THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES THE THREE STATESMEN. l'> 6JIJN.93 . EARL OF BEACOXSFI^^/^ICAL W. E. GLADSTONE, AND THE MARQUIS OF SALISBURY. BY C. E. PARKER-RHODES, LATE OF H.M. CONSULAR SERVICE. LONDON : Published at ISO, Fleet Street, E.G. 1885. DEDICATION. To THE EIGHT HONOURABLE SIR R. N. FOWLER, BART., M.P., LORD MAYOR OF THE CITY OF LONDON. MY LORD MAYOR, On the issue (at this moment of great political anxiety) from the Press of "The Three Statesmen," 1 can- not refrain from expressing how much I appreciate the very great honour your Lordship has bestowed on this modest work, in so generously accepting the dedication thereof. 1 venture to trust that as in past ages of histrionic literature to reflect the varied qualities and charac- teristics of England's rulers and statesmen, this humble effort by me to perpetuate the memories of English- statesmen of our own time may have some little advan- tage as examples to follow, or to eschew. The popularity of your Lordship has been fully recognised by having been unanimously chosen for the second time to fill the civic throne of this great city, and I will venture, my Lord Mayor, to ask your per- mission to state that the purport of " The Three Statesmen " is to place facts in their true light, by which the elector may free himself from fetters, bias, and doubts, and in the fulness of liberty record his vote at the Ballot Box as a freeman, which will be in perfect unison with your Lordship's principles of fair play to every class of your fallow citizens and countrymen. I have the honour to be, My Lord Mayor, Your Lordship's most obliged, obedient servant, C. E. PARKER-RHODES. October 20th, 1885. CONTENTS. PART I., 1878, W. E. Gladstone and colleagues. PART II., 1878, Earl of Beaconsfield. Marquis of Salisbury. PART III., 1878, Supporters, Electors, &c. PART IV., 1880, End of Beaconsfield. Marquis of Salisbury. PART V., 1880-1, W. E. Gladstone. PART VI., 1881, The Popular Voice. PART VII., 1885, W. E. Gladstone. PART VIII., 1885, Marquis of Salisbury. PART IX., 1842-86, Table of Income Tax. PART I. Period 1878. WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE. How long my ambition has sustained me in deferred hope, and fame has held me at arm's length. I have now reached within a few moons the allotted term of mortal life, after a protracted struggle for pre- eminence, and here 1 am alone to bear my defeat with all the grace and submission that my nature doth possess. 1 find it almost beyond my philosophy to accept with resignation the people's verdict, which has obliged me to surrender the national leadership. When these hands held the seals of office, what influence overcame me to jeopardise their possession is still a mystery darkened more and more as days swell into years and make me witness the victory of my rival, with whom no bond of sympathy exists. Enter FIRST COLLEAGUE. My leader, how fares it with you to-day ? GLADSTONE. My brain is hot with fiery thought, and my heart is sick with the flashing intelligence of the Empire's smiles and joys. FIRST COLLEAGUE. Yes ! Time confounds all in turn, and the higher man attains the greater is the fall to the level of his fellows. With you, we have been cast aside by the popular vote, although we profess to be proud of the privilege of representing the working classes. GLADSTONE. I must own that I have allowed the flowing tide to fame and honour to ebb, regardless of the treasures it brought within my grasp. 8 THE THREE STATESMEN. That tide will never return, and thus I am stranded on a deserted shore, to end my days in agonising thoughts of greatness once enjoyed, but now lost. FIRST COLLEAGUE. Great is our sympathy for you, and with it great are our regrets at having been sacrificed by the deter- mination which you so suddenly acted upon, to the amazement of the people and the unexpected gratifi- cation of the Opposition. GLADSTONE. When I penned the Dissolution of the Parliament, I pondered little over the possible result, relying on the 5,000,000 surplus, and the Liberal support for an increased majority. But in this period of change, no reliance is to be placed on the popular voice to-day the cry raises one to the pinnacle of power, to-morrow another is exalted in one's stead. Policy has no hold on the people's judgment, or their vote would have reinstated me in office, instead of which I have had to change places with my rival. The thought embitters my daily life, and I endeavour to find relief in public declamation against my rival's policy. Enter SECOND COLLEAGUE. What think you of the joyous crowd that surrounds the whole of Whitehall ? Your rival, William, has gained the triumph of the period, and will be the leading mind for the remainder of his worldy career. GLADSTONE. 1 have my doubts; but even these cannot console me, for in my political blindness I threw off the Liberal Leadership in hopes of an enthusiastic pressure from my supporters to riain it; but likewise in them I was deceived. Mv defeat thrusts the victory of power and the sweets of office on my opponent. Throughout this life 'Tis constant slrife To get what other men possess. THE THREE STATESMEN. 9 FIRST COLLEAGUE. And has it not been so in bygone ages ? The man who succeeds to office vacated by the stern decree of nature is the most wordy and professedly sorrowful for the departed. What a contradiction in the part so played ! Man cannot be otherwise than worldly; therefore all the expressions of sorrow for the void caused by the forced absence of a predecessor can be but empty words uttered to conceal the joy at being installed in higher office, with all its greater benefits. SECOND COLLEAGUE. It has thus been of all times. The selfishness of man is such that it has become infused into the heart of all society, and nobility of character exists only in the imagination of our admirers. The world's history reveals a few examples of noble sacrifices for the public weal. Rome, once the mistress of the world produced a Cincinnatus ! England in the zenith of her commercial greatness produced a Cobden ! The first returned to his plough as he had left it in obedience to the call of his suffering country ; and, like him, the latter rejected the proffered treasures of a people's labour. GLADSTONE. I must away. I cannot bear more the anguish of the reflection of my loss of power and influence over my fellows. I will retire to the solitude of home, and there, in the quite of nature, undisturbed by politics and tho din of city, devote my hours to exercises invigorating to these limbs, and soothing to the irritated mind within this trunk. I emerged from the vaults of classic lore, my Alma Mater, the disciple of time-rooted principles of ortho- doxy, and acclaimed from the rostrum their beneficence for all mankind ; but eventually " a change came o'er the spirit of my " ambition; and by my newly-acquired 10 THE THREE STATESMEN. antagonistic views, I was cast off, to drift into the stream of industry, and thenco on to the border of the Thames, like a ship without compass, calling to some distant pilot to shelter mo in any haven from the boisterous billows of electoral strife which overwhelm the defeated and discarded. FIRST COLLEAGUE. I and my Colleague are to conclude, I presume, William, that your present determination is not to be altered by any observation wo may make. GLADSTONE. No; I thank you both most heartily for all your efforts and advice in moments of pressure while in office; but the die is cast, and I must, although in declining years, learn to bear with fortitude and patience the blank I have incautiously drawn from the wheel of public opinion. Before retiring into private life I have to express how much I am indebted to those who, in my days of power, seconded mo by their mental and physical abilities, and to the public for their long indulgence to my many faults. Towards the Queen, my Sovereign, I shall continue to have the utmost feelings of devoted loyalty. One last word in respectful allusion to her Majesty. I have long felt that 1 had not any share in her Royal favour, and to this I shall always attribute the decline of popular feeling towards mo as a Leader of my party And now farewell, Colleagues, and in your probably next possession of office under another Leader, beware of those defects which have lost me the popular acclamation. I began life under the banner which I threw aside to adopt the extreme opposite principle, and thus has it ended after all my labours alone in my fall to glance back at the ever-receding past 1 Time has been inexorable with me, frustrating all my designs and my ambitious hopes. THE THREE STATESMAN. 11 GLADSTONE (alone). More gall for my wounded pride ! my rival has been decked with Royal and Civic honours, the fulness of citizen ambition on the road to which the applause of the Empire from east to west and north to south has greeted him. If I dare to proffer advice to an aspiring politician on the outset of that thorny career, it would be to follow in the stream of time, yeilding to the changes and cir- cumstances of the hour to bear in mind that, as day succeeds to day, so events and opinions alter with the morrow, and that while one man lives out the fulness of his term on the world's stage, playing many parts, jealous of successful rivalry, grasping ever and anon at the adversary's darts, unconscious that the moments so spent are without successors in the cause he pleads, how few of the tens of thousands that elevate the one above his fellows survive the seven ages, and thus it is that changes take us by surprise. I have become conscious that pride and ambition have blinded me, and that I have undone the work of ages, and severed the ties of ancestral toil in pandering to a phantom cry, which, like the glowworm's glare, has caused me to lose the highway of consistency and common weal. PART II. EARL OF BEACONSFIELD. Age holds back when the mind is not weighted with the social cares of life. I have long forded the seventh decade of years, and yet I feel as though the vigour of manhood's prime were still within me. When at the beginning of life I sat a dreamy boy, the distant future opened its portals, to my view, and filled me with the ambitious thought that I should one day be the leading star of the nation's destinies I I was in haste to enter the political arena ; but Fortune only favours the patient and the brave, and my courage had to be tried. 12 THE THREE STATESMEN. 1 \vas rejected by the popular rote, notwithstanding I asked to be their champion. In those days of political venality a candidate had to be prepared to sow golden grain even among thorns and thistles, and on barren soil, whether it Trere his ovrn, or from his friends' garners. I again advanced and was repulsed, and again, and again defeated, until on the sixth attempt a change of policy (that fifty years, with farms now lying waste, and every industry languishing, and famine prevailing, have justified to the letter), opened the gates of the Legis- lative Chamber for my admission therein, I was over- whelmed with ridicule and baffled by discordant voices ; but I then said, " I am not surprised, sir, at the reception I have received. I have begun several times many things, and I have often succeeded at last. Aye, Sir, and though I sit down now, the time will come when you will hear me." I felt the words as a prophecy to myself ; and nnder the responsibility I had thus voluntarily incurred, I faced with courage the great task, animated by hopeful success. In my start on the ocean of literature I had no mentor for a guide, or a beacon to prevent me drifting on to the shores of relentless criticism. My solitude was my bulwark which enabled me to bear with greater patience my literary failures and my first political insuccesses. Had I had a numerous circl of admirers to offer me in those agonising moments the sympathy of defeat, I hould have succumbed under the weight of disappoint- ment and wounded pride. As it was otherwise, I was alone with my determina- tion to make the House of Commons atone for its hasty judgment, and the patrons of literature to recall their unfair criticism. I feel that my success is entirely due to my own daring, and to one precept, " Learn to be patient ! " While my rival has been endeavouring to hasten forward time and events, I have stood by watching his stumbling steps ; and although he is my junior by THE THREE STATESMEN. 13 nearly half a decade of years, he lias fallen into oblivion through weakness of character, whilst I have crossed his shadow on the road to fame and honour, accom- panied by tho spontaneous shouts of the multitude along the highways and a popular ovation under the casement of :ny official abode. In this period of the Christian era, all would seem to be reversed. I, the champion of Radicalism at the outset, changed to the ardent Conservative, have received tho nation's greetings on my return from the European Congress with the settlement of tho Eastern struggles, and with Peace and Honour assured to the Empire. At the summons of the Queen, my Soverign, I went forth on my journey with a heart full of misgivings, wrought upon my mind by the continuous cry of my rival that I was sounding tho war note for international strife. The tranquility of the world proves how groundless wa* this unfriendly voice of warning. The presence of our fleet in the waters of the Dar- danelles has been justified. The grant of six millions has not been made by Par- liament in vain. Our Indian troops on European territory can no longer give rise to virulent argument. Cyprus is a fair acquisition. Can I be indifferent to the acclamations of my countrymen and women of every degree of nobility to the welcome of the greatest commercial city of the world to the applause of the Peers, tho pillars of the State, and of the Commons, the voice of the people, to the congratulations of generous opponents and, lastly, that that is the crowning of a British statesman's ambition, the recognition of my Sovereign's approba- tion by my admission into the brotherhood of Gartered Knights ? I have shared with my fellows the ambition of life 1 Slowly I have advanced ; but at each step onward I have stood firm, patient, until I could take the next in afoty ; and yet I cannot conceal that it has been with 14 THE THREE STATESMEN. omo anxiety and sleepless hours I have looked forward to the altitude I have now attained. I cannot hope to brave another decade, for nature has her limit, and to her decree all must yield the mighty, the honoured, as well as the weak and the humble. But as each from each can derive a lesson in life, I shall he content to imprint on the minds of those that are following in my path, and that will come after, these words that have sustained me in the dreary moments of daily exertions. " Learn to be patient 1 " Enter MARQUIS OF SALISBURY. Well, Beaconsfield, the wheel of fortune turns in your favour still ! There seems to be a charm in your life to shelter you from failure. I have been fortunate in my choice of the path you have opened to me, and to your brilliant victories of peace, I owe my sovereign's special favours. BEACONSFIELD. In life, Salisbury, there is one great principle to be kept in sight, and which is common to all. The beacon on the friendly shore will lead the mariner of every craft in calm and stormy weather into safe anchorage ; biit should there be one amongst the crew unwilling to obey the chief's command, and disregard the beacon's light in the hour of raging elements, the safety of the craft is imperilled, it may be driven into the breakers, where cherished lives, valuable cargo, and craft may be sacrificed. As on tbo waters of the ocean, so on the ocean of life. Jn the councils of nations, as in the councils of men, no revelation should escape from the lips of any one of its sworn members. To betray that confidence is to ignore the great principal of life Trust. Men may differ, and no moral chains should make men slavish to their fellows ; and in the council cham- ber free expression of unbiassed opinion can be con- THE THREE STATESMEN. 15 sistent in the presence of the adverse decision of the majority. Trust is betrayed only by a mind palsied by disease. PART III. SUPPORTERS. Three lusty cheers for the hero of what is greater than a hundred battles won Peace with honour I Wo know no policy ; all we wish is success to our Leader that patience and consistency have ennobled. In the national debates strong feelings have made both sides utter strong words ; but to those who pre- serve the peace of nations in the midst of jealousies, victories lost and won and the reasonings of a thousond minds who claim to be the nation's mouthpiece, is worthy of our applause and to be elevated to the highest rank that our good Queen-Empress can bestow on her trusted Citizen-Minister. ELECTORS. Happy news to hand this early morn 1 Peace reigns supreme around the globe. Nations are moving onward in the paths of rival industries. Our Reserves will return to their peaceful toil and home affections. Our Eastern troops will carry back to the hilli of Hindustan the hearty goodwill of their Queen- Empress and of their foster-brothers in arms. Our Navy will watch over the work of progress and tke treasures and revived commerce of our Empire. As citizens wo will take our share in the pursuits of peace, and do our part in the realization of future progress. On the eve of the nation's choice of our statesmen it behoves us to bear in mind on whom should fall that choice. Party feeling should be extinguished to select those who have, under great trials and difficulties, steered 16 THE THREE STATESMEN. clear of the rortex that threatened to draw us into the abyss of carnage, with loss of incalculable treasures derived from labours of peace and friendship. Let us not forget that our brave defenders have not had to shed their blood on stranger-land ; that our homes have not been saddened by the onslaught of their toilers ; that no parent has been left childless, or wife made a widow. For our security at home and our honour abroad we are asked to contribute towards the liability incurred, let us with one voice joyfully proclaim our readiness to give of the sweat of our brow. Taxation is to be avoided as much as possible ; but shall we deny to the ennobled Citizen-Minister of restored peace with honour and confidence amongst the family of nations, the supplies required by the prompt action that enabled our country to be recog- nised in her ever-exalted position, gained by " the flag that's braved a thousand years the battle and the breeze " and her commercial greatness ? A nation is great only by its people ; and " Breathes there the man with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land ? " Fellow-workmen, electors of a free nation whosQ banners waft over the awakening spirit of once- enslaved peoples in tyrants' chains, shall we refuse the small additions to our citizen obligations, and thus withhold the generous hand of free gift when the heart of every loyal subject of our Queen-Empress has throbbed in joyous feelings at the peaceful victory of liberty for our Eastern brothers and sisters, differing only in the dark tint of their blood creatures, like ourselves, of the same Creator ? Let our united votes proclaim our joy and goodwill for our noble conqueror with unsheathed sword, and the freed. A VOICE. When we are to prepare our vote for the Ballot-box, let us bear in mind that a Liberal statesmen, in his THE THREE STATESMEN. 17 virulent attempt to decry the policy of peace, has endeavoured to cast discredit on the -well-earned title of his opponent, and to disparage a most important branch of our industries in the words " The Queen has the power to confer honours, and could make an Earl of every cobbler in London if she pleased." This is the utterance of a people's representative to the nation and the universe. The unanimous vote of all classes on the day of election will keep from the House of Commons these creatures of treachery and deceit. The Liberals profess much, but accomplish nothing ; and at the same time boast of 5,000,000 surplus, which is only an immense sum exacted from our earnings unnecessarily in the shape of taxes. Three cheers for Beaconsfield and Salisbury ! PRESS REPRESENTATIVES. Our duty is to record events and facts truthfully. In expressing an opinion on the policy of the Cabinet, it should be without party bias or pre- judgment. A majority of to-day may become a minority of the morrow. Magna Charta secured the liberty of the people, and the popular element in che Parliaments of successive reigns gained the ascendancy. The task of the journalist is not without its respon- sibilities. He prepares the minds of his readers for due consideration of all questions affecting their well- being. He opens to them in a condensed form for imme- diate reference the pages of the past and conscientiously gives the probablities of the future. In reality, he is no partisan representative, his principles being Justice and Truth. His duty is to uphold the great virtues of life, and to expose to public execration the wrongs and evils of the lawless. 18 THE THREE STATESMEN. To-day he may praise, to-morrow lie may censure. In his judgment he may err, because " to err is human." He is supposed to reflect public opinion, but in reality he proffers opinion to that portion of the public that read him. His success depends on the majority in favour of his views. Failing that majority he rapidly wanes into oblivion. The public is a keen judge of his worth, or worth- lessness. He may barter his commercial and trade columns ; but his historical, political, social, judicial, and every other public record must be pure and undefiled by taint of golden influence. Like the rest of the community he is dependent on the current coin of the realm for his success, which failing as the profit of his investment and the fruit of his labour, his nocturnal contributions to the daily business of life must cease to appear. He has his friends and foes; those whom he must favour and will not favour, for, notwithstanding that he is an invisible being, he is still a living creature with consequent human feelings and frailties in his screened intercourse with the world around him. Ho is the historian of the day, the politician of his readers, the social censor, the public critic, the expositor of science, art, manufactures, the grammarian, the lexicographer, the geographer, the conveyancer of the world's intelligence, the mirror of hourly events, and the biographer without fee or reward. Faultless he cannot be, served as he is by a legion of agencies. His one unalterable duty is to watch over the interests of the Empire, the welfare of the people, the protection of the State and of our gracious Queen- Empress and Heirs to the throne. His pen is over ready to proclaim the exceptional talent, ability, superior thought, and depth of know- ledge of tfce individual fellow-citizen, whether in the THE THKEE STATESMEN. 19 exalted spheres of special work, or in the humble vocations of manual labour; but in considering for the public weal, measures are paramount to all personal claims. A statesman's success consists in preserving peace with honour, without which industry, trade, and com- merce rapidly diminish to the loss of the whole nation. Knowledge does not always ensure wisdom, for by the most learned and studious, patience, forbearance and prudence are disregarded. The ex-statesman should be cautious in his criticism of a successor's policy and not overlook that the change is wrought by the majority, the result of a people's yote. When in office did he seek his rival's advice, or express willingness to become his rival's agent by adopting his views ? Such weakness for the sole purpose of retaining power would ill become the dignity of the office, and would be hastily resented by the people's censure. Honour and self-respect should make him obedient to the approval of his rival's labours, to oppose which is to disparage the source of his former success and majority, or to place himself above the people's will; and this would be treason to the first principles of liberty and honest policy. Liberty and liberal professions may be overstretched to merit the epithet of cowardice, treachery, slavery. To speak of intentional measures after having been removed from office detracts from nobility of character; for what reason has the ex-statesman, while time has rapidly passed away, left the consummation of a national measure of repeal to the expiring hours of his power and greatness. As the historian of the day, the journalist may appro- priately remind his readers that the Income Tax (the most objectionable of all imposts) has been in existence thirty-six years eleven Budget years maintained by six Conservative Cabinets, and twenty-fire Budget years by six Liberal Cabinets. 20 THE THREE STATESMEN. Thus, in the space of thirty-six years, the imposition having been first made in 1842 by a Conservative Cabinet the Liberals have had fourteen Budget years longer term of office to repeal this tax, but have imposed at the rate of 7 $d. per each year in the , ai against 4 -J-^d. by the Conservative Cabinets.* How, then, can an ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer be so shortsighted as to wield as a weapon against hie rival a surplus of 5,000,000 in hand when he dis- persed his colleagues and the people's representatives to insure a renewed Parliament with an increased majority. 5,000,000 surplus by economy ! Impossible I Any surplus can only be realised by an exaggerated Budget ! Five millions withdrawn from the commerce, trade, and industry unnecessarily, even fruitlessly ! No surplus should be countenanced by a people when its representatives are empowered to vote sup- plies for all national requirements, as in the event of extraordinary measures, an extra Budget would have the unanimous sanction of the people's repre- sentatives. Five millions surplus following so closely upon a proposed Match Tax would make it appear that the Cabinet had been groping in the dark for enlighten- ment, which was forced upon its members in the form of popular censure. The proposal for such an ob- noxious impost w r as thereupon quietly shelved. The chickens were already counted before the eggs were laid. As the stamps were ready by the million for issue before the Match Tax Bill was presented to Parlia- ment, it may be supposed that foresight, farsight, or keensight had prepared a legion of informers and process of prosecution for non-use of the stamps. * This comparison is as correct as it possibly can be owing to the two rates of Income Tax for nine years by the Liberals, between. 1853 and 1863. See also complete table of Income Tax from 1842 to 1885-6. THE THREE STATESMEN. 21 To tho credit of the match-makers, by their peace- able but resolute procession to the Hall of West- minster, England was not assimilated in respect of that industry to our near neighbour and ally. The honourable journalist cannot restrict his views to a. narrow groove never to be overstepped ; he is no more born to one idea than his fellow?. On the contrary, he grasps that that time matures and brings within his reach. Why did Gladstone, who began his career under the Conservative banner, cast it aside to adopt the banner of liberalism ? While political history will record this fact to (he end of time, one of his recent followers and partici- pators in state panoply and all its advantages, described one of the principal organs of an unfettered Press which differed from him in consideration of the critical condition the Eastern Question has drawn all nations into, whose interests extend to those disturbed regions as " suffering from delirium tremens." This disparaging style could not have been conceived in a pure mind represented to be working for the common good of the nation ; and no doubt its aspira- tions wore, from the outset, directed thereto until it \vas freed from its healthy restraint a Memory revered now only in wordi, but whose examples and precepts were soon discarded for the glare of pomp and the golden harvest of partizanship, taking thus of the nature of the moth, outwardly beautiful, but working destruction under concealment. The same privilege exercised by statesmen must not be refused to the journalist. In the most fertile soil weeds grow apace, and so it is in the cultivation of journalism ; there have been rank opponents to social order and good, and news- papers of straw are many ; but tho sound grain will always be carefully separated from the chaff ; and as even amongst the best fruit many will fall away from premature decay, and known as windfalls, eaten to the core by corruption, caused by the contamination of a polluted atmosphere to which may be compared the human mind degraded by base and sordid motires. 22 THE THREE STATESMEN. PART IV. Period 1880. BEACONSFIELD. Having carried this Parliament through the almost Septennial period, I am inclined to ask Her Majesty to dissolve it at an early moment. There are various complications, both Home and Foreign to be settled, and after the many Cabinet changes, prudence guides me to gather round the Council table an admixture of new talent. 1 cannot expect a much longer term of life, however careful I may be. The mission of man is not always in harmony with Nature's laws, and hence it is that science has to wrestle against unknown principles apparently hidden, but in truth because we cannot reach the ultimate of knowledge. SALISBURY. My noble friend, Benjamin, our day's greeting is pre- ceded by unfavourable intelligence. A very large majority of Liberals is announced. BEACONSFIELD. I withhold all comments on the electoral campaign by my opponent in Midlothian, leaving him to his pro- mises and the new Parliament. I will now prepare my resignation for Her Majesty, and consistent with events, I shall advise that Lord Hartington be asked to form the new ministry as the adopted leader of the Liberal party in succession to Mr. Gladstone, who relinquished the leadership on our taking office, the first proposal being due to him. CHIEF WHIP. My noble leader, Hartington has declined, Granville likewise, and William Ewart Gladstone has consented to form a ministry, and actually had in his hands (when sent for by the Queen), the list of his cabinet, which will comprise several of the advanced Liberal views, Chamberlain, Dilke, and Fawcett, with Bright. One of the most striking of the ministerial combina- tion, according to club gossip, is that Derby may be offered a seat in the cabinet. THE THREE STATESMEN. 23 BEACONSFIELD. It is finished. This resignation determines my politi- cal career. On taking a retrospective glance, I cannot but fear that the uncertainties of life surround each creature, foiling efforts and hopes to almost a condition of despair. My predecessor, who is now again my successor, is realizing the prediction of those who have controlled tho destinies of the British Crown. Gladstone will startle the world by his incoherent policy, the meaning and intention of which none will understand. His sole aim will be to baffle his supporters, as also his oppon- ents (our successors in the lead of party). It cannot be concealed that his impetuosity and petulency that ill become a British Statesman, will create dangers and strife to be deplored inasmuch as the national prosperity will decline, industries and trade will be depressed, at the same time that the expenditure will increase in a serious disproportion to justifiable causes. I feel that the country will judge fairly between Gladstone and myself. The day is not far off when I shall fall into that sleep through which all pass to eternity, and to that time I leave the consideration of my political life by the people, impressed with the con- viction that whether it be praise, or censure awarded to my memory, either will be merited by the honesty of my purpose for the glory of my country, the contentment of the people, and the additional happiness of my Sovereign. I have overstepped the limits of nature's bounty assigned to man, by many annual circuits of tho stage on which I have played many parts not allotted and studied to acquire, but by accident drawn into each forum, making therein myself familiar with tho various parts and scenes. Ere I depart from this transitory stage for the immortal crown in exchange for the worldly coronet bestowed by royal favour, I would, without regret, re- linquish my life-long aims for tho people's good if I could assure myself that Gladstone will give no cause 24 THE THREE STATESMEN. for the people to vindicate their just rights in oppotition to his misguided powers. Time, the great arbiter, will decide for the common cause, the welfare of the million, without commotion, violence and disruption of England's great bulwarks fair play and freedom for all the majority to prevail, and the minority to be patient. PART V. GLADSTONE. Again, back in that seat which I looked upon in 1874, as beyond my reach for the remainder of my life. Yet, when I reflect, the uncertainty of the popular voice is manifested now as it was six years gone by. From Greenwich I have drifted North, finding a resting place for my political professions. Midlothian I represent with pride. My ennobled predecessor retires, with his laurels, to repose from the fatigues of Cabinet work. Events are ever reminding me that I relinquished the leadership of my party on my predecessor's victory, and I have now stepped over all the outcome of my then angry feelings and again I am in the possession of the ruling power for weal, or for woe. After all, public life may have its responsibilities, and yet it is but a toy changing hands in a moment. I will please the populace at small cost to myself, and offer an increase of Franchise, which I will represent as being two millions of new electors. This measure will certainly secure me a life-long hold of the many offices I now enjoy as England's Prime Minister. Another promise I made on resigning the Seals of Office in 1874 that with the five millions surplus I then had I would totally repeal the Income Ta. This crowds itself into my memory most out of season. I am, however, released from such rash promises by the people's refusal to return me with a formidable majority at that period. THE THREE STATESMEN. 25 The party shall be now strengthened by a selection from the Radical ranks. I must not delay offering to the Emperor of Austria a letter of explanation in respect of my rash statements during my Midlothian campaign. It will bring me a Royal acknowledgment which I shall prize. Although the trade of the country is suffering seriously from continued depression, I will raise the Income Tax. Looking back to 1842, the Liberal Cabinets have always imposed a larger Income Tax on trade and industry than our opponents when in office, and withal our side has had 23 years of innings against 14 years of Conservative policy. I can use words and language to mislead my friends and the audiences at public meetings, but I cannot alter the stern facts of figures. They tell against my glorious orations. I am not under any obligation to admit the vehement cry of the people for a revival of industries and daily work with less taxation. Period 1881. It might almost be said that events are endeavouring to outrun time, so rapidly do they follow each other. Although some days have elapsed since the rising of Parliament for the Easter recess, I have had little opportunity for relaxation from the wear and strain of public business. Egypt makes me anxious indeed. Ireland gives many signs of discontent, supported by the resident Irish in America. Basutoland and the other territories of Central Africa are not appeased for per- manent peace, notwithstanding the terms agreed upon. The medical bulletin of Beaconsfield is not reassuring. If he should pass away I shall be then the only politi- cian left, as having had a seat in the Peel Ministry, and from which I severed myself at the outset of my poli- tical career, when inexperience and consequent rashness of early life will override the sober judgment of long training of our advisers, to reflect his first efforts for Parliament. Another event has occurred the death of the Earl of Beaconsfield, my bitter opponent, with whom I could 26 THE THREE STATESMEN. not bring myself to have the least sympathy. Alas ! Eternity has closed the portals of this world between his mortality and myself, and there but remains to do honour to the dead. My career is near its close, and in the uncertainty of the future I can but hope that our respective labours will secure for each of us the reward of heavenly bliss for which all are earnestly engaged in this life's struggle. I must prepare a motion in Parliament for a public monument to my antagonist. In moving it I need not be very descriptive of his public life, and I shall thereby prevent the opposition doing it with much greater ceremony. I am not required to eat my words of the past, spoken in the heat of debate, when generosity of feeling must give way to the effort for rivalry ; truth yields to misrepresentation ; facts expand, or shrink, as it may suit my purpose. Eulogy of Beaconsfield's princi- ples would, coming from me, be out of place and create contemptuous derision, and further, I have gained nothing by his demise. PART VI. THE POPULAR VOICE. A great mind is now extinguished. Our Queen does honour to departed talent. The long procession of mourners shed the nation's tears in sincere grief for Britain's ablest statesman. April 19th will be hence- forward known as Primrose day. Beaconsfield has died, not rich, but his name will be known to the end of time as the greatest of British statesmen of the nine- teenth century. Who can blame us for being grateful to him who knew how to lessen taxation ? Reduced taxation is in reality improved trade, because it leaves more of the daily earnings for the family circle. PART VII. Period 1885. GLADSTONE. I have now approached within two sessions of the THE THREE STATESMEN. 27 duration of Parliament, and when I consider the many defeats I have experienced since 1880 ; the sound of discontent of the people ; the decline of our national in- dustries ; the result of the Soudan and other expeditions ; the disdain with which my foreign policy is treated by the potentates of the world ; the lost influence of the British Crown and flag ; the inability to provide an income for an expenditure in 1885 6, of one hundred millions, a bound from 87 millions 205 thousand in 1884 5 ; the Budget delayed to June, and for other serious misgivings that take hold of my mind, I must withdraw at the risk of having to continue in office under Royal pressure. To-morrow I will send my resignation to Her Ma- jesty, and wait patiently the issue. I have already placed the country in an anomolous position, as under the new Franchise Act, Parliament cannot be dissolved, a general election being impossible before January 1 st. 1886, and the Budget is not yet voted, so that with no parliament and no revenue to meet daily expendi- ture, the national business will be stopped. PART VIII. SALISBURY. The unexpected has overtaken me. It is not consis- tent to expect me]to take office without a majority, but in obedience to Her Majesty's wishes I must make the best of the position, and at once enter upon the task. The selection for the Cabinet will be the cause of considerable delay. A new political party has grown out of the older, and this new born progeny requires careful nursing. LORD RANDOLPH CHURCHILL. My noble Marquis, at your request I come to place my services in your hands, and as I may claim to have brought about this sudden resignation, although my numbers were only 15, our influence in the House is not to be disregarded. Without me no Government is now possible, and I 28 THE THEEE STATESMEN. can only consent to enter the cabinet on forcible condi- tions. Do you agree with me, Marquis ? SALISBURY. Stipulate ! CHURCHILL. Beach must be Chancellor of the Exchequer ; Bartlett must be found a place ; your nephew Balfour must have the L.G.B., and I, having just returned from India, am prepared to undertake the duties of Secretary of State for that portion of the British Empire. The rest of my conditions will depend on events. SALISBURY. Yes, but what am 1 to do with Stafford Northcote ? CHURCHILL. Take him to the Upper House. He has well earned the repose of a peerage ; a tantot! SALISBURY (alone.) Well, well ! I must yield, or with such an opponent as Churchill is, together with a minority in both Houses, I could not hold power twenty-four hours. I must first pass the budget as proposed by the Liberals, with the exception of spirit and beer duties not to be increased. Tea and sugar must also remain as they are. The Medical "Relief Bill will have to pass either as a Government measure, or as a private bill. A Royal Commission on the depression of trade will, perhaps, bring to the front some genius to offer a remedy for the revival of our industries suffering from foreign competition, solely attributable to our one-sided system of partial Free Trade, whilst the burden of Taxation on the people (underpaid in every section) is increasing in a most frightful disproportion to trade results with the barest profit. PART IX. INCOME TAX. S IMPOSED BY THE RESPECTIVE CABINETS FROM 1842 TO 1885-6. CONSERVATIVE CABINETS. IEL. 1842-6 7 DERBY. Feb. 1852. DERBY. Feb. 1858-9. 8-9 5 DERBY. July, 1S66-S. fi-7 4 7-8 5 DISRAELI Feb. 1868. DISRAELI, BEACONS- FIELD. Feb. 1874-80 4-5 2 SALISBURY. June, 1885. 5-6 8 ; 7 5-6 2 . . 7 6-7.. .. 3 7 7-8 3 8-9 5 9.80 :. 8d. BURN. DISRAELI. 5d. DISRAELI. <>d. DISRAELI. HUNT. 20d. NORTH- COTE. 8d. * HICKS- BEACH. Under 150 exempt. 100 to 200 : abatement, 60. 100 to 300: do. 80. 150 to 400 : do. 120. Total 14 Budget Years, 62d.=4 jd. in the . LIBERAL CABINETS, JBELL. 1846-52 7 7 7 7 7 7 ABERDEEN. Dec. 1852-5 2-3 7 3-4... 5 & 7 4-5 10&14 PALMERSTON. Feb. 1855-8 5-6 llj & 16 6-7 ll| & 16 7-8 5 & 7 PALMERSTON. Tune. 1859-65 9.60 6J & 9 60-1 7 & 10 1-2 6 & 9 2-3 6 & 9 3.4 7 RUSSELL. Nv. 1865-6 5-6 4 GLADSTONE Dec. 1868-74 8-9 6 GLADSTONE Ap. 1880-5. 80-1 6 1-2 5 2-3 8 3-4 5 4-5 6 5-6 8 9-70 5 70-1 4 1-2 6 2-3 4 3-4 3 4-5 6 n. 15d and 28d GLAD- STONE. 2d. and 39d. GLADSTONE and LEWIS. 25d.and50d. GLADSTONE. id. GLAD- STONE. 28d. LOWE and GLADSTONE 38d. GLADSTONE and CHILDERS. Under 150 exempt. Lower Rate. abatement 60. do. 80. do. 120. d. in the . 100 to 150 100 to 200 : 100 to 300: 150 to 400 : Total 30 Budget Years, 229d.=7i ;It would not be fair to place the year 1 885-6 to the Conservative Government, Budget having been prepared by the Liberals. to. The financial year ends April 5th. 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