellar; and like wine, the oldest stock is often the most delijious. He can summon personal recollections of interesting men in all walks of life with spontaneous accuracy ; and only those who have heard him at the table, when all political care was dismissed for the day, can credit the amazing range of his acquaintance with the curious and picturesque life f England wholly apart from his politics." The same writer says : *' The untaught rustic winding his long whip over a team of oxen down the highway would look with im- pulsive pleasure upon a man in his shirt sleeves hacking away at 446 Personal CimravterUtica. the solid trunk of a giant oak ; but the moment he 8aw the axeman's eyes, tlie moment the litiie, strong hiAy of the chopper assi'ratMJ an upright pose, even he would pull off his hat and silently acknowl- edge tiie preaeuc3 of a man of power." This, however, is something of an exaggeration ; for it is a well- attested fact that Mr. Gladstone once received a practical lesson in chopping from a peasant who did not recognize him, and who wus not at all satisfied with the great man's way of going to work; nor was his ignorance dispelled by his pupil, who humbly received the instructions of the man who could do this and nothing else ; and it is to be presumed that he profited by the lesson. Though Hawarden Castle is by no means easy of access, being no little distance from the nearest railway station, the roads to which are not always in the best possible condition, it became a very Mecca to political pilgrims; some of them even coming from Scotland, as well as i)oints nearer by. Indeed, there seems always to have been a sincere admiration in the northern kingdom for this son of her ancient race, who partook of many of the qualities char- acteristic of the canny Scot; to such an extent that even one of the Liberal organs once dubbed him " a self-willed old Scotchman." A correspondent of the New York Smi thus describes the end of one of these pilgrimages in i887 : " Working away ir his library, the old man is told that a crowd is outside, and would be pleased to see him. He drops his pen or book as soon as mental convenience will admit, dons an old hat, seeks Mrs. Gladstone, v.ho throws some light wrap over her shoulders and a veil of black lace or silk netting over lier very gray hair, and out they go together like boy and girl. The lawn terrace is eight feet higher than the roadway, and is reached by wooden steps descending from a narrow platform. Standing en this platform, the two Gladstones greet the people, who cheer and cheer and wave hats and iiandkerchiefs and umbrellas. " Then, if the old man be hoarse, or not in a mood for talk, Mrs. Gladstone, leaning over the edge of the platform, tells the peo- ple in a silvery, clear voice that Mr. Gladstone is delighted to see them, and is thankful for the cordial feeling which has brought them so far, but that, as he is not well, they will kindly excuse hira from speaking. Cheers are mingled with expressions of sympathy. Personal Charade, Uien. 447 and, if there be not too many of tham, Mrs. Gladstone invites them up to the platform, wIk"^ a patient scene of handshaking is gone through, with smiles on the oU man's face and happines^ shining out of his glorious old eyes." Wo have left till the last the consideration of his character from he religious point of view. Here it seems that we are indee<l treading upon holy ground ; his mental characteristics, his physical appearance, the actions of his life, the impressions which he has made upon the minds of othei-s, his studies, the measures of his Min- istry, even his demeanor in society, and his recreations, may fairly be deemed public property; we hav intrudtd slightly UDon his domestic privacy, and now remains the task of describing the altars ot the inmost recesses of his spirit. The college student was reckonc. an " enquirer." That is he was among those thoughtful natures which were not content with the Lscablished Church unless acqu:iint^nce with others should prove that it was the best. It was no blind and unreasoning attachment to the Church of his childhood, then, that held Mr Gladstone; it was a deliberate conviction. His Oxford training never wholly faded from his mind in this respect, so that he «lways retained a ieaning to the High Chu-eh party, the bulk of whom are Pones. Wisely discarding politics from hia mind ,n this con- nection, he held to the course which his conscience approved His life was an exemplification of the belief that Christianity is " a living, vitalizing force in the individual, and he endeavored prac ticaily to illustrate it. influence. Nor did he hold himself aloof from thosa who were in need of help and advicie. Even when T^rime Minister of England, he has been found in the humblest houses, reading to the sic^k or dyinrr consolatory massages of Scrip- ture 111 his soft, melodious tones. His personal charitv became pro- verbial among those who knew him best, and his generosity was never bounded by pecuniary limits. On Sunday morning, as the bells of Hawarden church rang out upon the heavy autumn air, vigorous peilcstrians might be observed marching up the hill, their dusty raiment and shining countenances proclaiming that their walk had been u long one. This determin- ation toward Hawarden as a place of devotion was not owing to a dearth of churches in the neighborhood. There are churches at V ''A 5 » '■A ' 448 Personal Characteristics. Mold and elsewhere ; but in none of these were the lessons read in the sonorous tones of tiie ex-Preaiier of England. These church-goers saw a group coino in sight from the opposite direction ; foremost would be tiie venerable couple, who had shared life for more than fifty yean^; followii-g them, those of their chil- dren who had remained with them, or who had returned home for a visit ; with, perhaps, a representative of the rising generation in the person of a grandchild. They would pause at the entrance to the church, to greet those who had waited for such an opportunity; there would, perhaps, be a word or two with the rector. Rev. Stephen Gladstone, and then the service would begin. More profound than the great Premier's scholarship, more con- spicuous than his commanding genius, more control ling than his consecration to the welfare of his country, was his life-long devo- tion to his sense of religious duty and to the high ideal of Chris- tian manhood, which always stood before him like the cross of Constantine, painted on the sky, and which allured his gaze and inspired his most earnest endeavors. Ul Cfl o u U) U) z Hi 0) CO u MB Mr. Glac W gr Qi N( Ei W D( M 1897, a lingly r rania w contrad was sai more ft Mr. stone, 1 break it from tl ralgia ^ jonrn a time to being I uary 2< ing gr effect. The arrangi the tra CHAPTER XVII. MR. GLADSTONE'S DEATH AND OBSEQUIES. Mr. Gladstone in the South of France— Return from Cannes— Signs of Growing Weakness— Peaceful Death— Universal Demonstrations of Grief— Tele- grams of Sympathy — Adjournment of the House of Commons — The Queen and Prince of Wales Express Their Sympathy— Tributes from the Newspaper Press— Telegram from the Government of the United States- Estimate of Mr. Gladstone by Prominent Americans— Lying in State at Westminster— Great Throngs of People View the Eemah.s— Eemarkable Demonstration at Mr. Gladstone's Funeral— Burial in Westminster Abbey. M' R. GLADSTONE'S exceptionally strong constitution pre- vented any serious illness or any rumor of failure or decay until the close of his eighty-eighth year. On November 21 , 1897, a rumor circulated in London of a sudden breaking up, start- lingly reminded the world of the possibility of his removal Insom- rania was generally stated to be his chief trouble, but the confident contradictions from the family allayed the first dread fears. It was said at this time his mind was as keen as ever, but that he was more feeble on account of his sedentary life. Mr. Gladstone started for Canr^s in company with Mrs. Glad- stone, Miss Gladstone and Mr. Henry Gladstone on November 26, breaking the journey at Folkestone and Paris. He felt no ill effects from the journey, and it was announced ac this time that the neu- ralgia with which he had been troubled had diminished. His so- journ at Cannes for two months was quiet, and varying reports from time to time left the general impression that the aged Premier was being benefited. Great was the surprise, therefore, when on Jan- uary 20 it was announced that Mr. Gladstone's condition was caus- ing grave anxiety, and that his sojourn had not had the desired effect. The former Premier returnc on February 19, and although arrangements were made at Calais for two men to carry him from the train to the boat, he insisted on walking the distance of about 29 *^» 450 Mr. Gladstone's Death and Obsequies. thirty yards. His changed and tottering appearance was the sub- ject of general remarlc. Arrived at Charing Cross, many of the aged Premier's friends awaited him, and lie was driven to Carl- ton House Terrace, his son's residence. After remaining in Lon- don for a few days he was medically advised to go to Bourne- mouth, and Lord Vernon placed his beautiful residence at Mr. Gladstone's disposal. No benefit accrued. On March 6th ho stopped all work, and his friends read or played to him. He v/as taken home on March 20th. Later it was announced that he was about to undergo an operation for necrosis of the bone of the nose from which he had been suffering. Day by day lie got weaker and weaker, and in the early part of April took to his bed. At times during the month he suffered violent twinges of neuralgic pain, but in the early days of May a general renewal of strength, and frequent injections of morphine under the tongue relieved him. His state during the few days preceding his death was one of great weakness, the patient remaining s:lent in a semi-comatose state. From time to time he roused to give his benediction to his friends, and the week before he died he bade a pathetic farewell to two of his most trusted colleagues and friends — Lord Kosebery and Mr. John Morley. On May 18th Mr. Gladstone was slowly dying at his castle at Hawarden. His physician said in the afternoon, " The end is now near. He breathes heavily for a few minutes, and then his breath- ing is hardly perceptible. Mrs. Gladstone is with her dying hus- band. She and others of the family do not leave the room for more than a few minutes at a time." Shortly after nine o'clock in the evening he rallied a little and slept calmly. It was believed he would pass away during the period of rest. At a quarter past eleven o'clock, however, this bulletin was issued : " Mr. Gladstone's condition is unchanged. The slight rally is maintained and he is sleeping peacefully." He was still sleeping at an early hour in the morning, and the family, anticipating the end, watched at his bedside. His pulse was hardly perceptible at the wrists and his extremi- ties were cold. When offered medicine at half-past four o'clock, Mr. Gladstone exclaimed : " No, no." Apart from this he seldom Ms. Gladstone's Death and Obsequies, 461 spoke except to commence a prayer. He was practically uncon- scious. The attending physician said : " It is a strange fact that when addressed in English Mr. Gladstone murmurs a few words iu French, and sometimes seems to be toying to pray in French. He has had very serious attacks of the heart in the last forty-eight hours, and there has been an altogether very rapid failure. He lies partially unconscious, is delirious and has what is medically called changed stroke in breathing. He is no longer in pain." An official bulletin which was issued at five o'clock on the after- noon of the 18th; said: " Mr. Gladstone has taken a serious turn for the worst. His death may be expected in twenty-four hours." All the servants of the household were admitted to the sick room late in the evening for a final farewell. They found Mr. Glad- stone lying on his right side, in deep sleep, as if dead. Each in turn touched his hand and left the room tearfully. The deepest manifestations of grief over the death of Mr. Glad- stone were reported throughout the country. Flags were every- where half masted, the bells were tolled and in the public galleries of London the pictures of Mr. Gladstone were draped with crape. The Q,iieen and the Prince of Wales received an early intimation of the bad nev,'s, and immediately sent touching expressions of con- dolence to the widow. Further details from Hawarden Castle of the passing away of the great English statesman showed that his end was the most peaceful imaginable. There was no sign of pain or distress. Mrs. Gladstone clasped her husband's hand and occasionally kissed it, while the Rev. Stephen Gladstone read prayers and repeated hymns. The only other evidence that Mr. Gladstone realized his surroundings was when his son recited the Litany. Then the dying man feebly murmured "Amen." This was the last word spoken by Mr. Gladstone. Very many telegrams of sympathy arrived at Hawarden Castle. Among them was one from P'-esident Faure expressing his condol- ences. Another, from United States Ambassador Hay, addressed to the Right Hon. Herbert Gladstone, said : " I beg to present to all your family my heartfelt expression of sympathy at your per- sonal loss, and at the same time to reverently congratulate you and the English race everywhere upon the glorious completion of a life 452 Mr. Gladdone's Death and Obsequies. filled with splendid achievements and consecrated to the noblest purposes." The House of Commons was crowded during the day following Mr. Gladstone's death, and when the Speaker, Mr. William Court Gully, called upon the government leader, Mr. A. J. Balfour, the First Lord of the Treasury, all present uncovered their heads. Mr. Balfour said : " I think it will be felt in all parts of the House that we should, by adjourning, do fitting honor to the great man whose long and splendid career closed to-day. " Tliis is not the occasion for uttering the thoughts which natur- ally suggest themselverj. That occasion will present itself to-morrow, when it will be my duty to submit to the House an address to the Queen, praying her to grant the honor of a public funeral, if such honor is not inconsistent with the expressed wisiies of himself or of tnose who have a right to speak in his behalf, and also praying the Queen to direct that a public monument be erected at Westminster with an inscription expressive of the public admiration, attachmeut and high sense entertained by the House of Mr. Gladstone's rare and splendid gifts and devoted labors in Parliament and in the high offices of State. Before actually moving the adjournment I have to propose a formal resolution that the House to-morrow resolve itself into committee to draw up an address, the contents of which 1 have just indicated." After a word of assent from Sir Y/illiam Vernon Harcourt, the liberal leader, the resolution was adopted and the House adjourned. All the Continental papers published tributes to Mr. Gladstone. The French papers were especially sympathetic, and the Greek newspapers expressed their deep gratitude for what Mr. Gladstone did for Greece, Public opinion in England was profoundly stirred by the death of Mr. Gladstone. A member of the Cabinet, in the course of a long interview, said . "It is difficult to find words adequate to express one's feelings at such an event. The disappearance of such a central figure is a tremendous loss. In Parliament and through- out the country his influence over our public life was unparalleled." All the papers came out with special editions with heavy, black borders, announcing the death of Mr, Gladstone. Tue Daily Chronicle headed its editorial with a quotation from WordsT/orth : Mr. Oladatore'a Death and Obsequies. 453 " This is the happy warrior ; this is he ; That every man in arms should wish to be." The editorial said : " A glorious light has been extinguished in the land. Mr. Gladstone is dead ; and all his li'e lies in the past, a ijQttiiDry to us and our children, an inspiration and possession for- ever. The end has come as to a soldier at his post. It found him calm, expectant, faithful, unshaken. Death has come robed in the terrors of mortal pain ; but what better can be said than that as i^e taught his fellows how to live, so he has taught them how to die ? It is impossible at this hour to survey the mighty range of this splendid life." The Daily News said : " We cannot help dwelling upon the opin- ions which Mr. Gladstone held most strongly and the sentiments which he felt most deeply, because they are the only key which un- locks his character and his life. One of his most characteristic qualities was his personal humanity. He was not easy to persuade. He paid little attention to other j)eople's opinions when his mind was made up. He was quite aware of his own ascendancy in coun- sel and his supremacy in debate. On other questions he did, in- deed, instruct his own judgment. On politics he did not ; but the secret of his humility was an abiding sense that these things were of no importance compared with the relations between God's crea- tures and their Creator." The Standard said : " Whether men agreed with him or differed from him in matters of party politics, they could not come within the range of his influence as an administrator without being pro- foundly impressed alike with his extraordinary powers of despatch- ing public business most efficiently and his absolute devotion to what he believed to be the highest interests of his country." The formal sympathy of the United States government was em- bodied in the cablegram of the Secretary of State to Ambassador Hay, as follows : " Through appropriate channels express to Mr. Gladstone's fam- ily the sympathy and sorrow of the American people at the passing away in the ripeness of years and fulness of honors of one of the most notable figures of modern civil statesmanship." Cardinal Gibbons spoke as f;)llows concerning the great states- man : "Posterity will rank Gladstone among the few great states- 454 Mr. Gladstone's Death and Obsequies. men of the nineteenth century. Sixty years ago, when he was only thirty years of age, Macaulay, in the Edinburgh Review, predicted the political eminence which Giadstone would attain. That predic- tion has been amply fulfilled. His chief claim to gratitude and greatness is foiiud in his advocacy of home rule, because the meas- ure was so unpopular with the majority of his countrymen." Hon. John Sherman said : " Mr. Gladstone, while living, was regarded by the American people as a statesman of the highest grade in this century ; honorable in private life, patriotic as an Englishman, and just to the people of the many countries with whom he had diplomatic relations. I knew him personally, and had some corre.spondence with him. He was, without limitation, a pure and honorable man, and his memory should be treasured by every Englishman and American." Another tribute came from former Senator Edmunds : " Mr. Gladstone was a really great man, from the force and independence of his own character, rather than from the accident of birth or for- tune. Thus fortified, he changed his opinion when he was con- v^xiced, not fearing the temper of critics. His labors have been on the whole of great benefit to the cause of free thought and better social and political conditions." Ex-President Harrison said : " There were but a few men in Gladstone's class. He had a rare combination of accomplishments — a statesman, an orator <ind a scholar — and in all three those of the first grade. When we add to these the gifts of serene faith, the purest home virtues and wide benevolence, we have a man whose knighthood is recorded n a choicer list than that of the British peerage." United States Senator Lodge spoke as follows : " The death of Mr. Gladstone takes from the world one of the greatest figures of this century. Whether one agreed with him or not, nobody could fail to admire the marvellous vitality, the noble eloquence, which never failed, the eager sympathy with every oppressed people, the fertility and resource in every field of public life, which have for so many years engaged the attention of the world, which made Mr, Gladstone one of tht greatest statesmen of his time, and which will cause mourning for his death by all English-speaking people.'' Mr. Gladstone's body was removed from Ha warden Castle to M.1\ Gladitone's Death and Obsequies. 465 London, where it lay in state in order that the multitude of his friends and admirers miglit pay a last tribute of resjiect to the illustrious dead. Remarkably impressive scenes were witnessed at Westminster when the arrivals commenced of those anxious to view the remains. The line formed was continually augmented by all classes of people, from peers, peeresses, Cabinet Ministers, mem- bers of the House of Commons, military and naval officers and clergymen to costermongers, old and young, until at six o'clock in the morning, when the doors were opened, the procession com- menced to stream past the catafalque. By ten o'clock it was computed that one hundred perso ^ *o the minute were passing the body, and at noon over 40,000 pec^le had already taken a last glance at the face of the great statesman. Sir William Vernon Harcourt, the liberal leader in the House of Com- mons, who arrived at noon, was greatly moved, so great was the popular demonstration of sorrow. As the afternoon advanced the unending stream lengthened. About two thousand policemen were engaged in guiding the people, and by three o'clock 75,000 persons had passed the coffin. On May 28th the body of England's greatest man, William E. Gladstone, was laid in the Valhalla of his race. Military pomp and the outward trappings of pageantry were absent, but the cere- mony was glorified by the homage of his greatest surviving con- temporaries and by the sentiment of universal reverence expressed in the outspoken gratitude of a free people. His grave is beside that of his life-long adversary, Benjamin Disraeli (Lord Beacons- field), whose marble effigy looks down upon it, decked with tiie regalia which Gladstone had refused. Whatever meagreness in grandeur there was during the lying in state there was none about the funeral. In every respect that cere- mony was impressive, lofty, dignified. This was fitting to the funeral of one who, after all, was essentially civilian. There were no nodding plumes, no mighty procession, for the coffin was carried on a simple funeral carriage and tlie distance between Westminster Hall and Westminster Abbey in but a few steps. But the people, as during the lying in state, were an impressive sight. Every spot on which the eye rested swarmed with human beings. They peeped at you from the windows of the hospital, from the roofs of houses. 466 Mr. Gladstone's Death and Obsequies. Everybody nearly was dressed in black, and there was the same unbroken sorabreness in demeanor wliich has been so characteristic of the past few days. The unbroken silence of this vast multitude added immensely to one's sense of the magnitude and solemnity of the occasion. The procession of the members of Parliament formed in the House of Copamons as early as 9.30 o'clock. The chamber pre- sented an appearance at once curious and impressive. There nuist have been four hundred members present, and considering the holidays have already begun, this was marvellous. It is said not a single Liberal member was absent, except invalids, and Gladstone's opponents, the Tories, were also fully represented. The Irish mem- bers were some forty strong, a very considerable number, considering that it is vacation time and the present conditions of the party. Mr. Dillon sat in his usual phce, and close beside h'.m were the men who are most closely associated with his leadership. Among them was Mr. Blake, one of the most impressive figures of the day, with his tali stature, clear-cut features and look of distinction. None of the Parnellites were present, nor was Mr. Healy. Every- body in the House w .s in the deepest black, aijd the- House looked to some extent like a funeral chamber. There was just one bit of color. The sergeant-at-arms had around his neck a silver-colored tie, with white bows, a curious and an unusual addition to his uniform. When the Speaker entered there was a surprise in store for the House, which saw ito sombreness at least broken by a splendid bit of color, for the Speaker appeared for the first time in our recollec- tion in full, gorgeous robes. He wore a black gown, richly em- broidered with gold lace, a garment that seemed at once sternly simple and brilliantly rich, and that added greatly to the impres- siveness of his handsome face and fine figure. Afler considerable delay the Speaker rose, and at once every member was on his feet, and then the sergeant-at-arms, placing his mace on his shoulder, with the chaplain and attendants, formed into procession, follow^'^ by the members present and the late Govern ment and members of the Privy Council, a dignity frequently bestowed upon political supporters whom the Government find it impossible to otherwise reward. V >f Mr. Gladstone's Death and Obsequies. 467 The Irishiucii had resolved to walk by themselves, so as to dis- tinguish their group from the rest. Mr. Dillon was to give them the signal, and just as the other niemhors were leaving the House he rose from his place and the Irish niemhors followed his load. The procession r Ay wended its way to VVestminster Hall, where the coffin lay, still giving that impression of smalluess, remoteness oud loneliness in the vast hall. There was a look for a second as the members passed the criiiu, but no nause, and slowly but regu- larly the procession passed on until it got into open air again. Then the great majority of the members put on their hats ; but some of the Irishmen, and especially tliose who walked in the first four with Mr. Dillon, kept uncovered throughout, as more in accord with the sense of pathos and the solemnity of the occasion. Some few of the English members did the same thing. The crowd pressed close to see the procession as it passed, but whatever he felt, the Londoner held his tongue. The same impressive, solemn, unbroken silence continued as the procession wound its way onward. The procession moved in the following order : Four heralds in court dress bearing the arms. The Speaker, the Right Hon. William Court Gully; clerks and officers of the House of Commons, in robes and wigs, carrying the mace. Four hundred members of the House of Commons, marching four abreast and wearing frock coats and iiigh hats, with the solitary and conspicuous exception of John Burns, the labor leader, who wore his usual derby hat and short coat. Four heralds escorting half a dozen privy councillors, not mem- bers of Parliament. More heralds ushering the officers of the House of Lords. The Lord Chancellors in their robes, with a mace bearer. Two hundred members of the House of Lords, attired like the members of the House of Commons, with the exception of the bishops, who wore robes. Then came a group of members of Mr. Gladstone's last Ministry, followed bv representatives of various royal families and the foreign Ambassadors, including Colonel John Hay, the United States Ambassador. 468 Mr. Gladstones Death and Ohseq.'ies. Next the Duke of Cambridge aiul tlie Duke of Connaught, escorted by equerries, oad the Earl of l*eiubroke, rcpreseuting the Queen. Then came the funeral car, plainly dra[)ed with ulat^k anu drawn by two horses, preceded by the Earl Marsiial of the Kingdt)tn, the Duke of Norfolk, the su])porters of the pall walking besi''e the car. After the car walked Stephen Gladstone, the chief mourner, and the near relatives and friends. The only sound that broke the silence while the cortege passed was a broken voice w\nc\i shouted : " God give ye rest, old man !" In the meanwhile the tolling of the Abbey bell had notified the waiting assemblage within the edifice that the procession was approaching. Mrs. Gladstone, supported on the arras of her sons, Herbert a...l Stephen, and other members of the family were grouped about the grave. The dean read the appointed sentence committing the bo') to the earth, and the Archbishop of Canterbury j)ronounce'' tha benediction. Mrs. Gladstone stood bravely, with great composure, throughout the service. Her face was lifted upward and her lips were moving as though repeating the lines of the service. She also kept stand- ing during the only official feature of the service, "The Procla- mation by Gartar of the Style of the Deceased," as the official pro- gramme had it. The Gartar enumerated the various offices which Mr. Gladstone had held in his lifetime, beginning with "Some- time Privy Councillor" and ending "Envoy i xtraordinary to the Ionian Islands." The organ then played the " Dead March" in "Saul." Finally the Prince of \Y::l(s^ Lne Duke of York and other pall-bearers shook hands with Mrs. Gladstone, the mourners defied past the grave, taking a last view of the coffin, and, when they had been escorted down the nave to the entrance, the people slowly de|>arted Memorial services ' .i honor of Mr. Gladstone were held ail over England. The ceremony in the case of the House of Lords was practically the same. The Lord Chancellor, who is the Speaker of that assembly, unlike the Speaker uf the House of Commons, was not Mr. Gf2(hto7ie'» Death and Obaequiea. 459 !n full dress. He wore his gro' wig, and the sergeant-at-arms carried the brazen mace, the emblem of royal authority; and there was the usual retinue of pufsebcarer and trainbearer, and other officials that form his little court. The attendance of peers was on m great a scale as that of the Commoners. This was wonderful testimony to th« universulity of grief over Mr. Gladstone's death, as he was not a favorite with that body, ani \m very last si)ecch in the House of Commons was de- livered in opposition to their claims. The pall-bearers, who walked on each side of the colli n, were perl ap. the ])ers<;nages who attracted the most attention during the day. The sight of the Prince of Wales and his son and heir doing hopcr to th^ leader of the great popular Liberal forces was suffi- cient to excite comment and curiosity, but, in additi h, 'lie leaders of tho Tory party, in both houses of Parliament, were joined in the same homage. Lc>rd Salisbury was a picturesque figure in his way — massive in height, still more massive in weight and heavily stooped, he added to the impressiveness ot his massiveness and to the curiousness of his appearance by wearing a small black-velvot skullcap. A country with such a vact system of class distinction and old institution as England cannot be without picturesqueness or differ- ence or color on ever so studiously simple an occiasion as this. Several times the eye was ca jght by the sight of a beautiful patch of color; choir-boys dressed in scarlet tuiiics, gorgeous footmen with powdered hair and other indications of this land of opulence, magnificence and caste ; but the prevalent color was sombre. The abbey was filled in most parts, though there was no over- crowding, and there was something almost oppressive in those tre- mendous rows of \7omen all dressed in the same deep universal black— black gowns, black jackets, black hats, black f'^athers, black gloves. There was something almost like relief in the white sur- plices of the ecclesiastics. Through the dim-lighted nave the dif- ferent processions took their slow, solemn way. In due order the t\7o houses of Parliameut faced e^ch other in the galleries erected for the occaMon, and in the space left between them was the open grave in the floor of the Abbey, waiting to receive its illustrious occupant. There was something that resembled 460 Mr. Gladstone's Death and Obsequies. a great theatrical performance in this arrangement of the two houses and the spectators in their long tiers of galleries around the grave. But the sombreness of colors, the dim light that came in through the windows and the hosts of ecclesiastics soon baniohed this idea, and the whole ceremonial was solemn, beautiful. In the centre of each gallery was a presiding officer with the mace beside him. Each sj)eaker seemed to be a sort of core to the galleries, its central most prominent figure. Down below one caught a sight of the pall- bearers as they stood around the small and simple c^^ffin. Looking p, little closer you saw a number of peo])le that you began slowly to recognize as members of the bereaved family. There was a thrill and a hush, though no spoken exclamation as the devoted wife walked tc her place, leaning on the arms of her two sons — one, Stephen, the rector of his ancestral home, Hawarden ; the other, Henry, an East Indian merchant. Behind them came Herbert Gladstone, the only son who has adopted a i)o]itical career, and in his charge were a number of young people, boys and girls, who looked sweet and touching in their mourning, and with the innocent interest in all that was going on. The choir of Westminster Abbey is fine at any time, but for this occasion special arrangement had been made, and there was a rec uiting of the best voices from several other choirs of ihe metro- polis. The result was to win general praise for the beauty, har- mony and jierfection of the music. The selection of hymns for the occasion was according to the tastes of the Grand Old Man himself It is known that Newman's hymn, "Praise to Holiest in the Highest," was his favorite, and this hymn found a prominent pince in the music of the day. " Rock of Ages " was also one of Glad- stone's favorites, so much so that he made a Latin translation of it which was printed in the programme beside the English words. The musical selections were typical of all such ceremonies, that is to say, there was a mixture of inevitable sadness, death and parting, of the joy founded on hopes of a blessed immortality. At one time the music fell to a low, solemn, tender whisper; then ngain you heard the trombones resound througli tliC vast building, giving a sense of joy and exaltation, of final victory over death and corrup- Mr. OladUlone^s Death and Obsequies. 461 tion that had a most startling and at the same time most thrilling effect upon the imagination. There was no sermon. It would have been too small in the great proportions of the ceremony and surroundings. The great Epistle of St. Paul with its final pean of victory over death was read ; but the voice of the reader was partially lost in the vast space and those always impressive words sounded almost weak and intru- sive. When the lescon had been read and the last hymn, " Oh, God ! Our Help in Ages Past," had been sung, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in liis loud, almost harsh, voice, pronounced the final benediction. The " Dead March " from " Saul " and the " Messe Solenuelle " of Schubert were plajad as the congregation slowly wended its way out. The crowds were there, and the sunshine and the already impatient throb of the great metropolis, to resume its fev- erish, hurried life; and so the great Legislature, in which Glad- stone had roigned as a foremost figure for nearly sixty years, paid its last farewell. The pathos of Mr. Gladstone's funeral centered around the grief- stricken figure of his aged and devoted wife. The shock of his death lightened for a time at least the clouds that had begun to darken her mind, and spared her the pain of realizing her beloved husband's sufferings. A moment of sublime emotion, bringing tears to all eyes in that unique gatiiering of princes, divines and statesmen gathered round the grave of England's greatest citizen, was wlvn the widow sup- ported lovingly by her two weeping sons, tottered feebly, her frame shaken with heart-broken sobs, to the brink of the grave, and cast a lonp, lingering look of anguish at the casket containing the mortal remains of her illustrious husband. When the stricken woman turned away and sank back into her chair, the Prince of Wales, inspired by one of those touches of fine feeling which account so largely for his popularity, tool: Mrs. Gladstone's hand in his, and, with a whispered word of consola- tion, kissed it reverently. The other pall-bearers all followed this manly example, providing a spontaneous demonstration of sym- pathy more affecting than any st^ite pageant ever devised. CHAPTER XVIII. MR. GLADSTONE ON THE ARMENIAN QUESTION. Not a Party Question — The Kesolutions — Dreadful Words to Speak — Witnesses to the Massacres —Report of Dr. Dillon — Plunder, Murder, Rape, and Torture — Responsibility of the Turkish Government- -The Turk Ought to March Out of Armenia — What is to Become of Christians in the Turkish Empire ? — Sad and Terrible Story. IT will interest the reader to peruse some of Mr. Gladstone's famous speeches in the exact form in which they were deliv- ered. We have therefore made selections from his addresses which not only embrace the most important subjects and such as occupied public thought and attention at the time, but have also endeavored to make such selections as "ill show the variety of topics which he discussed and the masterly manner in which he treated them. A meeting was held in the Town Hall, Chester, England, on the 6th of August, 1895, for the purpose of discussing the claims of the Armenians in Turkey. The assembly room at the Town Hall was crowded to excess, and many thousa^ids of persons had to be refused admission. The Duke of Westminster presided and among those present were a great number of members of Parliament. Mr. Gladstone, who was received with prolonged cheers, said : — My Lord Duke, my Lords, and Ladies and Gentlemen, — My first observation shall be a repetition of what has already been said by the noble Duke, who has assured you tiiat this meetin"^ is not a meeting called in the interests of any party (hear, hear), or having \e smallest connection wi*:h those difforcnces of opinion which naturally and warrantably i i this free country will spring up in a complex state of affairs, dividing us on certain questions man from man. (Hear, hear.) But, my Lord Duke, it is satisfactory to observe that freedom of opinion and even these divisions themselves upon certain que.stions give increased weight and auufmented emphasis to the concurrence 462 of the p( matters mou jusi It is to inipej that the Christiai great dej excesses the v/ors have no\ new cha] enforced, ministral concerns But tl Governn tian subj was capa indignati (Cheers.) which ha press wit ''ery com tertaininj large. ( Allow entertain: manity, i personal sympathi from An the Unit tainod on and even of the pe( The tc "That Mr. Gladstone on the Armenian Question. 463 of the people to the cordial agreement of the whole nation in these matters vvliere the broad principles of common humanity and com- mon justice prevail. (Cheers.) It is perfectly true that the Government whose deeds we have to impeach is a Mahometan Government, and it is perfectly true that the sufferers under those outrages, under those afflictions, are Christian sufferers. The Mahometan subjects of Turkey suffer a great deal, but what they suffer is only in the way of the ordinary excesses and defects of an intolerably bad Government— perhaps the worst on the face of the earth. (Hear, hear.) That which we have now to do is, I am sorry to say, the opening up of an entirely new chapter. It is not a question of indiiferent laws indifferently enforced. It is not a question of administrative violence and ad- ministrative abuse. It cuts further and goes to the root of all that concerns human life in its elementary conditions. But this I will say, that if, instead of dealing with the Turkish Government, and impeaching it foj its misdeed? towards Chris- tian subjects, we wer- dealing with a Christian Government that was capable of similar misdeeds towards Mahometan subjects, our indignation ought to be not less, but greater, than it is now. (Cheers.) Well, I will take the liberty of reading a resolution which has been placed in my hands, and which seems to me to ex- press with firmness, but with moderation, the opinions which I am '•ery confident this meeting will entertain, and this meeting, in en- tertaining such op! ions, is but the representative of the country at large. (Cheers.) Allow me to go further and to say that the country at large in entertaining these ideas is only a representative of civilized hu- manity, and I will presume to speak on the ground, in part, of personal knowledge; I will presume to speak of the opinions and sympathies that are entertained in that part which is most remote from Armenia — I mean among our own Transatlantic brethren of the United States. If possible, the sentiment in America enter- tained on the snijject of these recent occurrences is even more vivid and even stronger, if it can be, than that which beats in the hearts of the people of this country. The terms of the rcsohUioii arc as follows That this meeting expresses its conviction that her Majesty's 464 Mr. Gladstone on the Armenian Qnedion. Government will have the cordial support of the entire nation, without distinction of party, in any measures which it may adopt for securing to the people of Turkish Armenia such reforms in the administration of that province as shall provide effective guarantees for the safety of life, honor, religion, and property, and that no reforms can be effective whicli are not placeo under the continuous control of the Great Powers of Europe." (Cheers.) That means, without doubt, the great Powers of Europe, all who choose to combine, and those great Powers which happily have com- bined and have already, in my judgment, pledged their honor, as well as their power, to the attainment of the object we have in view. (Cheers) Now, it was my fate, I think some six or more months ago, to address a very limited number, not a public assembly, but a limited number of Armenian gentlemen, and ge;jtlemeu interested in Armenia, on this subject ; and at that time I ventured to point out that one of our duties was to avoid premature judgments. There was no authoritative and impartial declaration before the world at that period on the subject of what is known as the Sassoun massacre; that massacre to which the noble duke has alluded, and with i\ pect to which, horrible as that massacre was, one of the most in ortant witnesses in this case declares that it is thrown into the shadv', and has become pale and ineffective by the side of the unspeakable horrors which are being enacted from month to month, from week to week, and day to day, in the different provinces of Armenia . (Cheers.) It was a duty to avoid premature judgment, and I think it was avoided. There was a great reserve ; but at last the engine of dis- passionate inquiry was brought to bear, and then it was found that another duty, very important in general in these cases, really in this particular instance had no particular place at all, and though it is a duty to avoid exaggeration — a most sacred duty — it b, a duty that has little or no place in the case before us, because it is too well known that the powers of language hardly suffice to de.>crib what has been and is 1 ■ in^r done, and that exaggeration, if we were ever so much disposed to it, is in such a case really beyond our power. (Cheers, ) Those are dreadful words to speak. It is a painful office to per- Mr. Gladstone on the Aiinenlan Question. 465 form, and nothing but a strong sense of duty could gather us together between these walls or could induce a man of my age, and a man who is not wholly without other difficulties to contend with to resign for the moment that repose and quietude which are the lust of many great earthly blessings remaining to him, in order to Invite you to enter into a consideration of this questson — I will not say in order to invite you to allow yourselves to be flooded with the sickening details that it involves. I shall not attempt to lead you into that dreadful field, but I make this appeal to you. I do.hope that every one of you will for himself and herself 'endeavor, in such a degree as your position may allow of you, to endeavo" to acquire some acquaintance with them (hear, hear), because I know that, when I say that a case of this kind puts exaggeration out of the question, I am making a very broad assertion, which would in most cases be violent, which would in all ordinary cases be unwarrantable. But those who will go through the proctss I have described, or even a limited portion of the process, will find that the words are not too strong for the occasion. (Cheers.) What witnesses ought we to call before us? I should be disposed to say that it matters very little what witnesses you call. So far as the character of the testimony you will receive is concerned, the witnesses are all agreed. At the time that I have just spoken of, six or eight months ago, they were private witnesses. Since that time, although we have not seen the detailed docu- ments of public authority, yet we know that all the broader state- ments which had been made up to that time and which have made the blood of this nation run cold have been confirmed and verified. They have not been overstated, not withdrawn, not qualified, not reduced, but confirmed in all their breadth, in all their horrible substance, in all their sickening details. (Hear, hear.) And here I may say that it is not merely European witnesses with whom we have to deal. We have American witnesses also in the field, and the testimony of the American witnesses is the same as that of the European ; but it is of still greater importance and for this reason — that everybody knows that America has no separate or sinister political interest of any kind in the affairs of the Levant. 30 466 Mr. Gladstone on the Armenian Question. She comes into court perfectly honest and perfectly unsuspected, and that which she says possesses on that account a double weight. I will not refer to the witnesses in particular, as I have been told you will receive a statemerit by my reverend frieud, Canon McColl, who is one 6f them (ciheers) ; but I believe they are absolutely agreed, that there is no shade of ditference prevailing among them. I will refer to the last of these witnesses, one i^hom I must say I am disposed to name with honor : it is D-'. Dillon (cheers), whose name has appeared within the last jthree or four days at the foot of an article of unusual length — Ah ! and good were the reasons for extending it to an unusual length — in the Contemporary Revieio. (Cheers.) Perhaps you will ask, as I asked, " Who is Dr. Dillon?" and I am able to describe him to his honor. Dr. Dillon is a man who, as the special commissioner of the Daily Telegraph newspaper, some months ago, with care and labor, and with the hazard of his life (hear, hear), v/ent into Turkey, laudably making use of a disguise for l,iie purpose, and went into Armenia, so that he might make himself thoroughly master of the facts. (Cheers.) He published his results before any public authority had given utterance to its judgments, and those results which he^ I rather think, was the first to give to the world in a connected shape — at any rate he was very early in the field — these results have been completely confirmed and established by the inquiries of the dele- gates appointed by the three Powers — England, France and Russia. (Cheers.) I say lie has, at the risk of his life, acqtiired a title to be believed, and here he gives us an account which bears upon it all the murks of truth, but which, at the same time that we must believe it to be true, you would say is hardly credible. Unhappily some of those matters which are not credible do, in *Ms strange and wayward world of ours, turn out to be true ; and here it is hardly credible that there can dwell in the human form a spirit of such intense and diabolical wickedness as is unha])pi1y displayed in some of the narratives Dr. Dillon has laid before the world. I shall not quote from them, in detail, though I mean to make a single citation, which will be a citation, if I may say so, rather of principle than of detail. I f-hall not quote the details, but I ^ - Mr. Gladstone on the Armenian Question. 467 will say to you that when you begin to read them you will see the truth of what I just now said-namely, that we are not dealing at all with a common and ordinary question of abuses of government or the defects of them. We are dealing with something that goes ar deeper, far wider, and that imposes upon us and upon you far heavier obligations. The whole substance of this remarkable article— and it agrees as I have said, with the testimony of the other witnesses— I am quoting ,t because ii, is the latest-the whole substance of this article may be summed up in four awful words— plunder murder rape and torture. ("Shame.") Every incident turns upon one or upon several of those awful words. Plunder and murder you would think are bad enough, but plunder and murder are almost venial by the side of the work of the ravisher and the work of the torturer, as it is described in those pages, and as it is now fully and authentically known to be going on, I will keep my word, and I will not be tempted by— what shall I say?— the dramatic interest attached to such exaggeration of liuman action as we find here to travel into the details of the facts. They are fitter for private perusal than they are for public discus- sion. I will not be tempted to travel into them; I will ask you for a moment, any of you who have not yourselves verified thp particulars of the case, to credit me with speaking the truth, until I go on to consider who are the doors of these deeds. In all ordinary cases, when we have before us instances of crime, perhaps of very horrible crime— for example, there is a sad story in the papers to-day of a massacre in a portion of China— we at once assume that in all countries, unfortunately, there are male- factors, there are plunderers whose deeds we are going to consider. Here, my F.ord Duke, it is nothing of the kind ; we have nothing to do here with what are called the dangerous classes of the com- munity ; it is not their proceedings which you are asked to con- sider; it is the proceedings of the Government of Const^mtinople and its agents. (Cheers.) There is not one of these misdeeds for which the Government of Constantinople is not morally responsible. (Cheers.) Now, who are these agents? Let me tell you very briefly. They fall into three classes. The first have been mentioned by the noble duke— I 468 Mr. Gladstone on the Armenian Question. namely, the savage Kurds, who arc, unhappily, the neighbors of the Armenians, the Armenians being the representatives of one of the oldest civilized Christian races, an*;! being, beyond all doubt, one of the most pacific, one of the most industrious, and one of the most intelligent races in the world. (Cheers.) These Kurds are by them ; they are wild, savage clans. There was but one word, my Lord Duke, in your address that I should have been disposed to literally criticise, and it was the expression that fell from you that the SuKan had "organized" these Kurds. They are, in my belief, in no sense organized — that is to say, there is no more organization among them tiian is to be found, say, in a band of robbers ; they have no other organization, being nothing but a baud of robbers. (Cheers.) These the Sultan and the Government at Constantinople have enrolled, though in a nominal fashion, not without military disci- pline, into pretended cavalry regiments and then set them loose with the authority of soldiers of the Sultan to harry and destroy the peoph of Armenia. (Cheers.) Well, these Kurds are the first of the agents in this horrible business ; tha next are the Turkish soldiers, who are in no sense behind the Kurds in their perform- aaces; the third are the peace officers, the police and the tax- gatherers of the Turkish Government ; and there seems to be a deadly competition among all these classes which shall most prove itself an adept in the horrible and infernal work that is before them, but above them all and more guilty than they, are the higher officers of the Turkish Government. You will find, if you look into this paper of Dr. Dillon's, that at every point he has exposed himself to confutation if what he says is inaccurate or untrue. He gives names, titles, places, dates, every particular which would enable the Turkish Government to track him out and detect him <".nd hold him up to public reprobation You will nev^er hear of an answer from the Turkish Ciovernraent to that article. That may be a bold thing for me to say ; but I am confident you will never hear an ans-^er from them which shall follow these statements of Dr. Dillon's, k\ised on his own personal experience, through the details, and attempt to shake the fabric of previously composed materials which he has built up in the face of the world ! Mr. Gladstone on the Armenian Question. 469 I think there are certain matters, such as those which have been discussed to-day and discussed in many otlier forms, on which it is perfectly possible to make up our minds. And what I should say is, that the whole position may be summed up in three brief propo- sitions. I do not know to which of these propositions to assign the less or the greater importance. It appears to me that they are probably each and every one of them absolutely indispensable. The first proposition is this, You ought to moderate your demands. You ought to ask for nothing but that whi^li is strictly necessary, and that possibly according to all that we know of the proposals before, the rule has been rigidly complied with. I do not hesitate to say, ladies and gentlemen, tiiat the cleanest and clearest method of dealing with this subject, if we should have done it, would have been to tell the Turk to march out of Armenia. (Loud cheers.) He has no right to remain there, and it would have been an excel- lent settlement of the question. But it is by no means certain that Europe or even the three Powers would have been unanimous in seeking after that end. Therefore, let us part with everything except what is known to be indispensable. Then I come to the other two rules, and of these the first is that you should accept no Turkish promises. (Hear, hear.) They are absolutely and entirely worthless. They are worse than worthless, because they may serve to delude a few persons, who without information or experience, naturally would suppose, when promises are given, tiiat there is something like an intention of ful- fillment. Recollect that no scheme is worth having unless it be supported by efficient guarantees entirely outside the promises of the Turkish Government. (Applause.) There is another word whicii I must speak, and that is this : Don't be too much afraid if you hear introduced into this discussion a word that I admit, in ordinary cases, ought to be excluded from all diplomatic proceedings, namely, the word coercion. Coercion is a word perfectly well understood in Constantinople, and it is a word highly appreciated in Constantinoi:!e. It is a drastic dose-i-(laugh- ter) — wiiich never fails of its aim when it is administered in that quarter. (Laughter.) Gentlemen, I would not use these words if I had not myself personally had large and close experience of the proceedings of the 470 Mr. Oladstone on the Armenian Question, Turkish Government. I say, first make your case good, and when your case is made good, determine that it slmll prevail. (Cheers.) Grammar has something to do with this case. Recollect that while the word " ought " sounded in Constantinople, passes in thin air, ar.d has no force or solidity whatever attaching to it ; on the con- trary, the brother or sister monosyllable, the word "must" is perfectly understood~(cheers)— and it is a known fact supported by positive exDerionce, which can be verified up-ja the map of Europe, that a timely aud judicious use of this word never fails in its effect. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, I must point out to you that we have reached a very critical position, indeed. How are three great Governments in Europe, ruling a population of more than two hundred million souls, with perhaps eight or ten times the population of Turkey, with twenty times the wealth of Turkey, with fifty times the influ- ence aud power of Turkey, who have committed themselves in this matter before the world, I put it to you that if they recede before an irrational resistance— and remember that I have in the first instance postulated that our demands should be reasonable— if they recede before the irrational resistance of the Sultin and the Otto- man Government, they are disgraced in the face of the world. Every motive of duty coincides with every motive of self-respect, «nd, ray Lord Duke, you yourself let drop a word which is unhap- pily not wholly out of place, and that word is extermination. There has gone abroad— I don't say that I feel myself competent to judge the matter, I don't think I do, but there has gone abroad, and there is widely entertained a belief, that the recen-t proceedings of the Turkish Government in Armenia i)articularly, but not in Armenia exclusively, are founded upon deliberate determination to exterminate the Christians in that Empire. I hope it is not true, but at the same time I must say that there are evidences tending to support it— (hear, hear)— and the grand evidence which tends to support it is this : the perfect infatuation of the Turkish Govern- ment. Now, in my time there have been periods when Turkey was ruled by men of honesty and ability. I will say that, until about thirty years ago, you could trust the word of the Turkish Government as well as any Government in Europe ; yon might not approve of their proceedings, but you Mr. Gladstone on the Armenian Questi(m. 471 could trust their word ; but a kind of judicial infatuation appears to have come down upon them. What has happened in Turkey? To hear of this vaunting on the pi t of its (jrovennnent, and this game of brag that is from time to time being played, that it cannot compromise its dignity, it cannot waive any of its rights. What would come of its rights in one-third part of its empire? Within my lifetime Turkey has been reduced by one-third part of iier territory, and sixteen or eighteen millions of people, inhabiting some of the most beautiful and formerly most famous countries in the world, who were under the Ottoman rule, are now as free as we are. (Cheers,) The Ottoman Government are as well aware of that as we, and yet we find it pursuing these insane courses. On the other hp;.J, my Lord Duke most judiciously referred to the plan of (jr( vernment that was introduced in the Lebanon about 1801, whereby a reason- able share of stability to local institutions and popular control has been given in Turkey, and the results have been most satisfactory. There is also a part of the country, although not a very large part, where something like local self-government is permitted, and it has been very hopeful in its (character. But when we see these things — on the one hand that these experiments, in a sense of justice, have all succeeded, and that when adapted to the Greeks and the Bulgarians, an(^ four or five other States, have resulted in the loss of those States, then I say that the Turkish Govenmient is evidently in such a p'-'*e of infatuation that it is fain to believe it may, under certain Ciicumstan(!es, be infatuated enough to schema the extermination of the Christian population. Well, this a sad and terrible story, and I have been a very long time in telling it, but a very small part of it; but I hope that, having heard the terms of the resolution that will be submitted to you, you will agree that a case is made out. (Cheers.) I for one, for the sake of avoiding other complications, would rejoice if the Government of Turkey "ould come to its senses. If only men like Friad Pacha and Ali Pacha, who were in the Government of Turkey after the Crimean War, could be raised from the dead and could inspire the Turkish policy with their spirit and with their principles ! That is, in my opinion, wha"- v^e ought all to desire, and though Jl 472 Mr. O-ladstone on the Ai^mmian Question. it would be more agreeable to clear Turkey than to find her guilty of these terrible charges, yet, if we have the smallest regard to humanity, if we are sensible at all of what is due to our own honor, after the step which h«ve been taken within the last twelv*» or eighteen months, we must interfere. We must be careful to demand no more than what is just — hut at least as much as is necessary — and we must be determined that, witii the help ot God, thai; which is necessary and that which is just shall be done, whether there will be a response or whether there be none. (Loud cheers.^ CHAPTER XIX. GLADSTONE ON THE BEAOONSFIELD MINISTRY, * Dissolution of Parliament- Reply to Opponents— A Serious Position Policy of the (iovernmenf-Kesponsible for Other Countries— Turkey a Scandal to the World - Derby and HeaconH.'leld— Turkey Encouraged to Go to War- Treaties With European Nations— Policy of Austria-Worshippers of Success— Treatment of the Sultan- Tory Government to be Tried by its Principles. SENTLEMEN— When I last had the honor of addressing you in tliis Hall, I endeavored, in some degree, to open the great case which I was in hopes would, in conformity witli what I may call constitutional usage, then have been brought at once before you. The argun— ^s which we made for a dissolution were received with he usual coi.cempt, and the Parliament was summoned to attempt, for the firs^ dme in our history, the regular business of a seventh session. I am not going now to argue on the propriety of this course, because, meeting you i^jre in the capital of the county and of Scotland, I am anxious to go straight to the vary heart of the matter, and, amidst the crowd of topics that .ush upoi the mind, to touch upon some of those which you will judge to be niost closely and most intimately connected with the true merits of tlie great issue that is before us. ^ At last the dissolution has come, ai f I postpone the considera- tion of the question why it has come, the question how it has come, on w lich there are many things to be said. It has come, and you are a >out to give your votes upon an occasion which, allow me to tell yco. entails not only upon me, but upon you, a responsibility greater than you ever had to undergo. I believe that I have the * Previous to the date of this address Mr. Gladstone had addressed the electore of Midlothian on three great occasions. He now opened his famous Midlothian Campaign in earnest, taking the Government to task with such tremendous cuurgy as to force iiis convictions upon the people. The place of meeting on this occasion was the Music Hall, Edinburgh, Mr. Duncan McLaren, M. P., pr«siding. 473 h 11 474 Gladstone on the Beaconsficld Ministry. honor of addressing a mixed meeting, a meeting principally and very largely composed of freeholders of the county, but in which warm and decided friends are free.y mingled with those who have not declared in our favor, or even with those who may intend to vote against us. Now, Gentlemen, let me say a word in the first place to those whom I must for the moment call opponents. I am not going to address them in the language of flattery. I am not going to sup- plic3.te them for the conferring of a favor. I am not going to appeal to them on any secondary or any social ground. I aoi going to speak to them as Scotchmen and as citizens ; I atu going to speak to them of the duty that they owe to the Empire at this moment ; I am going to speak to them of the condition of the Empire, of the strength of the Empire, and of the honor of the Empire ; and it is upon these issues that I respectfully ask for their support. I am glad that, notwithstanding ray Scotch blood, and notwith- standing the association of my father and my grandfather with this country, it is open to our opponents, if they like, to describe me as a strang'^r; because I am free to admit that I stand here in conse- quence of an invitation, and in consequence of treatment the most generous and the most gratifying that ever was accorded to man. And I venture to assure every one of my opponents, that if I beg respectfully to have some credit for upright motives, that credit I at once accord to them. I know very well they are not accustomed to hear it given me; I know very well that in the newspapers which they read they will find that violent passion, that outrageous hatred, that sordid greed for office, are the motives, and the only motives, by which I am governed. Many of these papers constitute, in some sense, their daily food ; but I have such faith in their intelligence, and in the healthiness of their constitution as Scotchmen, that I believe that many of them will, by the inherent vigor of that constitution, correct and neutralize the poison thus administ'^'-ed ; will consent to meet me upon equal grounds, and will listen to the appeal which I make. lie aj-r|-rcai itiiiv;ii x ;Uan.c Lu lliciii is tlltn . xi illy puoiLluiJ ijcic is a serious one, their position is serious, too. My allegations have Gladstone on the Beaconsfield Ministry. 475 ,'^ HM *■?.£ ^ 1 : 1 been before you for a length of time. I will not now again read to a Midlothian audience the letter in which I first accepted this candidature. By every word of that letter I abide; in support of every allegation which that letter contains, I am ready to bring detailed and conclusive proof. These allegations — I say to you, Gentlemen, to that portion of my audience — these allegations are of the most serious character. I admit, as freely as you can urge that if they be unfounded, then my responsibility — nay, my culpa- bility — before my country cannot be exaggerated. But, on the other hand, if these allegations be true — if it be true that the resources of Great Britain have been misused; if it be true that the international law of Europe has been broken ; if it be true that the law of this country has been broken ; if it be true that the good name of this land has been tarnished and defaced; if it be true that its condition has been needlessly aggravated by measures both useless, and wanton, and mischievous in themselves— then your responsibility is as great as mine. For I fully admit that in 1874 you incurred no great or special responsibility. You were tired of the Liberal Government ; you were dissatis- fied wi:h them. [Cries of " No, no ! "] Oh, I beg pardon ; I am addressing my opponents. Scotchmen, I believe, ai much as Englishmen, like plain speaking, and I hope I have given you some proof that if that be your taste I endeavor to meet it as well as I can ; and I thank you heartily for the manner in which, by your kindly attention, you have enabled me to say what I think is the truth, whether it be palatable or whether it be not. Now the great question Avhich we have been debating for the last three or four years— for I do not carry back the pith of what I have principally to say to the six years of the Government— is the question of the policy which ha^ been pursued during that time; most especially by far the policy of the last two years, and the effect of that policy upon the condition of the country, upon the legislation of the country, upon the strength of the Empire, and, above all, upon the honor of the Empire. I am now going to com- pare the conduct of the present Government, which is commended to you as masterly in forethought and sagacity, and truly English in spirit — I am going to compare it with the conduct of the last Government, and to lay before you the proceedings of the results. 476 Gladstone on the Beaconsjield Ministry. It so happens that their histories are a not inconvenient means of comparison. England, as you are aware, has been involved in many guaran- tees. I said England — do not be shocked ; it is the shortest word — Great Britain or the United Kingdom is what one ought to say The United Kingdom — the British Empire has been and is in" volved in m-'nj guarantees for the condition of other countries. Among others we were involved, especially since the Peace of Paris, but also before the Peace of Paris, in a guars.; itee for Turkey, aiming to maintain its integrity and its independence; and we Vv^ere involved in another guarantee for Belgium, aiming to maintain its integrity and its independence. In the time of the present Govern, ment the integrity and the independence of Turkey were menaced — menaced by the consequences of rank, festering corruption from within. In the tim^e of the late Government the integrity and independ- ence of Belgium were not less seriously menaced. We had been living in perfect harmony and friendship with two great Military States of Europe — with Prussia and with France. France and Prussia came into conflict, and at the moment of their coming into conflict a document was revealed to us which the Miubters of those two States had had in their hands. Whoever was its author, who- ever was its promoter, that is no affair of mine — it is due to Prince Bismap k to say that he was the person who brought it to light— but they had in their hands an instrument of a formal character, touching a subject that was considered and entertained. And that bad instrument was an instrument for the destruction of the free- dom, independence and integrity of Belgium. Could there be a graver danger to Europe than that ? Here was a State — not like Turkey, the F^andal of the world, and the danger of the world from misgovernment, and from the horri- ble degradation it inflicted upon its subject races — but a country which was a marvel to all Europe for the peaceful exercise of the rights of freedom, and for progress in all the arts and all pursuits that tend to make mankind good and happy. And this country, having nothing but its weakness that could be urged against it, with ita four or five millions of ^eo'^le^ was deliberatelv uointed out by somebody and indicated to be destroyed, to be offered up as a Gfladstone on the Beaconsfield Ministry. 477 Id, and sacrifice to territorial lust by one or other of those Ministers of Powei-s with whom we were living in close friendship and affection. We felt called upon to enlist ourselves on the part of the British nation as advocates aud as champions of the integrity and inde- pendence of Belgium. And if we had gone to war, we should have gone to war for freedom, we should have gone to war for public right, we should have gone to war to save human happiness from being invaded by tyrannous and lawless power. This is what I call a good cause, Gentlemen. And though I detest war, and there are no epithets too strong, if you could supply me with them, that I will not endeavor to heap upon its head — in such a war as that, while the breath in my body is continued to me, I am ready to en- gage. I am ready to support it, I am ready to jrive all the help and aid I can to those who carry this country into it. Well, Gentlemen, pledged to support the integrity and independ- ence of Belgium, what did we do? We proposed to Prussia to enter into a new and solemn Treaty with us to resist the French Empire, if the French Empire attempted to violate the sanctity of freedom in Belgium; and we ^)roposed to France to enter into a similar Treaty with us to pursue exactly the same measures against Prussia, if Prussia should make the like nefarious attempt. And we undertook that, in concert with the one, or in concert with the other, whichever the case might be, we would pledge all the resources of this Empire, and carry it into war, for the purpose of resisting mischief and maintaining the principles of European law and peace. I ask you whether it is not ridiculous to apply the doctrine or the imputation, if it be an imputation, that we belong to the "Man- chester School," or to a Peace Party— we who made these engage- ments to n-o to war with France if necessary, or to go to war with Prussia, if necessary, for the sake of the independence of Belgium? But now I want you to observe tlie upshot. I must say that, in one -espect, we were very inferior to the present Government- very inferior indeed. Our ciphers, our figures, were perfectly con- temptible. We took nothing except two millions of money. We knew perfectly well that what was required was an indica- tion, and t'nat that indication would be quite intelligible when it was read in the light of the new treaty engagement which we were 478 Gladstone on the Beacoiisfield Ministry. contracting ; and consequently we asked Parliament to give u? two millions of money for the sake of somewhat enlarging the numbers of available soldiers, and we were quite prepared to meet that con- tingency had it arrived. The great man who directs the Councils of the German Empire (Bismarck) acted with his usual prompti- tude. Our proposal went to him by telegraph, and he ausweretl by telegraph, " Yes," the same afternoon. \7e were not quite so fortunate with France, for at that time the Council? of France were under the domination of some evil genius which it is difficult to trace, and needless to attempt to trace. There was some delry in France— a little unnecessary haggling —but after two or three days France also came into this engage- ment, and from that moment the peace of Belgium was perfectly secured. When we aad our integrity and our independence to protect, we took the measures which we believed to be necessary and sufficient for that protection ; and in every year since those measures, Belgium, not unharmed only, but strengthened by having been carried safely and unhurt through a terrible danger, has pur- sued her peaceful career, rising continually in her prosperity and happiness, and still holding out an example before all Europe to teach the nations how to live. Well, Gentlemen, as that occasion came to us with respect to Bel- gium, so it came to our successors with respect to Turkey. How did they manage it? They thought themselves bound to maintain the integrity and independence of'Turkey, and they were undoubt- edly bound conditionally to maintain it. I am not now going into the question of right, but into the question of the adaptation of the means to an end. These are the gentlemen who are set before you as the people whose continuance in office it is necessary to maintain to attract the confidence of Europe; these are the gentlemen whom patriotic associations laud to the skies as if they had a monopoly of human intelligence ; these are the gentlemen who bring you " Peace with Honor ; " these are the gentlemen who go in special trains to attend august assemblies, and receive the compliments of august statesmen ; these are the gentlemen who for all these years have been calling upon you to pay any number of millions that might be required as a very cheap and insignificant consideration for the immense advantages thp.t you derive from their administration. G-ladstone on the Beaconafield Ministry. 479 Therefore I want you to know, and I have shown you, how we set about to maintain integrity and independence, and how it was maintained then. I ask how tiiey have set about it. But, Gentle- men, on their own showing, they have done wrong. We have it out of their own mouths. I won't go to Lord Derby; I will go to the only man whose authority is higher for this purpose than Lord Derby's, namely. Lord Beaconsfield. He tells you plainly Uiat what the Government ought to have done was to have said to Kussia, You shall not invade Turkey." Gentlemen, that course is intelligible. It is a guilty course in ray opinion, to have taken up arms for maintaining the integrity of rurkey against her subject races, or to take up arms against what the Emperor of Russia believed to be a great honor to humanity in going to apply a remedy to these mischiefs. But Lord Beacons- field has confessed in a public speech that the proper course for the Government to have taken was t. have planted their foot, and to have said to the Emperor of Russia: "Cross not the Danube- if you cross the Danube, expect to confront the power of England' on the southern shore." Now, Gentlemen, chat course is intelligible perfectly mtelligible; and if you are prepared for the responsibilit; of maintaining such an integrity, and such an independence, irre- spectively of other considerations against the Christian races in iurkey, that was the course for you to pursue. It was not pursued, because the agitation, which is called the Bulgarian agitation, was too inconvenient to allow the Government to pursue It, because they saw that if they did that which Lord Beaconsfield now tells us it would have been right to do, the senti- TTw? ''r"°*'''^ '"'^"''^ "^* ^'^^^ permitted them to continue to hold their office ; and hence came that vacillation, hence came that ineptitude of policy which they now endeavor to cover by hector- ing and by boasting, and which, within the last year or two they have striven, and not quite unsuccessfully, to hide from the eyes of many by carrying measures of violence into ether lands if not against Russia, if not against the strong, yet against the weak, and endeavoring to attract to themselves the credit and glory of main- taining the power and influence of England. Well. GfinHomon fliQir ivr^!"> *-/i —-J-f-:- ji • , ., . . . , ^.., ..,,^ AC!^ 10 uiauituiii itie integrity and inde- pendence of Turkey. How did they set about it? They were not 480 Gladstone on the Beaeonsjield Ministry. satisfied with asking for our Iiumble two millions; they asked for bix millions. What did they do, first of all ? First of all they encouraged Turkey to go to war. They d=d not counsel Turkey's submission to superior force ; they neither would advise her to sub- mit, nor would they assist her to resist. They were the great causes of her plunging into that deplorable and ruinous war, from the consequences of which, her Majesty's speech states this year, Turkey has not yet recovered, and there is not the smallest appearance of hope that she will ever recover. But afterwards, and when the war had taken place, they came and asked you for a vote of six millions. What did they do with the six millions? They flourished it in the face of the world. Wliat did they gain for Turkey ? In the first place, they sent a fleet to the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus. Are you aware that in sending that fleet they broke the law of Europe ? They applied for a firman to the Sultan. The Sultan refused, and they had no right to send that fleet. But, however that may be, what was the use of sending that fleet ? The cons(>quence was that the Eussian army, which had been at a considerable distance from Constantinople marched close up to Constantinople. Is it possible to conceive an idea more absurd than that which I really believe was entertaineu by many of our friends — I do not say our friends in Midlothian, but in places where the intelligence is high — that the presence of certain British ironclads in the Sea of Marmora prevented the victorious Russian armies from entering Constantinople? What could these ironclads do? They could have battered down Constantinople, no doubt ; but what consola- tion would that have been to Turkey, or how would it have pre- vented Russian armies from entering? T'hat piu-tof the pretext set is too thin and threadbare to require any confutation. But they may say that that vote of six millions was an indication of the intention of England to act in case of need ; and when it was first proposed, it was to strengthen the hands of England at the Congress. But did it strengthen the hands of England ; and if so, to what purpose was that strength used ? The Treaty of San Stefano had been signed between Russia and Turkey ; the Treaty of Berlin was substituted for it. What the grand difference between the Treaty Gladstone on the Beacomfield Ministry. 481 of Berlm and the Treaty of San Stefano ? There was a portion of Bessarabia which down to the time of the Treaty of Berlin, enjoyed free institutions, and by the Treaty of Berlin, and mainly through the agency of the British Government, which had pledged itself beforehand by what is called the Salisbury-Schouvaloff Memoran- dum, to support Kussia in her demand for that territory, if Russia adhered to that demand, England, with che vote of six millions given to strengtb^n her influence, made herself specially responsible for handing back that territory, which enjoyed free institutions, to be governed despotically by the Russian Empire. That is the first purpose for which, as I have shown you, your vote of six millions was available. What was the second ? It was to draw a line along the Balkan Mountains, by means of which Northern Bulgaria was separated from Southern Bulgaria, and Southern Bulgaria was re-named Eastern Roumelia. The Sultan has not marched, and cannot march, a man into Eastern Roumelia. If he did, the consequences would be that the whole of that population, who are determined to fight for their rights, would rise against him and his troops, and would be supported by other forces that could be drawn to it under the resistless influences of sympathy with freedom. You may remember that three or four years ago utter scorn was poured upon what was called the " bag-and-baggage policy." Are you aware that that policy is at this moment the basis upon which are regulated the whole of the civil state of things iu Bulgaria and Eastern Rou- melia ? What that policy asked was that every Turkish authority should be marched out of Bulgaria, and every Turkish authority has gone out of Bulgaria. There is not a Turk at this moment who, as a Turk, holds office under the Sultan ei^ier in Bulgaria or in Southern Bulgaria, which is called Eastern Roumelia— no, not one. The despised « bag-and baggage policy " is at this moment the law of Europe, and that is the result of itj and it is for that, Gentlemen, that the humble individual who stands before you was held up a-.d reviled as a visionary enthusiast and a verbose— I forget what— rhetoricians although I believe myself there was not much verb'i^^i'tv in that particular pliraae. It appnarcd to me the people of England understood it pretty well— nay, more, the Congress of Berlin 31 482 Gladstone on the Beaconsfield Ministry. seemed to have understood it, and the slate of th.ngs which I recommended was irresistible, and now, I thank God, is irre- versibly established in those once unhappy provinces. Gentlemen, we have got one more thing to do in regard to these provinces, and that is this — I urged it at the same time when I produced this monstrous conception of the " bag-and-baggage policy " — it is this, to take great care that the majority of the in- habitants of these provinces, who are Christians, do not oppress either the Mohammedans, or the Jewish, or any other minority. That is a sacred duty ; I don't believe it to be a difficult duty ; it is a sacred duty. I stated to you just now that there was not a Turk holding office, as a Turk, in these provinces. I believe there are Turks holding office — and I rejoice to hear it — holding office through the free suffi-age of their countrymen, and by degrees I hope that they, when they are once rid of all the pesti- lent and poisonous associations, and the recollections of the old ascendancy, will become good and peaceful citizens like other people. I believe the people of Turkey have in them many fine qualities, whatever the Governors may be, capable under proper education. Gentlemen, of bringing them to a state of capacity and competency for every civil duty. Gentlemen, it still remains for me to ask you ho^ this great and powerful Government has performed its duty of maintaining the integrity and independence of Turkey. It has had great and extra- ordinary advantages. It has had the advantage of disciplined support from its majority in the House of Commons. Though I am not making any complaint, as my friend in the Chair knows, it was not exactly the same as happened in the days of recent Liberal Governments. It had had unflinching and incessant support from the large majority of the Lords. That was very far from being our case in our day. There is no reason why I should not say so. I say freely — it is an historical fact — that the House of Lords, when the people's representatives are backed by a strong national feeling, when it would be danger- ous to oppose, confront, or resist, then the House of Lords pass our measuies. So they passed the Disestablishment of the Irish Church, and so they passed the Irish Land Act; and I have no doubt that, if it pleases the Almighty, they will pass many more good measures. Gladstone on the Beaconsjkld Ministry. 483 .-e, t,.,v .eject the ,o«. . J^Z go'u rt^' '"'^ ^^ traL:ii:L'°"The!'" '"^"'^V"''^'' ""' present Admin:. -t for the British AmbaaJ^^r H 1 JlTl t M t"' that a pestilent person, a certain Individ JL^Uewt of you, give your votL"T^» .""" ^' "'' """ >"«■ ''^'>^^^> "U Bea'con'siMr win G ntkZ f '"'"'"" ""^ '''"'^'■^ o'"^"' of Austria, the fot^ign ^^ Jv h'- '12X7" "''n°"'^" P"""^ advise you to do thaf ver^ Mn. r-f "'™"^ P""-^"""' I foreign'poliey do.TltTn t C „„rof ^h' '° ""^ "" ^"''™" votes as the E»peror of Au^L'Z:!!' '^ "'""'^' ^'^^ ^""' has got better m<=,i{fui'^^r.. «* k V ^ ^ ^"^^^' because it .a.i w a;::::sr:ntx iL*:;:^^^^ ^^ ^-^n to what that policy has hppn a /. ™^"®«- -i: et I must look ing foe of freTdom i' evt eonntn e" "" "l" ''^ """'"«''- ™der foot Austria resisted' raiftTany^"^'™ '™-'"«' int::ft:e^TreZiiru:rr"?^'""''"»' ^ Slavonic freedom • h,,t 7'''P'."'"-K"»'-a has been the friend of SlavonicfX ' A 'strtdra 111"™;.':" '"^ '™'"' -™ o'' of Belgium Austrt „. « . ™"''' '" P"*™"' "-e creation constitutrn of Ore" Th " ""^^ '''" '"^ '^S--"'-" -<» spot upon the wtr^ap"^^ rir:: -'-"-f.e.e is not a " There Austria did .J.'' 72°^. 71 ''^ ^™/ ""^^^ ^"'' -^n 0^ Us gene.1 tendenc, I d; ^ :h:nd':nT;Te ^^1^^ 484 Gladstone on the Beaconsfield Ministry. ment in the future, but we must look to the past and to the j)resent for the guidance of our judgments at tliis moment. And in the Congress of Berlin Austria resisted the extension of freedom, and did not promote it ; and therefore, I say, if you want the spirit of Austria to inspire the Councils of this country, in Heaven's name take the Emperor's counsel ; and I advise you to lift the Austrian flag yrhen you go about your purposes of canvass or of public meetings. It will best express the purpose you have in view, and I, for one, cannot complain of your consistency, liat- ever, in that case, I might think of the tendency of your views in respect of principle, of justic;;, of the happiness of mankind, or of the greatness, the dignity, and the honor of this great Empire. But, Gentlemen, still one word more, because I have not spoken of what has been the upshot of all this. There are a great many persons in this country, I am afraid, as well as in other countries, who are what is called Worshippers of Success, •^nd at the time of the famous " Peace with Honor " demonstratioi: there was a very ■^"ppt appearance of success. I was not myself at that time par- u<iuiarly safe wh' n 1 walked in the streets of London. I have walked with my wife fium my own house, I have walked owing my protection to the police ; but that was the time, Gentlemen, when all .aose curious methods of maintaining British fionor and British dignity were supposed to have been wonderfully euccessful. And now I want to ask you, a" I have shown the way we went about maintaining the independence and integrity of Belgium — what has become of the independence and integrity of Turkey ? I have shown that they neither knew in the first instance the ends towards which they should first have directed their efforts, nor, when they have chosen ends, have they been able rationally to adapt their means to the attainment of those ends. I am not speaking of the moral character of the means, but how they are adapted tc the end. And what did the vote of six millions achieve for Turkey? I will tell you what it achieved. It did achieve one result, and I want you well to consider v/hether you are satisfied with it or not, especially those of you who are Conservatives. It undoubtedly cut down largely the division of Bulgaria, established by the Treaty of San Stefano. Now, I am not going to maintain that that division was a right a/addone on the Beacomfield Ministry. 485 buMt' ^'"V^r""^' "' ' ^"'^^'^^^ "'"^^ """"'« ^1^«» J possess ; but the eiieet ci U was to cut it dow«. as i« perfectly well known- hut .put back under the direct rule of the Sultan of Turkey and m the exact condition in ^hich all European Turkey, except he Pr.c.paht.e. had been before the war, the' population' nfabl ing the country oi Macedonia, and about a million of people the vast majority of them Christians. ^^ ' Two substantive and definite results, the two most definite results, produced were these-first of all, that Bessarabia, tha 1 d been a country w.th free institutions, was handed back o despot sm ; and second y, a million and a half of people inhabiting Mace- doma to w om free institutions had been promised by the^Tre"; o San btefano, are now again placed under the Turkish Pashas and have not received one grain of benefit of importance as com-' pared with their condition before the war But hovv as regards Turkey ? I have shown results bad enough Sfn ; Tl "• • .^^l'^' ''' ^'^ ^"^'^^ Pleuipotentiaries say at Berlin ? They said that some people seemed to suppose we had come tc c and carve Turkey. That is quite a mistake sad tl e i lenipotentiaries ; we have come to consolidate Turkey. Some of the scribes of the Foreign Office coined a new word, and sai U was to " rejuvenate " Turkey. How did they rejuvenate this unfortunate Empire, this misera- ble Empire this unhappy Government which they have lured into war and allowed and encouraged to pass into war because th^y allowed tneir Ambassadors at Constentinople, Sir Henry Elliot and Sir Austen Layard, to whisper into the ear of the Turk that British interests would compel us to interfere and help her? What has been the result to Turkey? Now, I will say, 'much as tl!e Christian populations have the right to complain, the Sultan of Inrkey has a light to complain very little less. How has the Sultan been treated? We condescended to obtain from him the island of Cyprus, at a time when Austria wa oulling at him on one side and freedom on the other. We condescended to take from liim that miserable paltry share of the spoil That^ is not all. What is the condition of Turkey in Eurnnp 9 It IS neither integrii/ nor independence. The Sultan is liable'^'to interference at any moment, at every point of his territory from 486 Gladati ue on the Beacomfield Ministry. every one that signed the Treaty of Berlin, lie has lost ten millions of subjects altogether, ten millions more are in some kind of dependence or other — in a condition that the Sultan does not know whether they will be his subjects to-morrow or the next day. Albania is possessed by a League. Macedonia, as you read in the papers, is traversed by brigands. Thessaly and Epirus, according to the Treaty of Berlin, should be given to Greece. The treasury of Turkey is perfectly empty, disturbance? liave spread through Turkey in Asia, and the condition of that Govern- ment, whose integrity and independence you were told that " Peace with Honor " had secured, is more miserable than at any previous period of its history ; and wise and merciful indeed would be the man that would devise some method of improving it. To those gentlemen who talk of the great vigor and determina- tion and success of the Tory Government, I ask you to compare the case of Belgium and Turkey. Try them by principles, or try them by results, I care not which, we knew what we were about and what was to be done when we had integrity and independence to support. When they had integrity "nd inde'>endence to protect, they talked, in'^' '., loud enough about supporting Turkey, and you would suppose they were prepared to spend their whole resources upon it ; but all their measures have ended in nothing except that they have reduced Turkey to a state of greater weakness than at any portion of her history, whereas, on the other hand, in regard to the twelve or thirteen millions of Slavs and Roumanian population, they have made the name of England odious throughout the whole population, and done everything in their power to throw that ponu- lation into the arms of Russia, to be the tool of Russia in its plans and schemes, unless, indeed, as I hope and am inclined to believe, the virtue of free institutions the} have obtained will make them too wise to become the tools of any foreign Power whatever, will make them intent upon maintaining their own liberties as becomes a free people playing a noble part in the history of Europe. I have detained you too long, and I will not, though I would, pursue this subject further. I have sho^n you what I think the miserable failure of the policy of the Government. Remember we have a fixed point from which to draw our mea, urements. Rem em- Gladstone on the lieaconsjidd MiniHti^. 487 ber what in 1876 tho proposal of those who approved of the Bui- ganan agitation and who were dcnouacoilas the enemies of Turkey remember what that proposal woiild ha/e done. It would have given Autonomy to Bulgaria, which ha.s now got Autonomy; but it would have saved all the remainder at L detriment to the rest of the Turkish Kmpire. Turkey would have had a fair chance. Turkey would not have suffered tie territorial losses which she has elsewhen .lilered, and which she \x,b suflered I must say, In cons, ^uence of her being betrayed into the falne and mischievous, the tempting and seductive, but unreal and unwise jwlicy of th- present* Administration. Tliere ->. ther matters which must be reserved for other times ^ e are told about the Crimean War. Sir Stallord Northcote tells us the Crimean War, made by the I.iberal (iovernment, cost the country . \y millions of debt, and an income tax of Is 4d per pound. Now what is the use of telling us that? I will discL.s the Crimean War on some future occasion, but not now If the Liberal Government were so clever, that they contrived to burden the country with forty millions of debt for this Crimean War why does he not go back to the war before that, and tell us what the lorv Government did with the Revolutionary War, when they le... a debt on the country of some nine hundred millions, of which SIX hundred and fifty millions they had made in the Revolutionary War, and not only so, but they left the blessing and legacy of the Corn Laws, and of a high protective system, and impoverished country and a di-samtented population-so much so, that for years that followed that great Revolutionary War, no man could say 'whether the Constitution of this country was or was not worth five years' purchase. They might even go further back than the Revolutionary War They have been talking loudly of the Colonies, and say that, for- sooth, the Liberal party do nothing for the Colonies. What did tho Tory party do for the Colonies? I can tell you. Go to tho war that preceded the Revolutionary War. They made war agair.^t the American Continent. They added to the debt of the country two hundred midions in order to deat: oy freedon. in America. They alienated it and drove it from this country. They were com- pelled to bring this cmintrv to make an ignominious ncnco- anu 488 Gladdone on the Beacnnsfield Ministry. as far as I know, that attempt to put down freedom in America, with its results to this country, is the only one great fact which has ever distinguished the relations between a Tory Government and the Colonies. But, Gentlemen, these must be matters postponed for another cicasion. I thank you very cordially, both friends and opponents, if opponents you be, for the extreme kindness with which you have heard me. I have spoken, and I must s? ak in very strong terms of the acts done by my opponents. I wil never say that they did it from vindictiveness, I will never say that they did it from passion, I will never say that they did it from a sordidjoveof oflSce ; I have no right to use such words ; I have no right to entertain such senti- ments ; I repudiate and abjure them. I give them credit for patriotic motives— I give them credit for those patriotic motives, which are incessantly and gratuitously denied to us. I believe we are all united in a fond attachment to the great country to which we belong, to the great Empire which has committed to it a trust and function from Providence, as special and remarkable as was ev<^r entrusted to any portion of the family of man. When I ^peak of that tru?t and that function I feel that words fail. I a lot tell you what I think of the nobleness of the inher- itance whi( ii has descended upon us, of the sacredness of the duty of maintaining it. I will not condescend to make it a part of con- troversial politics. Jt is a part of my being, of my flesh and blood of my heart and soul. For those ends I have labored through my youth and manhood, and, more than that, till my hairs are grey. In that faith and practice I have lived, and in that faith and practice I shall die. ffi' CHAPTER XX. THE IRISH QUESTION. Personal Explanation-Domestic Government for Ireland-Six Conditions for Home Eu e-Repell.ng Attacks-Trivial Disputes-All Great Movements ^naall ,„ the Beginning-Failure of Parliament to Legislate fo Ire a„d^^ Attempt to do Justice to the Irish-Uni.n of the Kingdoms to Be Maih- SrPaTndr Pa ;r^r ^ fft '" ^-'-^-^-eme'nt AgainsTR'n^ Mr. Darnell s Party-Central Authority-Home Eule to Be Safeguarded- Urgency of the Question-Charge of Being in Haste. ""^''S^^'^^^a |R. GLADSTONE, iu a pamphlet published durino- the agitation of Home Kale for Ireland, defended his action IP the following terms, which did much to silence hostile criticism aud secure friends for the cause he advocated so earnestly- In the year 1868, I was closely associated with the policy of disestablishing the Irish Church. It was then, not unflly, attempted to assail the cause in the person of its advocate. To defeat this attempt, an act became necessary which would other- wise have been presumptuous and obtrusive. In order to save the policy from suffering, I laid a personal explanation before the world. The same motive now obliges me to repeat the act, and will 1 hope form a sufficient excuse for my repeating it The substance of my defence or apology will, howe'ver, on the present occasion be altogether different. I had then to explain the reasons for which, and the mode in which, I changed the opinions and conduct with respect to the Church of Ireland then established, which I had held half a century ago. I had shown my practical acceptance of the rule that change of opinion should if possible be accompanied with proof of independence and disinterested motive • tor 1 liad resigned my place in the Cabinet of Sir Robert Peel in order to make good my title to a new point of departure. On the present occasion I have no such change to vindicate; but only to po.nt out the mode in which my language and conduct, govorned by uniformity of principle, have simply followed the several stages, 489 490 The Irish Quedion. by which the great question of autonomy for Ireland has been brought to a state of ripeness for practical legislation. It is a satisfaction to me that, in confuting imputations upon myself, I shall not be obliged to cast imputations on any individual opponent. The subject of a domestic government for Ireland, without any distinct specification of its form, has been presented to us from time to time. I have at no time regarded it as necessarily replete with danger, or as a question which ought to be blocked out by the asser- tion of seme high constitutional doctrine with which it could not be reconciled. But I have considered it to be a question involving such an amount and such a kind of change, and likely to be encountered with so much of prejudice apart from reason, as to make it a duty to look rigidly to the conditions, upon the fulfill- ment of which alone it could warrantably be entertained. They were in my view as follows : 1. It could not be entertained, except upon a final surrender of the hope that Parliament could so far serve as a legislative instrument for Ireland, as to be able to establish honorable and friendly relations between Great Britain and the people of that country. 2. Nor unless the demand for it were made in obedience to the unequivocal and rooted desire of Ireland, expressed through the constitutional medium of the Irish representatives. 3. Nor unless, being thus made, it were likewise so defined, as to bring it within the limits of safety and prudence, and to obviate all danger to the unity and security of the Empire. 4. Nor was it, in my view, allowable to deal with Ireland upon any principle, the benefit of which could not be allowed to Scot- land in circumstances of equal and equally clear desire, 5. Upein the fulfillment of these conditions, it appeared to m'3 an evident duty to avoid, as long as possible, all steps which would bring this great settlement into the category of party measures. 6. And, subject to the foregoing considerations, I deemed it to be of great moment to the public weal that the question should be promptly and expeditiously dealt with ; inasmuch as it must other- wise gravely disturb the action of our nnllfJcal svQfom hv nhanrrps of Ministry, by Dissolutions of Parliament, and by impeding the ^ ^U ■^^NMr The Irifih Question. 49^ of cZ::' '""'"'"^ '""''^^ *■'"' "- ^•'"™'- of the H„u. These were the principles, which I deeme<! applicable to tl,. dwell upon the undeniable truth that many things mav be for. Zlnl ^""\«f " »' ■=!•' b-k. wotUd be confined wS^ .X":ra;tte;X\lr:;:-j?"^t Y^' Ztrrunfldfii;:; ■- "^™~'-'.-.d which bad bee: plot =gah,st .y friend, the hrst af an at frpTt^ elpe fti ^ «t"af:troT thf ""= """'^^ ""-^ '" -"^^' bylTJrTt J«t aspect of the ca«, wa, presented by Lor<l HartinM„„ ;„ ,.,. Huu»„ „, .commons, and by Mr. Chamberla.n, on the 20th of June" at B,r,„,n,han,. The se«,nd wa, p„t forwa^J hv Mr B igh ".i 492 The Irish Queation. addressing his constitueuts, and, with much point and force by Lord Hartington, at Sheffield. ' . In substance lie argued thus : " Mr. Gladstone has never durinn- fiiteen years, condemned the principle of Home Rule. Either then lie had not considered it, or he had assented to it But in his position as Minister, he must have considered it. Therefore the proper conclusion is, that he had assented to it. And yet, though I was Secretary for Ireland, with Lord Spencer as Viceroy, when he was Prime Minister, to neither of as did he convey the smallest idea of such assent." Telling .8 this statement evidently was, it abounds in leakages In the hrst place I deny that it is the duty of every minister to make known, even to his colleagues, every idea which has formed Itself ;n his mind. I should even say that the contradictory pro- position would be absurd. So far as my experience of government Jias gone, subjects ripe for action supply a minister with abundant material for communication with his colleagues, and to make a rule Of mixing with them matters still contingent and remote would confuse and retard business, instead of aiding it. But letting pass for argument sake, a very irrational proposition, I grapple with the dilemma, and say non sequitur— the consequence asserted is no con- sequence at all. It was no consequence from my not having con- demned Home Rule, that I had either not considered it, or had adopted it. What 18 true is, that I had not publicly and in principle con- demned it, and also that I had mentally considered it. But I had neither adopted nor rejected it; and for the very simple reason, that It was not ripe either for adoption or rejection. It had not become the unequivocal demand of Ireland ; and it had not been so defined by its promoters, as to prove that it was a safe demand It may and should be known to many who are or have been my colleagues, that I made some abortive efforts towards increasing Irish influence over Irish affairs, beyond the mere extension of county government, but not in a shape to which the terra Home Rule could be properly applied. Nor have I been able to trace a single imputation upon me, whether of omission or commissinp \n rp^r^^f -f ,..u:-^ t -u-„ij not, by acting according to the orders of my censors, have offended The Irish Question. 493 against all or some of the rules, which I have pointed out as the guides of my conduct, and by which I seek to stand or fall As these disputes of ours, trivial enough from one point of view are in a certain sense making history, it may be well if, in connec- tion with the thread of these observations, I recall, by means of a very brief outline, some particulars relating to the Government of Ireland, and to the demand for a domestic legislature, during the last half century. For that demand, constant in the hearts of Irishmen, has nevertheless been intermittent in its manifestation • sometimes wider, sometimes narrower in its form ; sometimes as m the famine, put aside by imperative necessity; sometimes yield- ing the ground to partial and lawless action ; sometimes excl>ang,^d for attempts at practical legislation, which, for the moment, threw it into the shade. The great controversy of Free Trade, the reformation of the lariff. and the care of finance, provided me, in common with many others, nay, in the main provided the Three Kingdoms, with a serious and usually an absorbing political occupation for a quarter of a century, from the time when the GovernL.ent of Sir R Peel waa formed in 1841. When that period has passed, and when the question of the franchise had been dealt with, the general condi- tion of Ireland became the main subject of my anxiety. ^ The question of a home-government for Ireland was at that time in abeyance. The grant of such a government to that coun- ty had only been known to us, in the past, either as the demand for a repeal of the Legislative Union, or in the still more formid- able shape, which it presented when the policy of O'Connell was superseded by the r of action, and when the too just discontent ot Ireland assumed the violent and extravagant form of Fenianism The movement for Repeal appeared to merge into this dangerous conspiracy, which it was obvious could only be met by measures of lepression. In none of these controversies had I personally taken any direct share, beyond following the statesmen of 1834" and of 1844 by my vote against Repeal of the Union. Mournfully as I am struck, in retrospect, by the almost absolute failure of Parlia- ment, at and long after those periods, to perform its duties to Ire- land, I see no reason to repent of any such vote. Unspeakably criminal, I own, were the means by which the Union was brought 494 The Irish Question. abou and utterly ,„sufficiem were the .masons for its adoption- 8t,ll uwusameasure vast in itself and in its consequential armZ-' .nents, and .t could not be n,ade the subject of experlLnrfX year to year, or from Parliament to Parliament. I here was then a yet stronger reason for declining to impart a «hock to the legtslative fabric by Repeal. Before us lay a^ a r na, ve pohcy, the relief of Ireland from grievance; and [his mTcv had not been tr.ed in any manner at all approachi,^ to So!^„^ It was not possible, at the time, to prognostLt^ how in a shor time Parhament would stumble and almost writhe under its c»nstanr aeoumulatmg burdens, or to pronounce that it would even ua ly prove .ncapable of meeting the wants of Ireland. Evidently the Zl?;™ :,""" ^"^'' P^'™"^™' ^ ^^P'-^^-'"' V O'ConnelT on t [X I' T" ""' '"""""^^ P°"«^- '''' "'' «-«i -- «- rallow that '*' "f^^' '"' H""* Government, and seemed :strtorji'r::;:;:;r2^^ unhappily had been met by an obstinac; of LC ,' C cl t- aepr.ved them of their gracious aspect, and made even our i-eme- djal^plans play the part of corroborative witnesses to an evil s^l It will be admitted that the Government of 1868-74 endeavored on a more adequate scale, principally by what is still callrf n™me «lnn P ■ , Jn-Tl: '" ''<=''°<"^I«dg'»ent of the«= efforts, the Na- onal Party fell into hue. But, on the important question of Edu- ction, we were defeated in 1873, not by an English, but b/an Insh resis ance. Other measures, to which I had looked wi h in" terest, could no, oe brought to birth. But a happy eifect hid been produced upon Irish feeling; and prosperity, both agricultural ai^ general singularly it might be said unduly, favored for some yls he operation of the Land Act of 1870. We had taken seriously !he uZ."™ '™™""' " "'^ ''"^™»''- f^'^y "> ^^^ So much had been nnhievpr! wifh flio -roi-,, /• i . ..^uif.\fu, witn tne /x-aiuua support of the elect- 'W^^^" ■ """ "'" ^^'' '^"'" '^' '''"'■ .:^x '"'""' "^^T*^ /-" '" ; '■'^'- '..■r ■■:[" The Irish Question. 4yg constj, ,,„ of the LpeHal Parlia.en Zll tl tf^^ hshed to our satisfaction, or conclusively shown to be the fixir ^ rooted conviction of the Irish ueonJP tLt P • ^°^ to the work of governing I IknT' / Parhament ^as unequal erned. governing Iieland as a free people should be gov- At this time it was, that the new formula of TTnm. t? i Who was at that time simply an individual of remarkable abilitv well known that in some cases where those wants hnrl r..f u be :;'d"ra„ elf" "'"'"■^ '" "''"« -/'a„ -,age'wtr:t,d dLUfe'CisIatur"^™^"' '» '"^ ~"' »■■ •>e''a!f of a Accordingly I contended at Aberdeen in the summer of 1871 Aa .0 case l,ad been established to prove the incoletcnrof Parhament or to give authority to the demand of Mr Butt I ftit and r.gl,tly felt, the strongest objections to breaking nn an ex,st,ng constitution of the Legislature without proorof "fs neces .tj of .ts safety, and of the sufficiency of the au'thor-ty by S" the demand was made. B„t even at that time I did not clole he hir'^r iLT"'""; ;' "'"'"^^"- >« - -^.-fferl stteo Tnings. 1 ditfered as widely as possible even at tl^nf f;,« ^ tt,ose .ith whom I have biln in conflicUW ng\ t ^r^^J ^^ For, .nstead of denouncing the idea of Home Rule as one in it^ zz'/z^if'" ""■•'^."^'"^ ^-p---" f.ef:,::i g woras 1 accepte(l the assurance sriven to thp oon* — t • " Let me do the promoters of this movement''the fullest justice. I 496 The Irish Question. Always speaking under the conviction, as lliey most emphatically declare, and as I fully believe them, that the union of these kini doms under Her Majesty is to be maintained, but that Parliament IS to be broken up." Thus, at the very first inception of the question. I threw aside the mam doctrine on which opposition to Irish autonomy is founded. This was the first step, and I think a considerable step, towards placing the controversy on its true basis In the General Election of 1874, a great progress became visi- ble. Mr. Butt was returned to Parliament as the chief of a party formed on behalf of Irish self-government. It was a considerable party, amounting, as is sa?d, to a small nominal majority, yet rather conventionally agreed on a formula than united by any idea worked into practical form. But a new stage had been reached, and I thus referred at the opening of the Session to the proposal ot the Irish leader: ^ "That plan is this-that exclusively Irish affairs are to be judged in Ireland, and that then the Irish members are to come to the Imperial Parliament and to judge as they may think fit of the general affairs of the Empire, and also of affairs exclusively English and Scotch [Mr. Butt : No, No.] It is all very well for gentle- men to cry* No 'when the blot has been hit by the honorable gentleman opposite." (Mr. Newdegate). "I cannot quit this subject without recording the satisfaction with which I heard one declaration made by the right honorable gent eman who seconded the amendment (Mr. Brooks). My hon- orable and learned friend said, that Ireland has entirely given up the idea of separation from this country." Thus I again accepted without qualification the principle that ±iome Kule had no necessary connection with separation ; and took my objection simply to a proposal that Irishmen should deal ex- clusively with their own affairs, and also, jointly, with ours After the death of Mr. Butt, Mr. Shaw became the leader of his party, and in 1884 delivered an exposition of his views in a spirit so frank and loyal to the Constitution, that I felt it my duty at once to meet such an utterance in a friendly manner. I could not indeed, consistently with the conditions I have laid down make his opinion my own. But I extract a portion of my reference to nis speecn, as it is reported. TU Jmh (JuiatiiM. ^jjj " 1 imist say tlmt ti.e spirit „f d.orougl, ,uauline« iu winch te approadiea thia 4„e8tio., and which i.e unites with a n Z .l.o.o,,gh ktndliness to us, and with au cvideu, dispol „ .espcc. both the funotiouaofthis House, and the spirit of ^ E,i- ^sh Co„st,tut,o„ does give hope that if velations ttt f , England and Ireland are to become thorougnly satisfactm Z most ..nportant contribution to hat essential^'d w i, '/jj l" a.ade by a,y honorable ftic„,l, an.l those who speak like h , " to !h " T""* f xi'" ^"'''"'""' "" '■''^'^•'■"g •■"' "'l'''^^. I --everted to the subject of Home Rule. This was the pe,io,l (Oct ,ber 1881 en deen,ed it my duty nrore than once !o ,leno,n,ce i 's ,1 i te.ns the movement against rent i„ Ireland, and with it (I,: extravagant claims which seemed to me to be made in the name of Aat.onal Indc|,e„,leuee. Yet I then spoke as follows- -It ,s not on a.,y point connected with the exercise of loc-al gov- vha ,s popularly known in that country as Home Rule, and ..ch may e understood in any one of a hundred senses, some" . .em ,K.rfec ly acceptable, and even desirable, others of them mi" cinevous and revolutionary-it is not upon any of those points t at »e arc at present at issue. With regard to local gov ™ l„t h Irchand, after what I have said of local governmem in genel an.. , s rmmeasnrable benefits, you will not be .surprised if I y ... t I for one wdl had with satisfaction and delight any n.easure of loc.,1 government for Ireland, or for any portio.T of the eonntrv provaled only that it conform to this one condition, that it sha ™; break down or ,n,pair the supren.acy of the Lnpe^al Parlian.e, " Once more I entered on the subject, in the House of Commons o 1 ebruary ,882. I referred to the party led then, as now,' by Mr. Parnell. The citation is from Hausa.d • "Neither they, nor so far as I k,=ow Mr. Butt before them, nor so far as I know Jlr. O'Connell before him, ever distiucti; ex- S'Tk'" ^" ,""<^"«"'"'= »"'l P^'ti^We form, the manner iu wh ch the real knot of this question was to be untied. The prin- c.p e upon which the honorable members propose to proceed is this- that purely Irish matters should be dealt with bv a purely Irish authontv ni„l (t„. 1.. T - _ l'"<''y i.'sn by uthority. and that purely Imperial matters sh. .. ,.,,„ ,,,,, an Imperial Chamber in which Ireland is to be represented ouid be dealt with 4i)S The Irish Quedion. But they iiave not told us by wlmt authority it is to be determine<l what matters, when taken one by one, are Irish, and what matters are Imperial. '• Until, Sir, they lay before this House a plan in which they go to the very bottom of that subject, and give us to und-rstand in what manner that division of jurisdiction is to be accomplished, the practical consideration of this subject cannot really be arrived at, and, for my own part, I know not how any elfective judgment upon it can be pronounced. Whatever may be the outcome of the honorable member's proposal, of this I am well convinced, that neither this House of Commons, nor any other that may succeed it, will at any time asseno to any measure by which the one paramount C.i- tral Authority, necessary for holding together iu perfect union and compactness this great Empire, can possibly be either iu the great- est or the slightest degree imi)aired. " We are not to depart from that principle; and what I put to the honorable gentleman who has just sat down, and to the honorable member who precexled him is this— that their first duty to usand their first duty to themselves, their first obligation in the prosecution of the p'irpose which they have in view— namely, the purpose of securing the management of purely Irish affairs by Irish hands— is to point out to ua by what autho'-ity, and by what instrument, affairs purely Irish are to be divided and distinguished, in order that they may be appropriately a.-d s>'parately dealt with from those Imperial affairs and interests whic.'i they have frankly admitted must remain in the hands of the Imperial Parliament." Mr. Pluukett hereupon sleeted that he had taken down my words, and that he could only understand them as an invitation to Irish mend)ors to re-open the question of Home Rule. Nor did he see how I could after using such words resist a motion for a Commit- tee on the subject. To any and every plan for referring such a subject to a Committee of Parliament I have at all times been op- posed. But Mr. rimdvctt's meaning was evident, nor could I dis- pute the substance of his interpretation. I will not weary my reader by adding to citations by which his patience has already been so severely tried. But I ask him to remember that down to this time no safe-guarding definition of Home Rule had been supplied, and no demand, in the constitu- The Irish (Jue.^(ion. ^yy tional sense, had been made by the Irish j.aflrn. T i i • , I uext pm to the pcri,Kl preoodmg ,|., election of 1886 It had now bec-ome morally certain that Ireland wonid Ztl, ! tonal ae„,,e. But no light had l.ee„ thrown, to my knowlo," '. to Mr larnell, and wh.ch was sui),,oscd to have civen hin. throngh .t. Lord Lientenant or o.honvi., assurances' rZeo,^ U„de7t7""""-"' """'■ '" '"" ''^"'"' "'»- - '- -"•' "^ Unde these croumstances, I conceival that „,y duty ,va, clelr' and that ,t was sun.n.cl up in certain particuL. T ,ey were h se^ To do nothing to hinder the pr„.,eoition of the que I by h Tory Government if it should continue in offic-c (of ZZ v,th„„t prcj„d,ce to n,y making all the efforts in mv nowT to P ooure a liberal majority). Entirely to avoid any laTlge wh eh would place the question in the category of party n.e tZ But to use my best efforts ,„ in.press the public mL, an.eZu a ly he L.beral mind with the supren.e importance, a, d t e probable urgency of the question. And lastly, to lay down the pn,,c,ple on wh.ch it should be dealt with. ThJe rules of act on apphcd to the circumstance, of the hour those governing pi «ples winch I have above enumerated. I preceded on them ^ It was impossible for me, while ignorant of the nature and l.m ts of the Insh demand, to give an opinion upon it; and even had ,t been poss.ble, it would have been in eonSict with th. cn„. dmon wh,ch I have numbered as the fifth. But, to give emi phas,s to the tmportance of the question, I severed it in my 500 T, :■' 7/'wA (^Ut'tifidn, Aihhean from the general .snltject of Local (Jovernment fWr thtj three kingtloins. Irehind had arrived, 1 slid, at an important epotfh in her history; she had ehu ins to a special interpretation of the principles of Local Govcruwent. It would he the K:>lnti()n of a prohlcin, testing the political genius of these nation,-. Wq he to the man who should prevent or retard the conHUinnuition. It would probahly throw into the shade all the important measures, which in my Address I had set out as ripe for action. And t!ie suhject is one " which goes down to the very roots and foundations of our whole civil and political constitution." And yet it has hc^u said, strangely enough, that I gave no indication to my friends, except of Local Governaient in the sense of County Government for It eland. Lastly, I laid down, over and over again, the principle on which we ought to proceed. It was to give to Ireland cerything which was compatible with "the Su{)remacy of the Crown, the Unity of the Empire, and all the authority of Parliament necessary for the conservation of that Unity." It appears to me that the whole of the provisions of the Irish Government Bill, lately buried, but perhaps not altogether dead, lies well within these lines, and that my case thus far is complete. What I have in these pages urged has been a defence against a charge of reticence. On the charge of precipitancy I need not bestow many words. What antagonists call precipitancy I call promptitude. Had Mr. Pitt in 1801 carried Roman Catholic Emancipation, as we suppose he wished, many an Englis-iman would have thought him precipitate. Precipitancy, indeed, \, i? avoide<l, but at what cost? For niue-and-twenty years the ques- tion was trifled with on one side I'le Channel, and 'eft festering on the other, and emancipation was at last accepted as an alternative to civil war. Such is not the manner in which I desire to see the business of the Empire carried on. It was not pondering the case ; it was paltering with the public interests. I do not deny that promptitude is disagreeable in politics, as it often is to a doctor's or a surgeon's ])atient. But if the practitioner sees that, by every day's delav, the malady takes hold and the chances of health or life are dwindling away, it is his duty to press the operation or the drug, and the The Irish Qncsfion. rjQ^ snffi.rer will in due ti.uc l,o grnldnl to hi... for the courage aiid hdehty whuh at Hrnt he .nistalvonly (•(.ndemiiwl. I have eiuh-avoml to point out t'he conditions under vvliicl. aU>ne the (jui^stion of a statutory I'arha.nent ior Jrehvnd coi;kl be war- lantal.ly entertai..e.l. The real test may he .stated i„ uuo word- the ri,,ene.ss or unripeness of the questi.,n. All men do not per- ceive, all men do mt appieeiate, ripeness, with the same deuree of rea< hness or aptitude; and the slow n.ust ever suffer ineor.venience m the race of life, lint, .vhen the s.dyeel .;. e was ripe, the time for actio.. ha<l come. Just .-.s if it had bee., a corn-fiehl, we we.-e not to wait till it was over-ripe. The healh.g of inveterate sons wouh. only become n.orcdillieult the growth of budding hop. .s more liable to be checked and „n.-al- •zed oy the fn,sts of politic-s. For England, in her soft ar.n ehab. a le.surely, ve.y leisu.-ely consideration, with adjourn .. its inter- posed as It had been ..st.al, so also would have been comfortable. liiit for Trelan,!. in her leaky cabin, it was of consequence to stop out the weather. To n^ss the oppo,t..nity vvo.ild have Ikcm not loss clearly wn,„g tj.nn to refuse waiting until it came. Tl,<. (irst Po .(.cal juncture wlucli made acti<.n permissible also made it •»bligatory. So much, then, for precipitancy. If I am not eg.-egiously wrong in all that has been said Iieh.nd lias now lying before her a broad a.id even way, in which to walk to the co.isummation of he ' i-c Jjefbre her eves is opened tliat same path of eonstitu*;,... d peaceful action, of stendy, free, and f.dl .hscussion, wIhc. ..as led England and Scotland • the aclMevemcnt of all their pacific triumphs. Like the walls ^^ Jei-icho. falling, not in blood an^^ conflagration, but at the trumpets pcal, so, under the action of purely moral forces, have a., hundred /ortres.ses of prejudice, privilege, a.id ..hallow pro.scription .succe«. sively given away. It is the potent .«pell of legality, which has done all this or enabled it to be done. The evil spirit of illegality and violenc-e has thus far had no part or lot in the ,K,litical action of Ireland s.nce,_ through M.e F.-anchise Act of 1885, she came into that ...hentance of adequate representation, from which she had before been barred. Ireland, in her present action, is not to be held responsd^le fo. those agrarian offences, which a.'e in truth e indi- ft,k.?r.a?ifS--:'( 502 The Irish Quedum. catiou and symptom of her disease, fron, whicl, l.er public opinion 1ms, througli the recent beneficial action, become greatly more estrar.ged; and to which she herself ardently entreats us to apply the only effectual remedy, by such a reconciliation betvyeen the people and the law, ab is the necessary condition of civilized life The moderation of the Irish demands, as tliey were presented and understood in the Session of 188G, has been brightly reflected in the calm, conflicting, and constitutional attitude of the nation J make no specific reference to the means ihat have been used in one deplorable case, under guilty recommendations from above with a view to disturbing this attitude, and arresting the progress of the movement; fur I believe that the employment of such means, and the issuing of such recommendations, will eventually aid the cause they were designed to injure. It is true that, in the ^ ose of the last century, the obstinate refusal of just demands, and the deliberate and dreadful acts of Ireland's enemies, drove her people widely into disaffection, and partially inio the ways of actual violence. But she was then down trodden and ga^tred. She has now a lull constitutional equipment of all the means necessary for raisino- and determining the issues of moral force. She has also the strongest sympatiiies within, as well as beyond, these shores to cheer, moderate, and guide her. Ihe position is for lier a novel one and in its novelty lies its only risk. But she is quick and ready of perception ; she has the rapid comprehensive glance ^vhuh the generals she has found for us have shown on many a fiehl of battle. The qualities siie has so emmently exhibited this year have already earned for her a rich reward in confiden-o and good will. There is no more to ask of her. She '..as only to persevere. ^ The statesmen who deemed coercive measures an absolute neces- sity do not now propose them, although agrarian crime ha. rather increased and Ireland has been perturbed (so they said) by the pro- posal of home rule. This is a heavy blow to coercimi and a marked sign of progress. I am concerned to say that on no other hea(: do the announcements supply ar, causes for congratula- tion : 1. Large Irish subjects, ripe for treatment, are to be referred to The Irish Qaesfion. ^r^^ commi,si„„, of inquiry. This i,, a policy (wl.ile social order i, i„ question) of almost indefinite delay. 2. Moreover, while a co„,mi.«i;, i3 ,o inquire whether the rate, of jud,e,al rents are or are not such as ,..n be paid, the aid of tie la., for evymg the present rents in November has been sp«.iahv and emphafeally pr„,„is.,i. This is a marked discouragemen .1 >.>m,ss,ons of rent and a powerful stimulus to evictions P'.v;ui''of 111 ''" '"" '■''' -''1 "'■ '"''"'^"'*=' "I"'" "- State the a,,„in of all moneys re,,n,red to meet the difference between these actual rents and what the land can fairly bear. This n |ee s,npru,c,ple radically bad, and it would be an act of rapi^-Tn the treasury of the country. ' 4. Whereas the greatest evil of Ireland is that its magisterial and adm,„,strat,ve systems are felt to be other than Irish, no pro posa IS n,ado for the reconstruction of what is kn^wn as the Dub- im Castle government. 5 It is proposed to spead large sums of public money on public works of a k.nds for the material development of IreLud Cd E .ghsh author,tyand Dublin Custle ad.niuistration. This .Z 1) m the highest degree wasteful ; (2) it is unjust to' the Br ns taxpayer; and (3) t is an obvious attempt L divert the i nation by pecuniary ,nd„eemeDt from its honorable aim of national self-government, and will as such be resented 6, The limitation of local .Government in L-eland to wli.t mavat th s moment be desired for (reat Britain is just to none of o,' ..ationalities, rests upon r, r.cog„i.,ed principle, and is e. .lial an unjus hniitatiou of the Irish national desire I„ .,.-^'i such a policy for dealing with the Irish question ought uo^ to and caiinoc be adopted. ^ There are at least four g^reat cases, whioli have been placed ou reco.-d M-,th.n my nie.nory, and in every one of which a Conserva- tive Government, after having resisted a great pr.^)osaI up to the nK,ment nnnied-ately prece<ling the surrender, then became its of.cml sponsor and carried it into law. They are the case, of the Test Act in 1828, of the Roman Catholic Relief in 1829. of Corn Ljnv Repeal in 1846 ,svhen, however, Sir Robert Peel had done nil m h.s power to throw the conduct of the question into Liberal liands), and of Extension of the Franchise in 1867. •V- 1 r- 504 The Irish Question. In the last of these cases, not only had the measure been re- sisted, but a Liberal Government had been overthrown in the pre- ceding year on account of a measure less extended, not indeed than the very meagre original proposal of 1867, but than the measure which, by the strength of Liberal votes, and with the sanction of the Derby-Disraeli Gover'uuent, was eventually carried. It seems extremely doubtful whether anv one of these measures would (nve been adopted through both Houses, except under the peculiar conditions which secured for them on each occasion, both the aid of the Liberal vote in the House of Commons, and the authority of the Tory Government in the House of Lords. One other case stands alone. The Tory chiefs of 1832, with the exception of Sir Robert Peel, fiercely resisting the Reform Bill of Lord Grey, and stopping its progress in their own familiar fortress, the House of Lords, declared thimselves nevertheless willing to take charge of the question. Bu: public indignation was' too strong to permit the progress of the experiment. ^lL.m^^ 9. «. i^i-i' vafeBrihrfldi^ki*! ^!: l*4» r^i f».fi . 'V • : -i >. I 'fttf w i li rfi i ak a i-^ ■ '-. ■^c' - ^ ■■^■'^ - "■'^^^-' iai^MiiAa* -'^i res he ith le he of to DO