UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 T.A.B. 
 
 A MEMOIR OF THOMAS ALLNUTT 
 2ND EARL BRASSEY
 
 T.A.B., 1919. 
 
 [Lafayette
 
 T.A.B. 
 
 A Memoir of Thomas Allnutt 
 Second Earl Brassey 
 
 BY 
 
 FRANK /PARTRIDGE 
 
 PREBENDARY OF SIDLESHAM 
 
 Arduis semper, metu nunquam 
 
 WITH PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 LONDON 
 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 
 
 1921
 
 Alt rights reserved
 
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 TO THE UNCORRUPTIBLE 
 INCORRUPTIBLE 
 
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 FOREWORD 
 
 BY VISCOUNT MILNER, K.G. 
 
 THE following pages contain a record of the multifarious 
 activities of Thomas Allnutt, second Earl Brassey. In these 
 few lines I shall merely try to give some impression of his 
 remarkable personality, as it lives in the memory of a very old 
 friend 
 
 He was in the broadest and truest sense of the word a 
 patriot. Public service was the very breath of life to him. 
 I never knew any man in whom the corporate sense was so 
 strong. He was always desperately keen about something or 
 other but something impersonal. He was a tremendous 
 worker no man ever taxed his physical and mental resources 
 more mercilessly but not for himself. It was always some 
 Body, small or great, of which he was a member his school, 
 his college, his club, his county, his territorial regiment, his 
 country, the Empire for which he was slaving. Many of his 
 friends will remember the extraordinary energy which he threw 
 into the task of raising a special fund for Balliol a poor 
 college despite all its intellectual eminence and another for 
 the University of Oxford. A munificent donor himself to 
 both these objects, he was unsparing in his efforts to get 
 other men of wealth to do their share, and the result in 
 either case was a remarkable tribute to his compelling power. 
 Even in the conduct of his private business for he was a 
 genuine " captain of industry " it was the social side which 
 chiefly interested him. He loved to feel that he was building 
 up a business which would give a large amount of employ- 
 ment and raise the standard of living throughout a whole 
 district. For he had the right conception of the role of the 
 employer. The head of a great industrial enterprise was
 
 viii FOREWORD 
 
 the commander of an army. He was bound to maintain 
 discipline and was entitled to a reasonable reward. But he 
 was not morally justified in absorbing all the material benefits 
 of success. The prosperity of the enterprise should redound 
 to the advantage of all ranks of those engaged in it. 
 
 Next to his marvellous public spirit, I think what I admired 
 most in him was his will-power. Whatever he put his hand 
 to, he did it with all his might, and if he achieved excellence, 
 as he frequently did, it was by sheer determination rather than 
 by any exceptional natural gifts. Though anything but a 
 strong man physically, he gained by doggedness and pluck an 
 honourable place as an athlete and a sportsman. Solid rather 
 than brilliant in mental endowment, he worked so hard and so 
 methodically, that he became a real authority on many public 
 questions. What lent weight to his opinions was the fact that 
 they were always based on a thorough study of the subject, 
 and that they were never second-hand. He simply could not 
 accept any political dogma without thinking it out for himself. 
 Indeed he carried independence of mind almost to excessive 
 lengths certainly too far for his success as a politician. En- 
 lightened and progressive in his social views, an Imperialist of 
 the best type, i.e. a. fervent believer in the British Common- 
 wealth of free nations, he was hopeless as a party man. And 
 perhaps it was fortunate for him that he never succeeded in 
 winning an election. No man would have been less happy as 
 a Member of Parliament or as a Minister. The compromises, 
 the makeshifts, the opportunism, the slop-work, the pretence 
 all the shady side of politics and administration would have 
 been pain and grief to one of his strong convictions, relentless 
 logic and blunt directness of speech. As it was he worried 
 himself excessively over our national habit of " muddling 
 through ; " indeed I think he took rather too gloomy a view 
 of it, especially in later years. Had he perforce found himself 
 among the muddlers-in-chief his life would have been one of 
 constant discomfort and self-reproach. 
 
 It must be admitted that even to his best friends he was 
 something of a gad-fly. Unsparing of himself, he made great 
 demands upon others, and was slow to admit excuses, even if 
 they were sound ones, for refusal to join him in any of his 
 crusades. And indeed it was hard to refuse anything to one 
 who was visibly wearing himself out in the service of his
 
 FOREWORD ix 
 
 fellow-men. That service was given constantly, unobtrusively, 
 instinctively, without any consciousness on his part that there 
 was something unusual in such devotion, or the faintest 
 assumption of superior virtue. And he got little thanks for 
 it not that he ever wanted any. He was never a popular 
 figure, nor did he seek popularity. Except by a comparatively 
 small circle his sterling worth and work were never fully 
 appreciated. But to those who knew him well his perfect 
 sincerity and straightforwardness, his independence of mind, 
 his force of character, his selflessness and public spirit will 
 always remain an inspiring memory.
 
 AUTHOR'S NOTE 
 
 IN the midst of a busy life such as Lord Brassey himself 
 loved, in hours snatched from intervals of leisure all too short, 
 these reminiscences have been compiled from a great store of 
 material. 
 
 I have to express my gratitude to members of the family 
 for their generous assistance in providing information ; to 
 Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Austen Chamberlain, Lord Salisbury, 
 and others, for the use of letters ; and in particular to Lord 
 Selborne for his kindness in reading through the manuscript 
 and making valuable suggestions. I am grateful also to Mr. 
 James Potter, for many years the private secretary of the 
 ist Lord Brassey, who has given me much help in the reading 
 of proofs. 
 
 My task has been accomplished in the hope that a magni- 
 ficent example of unalloyed patriotism may be an inspiration 
 to young men to emulate its disinterestedness of public 
 service, and that the recollection of what T.A.B. was and did 
 may prove an encouragement to his friends in dark places 
 and in difficult days.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX 
 
 1863. Birth at Beauport, Battle. 
 
 1864. Yachting Cruise in the Mediterranean. 
 1874. Bournemouth : Ascham House. 
 
 1875- 
 
 1876. Cruise to South America. Eton. 
 
 1881. France: with M. Casaubon. 
 
 1883. Oxford. Master's Certificate of Board of Trade. 
 
 1884. Oxford. Humane Society's Medal. 
 
 1885. Oxford. 
 
 1886. Oxford. Rockies. 
 
 1887. Rockies. 
 
 1888. India; Borneo; Australia; South Africa. 
 
 1889. 28th February, Marriage. May and June, Typhoid. September, Rockies. 
 
 1890. Private Secretary to Earl Spencer. Editor of " Naval Annual." 
 
 1891. West Indies. 
 
 1892. Epsom Election. 
 
 iSoA [ India. Royal Opium Commission . 
 
 1895. First Christ Church Election. 
 
 1896. Australia via America and Canada. 
 
 ! | 9 f~\ Master East Sussex Hounds. 
 1898.) 
 
 1899. South African War. 
 
 1900. Pretoria. Second Christ Church Election. 
 
 1902. Devonport Election. 
 
 1903. August : Canada via New York. 
 
 1905. Rye Election. 
 
 1906. February : Egypt Khartoum ; Libya ; Italy. 
 
 1907. Mayor of Bexhill. 
 
 1909. South Africa and Rhodesia. 
 
 1910. South Africa. Archbishops' Committee on Church Finance. 
 
 1914. Silver Wedding. Raised 2/ist West Kent Yeomanry. 
 
 1915. April and May: Sardinia. June: Hounslow Barracks ; Maresfield ; 
 
 Slurry. October : West Kent Yeomanry. 
 
 1916. Sardinia. 
 
 1918. Death of ist Earl Brassey. 
 
 1919, Sardinia ; Italy. November I2th : Death.
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 FOREWORD. BY VISCOUNT MILNER, K.G. vii 
 
 AUTHOR'S NOTE' xi 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Public Service. The Brassey Family. Mr. Thomas Brassey. Life and 
 Character, 1st Lord Brassey. The Sunbeam. A Father's Advice. 
 Letters. School at Bournemouth. A Sussex Home . . I 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Return from Rio. Eton. Diary. Headmaster's Reports. Rowing. Pop. 
 Paris. Life at Oxford. Diary. Varsity Sports. Humane Society's 
 Medal 20 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Early Post-Oxford Activities. Big Game Shooting. Michigan. Voyage 
 to India, Borneo, Australia. Admiralty: " Naval Annual." Naval 
 Volunteer Home Defence Association. Seamanship ... 44 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Political Beliefs. Imperialism. Irish Question. Devolution. " Problems 
 of Empire." The Epsom Constituency. Political Attitude. Scotland. 
 Deer Stalking. "Wild Ben." Opium Commission. Royal Colonial 
 Institute 68 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Christchurch Constituency. Political Methods. Result of the Contest. 
 Oxford House. The Manchester Unity. Visit to South Africa. Mr. 
 Hofmeyr. South African War. Civil Commissioner of Pretoria. 
 Second Christchurch Election 89 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Utopia. Sardinia. Gennamari. Pertusola. The Sardinia New Model. 
 Philanthropic Developments. Profit-sharing. Business Instincts. 
 South Wales Coal Fields. Banking. Mining Congress . . . ill 
 
 xiii B
 
 xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Balliol. Balliol Endowment Fund. The Balliol War Memorial. Univer- 
 sity Endowment Fund. The Bodleian. The Engineering School. 
 Capital and Labour. Devonport Election. Federal Union Committee 132 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Church Finance. The National Assembly. Parochial Finance. The 
 Archbishops' Committee. The Diocesan Board of Finance. Assess- 
 ment of Parishes. The Central Board of Finance. The Central 
 Church Fund. The Great Appeal. Letters . . .... .- . 147 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Political Principles. Break with Radicalism. Tariff Reform. Federalism. 
 The Rye Candidature. Political Honesty. The Irish Reform Asso- 
 ciation. Visit to Libya. Bexhill. Hastings. Hunting . . .166 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 Yeomanry. The 'Last Command. Relationship with Officers and Men. 
 The Cherbourg-Taranto Route. Italian Diary. War Letters. Go- 
 vernment Conduct of the War. Bureaucracy . . . .181 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 Federalism. Devolution. Letters : Lord Lansdowne, Lord Selborne, 
 Lord Salisbury, Mr. Murray Macdonald, Lord Milner, The Master of 
 Balliol, Sir H. Plunkett, Sir Edward Carson, Mr. C. B. Stanton, Sir 
 T. Whittaker 212 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 The House of Lords. Developing Influence. Accident. Death. 
 Character. Faculty of Giving. Physical Strength. Games. Love 
 of Beauty. Music. Humour. "The Sick Stockrider." Muddles. 
 Hospitality. Prayers. Bible. Death of his Heir. The Three 
 Brasseys ......*.* 2 34 
 
 INDEX . .... 247
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 T.A.B., 1919 Frontispiece 
 
 T.A.B. IN HIS "BOATS" DRESS AT ETON > 
 
 > . . .28 
 
 T.A.B. AT THE WHEEL ON THE SUNBEAM ) 
 
 NORMANHURST 88 
 
 VILLA GINESTRA IN SARDINIA . 
 
 DISTANT VIEW OF VILLA GINESTRA . * 
 
 THE CHURCH AT GENNAMARI, SARDINIA 120 
 
 T.A.B. WITH THE BISHOP OF ALES AND HIS CHAPLAIN COMING OUT 
 
 OF A MINE IN SARDINIA 126 
 
 T.A.B. AND HIS FATHER AT RHODES FARM, BULAWAYO, 1910 . 180 
 
 T.A.B. WITH HIS REGIMENT, 1916 186 
 
 T.A.B. AND HIS STAFF IN ROME, 1917 198 
 
 THE LAKE AT NORMANHURST 244 
 
 XV

 
 T.A.B. 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 " WHAT he says that he will do, he will do ; and what he 
 says that he will not do, he will not do." In these words, 
 conceived with all the felicity and simplicity of expression 
 of which he was so great a master, Lord Rosebery summed 
 up to an enthusiastic assembly the outstanding character- 
 istic of " T.A.B." Brassey as a young man. The audience 
 to which they were uttered was a remarkable one, gathered 
 to introduce him to political life, as a tyro for the suffrages 
 of the free and unbiassed electorate of Epsom. That audience 
 included Mr. Asquith, Lord Herschell, Sir Charles Russell, 
 and many other members of the Liberal party who were 
 afterwards famous ; it received the statement with a burst 
 of cheering, and the words may fittingly form the intro- 
 duction to the life-history of a man who won the reputation 
 of being more courageous than the most courageous public 
 men of the last generation. Through great or little success, 
 through many fortunes and set-backs, in good report or ill 
 report, friend and enemy alike tested the truth of that 
 penetrating criticism. T.A.B. Brassey stood the test. What 
 he said that he would do, he was found to do, and when he 
 said that he would not do a thing, like his famous grand- 
 father he was as good as his word. 
 
 Other traits and other characteristics he had, and many 
 of them were strongly marked, for he was fashioned on large 
 and generous lines, rough hewn, with delicacy of treatment 
 super-added as an afterthought, and almost out of place ;
 
 2 CALL TO PUBLIC SERVICE [i 2th cent. 
 
 but this characteristic of tmeness to himself and steadfast 
 honesty of self-interpretation was always the dominating 
 principle of his personality. 
 
 Of the other marked characteristics, by which he was so 
 well known, more must presently be said. Some of them 
 must be allowed to display themselves, as the story of his 
 work is told, without any detailed description. All of them 
 bear the mark of liberality, generosity and largeness of 
 conception. There is among them nothing narrow or small, 
 nothing mean or contemptible, nothing, which, even if it 
 deserves censure, can be said to be tainted with self-interest 
 or unworthiness of motive. The breeze of great and com- 
 pelling leadership bloweth where it listeth ; when T.A.B. took 
 the field it was always a blowing. The reasons are not far 
 to seek. 
 
 The call to public service is always finely inspiring. 
 When that call is constantly reiterated in all the associations 
 of family and early environment, it cannot be gainsaid or 
 disregarded. It was a force which was bred in the very 
 marrow of T.A.B. 's bones. Family, parents, home, early 
 associations combined in a wholly unusual degree to direct 
 his thoughts into those paths of duty and devotion to the 
 public welfare, which have been so freely and magnificently 
 trodden by England's sons. So his steps turned, as of 
 second nature, into unselfish and self-denying paths. Of 
 all these influences a few words must first be said, before 
 the tale of his after life is told. 
 
 At the beginning of the nineteenth century the family 
 of Brassey was settled at Bulkeley in Cheshire. They 
 traced their name to a Norman origin, a de Bracey or de 
 Bresci having been one of the noble cadets who followed 
 the fortunes of William of Normandy. In the days of the 
 Norman kings constant and unending warfare had to be 
 waged on the marches of Wales and in the neighbourhood 
 of Chester against the attacks of the descendants of the 
 expelled British. The Brassey home lay in a land where 
 life was only less uncertain than on the Scottish border, and 
 in it the clang of arms was incessant. The Brassey s took 
 an honourable and prominent part in the story of their 
 day.
 
 i 4 th-i6th cent.] FAMILY HISTORY 3 
 
 In the reign of the first Edward, one Robert Bressy, 
 the head of the family, twice occupied the position of High 
 Sheriff, an office which was no sinecure in the troublous days 
 when the Crown was in conflict with the Principality, and 
 the heavy ground-swell of local disorder followed the great 
 tempest of the conquest of Wales. In the reign of the third 
 Edward, when affairs were more settled and the Welsh 
 menace was less ominous, John, son of William de Brescy, 
 acquired an estate at Wistanston, to which he made addi- 
 tions as the years passed. The deeds relating to this property 
 are still in existence, the earliest of them being indeed 
 undated, but apparently of the period of the third Edward. 
 In a document of slightly later date, William Malbank, 
 Baron of Nantwich, gives notice that he has received of 
 Robert de Bracy, his " black nephew," the homage and 
 service of three knights' fees for Wistanston. The Brescis 
 subsequently acquired a moiety of the whole manor of 
 that name. 
 
 In the reign of Henry VII. and of the succeeding monarch, 
 Hugh Egerton and John Egerton were holding lands in 
 Wistanston, and amongst them they held by fealty from the 
 Brescis this same moiety of the manor and advowson of 
 Wistanston. 
 
 For many generations the family continued, with varying 
 fortune, to occupy a prominent county position, and collateral 
 branches appeared in various parts of the Chester district, 
 and notably at Bressie Green in the township of Teverton. Of 
 the Bressie Green line came Dr. Robert Brassey of Banbury, 
 in the county of Cheshire, who as Provost of King's College, 
 Cambridge, died in 1558 and was buried on the south side 
 of King's College Chapel, after playing a man's part in the 
 troublous days of the Reformation settlement. This line 
 became extinct on the male side at the end of the eighteenth 
 century, when the. daughter of the last Brassie of Teverton 
 married one Garnet, to whom she carried the family mansion 
 and estate, wherein she is recorded to be settled in 1804. 
 But the chief of all these branches, with which we are now 
 mainly concerned, was settled at Bulkeley. 
 
 In a work entitled " Contemporary Records of the County 
 of Cheshire," compiled in 1596 by William Webb, which is
 
 4 FAMILY ESTATES [lyth-igth cent. 
 
 preserved in the Bodleian Library, there is recorded the 
 rebuilding of the house which was for centuries the family 
 home. The chronicle runs : 
 
 Next to Bickerton lies Bulkeley the lordship of the 
 Lady Cholmondeley as part of the inheritance of Holforde, 
 where there is a fair house and demesne that belong to the 
 house of Sir George Calveley late of Lee, before mentioned, 
 and a fair new house of Thomas Brassey gentleman of an 
 ancient descent. 
 
 This estate of Bulkeley had passed from Roger de Bulkeley 
 through the Hadleighs to Hamon de Bresci. He and his 
 descendants had lived there as county gentlemen for over 
 250 years, when in 1663, the head of the family, being then 
 only twenty-eight years of age, entered his pedigree in Sir 
 William Dugdale's Visitation. The family retained the bulk 
 of this property down to the beginning of the eighteenth 
 century, but in the course of time had become impoverished. 
 The head of the family in the middle of that century was 
 Mr. Richard Brassey, of Cotton Abbots, grandson of Richard 
 Brassey, owner of the Bressie estate at Bulkeley. 
 
 At the beginning of the nineteenth century the property 
 was in the possession of John Brassey of Bulkeley, who was 
 father of Thomas Brassey and great-grandfather of the 
 subject of this present memoir. Thomas Brassey was born 
 on November 7th, 1805. His father, John Brassey, was 
 then farming his own patrimonial estate, as a man of 
 sufficiently ample means, and held in much respect in the 
 county. He sent his son to a good school at Chester, and 
 " Tom " received the ordinary commercial education of the 
 day. He had always shown an aptitude for drawing, and 
 on leaving school at the age of seventeen, he was accordingly 
 apprenticed to a Mr. Lawson, a local surveyor of good 
 standing, by whom at the close of his apprenticeship he was 
 received into partnership. 
 
 In order to complete the record of the Bulkeley and 
 Brassey Green houses, a letter written by Thomas Brassey's 
 brother, Robert, may perhaps be quoted here. The letter is 
 addressed to his nephew, who had by this time become Sir 
 Thomas Brassey and T.A.B/s father.
 
 igthcent.] THE FAMILY HOME 5 
 
 The Grange, Bulkeley, 
 December and, 1882. 
 
 MY DEAR NEPHEW, 
 
 On looking over some old papers I found the 
 enclosed written by the late Dr. Bate and thought you 
 might be pleased to see it ; will you kindly return it when 
 done with ? I happened to be driving a friend yesterday 
 to Brassey Green and thought it strange that I should meet 
 with this the same day. It is a nice old black and white 
 house, about two miles from Beeston Station right opposite 
 the old castle. 
 
 Ever 
 
 Your affectionate Uncle, 
 ROB. BRASSEY. 
 
 The heart of every man beats a little more quickly when, 
 after many years of absence, he revisits the house of his 
 birth, but it is those of ancient family, for centuries settled 
 in the same house, who can best understand the way in 
 which the lives and deeds of forbears, the atmosphere and 
 the lines of the old house, the books and possessions of the 
 family, the noblesse oblige of a long history drag a man on 
 to great adventure. Such links with an honourable past 
 refuse to allow him to sink, except he be really nothing, 
 into the common rut, or the way of shame. Only to near 
 friends ever disclosed, and only in the casual references of 
 unguarded moments, they make the path of duty the more 
 rigidly trod and the code of honour the more strictly ob- 
 served. T.A.B. proved that he had a double portion of the 
 spirit. 
 
 The modern history of the family begins with the life 
 work of Thomas Brassey, T.A.B. 's grandfather. After his 
 marriage, which took place soon after the completion of his 
 apprenticeship, he was encouraged by his wife to take 
 interest in the new and much-debated railroads. Fortunes 
 are made by foresight, and Thomas Brassey made what 
 was an unexampled fortune through the foresight which 
 saw in the railroad the dominant factor of nineteenth-century 
 developments. A man and his wife are one. Maria Brassey 
 never claimed any great share in her husband's achievement, 
 but it should be said of her that she did much to fortify, to 
 sustain and to cheer him in the enterprises in dark, difficult,
 
 6 THE FIRST THOMAS BRASSEY [1830-50 
 
 and doubtful times. Hers was the foresight and his the 
 practical and acute brain which utilised it. 
 
 The first really important work upon which young 
 Brassey was engaged was a survey of the road from Machyn- 
 lleth to Aberdovey, which runs along the valley of the Dovey. 
 
 He did this so well that in 1835 Joseph Locke, engineer 
 of the Grand Junction Railway (from Liverpool to Birming- 
 ham) entrusted to him a length of ten miles of that line, 
 known as the Stafford Contract. Having thus gamed 
 Locke's complete confidence, he was entrusted by him with 
 the construction of the railway from Paris to Rouen. After 
 this time he never looked back. Between 1844 and 1848 
 he contracted for five other French railways ; and undertook, 
 in whole or in part, the works for three lines in Scotland, 
 and two lines in England and Wales. At this period Thomas 
 Brassey had in his employ no less than 75,000 men ; and 
 his weekly payments in wages amounted to between 150,000 
 and 200,000. The capital involved in the various contracts 
 in which he was engaged was some 36,000,000 sterling an 
 unprecedented sum for those days. 
 
 He completed the Great Northern Railway in 1851, and 
 in the same year began works in Shropshire, in Somerset- 
 shire, and in the county of Inverness. In 1852, he under- 
 took in Belgium, in Holland, in Prussia, in Spain and hi 
 Italy, the several lines of the Sambre and Meuse, the Dutch 
 Rhenish, the Barcelona and Mataro, and the Maria Antonio 
 Railways. In partnership with Messrs. Peto and Betts, he 
 constructed the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, a line 
 upwards of noo miles long, which crosses the St. Lawrence 
 by the largest and most expensive bridge which had hitherto 
 been anywhere erected. Between 1853 an -d ^57 ne con " 
 structed six more railways in France, as many in Italy, 
 and the very difficult Bilbao and Miranda line hi Spam. 
 He further undertook contracts in Norway, Sweden, Den- 
 mark and Switzerland. He constructed the temporary 
 railway over the Mont Cenis Pass of the Alps, a line which 
 the opening of the Mont Cenis tunnel superseded. He also 
 undertook contracts in Turkey. In India he constructed 
 the greater part of the East India Railway, the Calcutta 
 and South-Eastern, and other works. In Australia he
 
 i8 5 o] ENGINEERING CONTRACTS 7 
 
 constructed several hundred miles of railway. He con- 
 tracted for the first railway projected in South America ; 
 and one of his last undertakings was a contract for docks 
 at Callao, amounting to more than half a million sterling, 
 which was completed by his executors. He constructed 
 the Barrow Docks and the important Runcorn Viaduct. 
 
 The subsidiary or private undertakings, by means of 
 which he provided his enormous plant, and ministered 
 to his home and foreign contracts, were in themselves 
 enough to overpower the capacity of any ordinary man. 
 Coal mines, iron works, dockyards, the great establishment 
 on the margin of Wallasey Pool at Birkenhead, and " Nacada 
 Works," where the Victoria Bridge for the St. Lawrence 
 was constructed, all owed their existence to his energy. 
 The railway contracts on which he embarked between 1848 
 and 1861 extended over 2,374 miles, and involved a total 
 expenditure of 28,000,000. 
 
 It is not to be supposed that no reverses occurred. 
 Thomas Brassey met loss with composure, and without 
 attempting to throw it upon others. In 1846 the Barentin 
 Viaduct, on the Rouen and Havre Railway, 100 ft. high, 
 and consisting of twenty-seven arches of 50 ft. span, fell 
 like a house of cards. The responsibility of a failure of this 
 kind rests, rightly, on the engineer of the works. Thomas 
 Brassey spared the engineer any annoyance. He quickly 
 rebuilt the great bridge at his own expense an expense 
 of some 300,000. In doing it he made use of the famous 
 expression, " It shall never be said that Thomas Brassey 
 was not as good as his word." 
 
 The nature of the relation which subsisted between the 
 engineer of a public company and the contractors who 
 undertook the execution of the works, was, at the com- 
 mencement of Thomas Brassey 's career, very unsatisfactory. 
 The early contractors seemed to regard a contract as some- 
 thing that the contractor should set his wits to work to 
 make the most of. This was to be done, on the one hand, 
 by grinding the labourers, and on the other hand, by 
 " scamping " the work. Against this system of scamping 
 and of grinding, Thomas Brassey always made a very 
 firm stand. It was his plan to do his work fairly and
 
 8 RECENT FAMILY HISTORY [1850-90 
 
 faithfully, and to render inspection superfluous, which led 
 to the attainment of such a character for reliability in the 
 performance of work as proved to be the main element 
 of his extraordinary success. 
 
 Emphasis is laid here upon Thomas Brassey's achieve- 
 ments and integrity because his grandson's work was so 
 similar in conception and method. From his grandfather 
 T.A.B. inherited both tenacity of purpose and capacity for 
 undertaking great enterprises and bringing them, as a 
 result of careful attention to detail, to successful issues. 
 The character of the grandfather, being what we have de- 
 scribed, is to be reckoned as among the great influences 
 in T.A.B. 's education and in the course of his whole life. 
 Long years afterwards, in the midst of the Great War at 
 the embassy in Rome, testimony was offered to this trait 
 in T.A.B. 's character, when Italian business men told Sir 
 Rennell Rodd that they wanted no written contract with 
 Lord Brassey. 
 
 Thomas Brassey had three sons : Thomas, Henry and 
 Albert. His eldest son married first, Anna, daughter of John 
 Allnutt, and by her had five children one son and four 
 daughters one of whom died in childhood. He married 
 second, in 1890, the Hon. Sibyl de Vere, daughter of Viscount 
 Maiden, and had one daughter, Helen. He had a long 
 and distinguished public career, serving as Member of 
 Parliament for the borough of Hastings for over twenty 
 years, and discharging many public duties with conspicuous 
 ability. On relinquishing his seat in the House of 
 Commons he was made Baron Brassey of Bulkeley in 
 1886. He was renowned for his great public generosity 
 and philanthropy, and became successively a baronet, a 
 baron of the United Kingdom, and an earl. His five sur- 
 viving children were T.A.B., the subject of this biography, 
 Mabelle, who became the wife of C. A. Egerton, Muriel, the 
 wife of the Earl de la Warr, Marie Adelaide, the wife 
 of Lord Willingdon of Ratton, and Helen, wife of Lieut. - 
 Colonel John Murray. 
 
 T.A.B. 's mother, Anna Allnutt, was a Londoner, and in 
 her childhood lived a lonely life in her father's houses on 
 Clapham Common and in Charles St., Mayfair. She was a
 
 1875] T.A.B/S PARENTAGE 9 
 
 woman of much intellectual distinction, and became famous 
 through her power of recording in an arresting and charming 
 way the incidents of the voyages which she and her husband 
 took in the Meteor and the Sunbeam. The " Voyage of the 
 Sunbeam " occupies a great position amongst English books 
 of travel. She wrote it as a diary, sitting up in bed every 
 morning and recording the events of the previous day. 
 She had an extensive acquaintance with the best literature 
 in English, French, and Italian, and her powers, which 
 were not only above the average, but remarkable, she 
 transmitted in full measure to her son. From her he 
 undoubtedly inherited the power of terse expression, which 
 was so outstanding a feature of his literary and controversial 
 output. 
 
 When a petition was presented against the return of her 
 husband for the borough of Hastings, her general mental 
 capacity was well displayed in her cross-examination, which 
 lasted for upwards of an hour. An account of this is given 
 in the " Memoirs of Sergeant Ballantyne," wherein it is 
 explained that after putting to her one or two questions, he 
 handed her over to counsel for the petitioners. She was by 
 him cross-examined at great length. In the contest of 
 wits which followed, counsel had very much the worst of it, 
 greatly to the enjoyment of Mr. Justice Blackburn, who was 
 trying the case, and of a large assembly of spectators who 
 were keenly interested in the trial of strength between 
 counsel and witness. 
 
 She was a great rider to hounds, famous for her pluck 
 and skill. The sick and the suffering found in her a real 
 friend, and she was the keenest of workers for the St. John 
 Ambulance Association. She took a great delight in estab- 
 lishing and carrying on Working Men's and Social Clubs in 
 every part of the country to which her husband's interests 
 drew her. 
 
 So in both parents T.A.B. was particularly fortunate. But 
 there is still much more to say. Each of them had the 
 highest conception of the duty of a parent. Throughout 
 his life Thomas Brassey was in the habit of giving his son, 
 not only verbally, but also in letters sent to him at school 
 and at the University, the advice and help which every
 
 io HIS FATHER'S ADVICE [1884 
 
 father should try to give his son. The character of that 
 advice is best seen in some of the letters which he so 
 wrote. 
 
 Off the Burlings. 
 MY DEAREST T.A.B., 
 
 Writing to you on the first Sunday after our most 
 regrettable separation, I am reminded that we have had no 
 talks of late on religious matters. Do not suppose that 
 because 1 have been silent, 1 have failed to observe that you 
 are not indifferent to these things. Balliol used to be a 
 place of free discussions of dogmatic theology. It may or 
 may not be so still. If you are brought in contact with 
 Controversialists on the subject, my advice would be not to 
 engage in such discussions. We cannot claim for the religion 
 which we profess that it rests on evidence of an absolute 
 kind : but at least it supplies us with the highest rules of 
 conduct, illustrated by a noble example. It gives us a hope 
 of an after life to which we instinctively cling, and it assures 
 us that we have a merciful Father in heaven. The philosopher 
 accepts a first cause, and our idea of that first cause, 
 figurative and inexact as it may be, is very suited to our 
 human needs. 
 
 History. In addition to your regular reading for the 
 Law I would strongly recommend you to keep before you the 
 later periods in history, so as to bring down your knowledge 
 of the subject from the period you took up for the schools 
 to the present time. 
 
 Political Economy and Social Science. Every man who 
 contemplates a public career should be well read in Adam 
 Smith and Mill, completing the theoretical principles with the 
 application to modern facts as given in Farrar, and the 
 numerous valuable brochures published by the Cobden 
 Club. 
 
 Blue Books. All the pressing subjects of the day are 
 most exhaustively treated in the Blue Books published by 
 the Royal Commissions and Select Committees of the two 
 Houses. Take the land question in Ireland ; the three great 
 authorities are the Devon, Bessborough and Cowper Com- 
 missions. I made my first success in the House of Commons 
 by reading the four bulky volumes published by the Royal 
 Commission on Trade Unions. All my work on the Maritime 
 problem has been founded on Parliamentary literature. 
 Practice in wading through reports of evidence enables the
 
 x884] HIS FATHER'S ADVICE n 
 
 reader to do a great deal of skipping without loss of know- 
 ledge. The examination-in-chief usually elicits the best 
 that the witness has to offer. 
 
 Languages. In these days our education is lamentably 
 imperfect which does not include the power of reading, 
 writing, and speaking at least one modern language in 
 addition to English. 
 
 Politics. The test question of the moment is the policy 
 in relation to Ireland. But this test is an extremely vague 
 one. Mr. Gladstone withdrew his scheme and we have no 
 plan before us of local self-government. We may get a 
 good scheme from the present ministry. On the general 
 question I may say that I see no great organic change in 
 the constitution, as for instance disestablishment, which 1 
 desire to see carried out. In such an attitude of mind the 
 tendency is to drift to liberal conservatism, and if ever I 
 find myself in office again it will probably be in that con- 
 nection. On the other hand, I owe a debt of personal 
 loyalty to Mr. Gladstone, and while he remains in politics 
 I should be extremely reluctant to appear in opposition. I 
 have given no vote in the past which I now regret. But I 
 have an instinctive feeling that we are drawing near to 
 another parting of the ways in politics. However this may 
 be you are not bound by the ties which bind me. But you 
 should not appear on the side opposed to mine until you 
 have given full consideration to the situation. There will 
 be ample time for this before the next General Election. 
 
 Hunting. I should recommend you to hunt in the first 
 part of the season from Leighton, Weedon or Buckingham. 
 The first two places are comparatively near to London. 
 From Buckingham you can get more easily to Heythrop. 
 At Xmas I hope you will hunt from Normanhurst. After 
 Xmas I should try Leighton. The hunting is first rate, 
 and you can combine it with attendance in chambers. 
 I know some of the people round Leighton. I would suggest 
 Melton for another year. 
 
 Shooting. You will continue to look after the shooting 
 and will arrange when I have parties of old friends to stay 
 for shooting. 
 
 Income. As you ought for the present to be giving your 
 attention to subjects of wider interest, I do not propose to 
 convey any part of my Sussex property to you this year. 
 After you have been called to the Bar I shall be happy to 
 give you Court Lodge and Buckholt. The house at Park
 
 12 HIS FATHER'S ADVICE [1884 
 
 Gate I will complete and furnish and let for short terms, so 
 as to be available for you whenever you may require it. 
 
 Having in view the possibility that you may be led by 
 honest conviction to form a different political connection 
 from my own, and looking to the expenses of hunting, the 
 Norman* and otherwise, I shall ere long make an addition 
 to your income, being assured that you will make good use 
 of your resources and will save what you do not need to 
 spend. I may probably transfer to you the whole of the 
 Birkenhead property. The policy on which I have insisted 
 of large reductions of rent has given greater steadiness and 
 certainty of income, and I believe a decided increase in the 
 amount. 
 
 I do not care to make an assignment of trust funds : 
 because I wish you to be trained in the art of looking after 
 your own affairs. 
 
 I confidently rely on your doing your best to help me in 
 Michigan and Pertusola. 
 
 To conclude on the question of income, my intention is 
 to put you in a position to act, if necessary, independently 
 of me at the next General Election, which I suppose we may 
 look for in four or five years. 
 
 Matrimony. On this momentous and delicate subject 
 I can only speak in the most general terms, and if I say 
 anything it is, as I told you the other day, because you are 
 going to live in London with men who probably entertain 
 widely different views from mine, and whose views differ 
 because their circumstances are different from yours. 
 Rashness and recklessness are in every case to be deprecated. 
 But, while for a man with insufficient means, or who is looking 
 to service in the navy or army, especially in war, the freedom 
 of single life is almost essential, the case is, it seems to me, 
 quite different where means are ample and there are no calls 
 for dangerous and protracted service abroad. As a matter 
 of fact, I and my brothers married early, and we did wisely. 
 Your circumstances are the same as ours. In the circum- 
 stances in which 1 am placed, bereaved of your dear mother, 
 and depending now on my children, it must be obvious how 
 much more you could do, if happily married, for me, for your 
 sisters, and generally to make a good home life at Norman- 
 hurst, than is at all possible as a bachelor. 
 
 For the career which naturally lies before you the ties 
 
 * T.A.B.'s cutter yacht.
 
 1872] PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 13 
 
 of married life cannot be a hindrance happy marriage would 
 be a great advantage. 
 
 His relationship with his father throughout his life was 
 one of mutual confidence and affection. One of the very 
 last things that the former uttered at the end of his long 
 life was a message of thankfulness to his son that they 
 had always been able to live through diversity of political 
 opinion and through multifarious interests so closely in 
 sympathy with one another's aims and aspirations. What 
 was lacking in the father's character the son supplied, and 
 the polished and diplomatic suavity which some of his 
 contemporaries seemed to find lacking in the son shone up in 
 marked contrast in the character of his father. If often 
 seemed that two different strains of ancestry were making 
 themselves manifest in the two men. In the son were 
 energy, drive, vigour, initiative, and forcefulness, without 
 which the ancient line in its contests with Welsh powers 
 must have been extinguished. In the father were to be 
 found the manners and the urbanity of the courtier, with 
 a kindly spirit and a friendly disposition which were most 
 attractive. 
 
 It is not easy to describe the relations of a man with 
 his mother. It would be particularly difficult to describe 
 the influence which Anna Brassey exerted over her son. 
 She was devoted to him, and he to her. In voyages of the 
 Meteor and the Sunbeam he was constantly her companion, 
 and his constitution, which was not very strong, was fortified 
 and made robust by the life on the sea which he lived 
 with his parents in his early years. 
 
 A typical letter from his mother may perhaps be inserted 
 here to show how she thought of him during his life at 
 school : 
 
 Sunbeam, R.Y.S., South. 
 
 December loth. 
 MY OWN DARLING BOY, 
 
 This is probably the last letter you will have from 
 me from the Southern Hemisphere for many years. We 
 expect to cross the line on Friday next. Tahiti is charming, 
 only rather too hot. People, place, scenery, fruit, flowers, 
 manners, customs, all equally delightful. How you would 
 
 c
 
 14 SCHOOL AT BOURNEMOUTH [1872-5 
 
 have enjoyed it ! and how I did wish for you, my own pet ! 
 I found some relations here, too, some of the chief people 
 in the Islands. I dare say you remember an old Mr. and 
 Mrs. Brancker at the end of the Marina, St. Leonards, with 
 a pretty daughter, whose children you used sometimes to go 
 to play with. 
 
 Volcano House, Kilauea, in Hawaii, 
 December 24th. 
 
 This is a wonderful place at the very brink of the crater. 
 
 I never saw anything the least like it. Ask M to send 
 
 you Miss Bird's " Six Months in the Sandwich Islands," 
 and you will know all about it. It is very amusing. We 
 have had a rough, quick passage of fourteen days from 
 Tahiti. . . . 
 
 A happy Christmas to you, my darling, and many of 
 them. I only wish we were going to spend it together. 
 
 When T.A.B. was nine years old he was sent down to 
 Bournemouth to Ascham House School, and the parting 
 never very easy when the eldest son for the first time leaves 
 home for school was more than usually distressing. His 
 schoolmaster, Dr. West, describes the assembling on the 
 platform at Waterloo station of the boys, who were to go to 
 Bournemouth at the beginning of term. He was appealed 
 to by the father of one of the new boys to get them on the 
 train as quickly as possible because T.A.B. 's loud sobbings 
 and his mother's tears were having such an effect upon the 
 others " that," said the parent, " if you don't get them 
 aboard very quickly, we shall never get them started off at 
 all." 
 
 That same bond of intimate affection was maintained 
 with ever increasing intensity until the day when he wrote 
 down the last words which fell from her lips when she passed 
 away in mid-ocean, eighteen miles from Port Darwin. 
 
 Of his life at Ascham House School there is little record. 
 Dr. West describes him as a bright and intelligent little boy. 
 In the following letter he gives some idea of his abilities : 
 
 July 8th, 1875. 
 
 To THOMAS BRASSEY, ESQ., M.P. 
 
 I enclose Allnutt's report which is a very good 
 one. He is certainly forward for his age and should you
 
 i8 75 ] SCHOOL REMINISCENCES 15 
 
 wish it would be quite competent, I hope , to go in for the 
 Foundation Exam, at Eton when the time comes, just in 
 order to distinguish himself. Perhaps it will be time enough 
 to think of that later on. His weak point is translation, 
 but I think that is owing to his being so young, for readiness 
 in that always comes after everything else. 
 
 Dr. West adds the following reminiscences : 
 
 My first recollection is of a small boy in a long overcoat 
 and sailor hat, standing at Waterloo Station clasping his 
 Mother's hand and with tears running down his cheeks. But 
 when we had started he brightened up almost at once and 
 was quite cheerful and good friends with most before we 
 reached Bournemouth. He was a most genial and good- 
 tempered boy and very generous indeed about giving away 
 whenever he had a hamper. He used to come to our boys' 
 cricket field in after years whenever he was in Bournemouth. 
 The first thing which I remember about him soon after he 
 came was finding him at the top of one of the playground 
 fir-trees carefully putting back two baby squirrels who had 
 tumbled out of their nest. When he touched at the Cape 
 in the Sunbeam ('87, soon after his Mother's death) he took 
 the trouble to go up to Grahamstown to see my sister who 
 was then in the Sisterhood there, a most nice thing to do. 
 I do not think he took any Prizes, but his work was quite 
 satisfactory, and according to the old list, his best subjects 
 were History, Geography and French the least good, 
 Mathematics he was 3rd or 4th in most of his classes, out 
 of 10 or 12. His chief friends were, I think, the two Grant- 
 Duffs and Mallets, whom I think he knew at home. He 
 was with me from 1874/76. 
 
 I remember his Father telling me that he had asked him 
 about the School service which we used to have in the after- 
 noon before the Church near us was built. He described 
 the Service and in answer to the question " What does Mr. 
 West preach about ? " " Oh, he generally picks a bit out 
 of one of the boys." 
 
 It was the Summer Term and a number of boys, headed 
 by Vincent Corbett, started an aviary. They were allowed 
 out for walks in parties of three on Sunday afternoons. 
 One Sunday they brought home a hedgehog and put it into 
 the Aviary without telling me. Next morning it was found 
 to have killed several birds, so in the first break a formal
 
 16 SCHOOL LETTERS [1876 
 
 trial was held with judge, jury and opposing counsel, and 
 the hedgehog was solemnly decapitated with the gardener's 
 spade and I found the corpse on the path. When I asked 
 about it I was told, I think by Allnutt, " Please, Sir, he'd 
 killed a lot of the birds and he had quite a fair trial." 
 
 His interests at school are shown in the following letters 
 to his mother : 
 
 March 26th.* 
 
 MY DEAREST MOTHER, 
 
 Thanks very much for your letter and Papa's 
 too. You will perhaps be amused with the enclosed from 
 Mr. Bingham, please show it to Mr. Boissier. 
 
 The Athletics take place Saturday week. Every one is 
 in a great excitement. We practise now nearly every day. 
 I am going to try for 5 prizes : 
 
 I.e. | mile, for which I ought to get first. 
 
 100 yards, for which I may either get first or second. 
 
 Hurdle race, for which I have got the same chance as 
 
 the 100 yards. 
 The Junior long jump, for which I ought to get the first 
 
 prize. 
 
 The sack race, which I won last year. 
 The quarter mile either Bowen, or Bates will win, and 
 the high jump Strange, or E. Grant-Duff or Duffer 
 as we sometimes call him. 
 
 Please can you send me an Oxford rosette because there 
 is such a hubbub here on the day of the boat race. 
 
 I am getting on very well with my work, but not quite 
 so well with my conduct, although the lowest mark is 75 out 
 of a hundred, for work, 92 out of a hundred and 21 tens, 
 which is the highest I have yet got. 
 
 Mr. West has gone to London for a few days. Yesterday 
 Mr. Hachisuka came here to see his brother, a Japanese, 
 who is here at school. 
 
 We have had fine weather this week, but to-day it has 
 become quite cold. There is a distinguished preacher 
 preaching at Trinity this morning, but I went to St. Peter's 
 where we had a good sermon. 
 
 My chief friend here now is a nice boy called Smith, to 
 whom I gave the appropriate name of Raven from his dark 
 
 hair, and eyes, and his sharp nose ; Cartwright, who sends 
 
 
 * He rarely inserted the year in any of his letters to the end of his days.
 
 1876] SCHOOL LETTERS 17 
 
 you his kind regards ; Strange, captain of the n and 15 ; 
 Walters, the Codfish, and Norris, who came on board the 
 yacht at Portsmouth. 
 
 April 3oth. 
 
 DEAREST MOTHER, 
 
 Thanks very much for your letter, I have taken the 
 topsail off the yard and enclose it with the ropes belonging to it. 
 
 Please can you send me my hymn-book which was in 
 your room the day 1 left ? 
 
 On Friday I was second in the school for the Grammar 
 Paper, Walters and Cartwright equal, having only 77 to my 76. 
 
 We are starting a lawn tennis club here and Mr. West 
 has given us leave to play on the lawn. There are only 
 14 fellows in it. The entrance fee being 2/6 and three have 
 make up i8/- between them. Mr. West and Captain Butts 
 are going to give something so I daresay our lawn tennis 
 will come off. Please may I have one of the racquets from 
 home, because we had such a lot at Normanhurst ? 
 
 I am working hard so as to please you and Papa and 
 answered all the questions in English History last night. 
 
 The garden looks perfectly beautiful with all the new 
 plants and I have one or two more here. 
 
 The intimate confidence and close affection between 
 the two revealed in these letters are an indication of the 
 influence which T.A.B.'s mother had upon him. That 
 influence was all directed towards public service hi its 
 widest and fullest meaning. 
 
 His father's estates included the property surrounding 
 Normanhurst, the great house which his grandfather built 
 in a commanding position five miles north of Bexhill. His 
 father and others sadly complained in later years that the 
 whole undertaking had been a huge mistake ; that the grand- 
 father, after having refused to consider the expenditure 
 necessary for the purchase of a country house, involved 
 himself in a much larger expense in a " failure." The 
 failure was the erection of the huge mansion filled with 
 the many wonderful specimens of art gathered from every 
 part of the globe, Besides this estate there was a large 
 property in the north of Ireland, on the banks of Loch 
 Foyle, accepted as payment of an obligation which threatened
 
 i8 THE INFLUENCE OF HOME [1863-76 
 
 to become a bad debt. There were also the mines in Sar- 
 dinia and the smelting works and shipyard at Spezia in 
 Italy, which must be hereafter described. The fourth and 
 largest estate consisted of some 390,000 acres of land in the 
 United States, commonly called the Michigan Estate, which 
 was situated on the southern bank of Lake Superior. 
 
 T.A.B. was born at Beauport, near Battle, in 1863, and 
 grew up in the midst of the Sussex atmosphere and tradition. 
 Those who have lived for any length of time in Sussex agree 
 that it is in many ways remarkably tenacious of the purest 
 English spirit. There is in its atmosphere a breath of an 
 ancient chivalry, a whisper of half-forgotten memories of 
 the stern deeds of a stalwart race, a sound of the sweep of 
 the mighty winds over broad uplands. To breast the steep, 
 grassy paths which lead to Butser and Chanctonbury, to 
 gaze from shaded eye southward from Normanhurst far out 
 to the blue haze of the Channel, or northward from Blackcap 
 across the Weald is to revive the sense of a dim past wherein 
 men were born and wrought with iron hammers the mail of 
 their own salvation. 
 
 At every turn there is the echo of the men who, in their 
 day, were leaders and counsellors, knights and men of valour 
 in their generations. The peaceful hamlets and the lonely 
 fields are peopled with the men of Sussex who have left their 
 mark on the world and call on the young men of every age 
 to carry on. It was amongst them that T.A.B. spent his 
 early years. He watched the great vane on the stumpy 
 spire of the massive tower of Etchingham Church veer in 
 the wind, and caught the arms of Sir John de Etchingham 
 wrought thereon as the sunbeams played about them, and 
 he too, in fancy, left the jousting field to follow the fortunes 
 of the third Edward on the plains of France. He could 
 look on the white linen vest of the martyred Charles which 
 the Ashburnham of the Commonwealth had carried to his 
 home at Ashburnham, just across the park from Norman- 
 hurst, and could be swayed with the great, sweeping thoughts 
 of the way in which men were led by men to victory or to 
 death. From the Outlook, at Rye, he will have conjured up 
 the galleons of the Armada, and the heroism of Drake, and 
 learned to claim him as a Sussex man and no real son of
 
 1876] 
 
 SUSSEX SURROUNDINGS 
 
 Devon. The great brass at Warbleton will have spoken to 
 him of the abbots of Battle Abbey, and the wonderful 
 ecclesiastical administrators who built the bulwarks of the 
 State while they edified the Church. At Pevensey, long 
 stretches of marsh will have been covered once more in his 
 fancy by the far-reaching flotillas of the Army of Invasion 
 of the Conqueror as in his enthusiasm he read again the 
 stories of England's naval fame. 
 
 From his early days in his Sussex home he learned much 
 that Sussex had to teach and it showed itself in after years 
 in a martial ardour at the first blast of the trumpet of war, 
 an intense love of the seas which Drake first sailed, a keen 
 patriotism which would bind up Irish wounds, a power of 
 leadership which refused the second place. 
 
 So T.A.B. was specially gifted in his ancestry, his home, 
 and the influence of his early years. Yet these alone are 
 insufficient to form strength of character. That comes 
 from persistence in overcoming difficulty, patience in bear- 
 ing hardship, unending struggle to achieve success. Few 
 men have been faced with such a constant sense of failure 
 as T.A.B. ; few men have seen so little result of the travail 
 of their soul. The great principles for which he struggled 
 so much in his life were being recognised at his death, but 
 he did not behold their triumph. He was possessed of 
 much of the good things of life, but did not tarry by the 
 way to enjoy them : by birth he was framed for a life of 
 ease, but was not patient of it ; his delight was in unceas- 
 ing toil for the public good, and in it he found, as all men 
 find, a real and abiding happiness, and an exceeding great 
 reward.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 T.A.B/S name had been down at Eton for many years, and at 
 the close of his stay at Ascham House, his father displayed 
 a good deal of anxiety as to the place which he would take 
 in the entrance examination. Extra tuition was accordingly 
 arranged for him at Bournemouth, where Mr. C. R. Coulthard 
 acted as his tutor for the greater part of the school holidays 
 of 1876. His father's anxiety and the arrangements made 
 are recorded in the following letter : 
 
 Dr. West to Thomas Brassey Esq., M.P. 
 
 Oct. 17, 1876. 
 
 I was very glad to see Allnutt back again, and am par- 
 ticularly pleased that you care so much about the place 
 which he may take at Eton. I think I may safely answer 
 for its being a really good one. I shall certainly be dis- 
 appointed if he does not get into the Remove, which is as 
 high as a boy can take. He works steadily and pleasantly, 
 and has good abilities, and what is even better, untiring 
 energy. He is considerably forwarder than the last of our 
 boys who entered the Remove, and although the style of 
 his translations is not as good as I should like to see it, yet 
 he is so young that it would really not be fair to expect more 
 finish from him yet. He is having a good deal of special 
 attention from Mr. Coulthard and I will arrange as you 
 wish about his spending part of the holidays here. Nothing 
 is more certain to help him at Eton than his doing so, for 
 a month's good work in the holidays is often worth nearly 
 a whole Term. 
 
 I notice that his French had considerably improved 
 during the holidays, both in accent and in grammatical 
 correctness. 
 
 On July ist, 1876, T.A.B. set out with his father, mother, 
 and three sisters for a voyage in the Sunbeam. Starting
 
 1876] VOYAGE TO RIO 21 
 
 from Chatham, they reached Cowes on July 5th and finally 
 sailed the next day on the famous excursion described by 
 Lady Brassey, which lasted forty-six weeks, extended over 
 35,400 miles (of which 20,517 were under sail alone), and 
 carried the voyagers all round the world. T.A.B. had been 
 entered at Tarver's house (Mr. Frank Tarver) at Eton, and 
 returned from Rio by the Cotopaxi, on September 4th, in 
 order to be in time for the beginning of term. 
 
 The " Voyage of the Sunbeam " records the folio whig 
 incidents of the outward journey : 
 
 July 8th. After our 5 o'clock dinner, we very nearly 
 met with a serious accident. . . . Tom was looking at the 
 stern compass, Allnutt being close to him. ... A new hand 
 was steering, and just at the moment when an unusually 
 big wave overtook us, he unfortunately allowed the vessel 
 to broach-to a little. In a second the sea came pouring over 
 the stern, above Allnutt's head. The boy was nearly 
 washed overboard, but he managed to catch hold of the 
 rail, and with great presence of mind, stuck his knees into 
 the bulwarks. Kindred, our boatswain, seeing his danger, 
 rushed forward to save him, but was knocked down by the 
 return wave, which left him gasping. . . . Happily the 
 children don't know what fear is. 
 
 Rio, September 4th. We were all up very early this 
 morning, superintending the preparation for our eldest 
 boy's departure for England. . . . Breakfast was a melan- 
 choly meal. . . . After breakfast we went ashore to the 
 market, to get a couple of lion monkeys, which had been 
 kept for us, and which T.A.B. was to take home with him 
 to present to the Zoological Gardens. 
 
 It was under such circumstances that T.A.B. went to Eton. 
 Amongst all the influences which make a boy into a man, 
 the influences of home, ancestry, early associations, and the 
 like, many men think as they turn back the pages of life 
 that the influences of school were supreme. It is not 
 necessary in a book written for Englishmen to attempt to 
 describe the indescribable, or to estimate the inestimable, 
 or to explain in any large detail the most essentially English 
 of processes, the evolving of an Englishman by the life and 
 tradition of a public school. The atmosphere of a great
 
 22 PUBLIC SCHOOL TRADITION [1876 
 
 school is a very real thing, and yet elusive and quite in- 
 tangible. But it is felt in the attitude of the great majority 
 of its sons, and it is entirely that of public service. 
 
 A public school is an Empire in microcosm. At the head 
 is a benevolent monarch, whose fiat is sufficient to decide 
 the issues of life and death. In accordance with the strictest 
 code of ethics and rule of justice he allows his subjects to 
 stay or orders them to go. In the administration of his 
 kingdom, to propraetor, to consul, to legate and to prefect, 
 the reins of government are entrusted. From these pupil- 
 officers are demanded the sacrifices of time and effort and 
 self-control, without which no man may rule with success. 
 To them are committed the issues of action, the decisions 
 of daily rule, which elicit powers of leadership and the 
 public spirit which is the essence of corporate life and the 
 vitalising principle of the body politic. One by one the 
 members of the school are, through the lapse of time, in 
 turn entrusted with the reins of office and with authority 
 among their fellows, and presently they go forth into a 
 greater Empire, to a field where the qualities, which they 
 have already acquired, may find a proper sphere for their 
 due expression and fulfilment. In the process of their 
 common life they will have learned loyalty to friends and to 
 principle, respect for authority because they have wielded 
 it, the power of giving hard knocks because they have 
 received them, the value of that frenzy which at the last 
 gasp is still unbeaten. Themselves will have had the 
 opportunity to learn, because it has been their lot to lead 
 others, to look an opponent in the face and feel no fear, to 
 see defeat impending and to triumph over it, to stagger 
 beneath the burden of toil for the public weal and not 
 to fall. 
 
 When a character like T.A.B.'s, imbued from the cradle 
 with the ideals of service, is placed in such an atmosphere, 
 it grows and flourishes amazingly. With generous care it 
 may develop into a personality capable of transforming the 
 ideals of a whole people, and able to exert an influence on 
 the destinies of a hemisphere. 
 
 Eton is confessedly the greatest of public schools, 
 and amongst public schools is paradoxically sui generis.
 
 1878] THE INFLUENCE OF ETON 23 
 
 Whatever its detractors may urge against it on the score of 
 unwieldiness, or of laxness in effort, or of an enervating atmo- 
 sphere of wealth, . . . there is no place to which more men 
 turn with greater pride and more glowing affection in after 
 days when the work of Empire has called her sons to the 
 ministry of government in far-off lands, under alien skies, 
 in loneliness and hardship, when grit and the memory of 
 Eton alone save from failure and despair. 
 
 Eton's work for T.A.B., like her influence on other men, 
 can be estimated by his affection for her. To the end 
 of his days he was proud of his connection with her : he 
 constantly went down on St. Andrew's Day, or the 4th of 
 June, and the spell of the place was always evident when he 
 talked about her. 
 
 He carefully preserved all his life, his little diary for the 
 year 1878, which he probably wrote under the influence of 
 his mother's example. A few quotations from it are given 
 here, as an indication of his habits and occupations. They 
 are illuminative of much which has been already, and is to 
 be, said of him. 
 
 Saturday, January igth. I went out shooting. I 
 bagged 7 rabbits, I hare, i partridge, and 4 pheasants. At 
 4 o'clock our party commenced. We danced till half-past 
 eight, and had a conjuror in between. 
 
 Thursday, January ^ist. I went up town after 12. 
 After 4 I went for a paper chase with Marindin's fellows. 
 Eastwood and Kerr were hares. I caught them after we 
 had gone about 2 miles and a half. 
 
 Thursday, February jth. I went out jumping with 
 Wilson, Curtis and Hugessen. At the very beginning I lost 
 my shoe in the mud, and had to go the whole way without 
 it. 
 
 Friday, March ist. After 12 I steered the Defiance 
 up in the procession of boats to Surly and back again. I 
 got on much better with steering than I expected. 
 
 Friday, March 22nd. Iran in the junior steeplechase. 
 38 started Harford was first, Vane-Tempest second, 
 Jeudwin third, and Farquharson fourth. I came in about 
 ninth. 
 
 Saturday, April 6th. We had no early school, but 
 Chapel at 8.30, and confirmation chapel at n. After 12 I
 
 24 ETON DIARY [1878 
 
 went up to see Mrs. Denham and after 4 I steered Hawkins' 
 eight in lower eights. We won after an exciting race by 
 barely a length. 
 
 Monday, May 6th. We went to Paris, starting at 6 a.m. 
 We drove 26 miles to Newhaven. We then crossed to Dieppe, 
 where we arrived about 3, and then we went on to Paris 
 by train via Rouen. 
 
 Wednesday, May 2gth. I steered in Lower Fours. 
 West's four were first, ours (Mill's) were second, and Croft's 
 last. After 6 I went up as far as the locks in an outrigger. 
 In the evening I played chess with Eastwood. 
 
 Tuesday, June qth. I did nothing particular in the 
 morning, but went to the White Hart to order dinner. At 
 2.30 Papa and Mamma came down, and I met them at 
 Slough. After 6 o'clock absence I steered the Dreadnought 
 in the procession to Surly. 
 
 Friday, July igth. I went to London for the Eton 
 and Harrow match. 1 was up at Lords most of the day from 
 half past one till seven. Mr. Maudslay drove Sandbach and 
 me back in his carriage. In the evening I went to the 
 theatre with Mabelle. 
 
 Saturday, July zoth. Mr. Bingham called about 12, 
 so I went up to Lords with him. It was very hot indeed. 
 Eton was beaten by 20 runs. Lord and Lady Clanmorris, 
 Aunt Maude and Uncle Albert were there. In the evening 
 1 came back to Eton. 
 
 Sunday, October i$th. In the morning I went out for 
 a walk with Kerr, out round by Hawtrey's. After dinner 
 I went out for a long walk with Hannen, round by old 
 Windsor and the Long Walk. 
 
 Sunday, October zjth. Nearly all my dame's had gone 
 for long leave. Harry and Evie Wrench came down to 
 chapel and came to see my room afterwards. Went for a 
 walk with Wilson after dinner to Ditton and Hawtrey's. 
 
 Saturday, November ^oth. St. Andrew's Day. Very 
 cold and foggy, although fine. I went to see the lower-boy 
 match in the field after 10. -Wales' beat Cornish's for the 
 cup. After 12 went with Johnstone to see Tugs v. Oppidans 
 on the wall. The collegers won by 7 shies. 
 
 Saturday, December iqth. Collections began. Got Medea 
 to Jason for talking in school. Went with Wilson to 
 see the house match in field, Durnford's v. James'. Latter 
 won by one goal to nil. Went up town after 4 to get some 
 Christmas cards.
 
 1878] ETON REPORTS 25 
 
 Sunday, December itfh. Went out with Kerr after 
 morning chapel up town, but it came on to snow. Went 
 out with Hannen in the afternoon. Farewell sermon from 
 Joynes. 
 
 Three reports from Eton, which were found amongst his 
 papers, will show what his tutors thought of him : 
 
 BRASSEY. A most pleasant and amiable little lad, whom 
 one can no more repress than a cork in a bucket. I am 
 on the whole very pleased with his work, and think he 
 deserves a good report. Latin Prose hardly up to the 
 mark of his place in the Remove. 1 doubt his keeping 
 his place in Trials, but he has a number of able boys 
 round him. 
 
 loth of 34. 
 
 M. J. 
 
 BRASSEY. A very good, well-behaved boy, bright address 
 and a very fair average in work. I have been fairly 
 pleased with him ; but he is not up to the two or three 
 best boys in the Division, who reach a really high 
 standard, and his composition is unequal, 
 nth of 28. 
 
 M. JAMES. 
 
 One letter, as an example, will show how he confided to 
 his father all his hopes and fears : 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 Sunday. 
 
 The weather here has been atrocious. Rain every day 
 almost. The river has been very high again and is more 
 like a winter torrent than the Thames as it ought to be at 
 this tune of year. Boating has been stopped for a long time 
 except for gigs and eight-oars. There has not been such a 
 horrible summer for years and years. I am afraid that 1 
 may not steer the eight at Henley but there are still hopes. 
 I gave satisfaction until last Wednesday when Warre said 
 I did not steer well but lost a length and a half. Thursday 
 I thought I steered a great deal better and so did other 
 fellows but Warre said I again lost a length and a'halfVhich 
 I am sure 1 did not the second night. On Friday they tried 
 another steerer but he steered as badly as he possibly could,
 
 26 ETON LETTERS [1879 
 
 and fouled twice the scratch crew they were racing with. 
 Last night they tried another coxswain but I don't know 
 how he steered yet. It is a great disappointment to me as 
 you may imagine. My friends come and cheer me up. 
 
 I hope that I shall steer yet, but am afraid not. It is 
 rather hard lines steering within 4 days of Henley and then 
 being kicked out. Poor Tennant, the fellow who stroked 
 our Trial Eight when we won, has also been kicked out. He 
 is a very good oar and everyone says that he is better than 
 some who are rowing. I have got up a good deal of the 
 work for Trials and am working hard every day. Thank 
 Mamma for the hamper. Don't tell her about this if you 
 can help it until I know for certain. Best love to Mabelle, 
 Mamma, Moonie, Baby, and yourself. 
 
 His old school friend, Mr. R. S. de Havilland, writes about 
 his great disappointment in being turned down by Mr. Warre 
 from his place as cox of the Eton Eight of 1880 : 
 
 I had a curious bond with Brassey in those days, and 
 that was a bond of misfortune. I was much disappointed in 
 not getting into the Eton Eight of 1880. Brassey was 
 also disappointed in not steering the same eight. What- 
 ever my own merits may have been I am quite certain of 
 his, as a steerer, and always thought that he was hardly 
 treated on that occasion. Those things mean so much at 
 the time, but T. A.B. took it all extremely well. One curious 
 fact is that although he was light enough in those days to 
 be a cox, yet he and another steerer in the boats, Polkington, 
 went in for a pair-oar race called Junior Pulling, open to 
 all but members of the Upper Boats. So well did they do 
 that they were actually second in the final of the whole 
 competition, a wonderful feat, considering the course was 
 3 miles, half up and half down stream. That was in 1879. 
 I have never forgotten it, for though hi for the final of the 
 same race my partner and I did not get home owing to a 
 broken oar. 
 
 Many years afterwards, hi 1912, Brassey came to see 
 me at Eton, and asked me to get some one to come out in 
 a gig with him. I got hold of a great lad named Boyd, a 
 splendid boy, well over 12 st., a member of the Crew which 
 had just won the Ladies' Plate for us at Henley. I steered 
 the boat and watched the other two row, and I can truth- 
 fully say that the heavyweight did not gain a pin's advantage
 
 i88i] ETON ASSOCIATIONS 27 
 
 over the man of 50, or thereabouts, as T. A.B. was then. These 
 seem trifles, but he never spared himself ; nature had made 
 him almost tireless, though I think of late years, perhaps, he 
 was beginning to show that 25 and 55 are not absolutely the 
 same. Yet they were, almost, with him. To me his entire 
 selflessness and his extraordinary kindness will be in my 
 mind all my life. 
 
 His Eton career is summed up by his tutor in a letter to 
 his father dated April 23rd, 1882 : 
 
 To Sir Thomas Brassey. 
 
 ... I am very sorry that your son is leaving : he was 
 one of my first pupils and I shall miss him much. 
 
 Still, in four or five months he may gain much useful 
 knowledge of French, and thus economise time when he has 
 taken his degree. 
 
 I quite agree with you in thinking that there is no reason 
 to be dissatisfied with his Eton career. Though he has not 
 attained to the first place in any one subject yet he has done 
 well in a great many, and leaves the school with a good 
 general education. He always appeared to me to make the 
 best of his life out of school hours, and to choose good and 
 sensible friends. I feel sure that he will see the necessity 
 of reading steadily when he goes up to Oxford. His Scholar- 
 ship is quite good enough to enable him to do well in 
 " Greats " should you and he, after consultation with the 
 authorities at Balliol, think it advisable for him to take his 
 degree in that school. 
 
 He never forgot Eton friends : nor was he unmindful 
 of those who, though unknown to him, had been at Eton 
 and were rather under the weather. 
 
 T.A.B. was elected to Pop in 1881, and was, according to 
 all accounts which have been preserved of him, very well 
 liked by his contemporaries. His greatest friends were 
 Tomlin, Hannen and Bourne. 
 
 His life at Eton may be summed up in the following 
 extracts from the " Eton College Chronicle " : 
 
 1879, March ist. Cox of Prince of Wales. 
 
 Played football for Tarver's.
 
 28 FRENCH FRIENDS [1882 
 
 1880, March ist. Cox of Victory. 
 
 1881, March ist. Rowed in Hibernia. 
 
 June 4th. Rowed in Dreadnought and in Lower 
 
 Boat choices. 
 October Elected to Pop. 
 
 1882, Feb. 6th. Opened a debate, " Is the British 
 
 Navy in a satisfactory condition ? " 
 He spoke in the affirmative and 
 the motion was carried by 3. 
 March ist. Rowed in Prince of Wales. 
 
 4th in Final of School Mile. 
 
 He left Eton in 1882, and for six months lived in Paris 
 in the house of Monsieur Alexandre Casaubon, with whom 
 he maintained friendly relationships until the end of his 
 days. He was able, as a result, to speak French fluently. 
 In after life, when very much immersed in business relating 
 to the General Election at the end of the South African War, 
 he found time to send copies of his speeches both to Monsieur 
 Casaubon and to another friend, Monsieur Le Sage. When 
 later on he called on the Casaubons during the time of his 
 service in France, he received a letter on the following 
 terms : 
 
 Paris, le 31 Decembre, 1917. 
 MON CHER AMI, 
 
 Je regrette bien d'avoir e*te absent lors de votre 
 passage a mon bureau. J'etais alle me reposer de mes 
 fatigues dans la Charente chez une tante de ma femme. Je 
 suis revenu completement remis de mes fatigues, et en bonne 
 sante*. J'ai toujours beaucoup de travail, mais je trouve 
 qu'a 1'arriere nous n'avons pas le droit de nous plaindre, et 
 devons tout supporter en pensant a 1'heroisme et au devoue- 
 ment de ceux qui combattent pour nous sur le front. Je 
 pense que 1918 verra avancer le succes de nos armes ; il y 
 aura encore beaucoup a souffrir mais nous vaincrons certaine- 
 ment. 
 
 Ma femme et ma fille vont bien. Mon fils, toujours 
 mobilise", a e*te un peu malade, et est en ce moment encore 
 en convalescence. Ma mere se porte bien. Mon pere 
 supporte moins bien le poids des ans ; il est vrai qu'il est 
 age* de 87 ans, le me'decin 1'oblige a se coucher des qu'il se 
 sent indispose*. La maison de la rue St. Jacques est presque
 
 T.A.B. IN HIS "BOAT'S" DRESS AT ETON. 
 
 \ 
 
 T.A.B. AT THE WHEEL ON THE "SUNBEAM."
 
 i882] EARLY OXFORD DAYS 29 
 
 entierement pleine de Francais et surtout d'Americains ; il y 
 a meme un Colonel Anglais, homme fort aimable et tres gai. 
 Ma belle-sceur et mon plus jeune neveu aident maintenant, 
 beaucoup ma mere par leur presence : le fils qui a passe 
 brillamment ses deux examens de baccalaureat-es-lettres, 
 est etudiant de la Faculte des Sciences, et veut devenir 
 medecin ; sa mere, excellente pianiste, anime la maison en 
 faisant de la musique avec les pensionnaires. Les occupa- 
 tions font ainsi oublier a ma mere ses chagrins ; elle a 1'esprit 
 occupe, ce qui vaut mieux et est en bonne sante ; elle ne 
 pourrait d'ailleurs pas avec son caractere vivre dans Tin- 
 action ; elle ne veut pas absolument s'arreter, et il lui faut 
 du bruit autour d'elle. 
 
 J'espere que M. votre pere et tous les membres de votre 
 famille sont en bonne sante. 
 
 Je vous souhaite une annee meilleure que celle qui 
 est passee. Veuillez presenter mon respectueux souvenir 
 a Lord Brassey, et me croire toujours votre vieil ami, 
 
 A. CASAUBON. 
 
 Mon neveu, 1'aine, est interprete dans 1'armee Americaine ; 
 il parle, trouve-t-on, tres bien I'Anglais. 
 
 A man is known by the way he clings to the friends of 
 his youth, and they to him. This one letter, chosen from a 
 large number with its assumption that T.A.B. will of course be 
 interested in all the writer's affairs may be taken to be a 
 sufficient 'indication of T.A.B. 's constancy to the friendships 
 of his youth. 
 
 After his six months in Paris and a holiday in England 
 T.A.B. went up to Oxford as a commoner of Balliol in 
 October, 1882. Then began a love which lasted until death. 
 Whatever trait in his character seemed strongest to those who 
 lived near to him in later life, it was plain to every one that 
 he loved Balliol and loved Oxford with a surpassing affection. 
 That it was not merely a superficial or sentimental fancy 
 for an ancient place of learning, where he had spent some 
 happy hours of youth, is testified by many a glowing word, 
 and many a magnificent action which ennobled his later 
 years. Oxford had a strong grip upon him : its needs called 
 forth the effort of every fibre of his being : for its prosperity 
 no sacrifice could be accounted too great. 
 
 D
 
 30 THE OXFORD TRADITION [1882 
 
 Other men were and are no doubt equally attached to 
 Oxford, and equally anxious to further the interests of the 
 University, but few have displayed so clearly, in action, 
 the soundness of their attachment. He was one apart, 
 towering head and shoulders above his fellows in the in- 
 tensity of his feeling for the College of his choice, and the 
 University of which it was a part. But of all this more 
 must be recorded at a later time of his life. 
 
 It may, however, be not beside the mark to inquire what 
 was the nature of the force which attracted this young man 
 who was wealthy beyond the dreams of most undergraduates, 
 and absolved from any necessity to struggle for a great 
 place, or to engage in the common toil for livelihood or for 
 riches. 
 
 Oxford has been described by many men in many ways ; 
 the devising of clever epigrams has been an amusement 
 and an interlude of her brilliant sons, and a source of unholy 
 glee for her soured detractors : fervid praise and witty 
 reminiscences abound in the literature of many centuries ; 
 but the steady, constant, shining glow of honest enthusiasm, 
 which is the fruit of the honest, English nature, has been 
 less emphasised in either epigram or reminiscence. It 
 would seem to be quite certain that the secret of Oxford's 
 hold upon T.A.B. was its clear-cut message of the duty of 
 public service. That message was so forceful as to rasp 
 upon the least imaginative in such a way as to brook no 
 neglect, and upon his sensitiveness, in particular, with 
 clamant insistency. His nature was already attuned to 
 receive such a message : what home, family, ancestry, early 
 associations, Eton had left unsaid, Balliol uttered with no 
 uncertain voice in his ready ear. Sacrifice for the common 
 good, and with a merry face, he learnt at Oxford and did 
 not forget. 
 
 A letter to Lady Brassey from his friend, Mr. Chitty, 
 helps to explain this : 
 
 To Lady Brassey. 
 
 Little as I had seen of T.A.B. for many years I continued 
 always to think of him as a very dear friend. I had no 
 greater friend than he when we were up at Oxford together,
 
 i88 2 ] LIFE AT BALLIOL 31 
 
 and the friendship was of that intimate character which 
 produces a lasting impression something that no subse- 
 quent events can alter. . . . 
 
 The reference to T.A.B.'s grandfather reminds me of the 
 time when he was attending a weekly lecture on political 
 economy. We had a very gloomy fortnight because twice 
 running the lecturer, a learned Professor, had discoursed 
 upon the ease with which wealth is abused by its owner. 
 The lectures had been copiously illustrated from the Eves 
 of wealthy men. Next week, however, T.A.B. returned from 
 the lecture radiantly happy. The Professor had turned to 
 the other side of the picture and quite unaware that T.A.B. 
 was one of his audience, he had taken T.A.B.'s grandfather as 
 his first illustration of what wealth means when it is in the 
 hands of the right man. Perhaps 1 am merely telling you 
 something that you are quite familiar with, but I am sure 
 that that lecture bore fruits throughout T.A.B.'s life. 
 . . . All my recollections of him are such happy ones, and 
 what is more they are grateful, for I am keenly conscious of 
 how much I owe to his friendship. 
 
 When he entered at Balliol, the lustre which had been 
 shed upon the name of the College by the life work of its 
 greatest of masters Benjamin Jowett was bright and 
 glowing. The reforms which he had spent himself in effect- 
 ing, the high standard of scholarship which he had set for 
 himself and demanded of all his associates, the remarkable 
 traits and influences of his personality, were sufficient to 
 make the tone and the reputation of Balliol unsurpassed 
 and possibly unequalled by any other College of the Uni- 
 versity. The common room was filled with men of genius 
 and individuality, one of the youngest of whom a man 
 whose mark was already made a certain A. L. Smith, 
 destined himself to be Master of Balliol, was T.A.B.'s tutor. 
 Their association was the prelude to a life-long friendship 
 in which each contributed to the equipment of the other, 
 to their great and lasting gain. T.A.B.'s intellectual powers 
 were not above the average : his tutor's were brilliant, and 
 they served to inspire T.A.B.'s practical common-sense with a 
 new vision of service. Amongst men just senior to him, 
 or of his year, were some who attained high positions or 
 made great reputations in their several spheres. These
 
 32 SPORT AT OXFORD [1883 
 
 included Douglas Haig, Frederick Huth Jackson, Cosmo 
 Gordon Lang, Harold Ruggles-Brise, Henry Bowlby, 
 Douglas McLean, Edward Grey, Robert Younger, B. B. 
 Cubitt, J. A. Spender, E. A. Mitchell-Innes, G. R. Benson, 
 and Anthony Hope Hawkins. 
 
 T.A.B. was in college for the first two years of his course, 
 and afterwards lived in rooms with " Jacker." His Eton 
 diary has shown his devotion to sports of all kinds. At 
 Oxford he made a great reputation as a runner, and was 
 very successful on the river. He also hunted a great deal 
 with two or three packs of hounds, and particularly with 
 the Heythrop, of which his uncle was Master. When his 
 reading and rowing made more claims on his time, he gave 
 up hunting to a very large extent in order to devote himself 
 more particularly to the river. Though only a lightweight 
 he was a first-rate oar, and in other years many less capable 
 have been awarded their Blues. The great feature about 
 all his sport was that he never knew when he was beaten. 
 A tremendous look of determination set itself hard upon his 
 face, and he would snatch a victory out of the very jaws of 
 defeat with that last gasp of effort which a great many men 
 never learn that they possess. He stroked the College Eight 
 and was Captain of the College Boat Club. 
 
 He became a member and joint secretary of the Dervor- 
 guilla Club, a society which met usually on Saturday 
 evenings for the discussion of topics of political interest. 
 This club, in 1883, consisted of the following members : 
 F. W. Pember, H. W. Cave, H. Chitty, H. Ruggles-Brise, 
 T. A. Brassey, W. Farrer, W. K. Richardson, H. Vian, 
 C. A. lonides, W. B. Davenport, D. Waterhouse, J. B. 
 Williamson, L. J. Grant, C. E. Mallett, B. H. Cohen, C. N. 
 Lubbock, H. L. W. Lawson, S. Brearley, R. L. Smith, 
 B. King, W H. Forbes, A. H. Hawkins, E. C. E. Owen, 
 W. H. Shaw, J. Waley, W. A. Bowen, and R. Younger. 
 
 It is named after the Princess Dervorguilla, wife of John 
 de Balliol, founder of the College. The nature of its 
 discussions may be estimated from an account of one of its 
 debates. 
 
 On Saturday, March 7th, Mr. Williamson moved " That 
 this House has lost all confidence in the Foreign Policy of
 
 1884] OXFORD DIARY 33 
 
 Her Majesty's Ministers, and considers a reconstruction of 
 the Gladstone Cabinet imperatively necessary." To this 
 Mr. Lang moved as an amendment, " That the words after 
 ' Her Majesty's Ministers ' be omitted." The Conserva- 
 tives, however, were too weak to aid Mr. Lang : and the 
 union of Conservatives and bigoted Liberals proved too 
 strong for Mr. Williamson and his free-thinkers : conse- 
 quently both amendment and motion were lost." 
 
 During vacations T.A.B. was much occupied with his 
 cutter, the Norman, which he kept in the Thames, and sailed 
 to various places round the coast. Like his father, he loved 
 sculling and rowing, and would get up races with local 
 oarsmen when away on holiday. The Master of Balliol 
 tells how pleased T.A.B. was when, with three amateurs, 
 he beat a four-oar of professionals at Southsea. 
 
 He passed the Board of Trade Examination for Master's 
 Certificate in Mercantile Marine in order that, as a yacht 
 owner, he might be allowed to navigate his own vessel. 
 
 During 1884, 1885, and 1886 he kept a short diary of 
 his doings, which consists more or less of a record of events, 
 with only occasional comments and criticisms. A fairly 
 accurate summary of his habits can be derived from this 
 diary, showing that shooting, hunting, dancing, running, 
 rowing, and nearly every kind of outdoor sport occupied his 
 spare time. He kept also from day to day a record of the 
 number of hours spent in reading, which shows that he put 
 in a steady average of five to six hours a day. 
 
 In January, 1884, he speaks with glee of hounds killing 
 in a kitchen in East Sussex, and of stroking the second 
 " togger " when it swamped. In the College Sports of 
 March of this year he won the Half-Mile Handicap and 
 finished second in the Mile. He ran for Oxford against 
 Cambridge in the Mile. 
 
 In April, his sister Mabelle was engaged to Mr. C. A. 
 Egerton, who a few years later was joint-master with T.A.B. 
 of the East Sussex, and his coming of age was celebrated 
 with great magnificence at Normanhurst. His father and 
 mother filled the place to overflowing in honour of the event. 
 The festivities continued for a whole week, and the journal- 
 istic chronicler of the time records the way in which
 
 34 COMING OF AGE [1884 
 
 philanthropic work, in which his mother was so greatly in- 
 terested, was dovetailed into visits to the races, fancy dress 
 balls, illumination of the grounds, paper chases, and enter- 
 tainments to the tenantry. The sleeping accommodation of 
 the house was quite insufficient to accommodate the hundred 
 guests who came to spend the week, and the large, covered 
 tennis-court, which years afterwards was to be turned into a 
 Red Cross hospital for men wounded in the Great War, was 
 fitted up for the accommodation of the male visitors. Large 
 marquees were erected close by for the men-servants, and 
 the inner drawing-room, looking over towards the sea, was 
 doubled in size by the erection of a temporary terrace upon 
 which a great tent was set. 
 
 T.A.B. is reported to have looked " very nice in a fancy 
 boating dress," such as is customarily worn in the dreadful 
 language of the journalist " in the Montem (sic) festival on 
 the 4th of June, at Eton," and it is said that "his duck 
 trousers and straw hat, and altogether simple but pleasant 
 outfit contrasted very favourably with the elaborate toilettes, 
 rich coloured costumes and brilliant appearance of the large 
 proportion of the guests assembled to do him honour." 
 
 The record in the diary for Whit Sunday (June ist) 
 runs : " Went up the river with Cosmo, James, Ruggles, 
 Roger, Tommy, Tout, and Pemberton." He rowed in the 
 Sculls, beat Andrews in the first heat by four lengths, 
 Vickers in the second by a length and a half, in the third he 
 drew a bye, and was then beaten by Unwin, who had 
 previously beaten the President easily by rather over two 
 lengths. At this he expresses great disappointment. He 
 finished second in the Pairs at the College Regatta, was in 
 the winning Eight, and second in the Cockles. 
 
 In August he went to Attadale, where Ruggles-Brise 
 and MOJITO joined him. During this stay in Scotland, which 
 lasted until the beginning of October, he was constantly 
 reading, using his spare time in fishing, shooting, stalking, 
 and in excursions on the Sunbeam. On Sundays he 
 speaks of the services at church, at kirk, or on the yacht. 
 Amongst the guests were the Casaubons, who stayed for 
 some time, Lord and Lady Randolph Churchill, the Lyttons 
 and Colonel Napier.
 
 GALLANTRY AT SEA 35 
 
 On Tuesday, September 3oth, the party went to the 
 Loch Canon games. The Viking swamped going across 
 with eight people in her, including T.A.B. Some were nearly 
 drowned, and a great calamity was only averted by T.A.B. 's 
 courage and presence of mind. 
 
 This event, recorded in his diary in language as bald as 
 the most modest of men could make it, may be retold in the 
 account of the award of the Medal of the Royal Humane 
 Society for saving life at sea, which was given to him for 
 his gallantry. The official report to the Society runs 
 thus : 
 
 At about half-past eleven on the 30th of July, as the 
 Viking cutter was proceeding from the yacht Sunbeam 
 (lying at anchor in Loch Carron, Ross-shire) to the shore, 
 some three-quarters of a mile distant, one of her timbers 
 parted in two, owing to the very heavy sea that was then 
 running. The boat was shortly found to be in a sinking 
 condition, and during a short interval Mr. Brassey, with 
 great coolness, distributed the oars to those of the crew 
 and others who could not swim (six in number) and, divesting 
 himself of his coat, advised the others to do the same, at 
 the same time giving instructions to the non-swimmers 
 what to do. The vessel soon filled and turned over in the 
 rough waves, and in the confusion, several having lost the 
 oars that had been given to them, Mr. Brassey's voice was 
 heard encouraging all. Among them was a lad of 18, 
 named Tinworth, groom to Sir Thomas Brassey. He 
 being observed in a drowning condition, Mr.. Brassey swam 
 out, and, without a thought of his own safety, gave him his 
 own oar, and supported him against the heavy waves until 
 the Sunbeam's other boat arrived and rescued all. The wind 
 was blowing a heavy gale at the time. 
 
 One who was present wrote to him afterwards in the 
 following terms : 
 
 We were delighted last night at seeing in the Pall Mall 
 the announcement of the recognition by the Royal Humane 
 Society of your pluck and courage on Loch Carron and I 
 must write a line of congratulation. It is a fine trophy to 
 have won and thoroughly well deserved. I fully appreciated 
 your performances at the time, but did not say much about 
 them to you because I fancied you rather barred the subject.
 
 36 OXFORD DIARY [1885 
 
 At the beginning of the Michaelmas term he was rowing 
 in a four as bow with Hall (str.), Roger (3), Fairfax (2) 
 but the idea of the four had to be given up after a fortnight's 
 strenuous practice, as Roger had developed a heart. The 
 succeeding fortnight was spent in coaching on the river, in 
 running, and rowing bow in trials. 
 
 He ran in the 'Varsity Mile Handicap with 75 yards 
 start, winning easily in 4'mins. 32 sees. In the same month 
 he found time to run down to Portsmouth to look after the 
 Norman. 
 
 He won, also, the Trinity Strangers' Race, a Two-Mile 
 Handicap, with 60 yards start, hi 10 mins. n sees. 
 
 On December gth he went down from Oxford and 
 attended the Rowing Club Dinner at Hastings, at which he 
 made a speech. Until Christmas he was shooting, mainly 
 with the Ruggles-Brises and L. Harcourt. 
 
 The year 1885 opened with him still at Normanhurst 
 with Ruggles-Brise. On January 2nd they went to the 
 St. Leonards ball, which he reported to be crowded and 
 stuffy. Until the nth there was the usual round of hunting 
 and shooting with a children's fancy ball at the Ebdens on 
 the loth. On the I2th he went to Canford to stay with the 
 Wimbornes for shooting, and returned to Oxford on the 
 1 6th, via London. The first week of term he was unwell 
 and not much out. On the 3ist he introduced a motion at 
 Dervorguilla on the state of the Navy. 
 
 In February he writes much of coaching the " togger," 
 driving over to Heythrop ball with Jacker, which necessitated 
 getting in through Brown's window by a ladder at 5.30 a.m. 
 
 On Ash Wednesday he went into training for running. 
 The togger made one bump. He won the Mile and Half- 
 Mile Handicap at the College Sports. 
 
 In March he was still hard at work rowing and running, 
 and at the 'Varsity Sports he won the Mile by i foot from 
 Holland. This race deserve a longer mention than he 
 gives. The Oxford University Magazine tells the story at 
 length : 
 
 Snow was falling on Friday night, and with it the hearts 
 of all who wished to watch, or to take part in the University
 
 i88 5 ] 'VARSITY SPORTS 37 
 
 Sports on the morrow ; for if there is one thing that can make 
 or mar Sports, it is the weather. Cold and damp are a 
 cheerless prospect for the spectator ; but add to them the 
 thoughts of a wet path and slippery turf, and you have the 
 feelings of the already shivering athlete. 
 
 However, Saturday morning broke fine and still, and as 
 the hours wore on the sun came out and left nothing to be 
 desired in the day. The path was a little heavy in places, 
 and the times, therefore, for the Quarter and Mile will probably 
 be faster at Lillie Bridge. The Mile was again this year the 
 closest race on the first day, and few but the judges knew 
 whether Holland or Brassey was first : but strength and 
 pluck had told their tale, and Brassey was pronounced the 
 winner by a few inches. 
 
 One Mile (i) T. A. Brassey, Balliol ; (2) E. R. Holland, 
 Pembroke; (3) F. E. J. Smith, New College ; E. de 
 L. Collinson, New College ; H. Gordon, New College ; 
 C. J. Lavie, New College ; R. E. Nevill, Lincoln. 
 
 Lavie and Nevill led for some distance, but the two 
 Blues, joined by Brassey, gradually worked their way to 
 the front, and between these three the race was evidently 
 to be decided. Coming into the straight Brassey gave 
 Smith the go-by, and followed hard after Holland, who 
 struggled madly to shake off his determined opponent ; 
 but in vain Brassey passed the tape an inch or two to the 
 good, Smith being close up behind. Time : 4 mins. 37! sees. 
 It is only fair to add that Smith did much better time than 
 this at Lillie Bridge last year, so that all these competitors 
 may be expected to improve much in the coming fortnight. 
 Pratt, last spring, cut himself down 14 sees, in the same 
 period. 
 
 In the Three-Mile Race there were many running, 
 (i) J. H. A. Marshall, University ; (2) F. M. Ingram, Magdalen; 
 (3) T. A. Brassey, Balliol ; (4) H. A. Munro, New College ; 
 G. R. Benson, Balliol ; W. C. Anderson, Oriel ; G. N. 
 Barclay, Magdalen; A. Y. Dawbarn, Balliol; A. Douglas, 
 Merton ; W. J. King, Corpus ; W. A. Marshall, Ch. Ch. ; 
 G. G. Timmis, Ch. Ch. ; W. T. Turrell, Turrell's Hall ; 
 P. S. Worthington, Corpus. 
 
 Ingram cut out the work, and was still leading at the 
 end of the first mile (5 mins. 2 sees.) and the second (10 mins. 
 21 sees.). Shortly after this, however, Marshall sent to the 
 front, and going away fast won by 100 yards from Ingram, 
 who was something less than that distance in front of Brassey. 
 
 388034
 
 38 A DISAPPOINTING RACE [1885 
 
 Half way through the race Brassey lost a shoe, which handi- 
 capped him not a little. Of the others, Munro alone finished ; 
 still the size of the field was most creditable, and the popu- 
 larity of the race throws great light on the almost unbroken 
 monopoly of this event at Lillie Bridge. Time 15 mins. 25! sees. 
 
 Oxford won the Sports on March 27th by 5 \ to 3 1. He 
 himself ran very badly in the Mile, which resulted : (i) Holland, 
 (2) Waters, (3) Smith, (4) Brassey in 4 mins. 37! sees. 
 Oxford also won the boatrace by 3 lengths. He followed 
 the race on a steamer, his father being with him. 
 
 At the end he went down to Birkenhead. He was in 
 the district for a week and visited Chester and other places. 
 
 At the end of term he had intended going to Norway, 
 but changed his plans. For the month of July his head- 
 quarters were Birkenhead, whence he visited most of the 
 well-known places in North Wales. He spent the whole of 
 August on the Sunbeam and the Norman. 
 
 In accordance with the rule of the College, T.A.B. entered 
 for Honour Moderations, and, in common with most Etonians, 
 in Classics. He met with a disaster which served as a great 
 stimulus to stronger efforts and closer application to study. 
 
 The following letters on the subject of his Schools are 
 sufficient explanation of the course of events. 
 
 DEAR T.A.B., 
 
 I'm awfully sorry on your Father's account : 
 not so much on yours : you're young and will outlive it, 
 and for all I know you may have a dozen sons one up if 
 the other's down. 
 
 Moreover your gulph sets you free to go straight to work 
 at History no quarantine. What this cropper or rather 
 this scramble proves is, not exactly that you're a fool, as 
 you suggest (for when you came up you were a wretched 
 scholar, nurtured, like most Etonians, on third-rate cribs, 
 and probably without a dictionary in your library) but that 
 yachting and reading don't agree well together. 
 
 Here are your marks, or most of them. 
 
 Homer ought to have been a certainty. 
 
 Homer, Aristophanes, 4 (pass, no class) De Corona, 
 
 Latin Prose, Greek Literature, all 3 
 
 i yard, 
 
 Virgil 3, Ac., Theocr., Juvenal Unseen, all 2.
 
 i88 5 ] HIS FATHER'S ADVICE 39 
 
 That would give you about 8 thirds out of 10 required 
 to put you in the Class List. Your divinity was described 
 as resembling Mr. Sawyer's famous jump on Marathon 
 through is not over : but there was one man who actually 
 described Mary Magdalene as the " Mother of Our Lord." 
 Could it have been Struggles ? for he neither got over nor 
 through. 
 
 Now for the sermon of which all this has been the text. 
 Don't go about whistling to yourself that humbugging 
 tune 
 
 O dear me 
 What a fool I be ! 
 
 which is only an excuse for not " trying " : but just remember 
 that even genius is only an endless capacity for taking pains : 
 your wits are quite as good as most men start with, and 
 whether people come to call you clever or not is a mere 
 question of time and sticking to it. 
 
 Don't forget to ask your Father about the Union : and 
 don't cut me entirely because you've gone on to History ! 
 
 Ever yours, 
 
 F. de PARAVICINI. 
 
 T.A.B. accordingly read for Honours in History, and by 
 dint of great application secured a very good second, which 
 might easily have been a first. His father wrote to him 
 about this from mid-ocean. 
 
 1 7th July, 1886. 
 
 MY DEAREST T.A.B., 
 
 I take my earliest opportunity of writing my 
 warmest congratulations on your good class in the History 
 School. I am entirely satisfied. With luck it might have 
 been a first. Without the favouring chances you have 
 taken a most honourable place. I cannot doubt that you 
 would have been in the first class if you had declined to 
 comply with the demands upon you for help in athletics. 
 They take too much out of you, when you are making a 
 serious call on your brains. All this was fully considered 
 when I met Smith and had breakfast in your rooms. The 
 reasons which led you to undertake athletics were good 
 reasons. It is quite unnecessary to regret. You have 
 done thoroughly well. Every friend will be quite delighted. 
 
 My dear T.A.B. I earnestly hope that your good beginning 
 at Oxford will be an encouragement to you at the outset
 
 40 AN EXCITING RACE [1886 
 
 of your career. It can be made a happy, and useful, and 
 creditable one. It is easy to fail. 
 
 Begin at home. Be a good son to your dear Mother. 
 You have all her good qualities, her talents in many 
 ways, her pluck, her devotion. Be a help to your sisters, 
 especially to Mabelle. 
 
 Take every opportunity of doing what you can for 
 country, the village games, the yeomanry, the Naval Annual, 
 the Colonial Federation Scheme, your journeys ; all these 
 are opportunities. In the administration of the property, 
 which I have given to you, much useful experience may be 
 gained. It is always a power to be a man of business. 
 
 I have only to say once more how proud I am of your 
 success, how thankful I am that you have had this encourage- 
 ment to further efforts, and how grateful I am to those who 
 have helped you in your career at Oxford, whether as teachers 
 or as friends. 
 
 What a relief it must be to you, my dear son, to have got 
 through your heavy task ! 
 
 Your most affectionate father, 
 
 (Signed) THOMAS BRASSEY. 
 
 The diary for 1886 covers very much the same kind of 
 ground as those of the two previous years. It is to be noted 
 that he was second in the Half -Mile at the College Sports, and 
 that he won the Mile in 4 mins. 53 sees. The Varsity Sports, 
 held on March i6th, were again the occasion of a tremendous 
 contest in which his determination and stamina almost 
 snatched a victory from a much better runner. The 
 contemporary account is as follows : 
 
 The Mile was one of the finest races witnessed on the 
 Oxford path for many a day. At no part of the race did 
 more than a couple of yards separate T. A. Brassey (Balliol) 
 from F. J. K. Cross (New College), and when they entered 
 the straight level the excitement of the onlookers was raised 
 to fever pitch. Fifty yards from home Brassey, to the 
 delight of his friends, got a slight advantage, but at the 
 enclosure they were level again, and, just getting the best 
 of the final effort, the old Harrovian secured the verdict by 
 six inches. A finer exhibition of downright pluck has 
 seldom been witnessed, and had a dead heat resulted it 
 would have been equally as satisfactory. The time, 4 mins.
 
 i886] CLOSE OF OXFORD CAREER 41 
 
 34 sees., was remarkably good, and unless Brassey gets stale, 
 as he did last year, the winner of the Inter- Varsity Mile will 
 undoubtedly have to do 4 mins. 30 sees. of course, provided 
 the day is at all favourable. 
 
 The finish showed that T.A.B. was game to the very last. 
 Observers say that he was no pretty runner, but that he 
 had about ten times the pluck of most men. In the Three 
 Miles he finished third in 15 mins. 27 sees. In the Inter-Uni- 
 versity Sports the Mile was run by Cross in 4 mins. 28f sees. 
 
 In July there was again a cricket week at Normanhurst 
 when matches were played against the South Saxons, the 
 Parsees and Lambert's XI. 
 
 T.A.B. finally went down from Oxford in the middle of 
 the year and set himself at once to the work which he had 
 chosen in life, to the study of which he devoted a considerable 
 part of his Oxford time. This work was the consolidation 
 of the Empire. 
 
 The following letter from C. G. Lang (Archbishop of 
 York), who had just won a fellowship at All Souls, is of 
 interest as showing how his contemporaries at Oxford 
 admired the public spirit with which he set himself to work 
 directly after he came down from Oxford : 
 
 All Souls College. 
 Oxford. 
 
 Nov. 24th, 1888. 
 
 MY DEAR T.A.B., 
 
 Many thanks for your congratulations and the 
 letter which contained them. I only hear of you as a sort 
 of fiery cross touring about from sea-port to sea-port and a sign 
 that you were, after all, the actual T.A.B. was very reassuring. 
 I admire the work you are doing immensely not that I am 
 a zealot in the cause, 1 wish I were, but my blood is too cold ; 
 not that I understand thoroughly the attitude of the different 
 parts but it is hi these days refreshing to know that some- 
 body has got some definite thing to do and means to do it, 
 not because it is a clever party dodge, but because the country 
 is in need of it. 
 
 I am sure you are just the man to show what good work 
 can be done by letting the froth of party and democratic 
 nonsense alone and pegging away at the foundation of 
 patriotism which, in spite of his " demonstrations " and
 
 42 A FRIEND'S ESTIMATE [1888 
 
 political gag, poor John Bull really has deep down within him. 
 As for me I am vegetating here this term by compulsion. 
 It is luxurious vegetating, no doubt, but, I'm afraid, a 
 great waste of time. After Christmas I shall be again in 
 Town at Palace Chambers only coming up here casually 
 to keep my days. 
 
 The election was an utter surprise to me. I did, as I 
 still think, very inferior work in the exam. ; the result of no 
 reading, for my four months abroad was practically one long 
 holiday. I am only sorry that the brave show of very learned 
 persons who competed should have made such poor use of 
 their learning as to be beaten by an ignorant outsider. 
 
 Hoping to see you and have a talk with you sometime, 
 
 Yours ever, 
 
 C. G. LANG. 
 
 The Archbishop writes the following appreciation of 
 T.A.B.'s character and career at Oxford and subsequently : 
 
 Although T.A.B. (for like all his friends I can call him 
 by no other name) was my exact contemporary and inti- 
 mate friend at BaUiol, I cannot recall any special episodes 
 or tell any stories illustrating his career which would be of 
 interest to those who did not share the life which we lived 
 together in those happy days. His forceful personality 
 was simply part of that common life, interwoven with all 
 our memories of it. Few men changed so little in character 
 with the passage of the years. Wide experience of the world, 
 increasing responsibilities, a leading part in industrial and 
 political affairs, these all came to him. But the essential 
 T.A.B. remained the same. When I try to think of him in 
 his Balliol days, the picture which rises most vividly in my 
 memory is the picture of him stroking the College Eight, his 
 head thrown back, his teeth set, putting his whole energy 
 into every stroke. Then as ever, he " endured hardness," 
 hard rowing, hard running, hard riding, and (when it was 
 necessary) hard reading. Then, as ever, he was incapable 
 in himself and impatient in others of any softness of life, 
 or mind, or sport, or speech. Then, as ever, whatsoever his 
 hand found to do he did it with all his might. He often 
 tired others, as I well knew who used sometimes to make 
 the pace for him during his training for his memorable 
 contests in the Inter- Varsity Sports ; but he never seemed
 
 i888] A FRIEND'S ESTIMATE 43 
 
 tired himself. Ceaseless energy and outspoken honesty, 
 these were the marks of the undergraduate as of the man. 
 Frank, downright, even blunt, in word and manner, so we 
 remember him ; scornful of all pretence, evasion, compromise. 
 On the cinder-path, the river, the hunting field, as afterwards 
 in the management of business affairs or of the Oxford 
 Endowment Fund, or of the cause of Federalism and Devo- 
 lution, or of Church Finance, there was to him only one way 
 of going. It was straight ahead through all obstacles. There 
 was only one side to every question. There was only one 
 test of a man's character. Was he simple and straight ? 
 Could you rely on him in a tight place ? 
 
 Yet with all this almost grim determination and down- 
 rightness he was full of fun ; and in his laugh you felt " the 
 joyful gladness of such as are true-hearted. " True-hearted 
 he was in those days as ever afterwards, incapable of any- 
 thing mean or underhand ; clean, straight, the soul of 
 honour. And warm-hearted also in the love he had for his 
 family and home and in the loyalty he gave to his friends. 
 It is the remembrance of this truth and warmth and loyalty 
 of heart that moves all friends of his Oxford and later days 
 to think of him and to speak of him to one another as " dear 
 old T.A.B."
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 AFTER Oxford, as the next step in the educational course 
 for those who could compass it, always used to come the 
 grand tour. It may be different now. But in any case, to 
 see the world is to gain quickly a knowledge of affairs and 
 an experience of life. And these two are the crown of 
 education. They are the ocean into which the flood of 
 early achievement pours. School and college join hand in 
 hand to set a man aglow with fine ideals and noble principles. 
 And then in the college days, when personality is afire, the 
 shades of many an ancient brotherhood flit around hoary 
 quadrangles at the birth of lasting friendships. David is 
 kindled with the love of Jonathan, and sings afresh the song 
 of the Bow. Ideals, principles and friendships are placed 
 in their proper setting in the background of the width of 
 outlook which we gain in the journey to the Ultima Thule 
 of our desire and home again. By close observation of 
 many men in many lands exaggeration is moderated and 
 eccentricity ousted. The zealot is not made less zealous, 
 but his zeal is turned into the paths of understanding. The 
 mind comes to the fruition of manhood in the wisdom of 
 knowing that all things are possible to all men, but that 
 only those who seek find. The soul learns to discover, day 
 by day, new things divine in a world of change. Slowly it 
 finds the deeper content, looking with still eyes upon sights 
 of wonder and pain and happiness. In the voyage ad- 
 venturous the whole being swells into a greater compre- 
 hensiveness. 
 
 T.A.B. had been down to the sea in ships ever since he 
 was a baby. In the Albatross, in the Meteor, in the Sunbeam, 
 he had travelled from his earliest days, even from before 
 the first day that he could remember, the pathless ways 
 of the deep. In the Mediterranean his eyes had been rocked 
 
 44
 
 i886] THE INSPIRATION OF TRAVEL 45 
 
 to sleep by Euroclydon. The singing of the wind in the 
 rigging, the lash of the spindrift, the gambolling of the 
 dolphin were all part of his life. The lifting of the grey 
 cliff from the green water, as the Sunbeam beat in towards 
 the land ; the cry of the following bird as it swept the wave 
 in the wake of the gleaming skiff ; the setting of Orion in 
 the Northern Sky, and the lifting of the Southern Cross in 
 the starry tropical heaven ; the call of the off-shore wind, 
 the steady breath of the Trades, the falling of night athwart 
 a rocky coast ; these were all familiar to him. As incidents 
 of childhood and youth he had seen many men and many 
 lands. 
 
 But now it was to be different. With a set purpose he 
 was to go forth into the Colonies and into other countries. 
 At Oxford his thoughts had turned steadfastly towards an 
 ideal of Empire. From his father he had learned something 
 of the wider aspects of the growing problem of the Empire : 
 and now amidst the excitements and pleasures of travel, or 
 of big game shooting, he was to learn the secret of the 
 problem's solution. He was to follow that same father's 
 advice to investigate personally the conditions under which 
 men served the State in many places, and he was presently 
 to come to that fineness of enthusiasm which held him in 
 bondage, a willing slave, until the end of his life, for in the 
 midst of his early post-Oxford journeyings there came to 
 the birth his conviction concerning Imperial Unity and Im- 
 perial Federation. 
 
 The years 1885-8 were almost entirely occupied by 
 travel. T.A.B. published, privately, an account of some of his 
 doings, in a book called " Sixteen Months' Travel," 1886-7, 
 extracts from which will convey much of his doings. The 
 first relates to big game shooting in the Rockies : 
 
 Monday, October nth, 1886. When we woke up we 
 found an inch of snow over our beds ; but it came out fair, 
 and we determined to start. Packing was a tough job. 
 " Coomanchee," our Indian pony, would not let himself be 
 caught. Herbert tried after him for an hour and a half, 
 but we had at last to let him run loose. He followed quietly 
 with the pack train. I took a turn round by myself on the 
 way, but saw nothing but a doe deer. It came on to snow 
 
 E
 
 46 HUNTING IN THE ROCKIES [1886 
 
 slightly, so I went into camp for some " chuck " after which 
 off again on " Old Tom " up the gulch, where Barclay and 
 I had been on Saturday. Just as I reached the edge of 
 the live timber I heard an elk squeal, and a little farther on 
 tied up " Old Tom." I had not walked far when up jumped 
 a fair bull right in front of me. I did not shoot, because I 
 could hear some more squealing farther up the gulch, as 
 well as on my right. As I got on I began to realise that 
 the top of the gulch was full of an enormous band of elk. 
 Such a chorus I had never heard before, and don't suppose 
 I ever shall again. Some deep-toned, some shrill like three 
 or four notes on a fife ; most of them give three or four 
 grunts after whistling ; one was so hoarse that he barked 
 exactly like a dog. Several cows- 1 could see, but no big 
 bulls. I kept on the right and down wind of the main body, 
 hoping to get around on top of the big bulls. Close to the 
 head of the gulch a band of cows and small bulls got right 
 in my way. I got within seventy yards of the nearest cow, 
 when off they went, taking all those round with them, about 
 half the whole lot. 1 went on, hoping to have a shot at them 
 as they crossed the divide, but when I reached the top they 
 were already two or three hundred yards down the other 
 side. Hearing the big bulls still in the same place I turned 
 back towards them, along the top of the divide. Of course, 
 again, some smallish bulls got in my way. It was just 
 4 o'clock. A heavy storm was coming on ; I had left my 
 coat with " Old Tom " ; and after all Child, Barclay, and 
 Sartoris, the " Old Timers," had said to me about the danger 
 of these storms I dared not wait any longer. I went straight 
 to the place where I heard the big bulls, though I did not 
 see them, hoping to get a shot at them as they came over 
 the divide. The small bulls soon began to take the whole 
 band off with them. About two hundred must have passed 
 in front of me some two hundred or two hundred and fifty 
 yards off ; last of all, about a hundred yards behind the 
 rest, came three splendid bulls, moving slowly. I had four 
 or five shots at them, but it was no use. I did not expect 
 to hit them, bad shot as I am and in the fading light, but 
 it was a great disappointment, not getting one. Just as 
 I was firing the storm came on ; the hail drove perfectly 
 straight across the divide, and 1 rushed for the shelter of 
 the live timber. I found " Old Tom " all right, after a 
 little hesitation, and was very glad to get back to camp. 
 The hail soon turned to light snow, so I had not such a bad
 
 i886] AN INTERESTING LETTER 47 
 
 time as I feared at first. Anyhow, the others thought there 
 had been considerable risk ; they had stayed in camp all 
 day, McLean with rheumatism caught bathing yesterday. 
 (Mem. : Never bathe when you are in camp.) lo-night 
 we had both tents up for the first. time for a fortnight. 
 
 The following letter from the hunter who accompanied 
 him on his shooting tour in the Rockies, is interesting : 
 
 Nov. 24th, 1888. 
 Laramie City, 
 Wyoming, R.E.R., U.S.A. 
 
 Mr. t. a. brassey. 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 i am living in laramie at present on rail al winter 
 i an family is well i am yet hunting i am engaged to bengough 
 at present to hunt sheep an also to sartoris to hunt elk an 
 deer i killed a terrible good black tail buck the other day 
 while hunting for meat i was choping wood this morning 
 an come nerar knocking my right eye out it will lay me of 
 a few days i sent for them coon skins the haf not com yet i 
 live where strit iron lived when you was here there was a 
 reck the other day an strit iron got hurt the trip to idaho was 
 al most a failure. 
 
 wel i supose you are hunting an shooting an having a 
 good time i wish i could bee there a few days an talk an 
 hunt with you an that you could bee here to go out with 
 i an sartoris an talk about the deers corn shucking hide but i 
 am in hope that you was wel pleased with your trip an that 
 i an you wil hunt the fesive bair to gather next fal again. 
 i will close hoping to here from you soon 
 
 a. d. laramie 
 
 city 
 
 Wyoming 
 ter 
 
 U.S.A. 
 s. e. Lawson. 
 
 The labour of writing such a letter will have been greater 
 than much " choping wood." 
 
 In August, 1886, he went, at his father's request, to visit 
 the Michigan estate, in order to advise about projected 
 developments. This estate was nominally in the ownership 
 of a developing company called the Michigan Land Iron 
 Company, but it was almost entirely owned byT.A.B.'s father.
 
 48 THE MICHIGAN ESTATE [1886 
 
 He was accompanied by Mr. Arthur Tapp, son of that Mr. 
 Tapp who had been for so many years the accountant of 
 the vast contracting enterprises of T.A.B.'s grandfather. 
 Mr. Arthur Tapp had previously travelled through Michigan 
 in 1884 and the report which he made on that occasion, of 
 which a summary is now given, gives some indication of 
 the character and extent of this American property. The 
 principal town on it is Marquette, on the banks of Lake 
 Superior. It is traversed by two considerable rivers, the 
 Sturgeon and the Michigamme. At that time one railroad, 
 the Marquette to Houghton Railway, provided a restricted 
 access to some parts of the estate. The lands held in full 
 title amounted to 391,921 acres, and there were mineral 
 rights over an additional 62,000 acres. Mr. Tapp continues : 
 
 My descent from Lake Michigamme, the largest and 
 one of the most beautiful of the inland lakes, down the 
 river of the same name, was made in a canoe with a couple 
 of attendants a Chippewa Indian and a French Canadian. 
 
 Most of the rapids were run, but as others were more 
 formidable a landing and a portage were the only means 
 of passing. At night the canoe was drawn up under the 
 bank and the tent pitched under some neighbouring clump 
 of trees. Deer, beaver, marten and chipmuck were seen 
 and the tracks of bear, otter, mink, and snake prove that 
 they also inhabit this country. The streams abound in 
 trout and several fish. 
 
 The country is traversed by rocky ledges and narrow 
 valleys running in an easterly and westerly direction. The 
 fallen timber (windfall), swamps, and rocky boulders make 
 travelling through the woods difficult and laborious, the 
 average rate of speed being one mile per hour, which during 
 the summer, is rendered more trying by the attacks of 
 mosquitoes. It is true that it requires more physical 
 exertion to travel 5 miles per day through Lake Superior 
 Windfall than in any other regions east of the Mississippi. 
 
 Some extracts from T.A.B.'s diary will give a general idea 
 of what was done on this visit : 
 
 Saturday, iqth, 1886. Met Tapp at Adelphi. Went to 
 Exhibition-models. Mr. Stewart Brown and Miss Birkett 
 saw us off on board at 3 ; did not leave till 7.
 
 t886] TOUR IN AMERICA 49 
 
 Sunday, 22nd. Arrived in dock New York about i. 
 Lovely entrance splendid harbour. To Coney Island. 
 Much struck by orderliness of people in thousands. Good 
 dinner at Olicubal. 
 
 Monday, 2^rd. On steam yacht (20 m. an hour) with 
 Mr. Forbes, Fairchild. Not much wind. Puritan led, 
 Mayflower, Priscilla, Atlantic carried away topmast. Dined 
 University Club, with Fairchild. 
 
 Monday, 6th. Very hot journey found Father and 
 " Ducker " at Brevort House. Called on Mr. J. C. Brown. 
 Went to dine at his house in country, not v. pretty. To 
 see yacht race on Corsair. Mayflower won easily 13 mins. 
 
 Wednesday, 8th. Arrived Chicago 9. Grand Pacific 
 Ry. crowded. Went to base-ball game Detroits v. 
 Chicagos. Dined Chicago Club. Left 9 p.m. 
 
 Saturday, nth. Left with White, Jopling, and 2 guides 
 by 7 train. Struck into woods over Indian trail at Durton 
 5 miles. Shanty comfortable. Lovely river and lake in 
 midst of forest. Out on platform for deer in afternoon. 
 Out jacking at night. 
 
 Sunday, izth. Out again at 4. Back to camp by 7.20. 
 With " Ducker " on stream in canoe. Shot snipe and duck. 
 Ashamed of Sabbath breaking. Back to Marquette. 
 
 Monday, i^th. With Father and Tapp to see Witmore 
 and Titan both surface mines. Accident delayed us 2 
 hours. But Chicago train made it up in 3. Sorry to leave 
 Marquette. 
 
 Friday, I7th. Felt awfully left. Did not ponder what 
 to do. At 10 engaged man with canoe and saddle horses 
 and cook at 10 dollars a day. Allowed he was not to hunt. 
 Bought stoutest tent, etc. Walk out to springs with 
 " Ducker." Barclay turned up while we were at dinner. 
 
 Saturday, i8th. We were both delighted. Squared one 
 man for fifty dollars. Bought outfit, etc. In afternoon 
 drove to out ranch very comfortable country house. Fred 
 Williams, Dole. Played billiards. Jolly evening. 
 
 Tuesday, 2ist. Under way 7.30. McLean and self on 
 top of waggon. Into pine forest at 10. Stopped at Mountain 
 house to lunch good cream, etc. Stopped at Moore's at 
 3.30. B. and self killed grouse with stones. Good beds and 
 lovely day. 
 
 Tuesday, z^rd. Waggon and Harbord went straight up 
 to some Pine Camps. Ducker, B. and self up to a rocky peak 
 after elks thro' forest very hard work getting down
 
 50 TOUR TO AUSTRALIA [1886 
 
 fallen timber, etc. Glad to get out and up to Camp 
 Damfino. 
 
 Saturday, 2$th. Parked down to other camp. Walked 
 out by myself in afternoon. Saw 5 elk about I mile from 
 camp, missed and up thro' timber. Yarns round big camp 
 fire jolly. 
 
 Monday, 2jth. Child, Sartoris and self out on horseback 
 to top of mountains to look for sheep above snow. Lovely 
 view over rugged peaks. Saw nothing. Cold wind. 3 elk 
 seen before breakfast. Killed my first. 
 
 Friday, October ist. Out walking. Stalked and shot 
 bulls, etc., very rough ; sick, poor head. Sartoris shot a 
 bear 15 yds. off. B. and Child out to prospect road to 
 Savory. B. shot elk and buck deer views over Snake, etc., 
 lovely. 
 
 Sunday, yd. A real day of rest. Stayed camp all day 
 reading and writing diary. Lovely view. 
 
 Monday, nth. Moved in night. Everything wet. 
 Packed over to B.'s old Camp 4 miles snowing. Off at 
 2 o'clock by self on divide ; saw 400 elks, five bulls ; got 
 several shots, but snow came on. 
 
 Tuesday, 12th. Snowed all night. Slept in tent snug 
 and warm. Snowing in morning. Went up with B. in 
 gulch ; he got an elk, but storm came on and we had to 
 turn back, saw fine buck ; black bull in evening. I got 
 5 elk. 
 
 Sunday, ijth. Rode into Rawlins 20 miles ; 8 to 12. 
 Just caught freight train to Laramic. Left M. to take 
 waggon, v. hot in cabins. Arrived Laramic 9 o'clock 
 9 hrs. 136 miles. 
 
 Thursday, 2ist. Crossed narrows at Detroit in steamer 
 which took dole train Canada pretty. Splendid view of 
 falls. Left " Ducker " to see them. On alone. 
 
 Saturday, $oth. Arrived Queenstown u. Passage 6 days, 
 15 hrs. 35. 
 
 In the following year he left England for Australia, and 
 visited India and Borneo en route, returning via South Africa. 
 The following narrative is also taken from "Eighteen Months' 
 Travel " and gives in the language of the local Press an 
 incident in his voyage to Australia via India : 
 
 No finer crew than the four passengers of the Mirza- 
 POTC put on to the lake on Saturday was ever seen in Ceylon,
 
 i88 7 ] A GREAT CREW 51 
 
 or indeed in the East, and of that there can be no question. 
 It was indeed a treat to see them out for practice on Saturday 
 morning, a treat one seldom sees in Colombo. As soon as 
 the identity of the four gentlemen who had challenged the 
 Colombo men became known their victory was a matter of 
 no doubt. All had obtained considerable distinction as 
 rowing-men at Oxford, and McLean was probably the best 
 man of his year, twice obtaining a seat in the 'Varsity Eight. 
 However, the Colombo men, although stiff and much out of 
 practice, as well as rather past the age for the most effective 
 exhibition of their powers as rowing-men essayed to give 
 them a trial. 
 
 Mr. Cull kindly started the crews from a boat moored 
 near the Fort station, and the following was how the crews 
 were constituted : 
 
 Colombo R.C. Mirzapore. 
 
 T. Twynam ] / J. S. Pemberton 
 
 W. R. Charsley T. A. Brassey 
 
 V. A. Julius vs. I D. H. McLean 
 E. Booth (str.) H. S. Barton 
 
 L. O. Liesching (cox) j (. G. Loder (cox) 
 
 Colombo had the outside station, and when the word 
 " Go " was given both crews struck the water as nearly 
 simultaneously as possible. From the stroke to the con- 
 clusion of the race the 'Varsity men had it all their own way : 
 they took hold of the boat, and sent it along in a manner 
 quite hopeless for their opponents to imitate. At the second 
 or third stroke they were moving rapidly off, and before 
 long had shaken themselves dear. At Kew point they led 
 by about a couple of lengths clear, but rowing quite easily. 
 Colombo stuck to their hopeless task most pluckily. After 
 Kew Point had been passed the 'Varsity men eased down a 
 little, and the Colombo men, trying a spurt at the end, 
 reduced the amount by which they were beaten to about a 
 couple of lengths. We believe the Colombo boat went as 
 well and as fast as any boat rowed over the course by a 
 local team. The time and swing of the crew were capital, 
 and the boat travelled well. All availed them nothing, for 
 the Colombo men were completely outclassed and out- 
 matched, and the 'Varsity men might, if they had chosen, 
 have beaten them by a dozen lengths. Still Colombo did 
 their best on a short notice to stretch their redoubtable 
 visitors. Mr. Ewart, the Secretary of the C. R. C. was
 
 52 INDIA PROBLEMS [1887 
 
 judge, and a large number of the Mirzapore passengers and 
 others interested in rowing witnessed the race. The crews 
 dined together at the Club afterwards. Our visitors are on 
 a pleasure trip to India, not as rowing-men at all, but about 
 to join Lord Brassey's yacht, the Sunbeam now on the 
 Indian coast, Mr. T. A. Brassey who rowed No. 2 in the boat 
 being a son of the well-known owner of the yacht in question. 
 
 A third extract is given to show the seriousness of the 
 attention which he was devoting to the problems which 
 are an essential part of the responsibilities of Empire. The 
 essay reveals much of T.A.B.'s character and outlook at this 
 stage of his development : a young man treating himself 
 and his subject with great seriousness, and yet not quite 
 seriously enough. His conclusions are generalisations on 
 conditions which he could not have examined adequately 
 but they are reasonable and forcefully expressed. 
 
 It is only in the last few years that Englishmen have 
 begun seriously to ask themselves what share they are pre- 
 pared to give to the natives of India in the government of 
 their country. It is a question which was brought forcibly 
 before the minds of Englishmen by the policy of Lord Ripon 
 (or of the advisers to whom he listened) and by the loud 
 and universal outcry which the Ilbert Bill excited amongst 
 the European community in India. 1 went to India without 
 having made up my mind as to whether he was right or 
 wrong. I felt that the only logical outcome of our system 
 of education is to give natives an increased share in the 
 government of their country, and 1 was inclined to believe 
 that the violence of the storm against the Ilbert Bill was due 
 to the natural prejudice of Anglo-Indians. It was only 
 after 1 had been two or three months in the country that 
 the conviction began to grow upon me that Lord Ripon's 
 policy had done a vast amount of harm ; i.e., that he had 
 forced forward changes which would certainly come in time, 
 but for which India was not yet ripe. 
 
 At home we hear a great deal of the demand for self- 
 government on the part of the people of India. It is not 
 till one has travelled to India that one can realise from what 
 an infinitesimal portion of the population this demand 
 really comes. The mass of the people do not care, and in 
 many cases they do not know, whether they are under the
 
 i88 7 ] NATIVE CHARACTERISTICS 53 
 
 rule of the Queen of England or the Great Mogul. The 
 professional agitator, who is no more absent from India 
 than he is from Ireland, finds his audience amongst the 
 urban population. It is only the inhabitants of the towns, 
 especially of the three large cities, Calcutta, Bombay, and 
 Madras, that have been touched by our educational system. 
 The educated natives, the baboos, are, for the most part, the 
 sons of traders and shopkeepers. They have learnt a smatter- 
 ing of the principles of the British Constitution and of 
 European ideas of government, and they think that they 
 are qualified to step into our shoes at once and to undertake 
 the task of ruling our complex Indian Empire. The baboos 
 are drawn from the weakest races in India. 
 
 The Bengali, from time immemorial, has been celebrated 
 for his astuteness and his power of assimilating knowledge ; 
 but he is lacking in the straightforwardness and the force of 
 character that distinguish the races of the North West. 
 Baboos are employed in subordinate positions all over India, 
 as stationmasters, as railway clerks, as clerks in public 
 offices, and they do fairly well, but place them in a position 
 of real responsibility, and they break down. So long as they 
 can act according to rule, according to precedent, all goes 
 well ; but should a crisis of unusual nature arise, they are 
 at a loss how to deal with it. This is the reason why natives 
 have hitherto succeeded best in the legal profession ; many 
 have attained considerable eminence as judges. There is 
 another great, and, if possible, more important, objection 
 to the baboo. He is, as has been said, drawn usually 
 from the trading classes, i.e., the lower castes of the popula- 
 tion. If he is sent as magistrate into a country district, he 
 commands little respect and his influence is nil, for it must 
 always be remembered that India is one of the most con- 
 servative countries in the world. If this is the case with a 
 baboo in a district in Bengal, it would be ten times more 
 so in a district in Rajpootana or the Punjab ; in fact, it 
 would be impossible to send him there. 
 
 While the foregoing may be said of the majority of 
 baboos, who are the people who clamour for self-government, 
 there is a certain sprinkling of native gentlemen throughout 
 the country who are as highly educated in the ideas of 
 Western civilisation as we ourselves. These men appreciate 
 the difficulties of governing a country like India, divided 
 not only by race antagonism but by the antagonism between 
 two, not to say three, great religions, and they know that it
 
 54 EDUCATIONAL FAILURES [1887 
 
 will be many years before that Indian nation is formed 
 which the agitators say already exists. These men are 
 few, and do little to decrease the real difficulty in the ex- 
 tension of self-government in India, which is this : The men 
 who have profited by our system of education have no real 
 influence in the country, while the men who do possess 
 that influence have fallen behind in the matter of edu- 
 cation. Special facilities have to be given to Mahommedans 
 entering the Civil Service, as they cannot compete with 
 Hindoos in the examinations. The Mahommedans, at any 
 rate through most of India, form the strongest part of 
 the population, and it is only natural that they should 
 become disaffected to our rule if we place them in a sub- 
 ordinate position. Again, higher education has been made 
 cheap for all, with the result that the better classes have 
 been excluded from its benefits. As Sir Alfred Lyall points 
 out, in a country where caste is everything, a gentleman 
 will not send his son to a school where he may sit side by 
 side with the sons of his baker or sweeper. The country 
 gentry, in spite of many blows from the levelling school of 
 politicians, still possess much local influence. They are 
 looked up to and respected by the people amongst whom 
 they live. They are almost untouched by European civilisa- 
 tion ; they have not learnt, as natives so often do, its 
 worse features, without seeing any of its benefits. They 
 are in many ways one of the best classes, and unfortunately 
 they are one with which the traveller, and indeed many 
 Anglo-Indians, never come in contact. 
 
 One is led by these considerations to the conclusion that 
 our system of education has been a failure in some important 
 respects. What can be done to remedy it ? First, let 
 higher education be made more expensive. Second, assist 
 the native gentry to form colleges and schools for their 
 sons, such as the Chiefs' College at Lahore, and the Mahom- 
 medan College at Futtyghur, so that the natural leaders of 
 the people may be fitted to occupy their position. The 
 funds saved by making students pay for the higher branches 
 of education should be expended in increasing the number 
 of primary schools (State education should be for the many, 
 not for the few) and in establishing technical schools. To 
 teach young Indians to become good foresters and good 
 agriculturists, to show them that the material benefits of 
 civilisation are as worthy of their attention as political 
 controversy, is no mean object. By following out the lines
 
 i88 7 ] AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES 55 
 
 I have indicated in the matter of education, we shall be able 
 to give, without danger, a large and increasing share to natives 
 in the government of their country. The people of India 
 move slowly ; we must not try to force forward changes for 
 which they are not fit. The great danger to India is from 
 well-meaning but ill-informed politicians at home, or, as 
 Baron Hubner says in his excellent aper^u politique on 
 India, "the only people whom the English have to fear in 
 India are themselves." 
 
 No Englishman can leave India without a feeling of 
 just pride in the splendid fabric which has been created by 
 his countrymen, and a great admiration for the men who 
 have been engaged in the work. We have given peace and 
 good government to a country which for centuries had been 
 the scene of warfare, plundering, and oppression. By throw- 
 ing men on their own responsibility, which brings out all 
 that is best in them, we have supplied a class of men fit to 
 carry on the task which we have set ourselves. We have 
 undertaken a great responsibility towards India ; let us 
 hope that through our own folly we may not cause our great 
 work, the greatest England has ever accomplished, to tumble 
 to pieces like a pack of cards. 
 
 After travelling about Southern India for some weeks he 
 went on to Australia, where he spent some months. One 
 result of his observations there was an article in the 
 Nineteenth Century of 1888, in which he deals with the pros- 
 spects of Australian development. He finds in the great 
 increase of population in the colony and the cry of " Australia 
 for the Australians," two great arguments for increased pro- 
 duction by irrigation and conservation of the water supply. 
 The drought of 1882-6 had cost 23,000,000 sheep and had 
 ruined many farmers, and in Queensland nearly all the cattle 
 had died. Irrigation, at that time conducted on a small 
 scale by industrial effort, should be taken over by the Govern- 
 ment without delay. He describes the principal physical 
 features of the country, the methods of irrigation possible, 
 advocates storage reservoirs at head waters, the turning of 
 natural depressions into lakes, erection of weirs, diversion 
 of streams and cutting of canals. He then shows, that as a 
 commercial undertaking, it is financially sound, and promises 
 a quick return.
 
 56 AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES [1887 
 
 The whole essay displays as indeed most of his published 
 papers display a great power of co-ordinating detail, and 
 of making points with pungency and clearness. 
 
 The lighter side of his visit is revealed in letters to his 
 friends Mrs. Harvey Combe and D. H. McLean. 
 
 To Mrs. Harvey Combe. 
 
 Sunbeam, R.Y.S. 
 
 Thursday, Aug. 2Oth. 
 
 Sussex news has been scanty with me ; indeed, I did 
 not hear a word for 5 or 6 months ; but perhaps you may 
 care to hear of Australia from my point of view. Till the 
 last 3 weeks I have had a most excellent time here. India 
 was tremendously interesting, especially after working up 
 the history for my degree, but Australia I have certainly 
 enjoyed more. A pal of mine, by name Pemberton, came on 
 with us from India to Australia and we were about a good 
 deal together and apart from my people. For instance, at 
 Adelaide the family stayed at Government House ; he and 
 I stayed with the Chief Justice, a most charming bachelor, 
 who had a most comfortable house and took us about to 
 two or three places in the country and taught us an immense 
 deal about the colony. There were a few nice people in 
 Adelaide, but society is so small there that they all fight 
 like cats and dogs. We went to a 4th June dinner with a 
 Mr. Baker, a member of the Legislative Council at which 
 there were 6 Etonians the bishop, another parson, and a 
 contemporary of Pemberton's and mine. At Melbourne 
 we had the best time of all. There were no end of dances 
 going on there everyone was awfully good in asking us, 
 tho' we were strangers ; they took such pains to get one 
 partners and made one enjoy oneself; everyone dances well 
 and their dances are not crowded. 
 
 Both at Sydney and Melbourne we stayed at the club 
 while my people were at Government House and conse- 
 quently we saw far more people than we should have done 
 otherwise. The first thing that strikes one is that people 
 are so intensely English. In the club at Melbourne things 
 are discussed just in the same way and from the same points 
 of view as they are at home. We were by no means all the 
 time in the towns. 1 saw a good deal of the country districts 
 of South Australia and I stayed in two or three stations in 
 Victoria and New South Wales and Queensland too. I took
 
 i88 7 -9] AUSTRALIAN CORRESPONDENCE 57 
 
 a tremendous liking to Lord Carrington. Pemberton and I 
 saw a good deal of him as he asked us to join his party at a 
 very big sheep show at Deniliquin in the Riverina district 
 of N.S.W. We had a very good time there and saw a 
 lot of the squatting interest. 
 
 Now for something which will probably not interest you 
 but may interest Harvey. Of all the colonies we have seen, 
 Victoria is, I think, in the most healthy condition, politically. 
 Under the Graham Berry Ministry between '77 and '80 
 democracy was pushed to its lowest depths ; all the civil 
 servants were one day dismissed, property was depreciated 
 50%, and there was a general panic. Since then there has 
 been a reaction, and Victoria now possesses at the head of the 
 Ministry two very good men in Mr. Gillies, the premier, and 
 Deakin, who made such a name for himself at the Imperial 
 Conference. 
 
 To D. H. McLean. 
 
 Montefiore, 
 
 North Adelaide. 
 
 May 29th 1887. 
 
 I received your letter from Bourne End 2 or 3 days 
 ago and 1 have now definitely made up my mind to go home 
 in the Sunbeam. I should like much to go out for a month 
 in the Rockies again this year, but I have got on well with 
 the navigation up to now and the more experience I can get 
 the better able I shall be to go in for a Certificate when I 
 get back home. 
 
 To learn to take an observation and to work out your 
 position from it is very easy : the important things in 
 navigation are to learn how to correct the error of your 
 compass and chronometer. If I had known how to do the 
 former we should not have gone 30 miles astray in our trip 
 to France two years ago. If you are not intending to go 
 to America yourself, write to Ganty and tell him to dispose 
 of the horses. I am depending on you to do this for it is 
 no use my writing to tell him to dispose of them, if you want 
 them. We had a good time in West Australia, kangaroo 
 hunting, etc. Albany was a very quiet little place, but this 
 of course is a big town and the people have made a great 
 fuss with the Sunbeam. The day we anchored off Glenelg, 
 the mayor and a deputation from the Yacht Club came off 
 and presented addresses and when we went round to Port
 
 58 MARRIAGE [1889-92 
 
 Adelaide Adelaide's other port the same thing happened. 
 The "Cousin" and I have been staying with the Chief 
 Justice since Thursday ; the rest of the family are staying 
 with the Governor. The doctor is away on a three days' 
 fishing trip with Judge Brindey, an enthusiastic yachtsman 
 of the South Australian Yacht Club. We have met many 
 nice people and also one or two rather nice young ladies, 
 the first we have seen for a very long time. My heart is 
 intact. I can't answer for the "Cousin's" ! Our host is a 
 most charming man and is never tired of telling us something 
 interesting about the colony or its history. He took us up 
 yesterday to a model station he has about 100 miles from 
 here. The house was situated in a little nook in the hills, 
 with a lovely view over a broad, wooded valley. The 
 paddocks at the back of the house were studded with trees 
 and looked exactly like a well-laid-out park. We drove 
 over to see a large station and then some 22 miles by coach 
 back to the railway. We came down a lovely valley thickly 
 populated right along ; every house a cottage, substantially 
 built of stone and roofed with corrugated iron and standing 
 in its own garden. It was a charming piece of country, 
 much like parts of England. It feels almost like being back 
 at home here when there is no black population visible and 
 when every one is so essentially English. 
 
 In 1888 he was a candidate in the Battle division for the 
 Sussex County Council, but was not elected. 
 
 On February 28th, 1889, T.A.B. was married to the Lady 
 Idina Nevill, third daughter of the Marquis of Abergavenny, 
 whose family seat is at Eridge, near Tunbridge Wells, on the 
 northern border of Sussex. His best man was Hannen, 
 his Eton school-friend, and the wedding roused enormous 
 enthusiasm in Kent and Sussex, where bride and bridegroom 
 not only possessed numberless friends, but had also endeared 
 themselves by their kindly and generous ways to all with 
 whom they had to deal. 
 
 This union was the beginning of many long and happy 
 years of close companionship, which culminated in the 
 celebration of their Silver Wedding in 1914. Lady Idina 
 was a good horse-woman, a first-rate shot, and extremely 
 fond of all kinds of sport. Together they travelled over 
 much of the Empire, and became more and more closely
 
 1890] THE NAVAL ANNUAL 59 
 
 united and indispensable to one another as the years 
 passed. In all his enterprises she played a most active 
 part, sharing fully his aspirations, his failures and his 
 successes. 
 
 Many a life destined to great public service has been 
 thrice enriched by a happy marriage. T.A.B.'s was one 
 of these. 
 
 The honeymoon was spent in Italy, and T.A.B.'s diary 
 shows that they visited all the principal show places of North 
 and Central Italy, where they met Lord William Nevill and 
 his bride, who had been married a fortnight earlier than 
 themselves and had not yet finished their honeymoon. 
 T.A.B.'s own honeymoon had a sad termination, for he con- 
 tracted typhoid, which showed itself just after his return 
 to England. He lay seriously ill at Normanhurst for a long 
 tune. On recovery, he and Lady Idina made a second 
 shooting excursion to the Rockies. 
 
 In 1892 he became one of Lord Spencer's private secre- 
 taries at the Admiralty, a post which he held for two years. 
 There he gained a considerable insight into the management 
 of naval affairs, and made many lasting friendships among 
 those who were interested in the maintenance of the Navy 
 on an adequate footing. This knowledge and the consequent 
 friendships provided him with the equipment necessary for 
 a task entrusted to him in 1890 by his father who, immersed 
 in other claims, found it no longer possible to continue his 
 editorship of the " Naval Annual," a record of the progress, 
 work and equipment of the navies of the world, which he 
 had begun to publish four years previously. In 1890 T.A.B. 
 accordingly became editor an office which he retained 
 until his death. The Annual was published every year 
 until 1915, when the war rendered any further issue un- 
 necessary and undesirable until 1919, when it was issued 
 again. 
 
 The " Naval Annual " gained a deservedly high reputation 
 amongst naval men. Its general plan, formulated in the 
 early days of T.A.B.'s editorship, was maintained with few 
 variations. The book was divided into four parts. In 
 Part I. a preliminary chapter was usually devoted to a 
 review of the naval situation of the world, and in it the editor
 
 60 THE NAVAL ANNUAL [1890 
 
 gave a summary account of the principal changes and 
 developments of policy which it was necessary for the student 
 of naval affairs to have at his command. When he was 
 first editor, reviewers directed their criticisms against T.A.B.'s 
 method of presenting his facts on the ground that he was 
 prone to give expression to his own opinions instead of 
 setting forth the facts germane to the position, and leaving 
 his readers to the exercise of their own judgment. It must 
 be confessed that there was reason in the complaint. 
 
 Subsequent chapters of Part I., contributed by various 
 selected writers, would deal with various aspects of the naval 
 questions of the day. 
 
 Part II., consisted entirely of tables and plans of ships, 
 and was, in the opinion of practical men, one of the most 
 valuable features of the book. No trouble or expense was 
 spared to secure accuracy, and the dozens of plans which 
 were drawn for each issue enabled the reader to grasp at 
 sight the differences between the types in use in various 
 navies, and the gradual changes in form and armament. 
 It was not always possible to secure the information required 
 on all points, and in this connection the following extracts 
 from a letter from Von Tirpitz may be quoted as illustrative 
 of the difficulties which the editor had to meet and over- 
 come : 
 
 To Lord Brassey. 
 
 Berlin. 
 April 6th, 1 91 1. 
 
 Many thanks for your letter. . . . 
 
 As to the estimates concerning our ships, you will have 
 gathered from the papers that negotiations are pending 
 between the governments about the exchange of information 
 relating to them. I should therefore be anticipating these 
 negotiations by publishing the particulars and therefore I 
 regret that I cannot accede to your request. Your deduction 
 that England was the first to keep her Dreadnought estimates 
 secret is correct. We have simply followed England's 
 example. 
 
 Part III. dealt with armour and ordnance, and was 
 always compiled by an ordnance expert. It was generally 
 illustrated, and its value may be estimated in the light of
 
 i8 9 o] THE NAVAL DEFENCE ASSOCIATION 61 
 
 recent experience of the growth and progress of armaments, 
 which are matters of common knowledge since the outbreak 
 of the war. 
 
 Part IV. included the First Lord's Memorandum and the 
 British Navy Estimates in whole, or in part, and summaries 
 of the estimates of all the great navies of the world. 
 
 The book was well illustrated, and having, as the first 
 of its kind, many imitators, it maintained always its 
 supremacy over its rivals a supremacy generously acknow- 
 ledged by reviewers as the years passed. Produced at 
 considerable expense, it was nevertheless a commercial 
 success, and for many years it realised a considerable 
 profit. 
 
 On his return to England after the second expedition 
 to the Rockies, the first active piece of political work which 
 T.A.B. undertook was that of the Naval Volunteer Home 
 Defence Association. A marked feature of his political work 
 consisted in his ability to see ten years ahead of his time. 
 He had a great flair of the possibilities underlying what, on 
 the surface, were most ordinary circumstances and events, and 
 he seemed fated always to be engaged in the attempt to 
 convince others of such possibilities. Long after public 
 opinion had pooh-poohed his idea, its value would appear to 
 those who had not hesitated to condemn it in earlier years, 
 and the idea would be put to good use. 
 
 The work of the Naval Volunteer Home Defence Associa- 
 tion furnishes such an instance. Its main object was to 
 utilise the Volunteer Movement by a naval organisation for 
 the defence of the coast. The inhabitants of any seaside 
 town of sufficient size would, it was thought, provide the 
 funds necessary for the hiring of a vessel, (or vessels), ordin- 
 arily engaged in coast traffic, which was to be mounted at 
 the expense of the Government, if the Government agreed, 
 with a gun and manned by the Naval Volunteers who, 
 in their turn, were to receive their equipment and a gratuity 
 from the Government. After prolonged negotiations with 
 the Admiralty the scheme was approved, and a campaign 
 was carried on by T.A.B. , Admiral Colomb, and others, to 
 induce the great seaports and seaside towns to lend support 
 to the effort. Many prominent men took part ; meetings 
 
 F
 
 62 A NAVAL CAMPAIGN [1891 
 
 were held at Hull, Liverpool, Newcastle, Shields, Sunder- 
 land, Hastings, Brighton, and other places, with varying 
 success. At Hastings a ship called The Lady Brassey, which 
 was usually employed as a pleasure steamer between Hastings 
 and Brighton, was secured as the guard- and training-ship. 
 A number of drills were put in and the venture successfully 
 launched. 
 
 Hull, Sunderland, Newcastle and Leith took up the 
 matter warmly and passed resolutions approving of the 
 scheme and forming local associations. At Newcastle, 
 Lord Armstrong rather scorned the idea that vessels of the 
 kind would be of any value for the purpose of protecting 
 the coast ; and at Liverpool, Sir Robert Gladstone proposed 
 an amendment to the resolution of support referring the 
 whole matter to the Local Defence Committee. The Liver- 
 pool Mercury commented on this in the following terms : 
 
 The meeting held yesterday in the Liverpool Town 
 Hall, in promotion of the objects of the Naval Volunteer 
 Home Defence Association was by no means a success. It 
 closed abruptly after an expression of opinion unfavourable 
 to the central idea. A majority of the gentlemen present 
 were of opinion that the responsibility rested with the Navy 
 rather than with private individuals. The merchants of 
 the port, if we may judge by yesterday's proceedings, are 
 not well disposed to bear the cost of undertaking its naval 
 defence. 
 
 The attitude is in curious contrast to that of Hampden, 
 who objected to ship money on the ground that he was an 
 inhabitant of an inland shire ; it was, however, the attitude 
 of the principal men of Liverpool and it dealt a fatal blow to 
 the schemes of the Association. T.A.B. had not agreed with 
 certain points of Admiral Colomb's propaganda, and the 
 sale of The Lady Brassey by the owners on the ground that 
 it was difficult to bring her alongside the Hastings pier, was 
 a local blow to the activities of the Association, which after 
 lingering for some few months, was wound up in 1892. 
 
 T.A.B. lived to see carried into effect the plan which he had 
 urged from the platform 30 years before, although for a 
 different purpose. The Government, hi 1917, began to fit 
 out the fishing vessels of Hastings with a gun to ward off the
 
 i8 9 i] YARDS AND SHROUDS 63 
 
 attacks of submarines though T.A.B.'s suggestion had dealt 
 with small. craft of other kinds, as submarines were not, in 
 1892, a real menace and to man them with men of the very 
 type that T.A.B. had secured for the Naval Volunteer Home 
 Defence Association. The value for such voluntary service 
 of men of the professional classes, who had had little experi- 
 ence of the sea, has been proved also, at a later day, in the 
 United States. This foresight often appeared to be uncanny, 
 and it led, in many instances, to a reluctance on the part of 
 T.A.B.'s adherents to follow him, because they were unable 
 either to grasp the bearing of his conceptions, or to appreciate 
 the accuracy of his forecasts. 
 
 In close connection with his work for the Naval Volunteer 
 Home Defence Association was that which he did for the 
 training of boys for the Navy. 
 
 The introduction of steam as a motive power had led 
 to a gradual diminution of the number of sailing vessels at 
 sea, and steamers steadily ousted sailing ships from all 
 parts of the ocean. Many naval authorities of the day were 
 still convinced that seamanship could not be learned in any 
 other way than by apprenticeship in a sailing ship, and the 
 problem of a training ground for seamanship soon became 
 acute. The early steamers were rigged with masts and 
 shrouds, and thus it was at first possible, even on a steamer, 
 to learn a certain amount of seamanship. But gradually 
 these also disappeared, and the naval experts were confronted 
 with a Navy consisting of seamen who knew nothing of 
 seamanship as interpreted by the old standards. A long and 
 furious controversy raged on the subject, as acute and 
 probably as little to the point as the controversy between the 
 value of a " classical " and that of a " modern " education. 
 The supporters of training on sailing ships even asserted 
 that it was as necessary for a seaman to have his training 
 on a sailing ship as it was for a man of culture to have, a 
 classical education. 
 
 The echoes of this old controversy have long since died 
 away, but the practical minds of T.A.B. and his father set to 
 work in the midst of the controversy to find an immediate 
 solution. They made arrangements with Sir Thomas Devitt 
 to keep at sea for long voyages sailing ships, which should
 
 64 TRAINING OF SEAMEN [1892-4 
 
 be largely manned by apprentices, who would thus receive 
 the requisite training in seamanship on a sailing vessel, and 
 could always be drafted into the Navy. 
 
 The following correspondence relating to the matter 
 is of more than passing interest : 
 
 To the Hon. T. A. Brassey. 
 
 Devitt & Moore's Australian Line of Packets. 
 39, Fenchurch Street, 
 London, E.G. 
 30 Nov., 1894. 
 
 The total number of boys entered for the Hesperus and 
 Harbinger since the commencement of the scheme is 113 ; 
 the number of boys now afloat in the two ships is 51. Of 
 these 113 a small proportion have disappeared after the 
 first voyage, some withdrawn because their friends were 
 not equal to the expense, some on our advice as not suitable 
 for the sea, and one or two dismissed because their conduct 
 was not satisfactory. At the end of the second voyage a 
 further sifting took place somewhat on the lines of the above. 
 
 As the ships have only been four voyages each it is only 
 this year that those who completed their time have been 
 able to go up for the Board of Trade examination and those 
 who have done so have passed with great credit and with the 
 commendation of the examiners. The majority have gone 
 to the chief mail lines, especially to the P. & O. and some 
 to the Indian Marine, and by the time a year has passed we 
 shall know what satisfaction they are giving. Of those 
 who have from any of the causes mentioned drifted off in 
 the course of training we have not kept a record. 
 
 In our opinion the experiment has been a distinct success 
 and has given a training which was not obtainable elsewhere. 
 
 To Lord Brassey. 
 
 Devitt & Moores Australian Line of Packets, 
 
 12, Fenchurch Buildings, 
 London, E.G. 
 
 9th April, 1896. 
 
 If you will allow me, I should like to give my personal 
 views on Mr. Hudson's last letter dated 3rd March, 1896. 
 I quite agree with the statement that at present it would 
 be almost impossible to establish such a vessel as our Con- 
 way or Worcester for the exclusive use of young officers 
 for the Victorian Navy. I therefore deal with the next
 
 i8 9 6] HARBINGER AND HESPERUS 65 
 
 paragraph in the letter dealing with the Harbinger and the 
 Hesperus, and note the chief difficulty in the minds of the 
 Colonists is what to do with the lads while the vessel is out 
 of commission in London, the Australian boys not having 
 any homes in this country. 
 
 The scheme proposed in Mr. Hudson's letter seems to 
 be : ist. That the leading schools or colleges should 
 provide special classes for boys who desire to follow the sea 
 as a profession and their studies should be specially directed 
 with that object. 
 
 2nd. That at the termination of their school training, 
 arrangements should be made for them to be received on 
 board either the Harbinger or Hesperus or other vessel 
 similarly equipped with naval instructors. 
 
 3rd. That upon their arrival in England and during 
 the time the vessel was out of commission, endeavours 
 be made to have them received on board the Worcester so 
 that they would continue their education course under the 
 most favourable possible conditions, and be returned to the 
 vessel when ready to leave. 
 
 It is with the last suggestion that I should like to give 
 you my special views. I dare say that it would be possible 
 that the Managers of the Worcester would be willing to 
 make some arrangement for receiving these cadets but I am 
 not at all sure that it would be in the best interests of the 
 lads to make this arrangement. First of all, the Harbinger 
 and Hesperus are at home in the summer time, when probably 
 the Worcester boys would be having holidays. Another 
 objection to my mind would be that boys who had been to 
 sea and had seen more of the world than others, would 
 be put with boys who had never been away from the training 
 ship at all, and the mixture of the two classes would hinder, to 
 a great extent, the progress of both sets of lads in their 
 studies. 
 
 If 1 may be allowed to make a suggestion, it would be 
 this : That Nos. I and 2 clauses might be accepted and 
 that in place of that part of No. 3 recommending the boys 
 to be placed on board the Worcester, an application should 
 be made to the Admiralty to make special arrangements 
 for the Colonial cadets to be received on board a training 
 ship or man-of-war for each period or periods that they may 
 be in England, and that the rest of their training to be at 
 sea on board the Harbinger and Hesperus and other vessels 
 if necessary, if the scheme meets with the favour I expect
 
 66 METHOD OF TRAINING [1896 
 
 it will. The advantages of this course would be that naval 
 discipline and drill of all sorts, including gunnery, would be 
 taught the lads in a thoroughly efficient manner, and they 
 would receive a stamp which no amount of training in the 
 Merchant Service could give them in the eyes of Naval 
 Authorities ; and the}'' would receive their practical training 
 at sea in your Lordship's training ships, and thus become 
 better navigators than those exclusively brought up for 
 the Navy. 
 
 The present time seems to me to be a good opportunity 
 to approach the authorities on the subject as everything 
 seems to point to the unification of the Empire and any 
 movement to draw the Colonies closer to the Mother Country 
 would be welcomed on both sides of the World. I take it 
 that the object of the Australians generally would be to 
 train up a class of young men born in and belonging to the 
 Colonies, to be their future officers, and my point is that the 
 Admiralty would be quite willing to assist in training these 
 youths in the way I have indicated. 
 
 I am glad to see that the fact is recognised that the 
 square-rigged sailing ships are becoming fewer and fewer 
 every year and you will not be surprised to learn that of all 
 the ships classed at Lloyds in 1895, only 6% were sailers 
 of all classes, against 94% of steamers. May I suggest 
 that now is the time to act if any action at all is to be taken 
 before the few remaining sailing vessels are driven out of 
 the Australian trade ? We, as you know, have a number of 
 suitable vessels, and others could be acquired if necessary, 
 and we should be disposed to make a study of this business 
 and would hope to satisfy the Governments at each end, if 
 sufficient inducement on the part of the Colonies is offered. 
 
 I am, 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 (Signed) THOS. L. DEVITT. 
 
 T.A.B. maintained the keenest interest in the Navy until 
 his death. He was in frequent close communication with 
 friends like Admiral Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, the holder 
 of the exceptional position of Admiral of the United Kingdom, 
 Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge, Admiral Lord Jellicoe, Admiral 
 Lord Beatty, and Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt. His 
 position as editor of the "Naval Annual" was always used with 
 much vigour in the direction of maintaining a Navy which
 
 1896-1920] THE OLD AGE OF THE SUNBEAM 67 
 
 should, in all respects, be sufficient to draw close the bonds 
 of Empire and to maintain them intact. Behind the scenes 
 he did much valuable work, and for the outcome of the war 
 against Germany the country owes very much to the 
 indefatigable labours of himself and others like him, who 
 understood the German menace, and its purport. T.A.B. 
 was a member of the Company of Shipwrights, and in 1920 
 was to have been Master. He took an active share in 
 every philanthropic undertaking for the benefit of sailors, 
 with whom he delighted to hold converse. 
 
 It may be right to note here that after the Sunbeam had 
 completed many voyages, she was given to the Government 
 of India during the war for use as a hospital ship, and after- 
 wards to the boys of the Naval College at Pangbourne as a 
 training ship. Thus in her old age she still serves a purpose 
 in which both her owners took the keenest interest, and 
 carries on into another generation the work which they so 
 worthily began.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 WHEN a man loses faith in the cause for which he is fighting 
 he loses grip ; when he loses grip he ceases to be reckoned 
 as a factor in the situation. None who had had any 
 experience of the inner working of T.A.B.'s mind could ever 
 doubt but that throughout the whole of his career he retained 
 the very strong and vivid belief, which he had formed in 
 early days, of the necessity for a thorough reorganisation 
 of our political system. His faith in that reorganisation as 
 a panacea for many other political ills of the time never 
 wavered ; it apparently never even flickered, but burned 
 with a constant and steady light from the time that he began 
 his political career under the influence of Lord Rosebery in 
 the Imperial Federation League, to the time when, as a member 
 of the Speaker's Committee on Devolution, he was hurrying 
 to the House of Commons to discuss some of the questions 
 raised in Committee with Mr. John Hills, another of its 
 members, and was stricken to his untimely end. 
 
 The constancy of his faith and the vigour with which he 
 set it forth to the world are outstanding features of his life. 
 He wrote numberless letters to the newspapers, including 
 the Times and the principal London dailies as well as the 
 provincial newspapers of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 
 expounding his creed, explaining one aspect or another of 
 the great political machine which he saw becoming rapidly 
 clogged with a mass of uncoordinated detail thrown into 
 it, month after month, in ever-increasing volume. For many 
 years his was " a voice crying in the wilderness." Supporters 
 and fellow-workers like Lord Charnwood and Mr. J. A. 
 Murray Macdonald, together with the members of the 
 Imperial Federation League, rallied to his aid in the various 
 campaigns which he organised in different parts of the 
 country between 1889 and 1910, but it was often just a 
 
 68
 
 i88 9 -i9io] IMPERIAL DEVOLUTION 69 
 
 " one-man job." Still he never wavered. He lived to 
 welcome a growing volume of support on this vital question, 
 and by an accident of fortune the first measure of partial 
 autonomy granted by way of devolution was granted to 
 the Church of England, in the finance and organisation of 
 which he had so closely interested himself, but where he 
 had least expected to find a materialisation of his political 
 creed. His whole career was coloured by his attitude on 
 this question : he fought three constituencies, Epsom, 
 Christchurch (2) and Devonport, and in every case he 
 insisted on making Federalism, Imperial Federation or 
 Devolution a cardinal principle to be placed before the 
 electorate. He was not successful in any of these contests, 
 but he agreed in 1905 to stand for the Rye Division (Sussex) 
 as an advocate of Tariff Reform. Before the time of election 
 came he retired in favour of Mr. G. L. Courthope. The 
 Rye Division he would doubtless have won. There also he 
 prepared to make his case clear to the electorate on this 
 issue. 
 
 His history as a candidate for election to the House of 
 Commons is another proof if proof be needed that there 
 is little room in our political system for the independent 
 thinker who cannot make his thoughts square with the party 
 policy. This is not to say that the party politician is not 
 honest or does not think ; it is merely to say again, as 
 history has said for many centuries, that the originator of 
 great ideas, or the pioneer in new paths, must court failure 
 and be content to let other men reap the fruit of his labours 
 and his audacity. 
 
 Closely bound up with the proposals of Federalism or 
 Devolution is the Irish Question, to which T.A.B. devoted 
 many strenuous days, and in the solution of which it is not 
 unlikely that suggestions made by him will yet be adopted. 
 This subject appealed to him immensely because there is 
 no question in English politics on which so many reputations 
 have been wrecked. To talk of Ireland as an unhappy 
 country is almost a platitude. It is unnecessary here to 
 retail the story of the controversies and struggles for which 
 she herself is not entirely blameless, which have eaten deep 
 into the heart of her people and have set up an attitude
 
 70 IRISH HOME RULE [1890 
 
 towards England of fierce resentment, which it has seemed 
 almost impossible to allay. 
 
 But when T.A.B. entered political life, Home Rule had 
 become the burning question of the day, and the Irish 
 question, in some shape or form, has remained a burning 
 question of the day ever since. Even if he had not been an 
 Irish landowner, T.A.B.'s superfluous energy would have 
 found vent in attempting to bring together the opposing 
 parties which fought so fiercely for the future government 
 of Ireland ; because he was an Irish landowner with large 
 property in the heart of Ulster, he was forced, apart from 
 his natural inclination, into close relations with the men 
 who were protagonists in the controversy. 
 
 This, then, is no story of an ordinary political candidate, 
 but of a man quite different. It is the story of a man who 
 won his cause while losing elections. He did more to bring 
 about peace in Ireland outside the House of Commons than 
 whole political parties inside the House. All through the 
 long weary years of internecine strife he was struggling to 
 make the warring factions understand one another's point 
 of view. Over and over again, after lengthy personal inter- 
 views, he succeeded in herding into his dining-room in Park 
 Lane men of all schools of thought, where at the same 
 hospitable board they might be brought to understand one 
 another's problems. It was a very effective political method, 
 and on more than one occasion he seemed to be within sight 
 of success. 
 
 In any just account of T-A.B.'s political faith his own 
 words must be allowed to sum up what should be taken as the 
 basis and extent of his belief. In the following essay, written 
 some years later, he attempted to do this, and it is given 
 because it describes justly the frame of mind hi which he 
 embarked on all his political contests : 
 
 Ever since I took part in politics, I have always believed 
 that the Irish question and the government of the Empire 
 were parts of the same problem, and that the solution in 
 each case was to be found through the principle of Federation. 
 I travelled for sixteen months through the Empire in the 
 years 1886-7. I returned with the conviction that the per- 
 manent unity of the British Empire rested on two main
 
 1890-1910] IMPERIAL FEDERATION 71 
 
 principles, a conviction which has only been strengthened 
 by the course of British politics, and by visits paid to 
 Australia, Canada, and South Africa, during the quarter of 
 a century that has since elapsed. 
 The two principles are 
 
 (1) That every part of the Empire, capable of self- 
 government, has a right to manage its own internal affairs 
 in its own way. 
 
 (2) That every part of the Empire which bears its fair 
 share of Imperial burdens has a right to a voice in the control 
 of Imperial expenditure. 
 
 The first of these principles is universally recognised as 
 far as outlying Dominions are concerned. The second 
 involves two things 
 
 (a) The creation of an Imperial Council, or Imperial 
 Parliament, in which all parts of the Empire, bearing their 
 share of Imperial burdens, shall be represented ; 
 
 (b) The provision of a revenue for Imperial defence, to 
 which all parts of the Empire shall contribute. 
 
 My first political work was done as a member of the 
 Imperial Federation League, under Lord Rosebery. The 
 members of the League advocated the establishment of an 
 Imperial Council or Parliament, in which all parts of the 
 Empire should be represented. Some of us believed then 
 that an Imperial authority could be immediately created. 
 Experience has shown that certain preliminary steps were 
 necessary. My conception of the Imperial structure is that 
 it should rest on four pillars, or federations, in the four self- 
 governing portions of the Empire. Twenty-five years ago, 
 only one pillar had been completed the Canadian Federa- 
 tion. Twelve years ago, the second pillar the Australian 
 Commonwealth was set up. Six days ago, the Union 
 Government of South Africa came into existence. As far 
 as the outlying Dominions are concerned, the pillars of the 
 Imperial structure are built. The obstacle to any further 
 advance is in the Mother Country ; and the main purpose 
 of my address to-night is to urge that the establishment of 
 a federal force of government in the United Kingdom is 
 not only a necessity in itself, but is the next step to Imperial 
 unity. 
 
 Canada, Australia, South Africa have all been federated 
 on different lines. The Canadian Federation was formed 
 by the creation of the provincial legislatures of Ontario and 
 Quebec round which other provinces have gradually
 
 72 DOMINION HOME RULE [1890-1910 
 
 grouped themselves. Under the Canadian Constitution the 
 powers of the Provincial Legislatures are defined ; all the 
 reserve of power rests with the Dominion Government. The 
 Australian Federation was formed by the surrender of power 
 to the Commonwealth Government by Colonial Legislatures 
 which had long been independent. It is only by degrees 
 and after a hard struggle that the Commonwealth Govern- 
 ment is acquiring the power that it is desirable, in the 
 interests of Australia, it should possess. South Africa has 
 gone in for closer union than in the case of Canada. The 
 Union Parliament is omnipotent. The powers of the 
 Provincial Councils are small, and, as time goes on, they will 
 probably have to be increased. 
 
 The task before us here is to put the constitutional 
 arrangements of the United Kingdom on the same plane as 
 those of the other self-governing portions of the Empire. 
 Of the three examples we have to choose from, the Canadian 
 is the one which was devised to meet similar conditions to 
 those which existed in the United Kingdom (there was the 
 difficulty between two races in Canada) which has stood 
 the test of time and has undeniably worked well. Under 
 the Canadian Constitution the reserve of power rests with 
 the Dominion or Central Parliament, and British statesmen 
 who have discussed Home Rule are agreed that the same 
 conditions must obtain in the United Kingdom. Federal 
 Government in the United Kingdom must therefore follow 
 on Canadian lines, modified where necessary to suit special 
 conditions. 
 
 The first and most important point for anyone who is 
 studying the problem of Imperial Government to grasp 
 and it is a difficult point to grasp for those who have never 
 travelled in the outlying Dominions is this. Whereas 
 every Canadian for the past forty years, every Australian 
 for the past eleven years, has lived as every South African 
 henceforward will live, under three Parliaments or Councils, 
 each dealing with a distinct class of business, we, in the Old 
 Country, are attempting to deal in a single legislature with 
 three distinct classes of business 
 
 (a) The internal affairs of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 
 which in Canada would be dealt with by the Provincial 
 Parliaments of Ontario and Quebec, and in Australia 
 by the Colonial Parliaments of Victoria and New 
 South Wales. 
 
 (b) Questions affecting the United Kingdom as a whole,
 
 1890-1910] HOUSE OF LORDS QUESTION 73 
 
 which would be dealt with in Canada by the Dominion 
 Parliament and in Australia by the Commonwealth 
 Parliament. 
 
 (c) The Government of the greatest Empire the world 
 has ever seen, including within its borders nearly a 
 quarter of the human race. 
 
 1. The first and greatest argument in favour of the pro- 
 posal I am advocating arises from the admitted fact that 
 the attempt to which I have referred has broken down. 
 The business of the country can only be carried on by 
 drastic use of the closure. Ill-considered measures are 
 forced through the House of Commons. 
 
 2. For this condition of things, the remedy of the Liberal 
 Party is the destruction, directly or indirectly, of the House 
 of Lords. Universal experience points to the necessity for 
 a second Chamber. If the House of Lords is reformed by 
 the introduction of the elective element, the Second Chamber 
 will be strengthened, and the danger of conflict between 
 the two Houses will be increased. The House of Lords as 
 it exists to-day, has never set itself in opposition to the clearly 
 expressed wishes of the people, and it never will do so. 
 The Liberal proposals as to the House of Lords appear to 
 be absolutely futile as a remedy for the admitted evils of our 
 present constitutional arrangements. But the Conservative 
 Party must, if they are to be successful at the Polls, propose 
 an alternative which will meet the deeply-felt democratic 
 objection to the present powers of the House of Lords. 
 The second great argument in favour of the establishment of 
 subordinate legislatures in the several countries of the 
 United Kingdom is that thereby all purely domestic legis- 
 lation legislation affecting the people in their homes will 
 be removed from the immediate control of the House of 
 Lords. The House of Lords will only exercise an indirect 
 control as a part of the central legislature. 
 
 3. The third argument in favour of the policy 1 am 
 advocating is that it offers the only possible solution of the 
 Irish question. Experience has shown it to be impossible 
 to devise a satisfactory means of self-government for Ireland 
 only. To provide satisfactorily for the position of the 
 Irish members of the Imperial Parliament, three alternatives 
 have been proposed. Under the Bill of 1886, the Irish 
 members were excluded from the Imperial Parliament 
 altogether. Under the Bill of 1893, as originally introduced, 
 the in-and-out plan was proposed, and^in the form in which
 
 74 HOME RULE FOR ENGLAND [1890-1910 
 
 the Bill was sent up to the House of Lords, the Irish members 
 were included for all purposes. Under a measure of devolu- 
 tion, applicable to all the countries of the United Kingdom, 
 this difficulty disappears. 
 
 4. My fourth argument is one which I used to put in my 
 first Parliamentary campaign. As the result of the last 
 election, a situation has been created which I have long 
 hoped to see. There is a Conservative majority in England, 
 and a Government is hi power depending on Irish, Scotch, 
 and Welsh votes. Measures can now be imposed on England 
 by the votes of Scotch, Irish, and Welsh representatives, 
 against the wishes of the majority of England's representa- 
 tives. Welsh disestablishment has long been an article in 
 the programme of the Liberal Party. If the present Govern- 
 ment continues in office, it will shortly become an accom- 
 plished fact. A measure to disestablish the Church of 
 England will follow. Is it just that the Church of England 
 in England should be disestablished by the votes of Irish 
 Roman Catholics, Welsh Nonconformists, and Scotch 
 Presbyterians ? It is a question which concerns English- 
 men alone, and I contend that it is by the votes of English- 
 men alone that a question affecting only England should be 
 decided. 
 
 To take another line of the same argument. Some of 
 you may be Socialists, and in favour of the programme of 
 the Socialist Party. If you are not, I would ask you to 
 consider the enormous impetus which Socialistic legislation 
 receives under our present constitutional arrangements 
 from the votes of the Irish, Scotch, and Welsh representa- 
 tives, who are most certainly not Socialists. Everyone who 
 has any acquaintance with Ireland knows that once the 
 political grievance is removed, a considerable proportion of 
 the Irish representatives, whether in the Irish or United 
 Kingdom legislature, would be Conservatives. It is pro- 
 bable that Scotland would send a larger proportion of 
 Conservative representatives to the central legislature if 
 purely Scotch business were dealt with in Scotland. This, 
 however, is not precisely the point we are discussing, viz., 
 the need of Home Rule for England, if Englishmen are not 
 to have their wishes as regards their own affairs overruled 
 by the other portions of the United Kingdom, which is what 
 is taking place at this moment. 
 
 5. It is a condition of the successful working of Par- 
 liamentary institutions that the issues placed before the
 
 1890-1910] FALLACIES IN ELECTION RESULTS 75 
 
 electors should be clear and distinct. This is impossible 
 under our present constitutional arrangements. No one 
 can tell, for instance, whether the Budget or Tariff Reform 
 had the more powerful influence in the results of the last 
 election. If a federal form of government were established 
 in the United Kingdom, and the central legislature were 
 relieved from the duty of dealing with all purely domestic 
 questions, there is not the remotest doubt, in my judgment, 
 that Tariff Reform could be carried at once. 
 
 6. Last, but not least, I come to the great danger to 
 which the interests of the Empire are exposed by the con- 
 tinuance of our present system, or rather want of system. 
 There can be no continuity of Imperial policy under present 
 conditions. No part of the Empire has suffered more on 
 this account during the last thirty years than South Africa. 
 At one moment a great Imperial question may be uppermost 
 in the minds of the people, and a Government will be returned 
 to power on that issue. The Election of 1900, during the 
 war in South Africa, is an instance in point. 
 
 I speak from many years of experience as a political 
 candidate, and as one who has addressed many working- 
 class audiences, when I say that the basis of the large body 
 of anti-Imperialist opinion which exists in this country is 
 the feeling that the questions which are of vital importance 
 to the people in their homes are too often overshadowed by 
 Imperial questions. 
 
 At another moment the attention of the electorate may 
 be concentrated on Education, or some question which, 
 from the Imperial point of view, is unimportant, and a 
 Government may be returned to power which the country 
 would, under other conditions, never trust with the adminis- 
 tration of Imperial affairs. This is what happened in 1905. 
 To avoid misunderstandings, it is as well to state that 
 the line of procedure would be for Parliament to pass an 
 Act establishing subordinate legislatures in the several 
 countries of the United Kingdom. The existing Parliament, 
 with, if you will, a Reformed House of Lords, and with 
 certainly a considerable reduction of members of the House 
 of Commons (in which Ireland is much over represented) 
 would continue to discharge the double function of Par- 
 liament for the United Kingdom and Imperial Parliament. 
 Before many years, we may hope to see the establishment of 
 an Imperial Council or Parliament, in which all parts of the 
 Empire are represented ; but the time for this is not yet.
 
 76 POLITICAL BENT [1890-1910 
 
 On the one hand the various self-governing portions of the 
 Empire must get their respective constitutional arrangements 
 into working order before they are prepared to contemplate 
 a federal union of the Empire. On the other, the outlying 
 Dominions are not yet prepared to contribute their share of 
 Imperial expenditure ; too large a proportion of their 
 resources is still required for their own internal development. 
 Personally, I believe that an Imperial revenue can only be 
 raised through Imperial preference ; and for that purpose 
 we must carry Tariff Reform in the Mother Country. 
 
 If this Empire of ours is to fall, it will be shipwrecked 
 by British party prejudices the prejudices which make 
 the Conservative Party refuse to consider any measure of 
 devolution, however far removed from the Irish Home Rule 
 proposals which it rightly rejected ; and which make the 
 Liberals raise the cry of Protection for party purposes, 
 however far from the truth may be that description of the 
 policy which Tariff Reformers are advocating. 
 
 Further explanations and statements are to be found 
 in. " Problems of Empire " published in 1910. A great 
 deal of attention was given to this book in the Press, 
 many of the reviews being most laudatory. The most 
 pungent criticism advanced against the collection of essays 
 was, that while some of them were on a very high level and 
 worthy to be retained as permanent contributions to political 
 science, one or two of them were out-of-date and dragged in 
 without any apparent reason. The paper read before the 
 Statistical Society, of which T.A.B. was a member, has 
 been especially commended. 
 
 It must be remembered that the natural bent of T.A.B.'s 
 mind was towards a political career. His father had repre- 
 sented the borough of Hastings in the House of Commons 
 uninterruptedly for over twenty years, and amongst the re- 
 collections of T.A.B.'s childish years were those of one or two 
 hard-contested elections in Hastings. In later life he was fond 
 of recounting how he regarded himself as the most important 
 supporter of his father, and how he did most to secure his 
 return to the House of Commons. He could remember 
 parading the streets of Hastings in a sailor suit, carrying a 
 banner, mauve in colour, with white letters inscribed upon 
 it " Vote for my Papa." Pop and Dervorguilla and the
 
 i8 9 2] COURSE OF POLITICAL EVENTS 77 
 
 Union had given him some forensic power, and after his 
 return from his voyage round the world he was ready, 
 energetically, to throw himself into the stirring political 
 controversies of the day. 
 
 The General Election of 1885 had returned the Radicals 
 to the House of Commons in just sufficient numbers to be 
 outvoted by the Tories and the Parnellites combined. Lord 
 Salisbury retained office as Prune Minister, to which he had 
 succeeded in the previous year, and under the circumstances, 
 Mr. Gladstone decided to concede Home Rule in order to con- 
 ciliate the Parnellites. On December 1 8th, 1 885 , an anonymous 
 paragraph appeared stating that if Mr. Gladstone returned to 
 office he was prepared to deal in a liberal spirit with the 
 demand for Home Rule. This promise rallied the Parnellites 
 to his side and the Government were defeated on an amend- 
 ment to the address in favour of Municipal Allotments. 
 Thus Lord Salisbury resigned and on February ist, 1886, 
 Mr. Gladstone became Prime Minister for the third time. 
 On April 8th he brought in his Home Rule Bill. This was 
 thrown out on the second reading, and Mr. Gladstone 
 insisted upon a second election. 
 
 The General Election of 1886 resulted in a majority of 
 over 100 for the Conservative Party, and Lord Salisbury 
 resumed office, which he held for nearly six years. This 
 Parliament was dissolved on January 28th, 1892, with Home 
 Rule as the burning question of the day, and the General 
 Election which ensued, resulted in a majority of forty for 
 Home Rule, the Government supporters being composed 
 of Liberals, Labour Members, and the Irish. 
 
 Into this arena T.A.B. entered. His father had recently 
 been raised to the peerage in the previous administration 
 of Mr. Gladstone as a reward for his long political services 
 in England and Overseas. It would have been natural for 
 his son to have contested the borough which had for so many 
 years returned his father, but this was not his way. He had 
 higher ideals and a greater energy than would allow him to 
 seek a seat in the House of Commons through the territorial 
 and local influences which he could have exercised in East 
 Sussex, or through that great personal popularity which 
 gained for his father the title of " The Grand Old Man of
 
 78 HIS FIRST ELECTION [1892 
 
 Sussex." After much debating he decided to accept an 
 invitation to stand for the Epsom division of Surrey. 
 
 The County of Surrey was in those days a stronghold of the 
 Tory Party, and the division which T.A.B. elected to contest 
 had been held in the Tory interest for thirty years previously. 
 It was almost a forlorn hope. But at twenty-nine a forlorn 
 hope is as hopeful as hope itself at fifty. So in 1890 he 
 appeared in the constituency for the first time. A mag- 
 nificent meeting was held at Epsom, when he was introduced 
 by a platform of all the talents of the Radical Party. Lord 
 Rosebery presided and was supported by Lord Herschell, 
 Lord Aberdeen, Lord Vernon, Earl Compton, M.P., Mr. H. H. 
 Asquith, Q.C., M.P., Mr. Reid, Q.C., M.P., Mr. Haldane, M.P., 
 Mr. Munro Ferguson, Mr. W. F. Maitland, M.P., Mr. A. 
 Pease, M.P., Mr. Sydney Buxton, M.P., Mr. McArthur, M.P., 
 Mr. Crawford, M.P., and Sir Henry Roscoe, M.P. 
 
 After an eloquent introduction by Lord Rosebery, and 
 other speeches, T.A.B. expounded his political faith. He 
 spoke of his anxiety about the disruption of the Empire, 
 which he would place first in importance, and he described 
 the federal plan. He showed how Home Rule would fit 
 into this, and went on to expound those matters of political 
 and domestic reform which were the official programme of 
 the Radical Party. 
 
 T.A.B. was received with great applause and enthusiasm, 
 and this magnificent meeting gave him a great end off in 
 his attempt to capture a stronghold in the Tory fortress of 
 Surrey. 
 
 There is no doubt that T.A.B.'s arrival in the more remote 
 parts of the constituency caused great excitement. He 
 found himself in opposition to the Church in certain con- 
 troversial matters, such as the position of Church schools 
 and the question of Disestablishment of the Church in Wales. 
 The more militant clergy and Church laymen therefore 
 denied to him the use of the schools or other Church buildings 
 for his political meetings. That may seem to be a mean 
 and contemptible attitude when regarded in the light of the 
 easy-going ways of our time, but it formed part of the common 
 life of politics of the 'go's of the last century. T.A.B. was 
 not to be outdone, and hiring a large marquee he went to
 
 1892] ELECTION EXPERIENCES 79 
 
 some places very much like a travelling circus, to the 
 amusement of the bucolic mind and the delight of the 
 children of every village which he so visited. It could 
 not be said of him that he was a platform speaker ; he 
 had not the kind of power or the light, airy gift of persiflage 
 which capture the popular ear, but he had great enthu- 
 siasm, great earnestness of demeanour, and above all 
 things, he had a message. No doubt it may be true that 
 in popular oratory what matters is not so much what 
 a man says as how he says it ; a good catch word, or 
 a series of cliches no doubt sway the minds of superficial 
 voters during an election ; a battle cry has more in it than 
 a mere badge of the party to which one belongs. T.A.B. did 
 not deal in party cries, or in cliches, but tried to make his 
 audiences think with him the great, compelling ideas of a 
 vast Empire ideas which were somewhat foreign to English 
 minds until War made us all Imperialists. He therefore 
 gained the ear of audiences of thoughtful people whenever 
 they assembled. 
 
 A journalist of the days says : " It is pleasant to 
 notice what rapid progress the Hon. T. A. Brassey is making 
 as a public speaker ; although only a short time has elapsed 
 since he made his first speech for the County Council Election, 
 he has had so much practice in connection with the Home 
 Defence Association that his powers as a speaker are develop- 
 ing rapidly. A recent speech, which we were privileged to 
 hear, was pertinent, well-worded and clear, and his fluency 
 and general delivery show very decided improvement. It 
 is improbable that he will ever make a great orator, but he 
 has the talent of advancing his arguments in a plain, straight- 
 forward way which will stand him in good stead." 
 
 A notable feature of his Epsom campaign addresses is 
 the way in which he introduces to his audience his interests 
 in spheres other than political. In a speech which he made at 
 Cheam he told his audience how he had just been down to 
 Bethnal Green for a meeting of the Oxford House Committee. 
 He explained to them what the Oxford House was, and what 
 an advantage it was to the country that men of education 
 like Oxford graduates and undergraduates should know, per- 
 sonally, the conditions of life which had to be endured by
 
 80 ELECTION ADDRESSES [1892 
 
 their poorer brothers in East-end slums. He described city 
 dens in Whitechapel, as he himself knew them, and told 
 them what Ben Tillett and Tom Mann were doing for the 
 advancement of their fellow-men. In his opinion, organisa- 
 tion of unskilled workmen was just as necessary as organisa- 
 tion of skilled workmen. He was thoroughly in sympathy 
 with the strike of omnibus conductors, which he described. 
 He told the farmers and agricultural labourers, who 
 formed his audiences, how these men had to work 15, 16, 
 and 17 hours a day and could scarcely ever enjoy the com- 
 forts of home : they rarely saw their children, and their 
 Sundays off were few and far between. 
 
 At another meeting he described a demonstration of 
 laundresses, who were working under conditions which no 
 reasonable men could support. At Ashtead he spoke of 
 a visit which he had recently paid to a great factory, and 
 dealt with the question of Child Labour in factories. He 
 described his visit to India and his vision of the time when 
 the people of that land would be sufficiently advanced in the 
 exercise of political rights to take their share in the popular 
 government of their own land. At Epsom, he spoke about 
 co-operative enterprise, in which he was greatly interested. 
 By such means he attracted the interest, attention, and the 
 support of his constituents ; but he had, throughout, to fight 
 a losing game. In private letters he complained bitterly 
 that great pressure was brought to bear, locally, on voters 
 to cast their votes for the Tory candidate. He resented 
 strongly the action of property holders in visiting the 
 cottages of their tenants and doing their utmost to extract 
 promises that their votes should be given to that candidate. 
 In his opinion such conduct was impossible without directing 
 a veiled threat at the poor man about the tenure of his cottage. 
 
 The Times representative, shortly before the date of the 
 election, summed up the situation as follows : 
 
 Mr. Cubitt is retiring from the representation of the 
 Epsom division at the General Election, and the Conservative 
 candidate in his stead will be Mr. Bucknill, Q.C., Recorder 
 of Exeter. The newcomer is naturally at a certain dis- 
 advantage, but I do not think that Mr. Cubitt's withdrawal 
 will endanger the seat. Mr. Cubitt has, from the first,
 
 i8 92 ] RESULT OF THE POLL 81 
 
 supported Mr. Bucknill in every possible way, and the latter, 
 who is very energetic, is working the constituency well, 
 besides which he is deservedly popular at Epsom, where he 
 resides. 
 
 The Liberals did not poll their full strength in 1885 
 owing to some internal divergency, and Mr. Brassey, the 
 present Gladstonian candidate, having a united party at 
 his back, will probably reduce the Conservative majority 
 somewhat, but he can hardly win the seat. 
 
 Mr. Bucknill charged him with being young : an accusa- 
 tion which was perfectly true, but in doing this he exposed 
 himself to Pitt's retort, which was hurled at him with much 
 force. 
 
 Shortly before the election T.A.B. was received at a com- 
 plimentary dinner at Epsom by the local Liberals, and so 
 great was the popularity which he had won by his sporting 
 instincts of fairplay, that the accommodation provided, 
 which was the utmost the town could find, proved totally 
 inadequate for those who wished to be present. On that occa- 
 sion Lord Rosebery said of him, " I know him well. He has 
 the greatest of all merits ; the merit of youth. He has 
 also the merit, which I believe is not unequal to youth, the 
 merit of honesty." Sir Charles Russell said, "He is not a 
 glib talker of vague political sentiment, nor is he like the 
 American who said to his constituents, ' Gentlemen, these are 
 my views, but if you don't like them they can be changed.' ' 
 
 The election took place on Monday, July nth, 1892, and 
 the result was declared as follows : 
 
 Bucknill (Conservative) 5123 
 
 Brassey (Liberal) . . . . . . . . 2723 
 
 Conservative majority, 2400 
 
 This was the first of T.A.B.'s failures as a candidate for 
 parliamentary honours, and if it be necessary to seek for 
 reasons for the failure, the reason here is not far to seek. 
 A really good election candidate requires, amongst other 
 virtues, two which are closely associated with the platform : 
 he must be able to impress his audiences withjiis speeches, 
 and he must not be afraid to carry the offensive hard against
 
 82 SPORT IN SCOTLAND [1892-1918 
 
 his political opponents. Now T.A.B. was not a whole-hearted 
 critic of opponents. Those who take the trouble to read 
 his speeches will find that he constantly gave praise where 
 he thought that praise was due, although in doing so he 
 was helping the party opposed to him. To take only one 
 example ; at Epsom he declared his satisfaction at the 
 naval policy of the Government, and declared that Lord 
 George Hamilton and Mr. Forwood had, in the expression 
 of that policy, acted with wisdom and foresight and had 
 conferred lasting benefits upon the country. That was not 
 a vote-winning line on the platform ; his opponents could 
 make political capital out of it, and although they would 
 all agree that he was a sporting opponent, a fair-minded 
 man, and a good fellow, they would use (and they did use) 
 such admissions for the purpose of stimulating their own 
 supporters and influencing votes against him. 
 
 However engrossingthe work which was occupyingT.A.B.'s 
 attention at the moment, he always found time to keep fit. 
 He constantly took part in all kinds of games and hunted, 
 shot, or danced with unfailing vigour. His work was the 
 fresher for it. In his early youth he had often gone with 
 his father to Scotland for shooting and fishing (his short 
 diaries are full of accounts of such expeditions) ; but it was 
 not until the year 1891 that he began the practice of taking 
 a forest for the season. He became a real lover of the hill. 
 Admiral Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, an intimate friend for 
 many years, who himself in his younger days had gained 
 great renown for his feats of walking and endurance, said of 
 him that T.A.B. was the best man on the hill that he had ever 
 known, that he could easily tire out his stalkers and gillies, 
 and that he seemed to revel in the hard wear and tear of 
 stalking. Of all the forests, he liked Letterewe the best ; 
 and he used often to talk of his " beloved Letterewe." He 
 took also at different times Glenfernate, Dalnacardoch, 
 Clunie, Glen Doll, Ben Alder, Benmore, Corrour, Black 
 Conies and Benula. 
 
 He was not quite a first-class shot, and in later years he 
 was forced to use the left eye for rifle shooting, the stock of 
 his rifle being adapted specially for this purpose. His trophies 
 gave him great pleasure, and the billiard rooms at Park
 
 i 9 o8] FATE OF "WILD BEN'* 83 
 
 Gate and at Normanhurst were both filled with them. His 
 game-books were kept with the greatest care, and for many 
 years they record the "guns," the "bag," and the note- 
 worthy incidents of most of his " shoots " and " stalks." 
 
 In 1908 the Deer-stalking Book contains many references 
 to the stalking of " Wild Ben," a big n pointer, who was 
 clever enough constantly to evade the stalkers. 
 
 Many of the party had shots at him, but he always 
 escaped. After adventures lasting the whole of September, 
 T.A.B. records the following : 
 
 September $oth. A long shot at 300 yards at the big 
 ii pointer. 
 
 October ist. We all had shots and missed. 
 
 October 2nd. Stalked the big 11 pointer all day. Had 
 two chances and missed both. Thick mist until evening 
 and very low, but the flats beyond Scron Loch clear and full 
 of hinds with two good stags. One, an 8 pointer driven over 
 rise by a 6 pointer. Duchally party had three shots at him ; 
 I had two. Lovely day, but very hot. Rose (i.e., Lady 
 Cottenham) saw Royal, possibly Wild Ben, in Coire Faroch. 
 The glen was full of deer and I had long shot at 8 pointer 
 at Coire Van and another near river. Hit him second shot, 
 in hind leg. 
 
 October jth. I missed a fair chance under Coire Micdhe 
 and spent an afternoon after Wild Ben at whom I got a 
 long shot in the dusk. The wind was in the south-east and 
 it was wet in the afternoon. I missed a long shot at No. i 
 and got him after half an hour by stalking nearer. 
 
 October gth. A good 6 pointer in the glen who took his 
 hinds out over the back of Coire Van. A good 10 pointer 
 was also seen, but Wild Ben was probably in the sanctuary. 
 
 October loth. Went up over the edge of the plad after 
 Wild Ben and got a long shot in the dusk and missed him 
 again. 
 
 October i2th. I started at 6 a.m. before it was light. 
 There were plenty of stags roaming in the sanctuary but no 
 Wild Ben. I had climbed to the top of Maoll an Armuich 
 by 8 when it was blowing a hurricane. We saw Wild Ben 
 beneath us and several other lots of deer. Some probably 
 got a touch of the wind, anyway the whole of them moved 
 across Coire Van and went over Coire Faroch. We raced 
 down to the Saddle and up to the top of the plad and down
 
 84 A STALKER'S ESTIMATE [1908 
 
 the shoulder of Coire Faroch. Most of the deer had already 
 passed but Wild Ben had turned his hinds in towards the 
 shoulder and was standing about 400 yards out. There were 
 some other deer not 200 yards off, beneath us. We held a 
 hurried consultation as to the next move and McKay was 
 very keen to work down the steep face as far as we could. 
 While we were doing this Wild Ben brought his hinds into 
 the shoulder within 170 yards. This was a sitting shot 
 with a rest against the side of a rock. 
 
 " He has got it this time," says McKay, " in the haunch." 
 " He has got it better than that," is the reply of the rifle 
 as the stag, after going about 50 yards staggered, and after 
 about another 20, dropped dead. 
 
 Time 9.30 a.m. I ran at full speed to the path, hard back 
 to the lodge, got off in the motor at 11.15 an( ^ reached Inver- 
 ness over 100 miles away at 3.45. A good finish to the 
 season. 
 
 The particular record is chosen as an example of the 
 sort of day in which T.A.B. took a huge delight. He had the 
 heaviest physical exertion during the whole morning from 
 daylight, and after travelling 100 miles by motor, set out, 
 without any pause, for London to continue his activities in 
 other spheres at the same headlong speed. 
 
 Before the subject of Scotland and of stalking is entirely 
 dismissed, the views of Duncan Robertson (one of his own 
 stalkers) about T.A.B. must be recorded. He says : 
 
 It was my good fortune to be Head Stalker at Corrour 
 during the late Lord Brassey's tenancy of 1919. I had every 
 opportunity of noting the fine qualities of a true sportsman 
 and splendid gentleman. It did not take one long to find 
 that his Lordship was not only a most reliable shot, but 
 also an expert and experienced stalker, who fully appreciated 
 a clever manoeuvre in outwitting the deer, or would be the 
 first to console and soothe the feelings of the self-conscious 
 stalker who might err through over eagerness, in fact, would 
 contrive to draw the cause of the mishap upon himself. 
 He loved deer-stalking not only for the sport, but also as 
 a means of satisfying his desire for being out on the hills, 
 and seeing Nature in her different phases and moods. I 
 have seen him halt even in the excitement of a stalk, and 
 gaze with rapture on the ever-changing hues of a glowing
 
 igoi-8] A GREAT STALK 85 
 
 sunset, or draw attention to the cloud effect upon the 
 weatherbeaten heights and beetling crags; everything 
 beautiful appealed to him. Being a good judge of the class 
 of stag to take and time to loose off, it was unnecessary to 
 be up with him when about to shoot. On one occasion, 
 when he moved in for the few yards alone, the selected stag 
 kept moving away stern on, and finally joined the herd 
 about 500 yards off in a corrie, with no cover, plain ground, 
 till close up. Nothing daunted, his Lordship slid, crawled, 
 and pulled himself along in full view and successfully pulled 
 off the most difficult stalk I ever saw, and secured the very 
 stag he first chose. It had a heavy-bore brass cartridge- 
 case in the region of the liver, near the backbone. It puzzled 
 his Lordship how it got there. 
 
 An untiring walker, distance was nothing, and we 
 often finished off far from home but the return journey 
 seemed short, due to his intelligent and kindly conversation 
 which was an education, covering a wide field from State 
 Problems to the best way of keeping a road in order ; no 
 subject came amiss. 
 
 In the grouse butt he had more anxiety that his guests 
 got good shooting than any desire for sport himself. With a 
 keen eye to the carrying out of arrangements, he invariably 
 brought a pleasant day to a close with a kindly word of 
 appreciation, while on the quiet Sabbath mornings, he 
 regularly conducted family worship, with a devotion, 
 reverence, and sincerity that created an elevating influence 
 which will remain ever green in my memory. 
 
 The Archbishop of York, who was often on the hill with 
 him, relates the following anecdote of T.A.B.'s determination 
 and endurance : 
 
 After his Oxford days the sport to which he was devoted 
 was deer-stalking. The open air, the glorious scenery, the 
 rough going, the concentration of energy, the comradeship 
 of stalker and gillie, all these strongly appealed to him. In 
 this connection I have a recollection of him so characteristic 
 of the man that it may be worth while to write it. It was 
 a great day on the hill in Ross-shire, in Letterewe Forest, 
 where some of the happiest days of his life were spent. It 
 was September I3th, 1901 (I have the record of it on "the 
 horns of the stag which were the trophy of its toil). We set 
 out from one of the lodges at 8.30 a.m. Very soon some
 
 86 THE END OF THE STALK [1901-8 
 
 likely stags were sighted on very high and difficult ground. 
 It was a hard stalk. At n a.m. we got within range of the 
 herd. T.A.B. marked his stag and fired. It was a difficult 
 shot, and only hit the poor beast in the stomach. He rose, 
 and then, abandoned by the herd, set his face to the wilderness 
 and ran. We set after him along the steep mountain side 
 at a great pace. The stalker called out that we could not 
 overtake the stag, that he would get the dogs next day and 
 find him. But T.A.B. was determined to get his beast and 
 to put him out of pain without delay. For three hours we 
 ran, until we lost the stag in a birch wood by the shores of 
 Loch-na-Shellag. T.A.B. was determined to keep up the 
 chase. We moved hither and thither. Suddenly the stag 
 bounded out of the wood and took to the water. T.A.B. 
 fired again, but the shot only grazed the head ; and the 
 stag swam across, about a mile, to the other side. With 
 relentless determination T.A.B. insisted on running six 
 miles to the foot of the Loch, leaving a gillie to keep his 
 eye on the stag. There we found a boat lying. We com- 
 mandeered it, and rowed against a hard breeze blowing down 
 the Loch. At last we saw the poor beast standing at bay 
 among the bracken, and at 6 p.m. T.A.B. put him out of 
 pain. For nine hours we had been stalking, running and 
 rowing, and we were now sixteen miles of wild rough 
 country from home. It was just midnight when we reached 
 the lodge at Letterewe. But though it had cost fourteen 
 hours of hard going, the longest and hardest day on record 
 in that forest, T.A.B. was satisfied. He had done what he 
 determined to do. 
 
 In 1903, Lord Brassey accepted the Chairmanship of the 
 Royal Opium Commission, and T.A.B. went out to India to 
 act as Joint Hon. Secretary of the Commission, which took 
 evidence on the spot. He kept a lengthier diary than usual 
 of this expedition, and has left memoranda of a careful 
 and very technical character of some independent inquiries 
 which he made about industrial and agricultural conditions 
 and collateral matters. He was accompanied by his wife 
 and visited Lucerne, Arena, Milan, Bologna, and other Italian 
 towns, en route. They embarked at Brindisi, and after 
 going ashore at Port Said and Aden, reached Colombo 
 early in November, having passed the Sunbeam in the 
 Indian Ocean.
 
 1903] OPIUM COMMISSION 87 
 
 Before the sessions of the Commission began the 
 Sunbeam not having arrived until five days later they 
 visited the principal places on the island, and were delighted 
 with the glorious flowers and trees which abounded every- 
 where. The Commission decided to take evidence in Calcutta 
 for a fortnight and then to divide, half going to Burmah and 
 half to Madras ; after Christmas the whole Commission was 
 to go on tour. 
 
 A week's extract from the diary is given as an example 
 of the way in which he occupied his time : 
 
 Saturday, December 2nd. To jute mill at Sarampore in 
 steam-launch. Finlay manager to splendid mill, airy and 
 very little dust. Wages run from 6 rupees for mechanics 
 (natives) to i or 2 rupees a week for boys and women, over 
 500 looms, only runs 6 days a week. Native employees go 
 away for a few weeks every year to cultivate their ground, 
 output 40,000 bags a day, saw whole process from raw jute 
 to finished bag. Worked at tables of Home Charges to 
 races in coming. To The*rese, a most gruesome piece in 
 which hero and heroine murder heroine's husband, are 
 married, and haunted by their crime, commit suicide. Very 
 well played. 
 
 Sunday, December $rd. On board all morning. Wrote 
 and read, prayers at 11.30. To Botanical Gardens after 
 lunch in the launch. There are some nice bamboos, pretty 
 ferns and orchid sheds and a lovely bridalcreeper, a perfect 
 mass of white flowers. There is also a nice avenue of 
 palms (royal) from entrance. The palms generally look 
 dry and shabby and the labels in the gardens are sadly 
 neglected. 
 
 Monday, December 4th. Read up evidence. Misses 
 Tremerne, etc., to lunch. To Museum. Interesting collection 
 of arts and manufactures. Heads, except Indian ones, rather 
 poor. Played tennis with Cumbaleges, good court and 
 good game. Mr. Westland, new Finance Minister from New 
 Zealand, Pembertons, Finlays, Lamberts, Playfair, Chairman 
 Chamber of Commerce, dined. 
 
 Thursday, December jth. At work on Father's speech 
 on Navy. Corrected tables of Home Charges. Mr. Slanders 
 came on board after lunch, a very nice old fellow he is. 
 Talks English very fairly. He is Dewan of a place about 
 25 miles from Ahmedabad. Played tennis at the Ritchies'.
 
 88 ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE [1903 
 
 Mrs. Harvey and I and Idina and Capt. Currie, a very good 
 game. 
 
 Friday, December 8th. Working on speech on Navy ; 
 at 4 address to Chamber of Commerce, a few native mer- 
 chants, room full, reception good. Got to Russell Street in 
 time for a*game of tennis before dusk. 
 
 Saturday, December gth. Native doctor C.I.E. gave in 
 evidence that he objected to tea, coffee, cocoa, and cocoatina 
 as well as opium and alcohol. On board one of Asiatic 
 steamers, a fine cargo boat, carries 6,500 tons, twin-screws, 
 triple expansion engines, runs only between Calcutta and 
 Bombay touching at 19 intermediate ports. Rowed with 
 Harry. Dined at the Lieutenant-Governor's. Mrs. Ver- 
 schoyle very pleasant, knew Lady Wiseman. A few words 
 with Colonel House who belonged to the Old Company's 
 engineers. 
 
 It is unnecessary to detail at great length T.A.B.'s connec- 
 tion with the various institutions which had for their object 
 the consolidation of the Empire and the maintenance of 
 Imperial interests, but a passing reference must be made 
 to his long and active connection with the Royal Colonial 
 Institute, incorporated in 1882 by Royal Charter. This is 
 a non-party institution designed, amongst other purposes, 
 to provide a place of discussion for those who are engaged 
 in Colonial and Indian affairs. T.A.B. was a constant and 
 generous supporter and a Vice- President for many years.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE defeat of Lord Rosebery's Government in 1895 on the 
 Cordite vote revealed a great lack of preparedness on the 
 part of the Government for war, and the subsequent election 
 resulted in the return to power of the Conservative Party 
 with the unprecedented majority of 152 votes. T.A.B. had 
 prepared with his customary energy and activity for this 
 election ; he had followed the usual plan of campaign, had 
 taken a house in Bournemouth in order to fight the division 
 of Christchurch, and had thrown himself, heart and soul, into 
 the general life of the town and district. His political 
 views, expounded to the constituency, were very much what 
 we have shown them to be in the Epsom contest. The root 
 and basis of his attitude towards every question was his 
 predominant Imperialism. The Empire, which had been 
 won by the life-blood of Englishmen shed in all parts of the 
 world in the preceding centuries, must at all costs be 
 preserved : it was the joy and the crown of the education 
 of the Englishman. The work of his grandfather had helped 
 in an extraordinary sense to make the Empire possible by 
 making access to its various parts easy, and the chief occupa- 
 tion of his father's life had been the consolidation of the 
 Empire by drawing closer the ties of affection between its 
 varying parts through his constant visits, through the 
 charm of his personality, and through spreading the informa- 
 tion which his books and treatises diffused. 
 
 The sanctity of the Empire was a thing of which men 
 were thinking but little at the end of the nineteenth century. 
 There were some, whose voices were still heard at the 1895 
 election, who contended that it would be well if the consti- 
 tuent parts of the Empire had a nominal connection only ; 
 they averred that it would be wise to allow the young and 
 sturdy children of the old Mother to regard themselves as 
 
 8 9
 
 go POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS [1895 
 
 unconnected in any sense with the ancient home, as destined, 
 in the due order of colonial development, to become inde- 
 pendent nations with constitutions not correlated and even 
 not akin to that of the country from which they had sprung. 
 Such an attitude was provocative to T.A.B.'s enthusiasm. 
 
 In both the elections which he fought in the division 
 of Christchurch, his voice was raised constantly in the 
 demand for a strong policy for the building up of the Empire. 
 It was most unfortunate for him that the liberal character 
 of his thought, and his consequent general policy in social, 
 industrial, and agricultural matters had joined him to a 
 party whose leaders were, at the best, vacillating and half- 
 hearted Imperialists. Through all the days of the Imperial 
 struggle, which led up to the South African War and the 
 South African settlement, he was being driven slowly, yet 
 surely, towards the inevitable position which the conflicting 
 ideas of his political outlook necessitated. There were 
 two great ideas struggling in his mentality, Imperial 
 Federation, and its necessary prelude, Federal Government 
 for the United Kingdom constituted his first and foremost 
 ambition. But there was also still strong within him 
 another idea, which he had inherited from the family 
 tradition. He longed, through education, through co- 
 operative movements, through increasing freedom of the 
 political machine, to widen the outlook and raise the tone of 
 the working men and women of England. His whole 
 attitude to political questions was, however, coloured by 
 the first of these ideas. Home Rule for Ireland was simply 
 one factor of the Imperial problem. Disestablishment of 
 the Church in Wales should be considered on its merits from 
 the point of view that it was only fair that every nation, 
 small or large, should have the right of self-determination. 
 It was not a matter for Englishmen to decide the domestic 
 policy of Wales, nor for Scotsmen to decide the character 
 of the relationship between the Church of England and the 
 State. 
 
 As years passed, he became still more possessed with the 
 idea of Imperial Federation, and he found that other political 
 parties were not barren of liberal movements. The develop- 
 ment of the socialistic spirit of class antagonism brought
 
 1895] FIRST CHRISTCHURCH CAMPAIGN 91 
 
 a restraining influence to bear upon his radicalism. Such in- 
 fluences were driving him slowly, yet steadily and inevitably, 
 into the ranks of the Conservative Party, with which, how- 
 ever, he was not, and never could be, in complete sympathy. 
 At Bournemouth * he was a strong candidate. The quiet 
 thoughtfulness and the intellectual pursuits of many of those 
 who resort to the seaside towns of the south coast always 
 ensure a hearing for a man who is at once well-informed, 
 definite, and earnest. A large and influential admixture 
 of the electorate has travelled to the remote parts of the 
 world, either in the Civil Service, or in pursuit of commerce. 
 Such men, and their general conception of the position of 
 England as the hub of a great Empire, provided a fruitful 
 field for the seed which T.A.B. was incessantly sowing. His 
 social position and the fame of his family were an added 
 strength to his cause. His love of sport, the work which he 
 had done at the Admiralty, his reputation as the editor of 
 the " Naval Annual," his blue, his record at Eton and Oxford, 
 all combined to strengthen his candidature in such a consti- 
 tuency. On the other hand, his manner was against him. 
 Facility in platform speaking, which develops in the case 
 of some men through long and continued practice, was not 
 vouchsafed to him. The faculty of light and airy persiflage, 
 which adds such power to the utterances of some men and 
 wins the heart of electors by the laughter which it produces 
 he never gained. The art of conjuring a recalcitrant waverer 
 he would not cultivate. The resolution which he formed in 
 his first electoral contest for the Sussex County Council, 
 he maintained to the end. He explained with success to 
 large audiences, or to small, to individuals or to masses, 
 what his political views were, but he would never personally 
 ask any man for his vote. A man's vote was his own right 
 and he should not be jockeyed into using it as a personal 
 favour to anyone. Morally, to exercise such pressure was 
 as inexcusable as to buy votes. The facts of the case should 
 be told the voter, and he should be left absolutely free to 
 make his decision. 
 
 Moreover T.A.B. had not gained the power of saying 
 " no " in such a way as to give as much pleasure as if he had 
 
 * Christchurch.
 
 92 POLITICAL METHODS [1895 
 
 said " yes." In this, too, he may, perhaps, have been badly 
 served by his political lieutenants, but then he was always a 
 difficult man to keep on the chain. To the end of his days 
 he had the fault of writing letters to inquirers on important 
 matters without taking expert opinion, or making quite 
 certain that he had all the facts before him : this was a 
 dangerous habit at election time, and he never had a political 
 agent to manage him well. It was useless to grumble 
 afterwards at what had been done. 
 
 To a quiet and politely worded request that he would 
 submit such matters in future, he was found always to 
 respond readily. His political agents had, perhaps, not that 
 way of doing things. He undoubtedly lost the Christchurch 
 election because of his reply to the Churchmen of Bourne- 
 mouth on the question of Welsh Disestablishment. Church- 
 men in those days, when the Liberal Party was making its 
 constant attacks upon the Church in Wales, were strongly 
 federated, and their representatives in Bournemouth 
 inquired of him whether he were in favour of Welsh Dises- 
 tablishment. His answer was in the following terms : 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I am in favour of the Disestablishment and 
 Disendowment of the Church of England in Wales, as well 
 as that of the Established Church in Scotland. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 T. ALLNUTT BRASSEY. 
 
 A wiser answer would have been to explain his principle 
 of requiring self-determination for all nationalities, to say 
 that this was, in his opinion, a matter for Wales, and that 
 he regarded it as improper for Englishmen to interfere with 
 Welsh demands in such a matter, as it would be for Welsh- 
 men to interfere with English desires with regard to the 
 Church in England. To hurl forth a plain and unvarnished 
 reply hi the terms of the letter, which we have quoted, 
 may have given heart to the Liberals, but it assuredly lost 
 him a great many votes. 
 
 The election was fought, as all T.A.B.'s elections were 
 fought, with very clean hands on his side. There was a good 
 deal of journalistic abuse of the Eatanswill Gazette character
 
 i8 9 5] RESULT OF ELECTION 93 
 
 on both sides, and it is amusing to find him described in the 
 opposition paper in the following terms : 
 
 He seems to be a poor, weak politician, trimming upon 
 the line of a weak-kneed adhesion to the various devices by 
 which Gladstonianism has endeavoured to keep place with 
 power. 
 
 In his address to the constituency he speaks of the follow- 
 ing reforms as measures to which he is pledged : 
 
 1. Home Rule. 
 
 2. Local Option. 
 
 3. Land Registration. 
 
 4. Payment of Members of Parliament. 
 
 5. Reform of the House of Lords. 
 
 6. Disestablishment of the Church in Wales. 
 Amongst these items the reform of the House of Lords 
 
 was least liked by his supporters because he always insisted 
 upon the necessity of a second and revising Chamber. In 
 spite of the plea of some of his followers, he refused absolutely 
 to be a party to handing over to the House of Commons 
 unlimited power in legislation without a revision by some 
 expert and strong authority, which would safeguard the 
 interests of the country against hasty action. 
 
 His position in this matter was made easier by the lucky 
 question of a heckler, which was a godsend to him. He 
 was asked : " How would you wish this second Chamber 
 constituted ? I am for total abolition of the Bishops." 
 The gratuitous suggestion in the second clause gave him an 
 answer on the point which became well-known in the 
 division and was always certain to close the subject. 
 
 His opponent was Mr. A. H. Smith, the sitting member, 
 and the result of the election was : 
 
 Smith . . . . . . . . 3198 
 
 Brassey . . . . . . 3114 
 
 Majority 84 
 The result of the 1892 election had been : 
 
 Smith 2803 
 
 Fletcher . . . . . . 2600 
 
 Majority 203 
 
 H
 
 94 THE OXFORD HOUSE [1890-5 
 
 The Tory majority was thus reduced by 119 votes at 
 an election when the tide was setting strongly in their 
 favour. 
 
 The defeated candidate announced his intention of 
 standing by the constituency and fighting it again when 
 opportunity occurred. 
 
 During all this period of his early political campaigns 
 T.A.B. was taking the greatest possible interest in the work 
 of the Oxford House, which was being established in East 
 London. The history of that settlement needs a volume 
 by itself, and no more than a passing reference to his manifold 
 activities on its behalf can here be made. 
 
 The Head of the House in those days was a young 
 clergyman of Keble College, by name the Rev. A. F. W. 
 Ingram, whose initials the reporters of the meetings, held 
 on behalf of the House, rarely succeeded in getting right. 
 Those initials are better known now, though, indeed, the 
 initials of a man's name matter little compared with his 
 enthusiasm and power for work. The future Bishop of 
 London had both of these qualities in a pre-eminent degree. 
 He had no difficulty in infusing a double portion of his spirit 
 of enthusiasm into his two righthand men in his enterprise 
 T.A.B. and Bertram Talbot. Through them, their friends 
 and their agency, the greater part of the money, which was 
 required for the extension and development of the Oxford 
 House in East London, was obtained. 
 
 T.A.B.'s interest in the matter did not end in attempts to 
 raise the necessary funds ; he constantly visited the House, 
 and year by year he invited large numbers of the boys, 
 who were attached to its organisations, down to Park Gate, 
 where an annual feature on their visit was the dragging of 
 the fish-pond close to Broomham, a farm on the edge of 
 the park which surrounded Normanhurst. The excite- 
 ment on this occasion at the capture of the large numbers 
 of coarse fish which were to be found there can only be 
 understood by those who have had experience of the East 
 Londoner on the occasion of his very rare visits to the 
 country. 
 
 Sports were also organised in which both " blues " took 
 a leading part, and the revellers having roused East Sussex
 
 1896-8] FRIENDLY SOCIETIES 95 
 
 by the strains of the band, which they usually brought 
 with them, returned home late at night exhausted with 
 pleasure. 
 
 In 1896 T.A.B. and Lady Idina travelled round the world. 
 Starting from Liverpool they visited many important 
 centres of the United States and Canada, and stayed at 
 Marquette in order to travel into the Michigan estate and 
 ranches. They passed through British Columbia and crossed 
 the Pacific to Victoria, calling at the Fiji and the Sandwich 
 Islands. They remained with Lord Brassey at Government 
 House, Melbourne, for some time and witnessed the hospi- 
 tality which he dispensed there, the guests at one garden 
 party in particular numbering over 5000 persons. T.A.B. 
 took much interest in the co-operative and co-partnership 
 movements, which were developing the fruit, the butter, and 
 the milk trade in the colony by leaps and bounds. They 
 returned by way of Ceylon and Suez, the whole voyage having 
 lasted about six months. T.A.B. gave lantern lectures in 
 various places about this tour, some of the slides being made 
 from photographs taken by Lady Idina. 
 
 During the next two years T.A.B. continued his political 
 work in the constituency for which he was a candidate, 
 and occupied himself with movements of social reform, 
 including particularly co-partnership and housing, and with 
 general political questions such as Federation and Imperial 
 Defence. 
 
 He took a good deal of interest in the Friendly Society 
 movement and in the Old Age Pensions, which were slowly 
 becoming a question of practical politics. In his own home 
 village of Catsfield he took steps to place a Village Friendly 
 Society, actuarially unsound (as such societies must always 
 be) on a sounder footing, and to induce the younger men to 
 join the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows. That eminently 
 democratic institution had the very salutary lesson of being 
 speeded up in its administrative methods with considerable 
 vigour by a scion of the aristocracy, but after the preliminary 
 breeze which their rather leisurely procedure had provoked, 
 the son of the member of the House of Lords himself became 
 a member of the Unity, and for the rest of his days proudly 
 boasted his connexion with it.
 
 96 SOUTH AFRICA [1896-1904 
 
 The Rector of Brede, a neighbouring village, had corre- 
 sponded with him on the subject, and elicited, amongst other 
 letters, the following reply : 
 
 To the Rev. G. E. Frewer. 
 
 1 4th March, 1904. 
 
 I am much obliged for your letter and enclosure, 
 which I have as yet only had time to glance at. The 
 question of these Old Village Societies as well as Old Age 
 Pensions interests me a good deal. Some years ago we 
 made the younger members of the Catsfield Friendly Society 
 into a branch of the Oddfellows. The older members went 
 on with their Society, and I am glad to say it is still in 
 a flourishing condition thanks, mainly, it is true, to a sub- 
 scription of ^10 a year which I give them. Would it be 
 possible for you to get together the members of your Friendly 
 Society on Thursday evening next ? It is the only evening 
 I have this week or next, before I go abroad, when I could 
 come. I should like to discuss the future of the Society, 
 and if possible to induce the members to allow me to get a 
 report on the Society from the Actuaries of the Manchester 
 Unity. I should be prepared to give a liberal donation in 
 order to get the Society on a better footing. 
 
 In 1899 the South African War broke out under circum- 
 stances which are now a matter of history. T.A.B.'s con- 
 nection with South Africa, which he had visited in 1888 on 
 his return from his tour in India, Borneo, and Australia, 
 and again in 1899, when he made a lengthy stay, was a 
 peculiarly intimate one, and he maintained to the end of 
 his life a more than casual acquaintanceship with many 
 prominent South Africans. These visits to South Africa 
 and his opinions are clearly set out in a memorandum 
 drafted at the time. It is too long to quote in full, and the 
 more interesting portions are alone given. 
 
 When I left England at the end of July, 1899, for 
 Capetown, it was my intention to proceed to Australia, 
 mainly on a matter of business. On arriving at Capetown 
 I found myself in the middle of a most complicated and 
 interesting political situation, the proper solution of which 
 would determine the future of South Africa. I had the 
 opportunity of meeting some of the men on one side or the
 
 1899] BRITISH IN SOUTH AFRICA 97 
 
 other who were exercising a large influence on the course of 
 events, and opinions were so conflicting as to the reality of 
 the grievances of the Uitlanders, the character of the men 
 who were carrying on the Reform agitation in Johannesburg, 
 and the influence of the Capitalists on the movement, that 
 I made up my mind that it was impossible to arrive at a 
 sound and independent judgment except by visiting Johan- 
 nesburg and inquiring into things for oneself. ... In 
 Capetown it was repeatedly asserted to me by men whose 
 sympathies were largely with the Transvaal, and who were 
 at any rate opposed to the line taken by the High Com- 
 missioner and the British Government, that the laws of the 
 Transvaal were good, the grievances of the Uitlanders were 
 enormously exaggerated, that the Reform movement of 
 1899 like that of 1895 was an agitation promoted by Mr. 
 Rhodes and other Capitalists for their own purposes, that 
 the Uitlanders were a community which was intent on 
 making money and able to do so, and consisted of the scum 
 of the earth. Now the first hour I spent in Johannesburg, 
 walking about the streets, was sufficient to prove that 
 the last assertion was ridiculous. That Johannesburg 
 has its proportion of disreputable people, illicit liquor 
 dealers, pickpockets, etc., no one will deny, but the im- 
 pression left on my mind after my visit there is that as a 
 community it is considerably above the average of most 
 large towns. . . . Now as to the character of the men at 
 the head of the Reform movement. I had the opportunity 
 of meeting the Chairman and other members of the Council 
 of the South African League, the Superintendent of the 
 Council of Education, and being especially anxious to find 
 out how far the working miners and artisans sympathised 
 with and took part in the Reform movement, it was kindly 
 arranged that I should meet at the South African League 
 offices some representative working men, amongst whom 
 were Mr. Shanks and Mr. Raitt, the Secretary of the local 
 branch of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers. 
 
 I can only say that I was pleased with the type of men 
 who are now taking a leading part in the Reform movement 
 in Johannesburg. They belong mainly to the professional 
 classes, barristers, mining engineers, doctors, etc. Some 
 of them have made considerable sacrifices in order to take 
 part in the movement ; the President was compelled to 
 give up his position as mining engineer to one of the im- 
 portant companies. Warrants were out for the arrest of
 
 98 THE BOERS AND BRITISH [1899 
 
 all the leaders at the time we were in Johannesburg, but had 
 not been put into execution. One could not help feeling 
 some admiration for men who did not flinch from advocating 
 their cause with the chance of being thrown into a Boer 
 prison at any moment. I am satisfied that there are none 
 of the corrupting elements about the Reform movement 
 of to-day which tainted the proceedings of the Reform Com- 
 mittee in 1895. The Capitalists, who are always held up as 
 a bugbear, are certainly not taking a leading part, and I 
 do not believe that they are providing any part of the funds 
 for carrying on the agitation. If I am told that I was 
 deceived by appearances, I say in reply, I am quite satisfied 
 that such men as Mr. Wyburgh, Mr. Dodd, or Mr. Raitt 
 would have nothing to do with the movement, if it was 
 financed by the cheques of Messrs. Rhodes, Beit, etc., in 
 the same way as in 1895. . . . The political grievances are 
 serious, but that the mass of the people on the Rand are 
 willing to take part in an active political agitation for their 
 removal, I am not prepared to say. . . . 
 
 His opinions are further given in a letter to Mr. 
 Hofmeyr. 
 
 To Mr. Hofmeyr. 
 
 August I gth, 1899. 
 
 The more one studies the present political situation 
 in South Africa the more complicated it becomes, and the 
 more difficult it is to see a way which will be reasonably 
 acceptable to all parties. As a Liberal I feel that the 
 policy pursued by Mr. Gladstone in 1881 has been recipro- 
 cated by the Government of the South African Republic 
 in a spirit hostile to the interests of the British colonies in 
 South Africa, as well as to British people in the Transvaal 
 ever since. The laws may not be bad in themselves, but 
 that they are badly administered in many respects, no one 
 I think can gainsay. And is not this natural ? How could 
 a trained body of administrators be evolved suddenly out 
 of a community of farmers, such as the Transvaal was 
 15 years ago ? If you absolutely decline to entrust the 
 administration of any important part of it to the people 
 who form the vast mass of your immigrants, and who, I 
 think, we Englishmen can fairly claim have shown themselves, 
 in India, in Egypt, and elsewhere, the best administrators 
 in the world ; and prefer to put your confidence in strangers
 
 1888-igoo] SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 99 
 
 imported into the country for administration purposes 
 alone ; who have no real interest in the welfare of the 
 country or the good of South Africa as a whole ; the adminis- 
 tration was bound to be more or less of a failure. Under 
 such circumstances it is remarkable that it has been carried 
 on as well as it has. The economic grievance I am satisfied 
 from what I have heard here is not very great. The field 
 is so rich that fortunes can be made here now ; but it is 
 fairly certain that with a reduction of taxation on the 
 mining industry, whether through the dynamite monopoly 
 or in any other way, the production of the Randt could be 
 doubled if not trebled. The political grievance is, I am 
 satisfied, serious ; representation must go with taxation is 
 an old liberal maxim and you cannot govern satisfactorily 
 without it. It is quite untrue to say that the Uitlander 
 population consists of the scum of the earth, as has often been 
 said to me in Capetown during this last week. From what 
 I can see I should say that as a community, they are a good 
 deal above the average of most large towns. The mass of 
 the population belongs certainly to the middle and lower- 
 middle classes. 
 
 T.A.B.had been gazetted 2nd Lieutenant in the West Kent 
 Yeomanry on December 22nd, 1888, and had been promoted 
 to the rank of Lieutenant on December igth, 1891, and to 
 that of Captain on January igth, 1898. He had taken the 
 keenest interest in the regimental work, and as soon as war 
 was declared, he volunteered to raise a company of Yeomanry 
 and proceed to the front. The offer was accepted, and 
 authority was given in the middle of February, 1900, for 
 raising the Sussex Company, after the pick of the material 
 had already been recruited by himself and others for the 
 West Kent, Middlesex, and Hants Companies. With the 
 exception of one Yeoman and a few volunteers, the Company 
 was composed of men with no military experience, many of 
 whom had to be taught either to ride or to shoot. During 
 the three weeks that the Company was being raised at East- 
 bourne, T.A.B. had not the assistance, as other Companies 
 had, of the Yeomanry staff, and had no officers. The work 
 of training the men was done by one Sergeant of Yeomanry 
 (an ex-soldier) and himself, with the help of a few personal 
 friends. Every man, unless on leave, had two hours or more
 
 ioo DUKE AS SUBALTERN [1900 
 
 in the saddle per day from the time he joined the Company. 
 Within three weeks of the enrolment of the first men, the 
 Company marched by road to Shorncliffe, a distance of 
 about fifty-five miles, in three days, only half the men being 
 mounted, the remainder proceeding on foot. It was only 
 after arriving in Shorncliffe that the assistance of the Adjutant 
 of the West Kent Yeomanry in training the Company was 
 secured. T.A.B. called this a good record. The 6gth 
 (Sussex) Company of Imperial Yeomanry sailed from the 
 Royal Albert Dock in the Delphic on March 3ist, 1900. 
 
 The Duke of Norfolk volunteered to serve under T.A.B. as 
 a subaltern, and they went out together in the Carisbrooke 
 Castle, accompanied by Lady Idina Brassey and Lady Mabelle 
 Egerton. Thus was laid the foundation of a friendship 
 which lasted for the rest of their lives. 
 
 From the Duke of Norfolk. 
 
 24th March, 1900. 
 
 It was only yesterday morning that I learnt you had a 
 Company of Sussex Imperial Yeomanry going to South 
 Africa, and I at once wired to you to ask if you would let 
 me join. I am much obliged to you for the reply, and to 
 Langdale for his letter. I only fear that my application, 
 coming so late, has put you to inconvenience. 
 
 I gather, however, that if I could get attached to the 
 Company you would have no objection to my going out in 
 that capacity, and you could decide on arrival at the Cape 
 whether it would be best that I should remain with the 
 Company or find some other berth in the Battalion, which 
 Colonel Brookfield feels could be arranged. 
 
 Acting on this belief, which I trust is well grounded, I 
 have consulted Colonel Brookfield, the Imperial Yeomanry 
 Headquarters, and the War Office, and have obtained 
 sanction to join your Company. I am told, however, that 
 the ship in which you go out is already crammed to over- 
 flowing, and that I must not go with you, which I greatly 
 regret. I am ordered, therefore, to go out' in the mail 
 steamer Carisbrooke Castle, which sails from Southampton on 
 the same day as you sail, and I have arranged to take my 
 horse and groom with me. I am only taking my groom 
 as far as the Cape, and I understand there will be no
 
 RANK AND RANK 101 
 
 difficulty in one of the troopers being told off to act as my 
 groom during the campaign. 
 
 As time is so very pressing, I have ventured, on the 
 strength of what you and Langdale write, to make these 
 arrangements, and I sincerely hope there is nothing in them 
 in any way disagreeable to you. Should my connection 
 with the Company cause any inconvenience, I quite under- 
 stand that you will terminate it at any moment, and that 
 
 1 shall then look to Brookfield to keep me somewhere in 
 the Battalion. 
 
 Will you allow me to say that I think it very good of 
 you to permit me at the eleventh hour to join at all, and 
 that I should be seriously annoyed and disgusted if my 
 coming in this somewhat irregular way put you in any way 
 in an awkward or difficult position ? I also wish to say most 
 emphatically that I of course entirely give up my rank, 
 and wish to take any sort of place into which you can shake 
 me. It is only because I am sure you will thoroughly 
 believe this and accept me on that clear understanding, 
 that I dare to avail myself of the permission you have so 
 kindly given me. 
 
 The fortunes of the Company are described in the 
 following diary kept by the C.O. : 
 
 Since we left Capetown on May 4th, we have been 
 completely cut off from the outside world, have not seen a 
 newspaper, or heard a word by wire or letter of our friends. 
 The Sussex Company has been very fortunate. We have 
 come up the country as fast as it is possible to come, have 
 seen the capture of Johannesburg and Pretoria, and have 
 been under fire. . . . 
 
 We had only orders as far as De Aar, and did not 
 know in the least where we were going from there. Our 
 train was 10 hours late, and we did not reach De Aar till 
 
 2 p.m. on the i6th, instead of at 4 a.m. Our two mule 
 drivers for the ammunition waggon bolted the first night, 
 and it was a hard job watering and feeding 160 horses in 
 the trucks, as well as getting food for the men in the time 
 allowed at each station. We crossed the Orange River at 
 midnight, and had 5 hours at Springfontein on the i7th, 
 arriving at Bloemfontein the same evening. Here the Duke 
 of Norfolk, who had left Capetown a week before us, rejoined 
 and we detrained at Smaldeel at n a.m. on the i8th. The
 
 102 DIARY OF THE WAR [1900 
 
 horses were so weak after their 93 hours in the train, packed 
 as tight as they could be, that it was quite impossible to 
 move till next day. We marched at 4 p.m. on the igth, 
 intending to camp about 6 miles on, but when we reached the 
 spot, the water was filthy and dead horses were lying all 
 round. 
 
 On the 2ist we reached Zand River, where there had 
 been heavy fighting a few days before. Being railhead, 
 there was a big camp, partly of troops, partly of navvies 
 engaged in making the deviation to replace the bridge blown 
 up by the Boers. The Commandant let us have an ox- 
 waggon which enabled us to lighten our horses' loads of the 
 men's blankets and waterproof sheets and to carry a fair 
 amount of forage and rations. We of course left our tents 
 and most of our kits on the rail, and as a rule have done 
 very well without them. . . . 
 
 May 22nd. Made a good march of 25 miles to Bos- 
 chrand. The Duke of Norfolk rode on to Kronstadt to 
 report our arrival to Lord Roberts, but unfortunately 
 found that he had left in the morning. The principal dis- 
 comfort of our march hitherto was the number of dead 
 horses and oxen lying along the road. To-night the only 
 water we had to drink and wash in was from a dam with 
 two dead horses in it. ... 
 
 May 24th. Three cheers for the Queen at 6 a.m. Told 
 the men that if any part of the Army reached Johannesburg 
 within the week, the Sussex Company would be there. 
 Johannesburg was between 130 and 140 miles distant. 
 Secured a second ox- waggon, which we left at Kronstadt 
 till evening to bring on forage. Made about 16 miles and 
 camped with good grass and water near Holfontein. . . . 
 
 May 2$th. The ox-waggon caught us up at 7 a.m. 
 but had only brought 360 Ibs. of oats, less than a half-a-day's 
 ration for the horses. With the exception of one bag of 
 oats, which we begged off a transport officer at Grootvlei, 
 this was all the forage we had till we got to Johannesburg. 
 
 May 26th. After another futile attempt to draw 
 forage, we left the Rhenoster and reached Grootvlei, a 
 20 miles march, about 4 p.m. There we found a squadron of 
 Kitchener's Horse, who had been engaged with the Boers 
 two days before, about 8 miles east of the railway, and 
 2 or 3 empty waggon-convoys, waiting to take suppliesjfrom 
 Roodeval on to General Ian Hamilton's division, which 
 was moving N.W. to the Vaal. Found a great friend in
 
 ENTRY TO JOHANNESBURG 103 
 
 Kitchener's Horse, and three of us sat at our camp fire that 
 night, who had made a hunting trip in the Rockies together 
 in 1886. 
 
 May 2jth. Marched early, leaving one section as 
 rearguard to bring on the waggons. Made Taaishbosch 
 Spruit, where Lord Roberts had slept the night before, at 
 dusk. 
 
 We had hardly off-saddled when a message came in 
 from the rearguard to say that a convoy had been attacked 
 about 10 miles back. We were in an indefensible position 
 where we were, so determined to move to the farm a mile 
 further on, where there were cover for the horses, convenient 
 stone kraals and walls for our outposts, as well as wood, 
 water, and grass the three necessaries for a camp, though 
 one has often to make shift without one or the other. Our 
 light waggon upset over a boulder in the dark, just after 
 crossing the drift, and it was 9 o'clock before we had settled 
 in our new quarters. The rearguard came in an hour later 
 with the 2 ox-waggons, to our great relief. By midnight 
 all had had supper and the guards were posted. Went the 
 rounds at i o'clock and again at 5. The other officers 
 divided the intervening hours. 
 
 May 28th. Major Cochrane, with 3 Boer envoys, 
 camped close to us. An interesting chat with Mr. Malan 
 after breakfast, about the war and its causes. Having heard 
 yesterday from one of the headquarter supply officers that 
 the army was likely to halt for two days on the Vaal, we did 
 not think it necessary to start early after our long march of 
 yesterday. We reached the Vaal with the main body at 
 10.30 to hear that Lord Roberts had left Vereniging on 
 the Transvaal side, 3 hours before. From Taaishbosch to the 
 Vaal is only 6 miles, but for the whole of those 6 miles the 
 road is deep sand. It was a terrible job getting the waggons 
 through. The oxen had to be double-spanned and did not 
 reach the Vaal till 2 o'clock, having taken 5 hours on the 
 way. The mule-waggons came in soon after noon. All 
 the teams were more or less exhausted, and it was clear 
 that we must make a push for it if we were to catch the 
 Army up before they entered Johannesburg. A. B. and C. 
 sections crossed the Vaal at 3 p.m., each man carrying his 
 blanket, a day's biscuits, and an emergency ration on his 
 saddle. D. section, under Lieut. McLean were to follow, 
 with the ammunition and light waggons as soon as they 
 had had a bit of lunch. We had 21 miles to do to reach
 
 104 DIAMOND HILL [1900 
 
 Klip River, where the Army were to halt to-night. We 
 marched till sundown, passing on the way an artillery con- 
 voy in charge of the son of my old Colonel. Gave the 
 horses half-an-hour's grazing, and then went on till 10 o'clock, 
 when we struck the camp of the Vllth Division. The grass 
 fires blazing on every hand were quite magnificent. It 
 seemed as if the Boers were determined to leave us nothing 
 but a blackened country, devoid of grass for horses or oxen. 
 We spent a miserable night, under the shelter of a stone wall. 
 Many of the men, I am glad to say, found good quarters on 
 some oat straw in a barn. 
 
 May 2gth. Up at 4. Moved at daybreak. Reached 
 Klip River Station at 7 having passed the Vllth Division 
 on the way. Lord Roberts had left an hour before, but I 
 was lucky to run up against the A.A.G. of the Xlth Division 
 who knew me, and we were directed down to the bridge over 
 the Klip River. The wheel of one of the 47 in. naval guns 
 had just gone through the bridge, delaying the whole of 
 the artillery and waggons of the Xlth and Vllth Divisions 
 for 2 hours till a trestle bridge was built by the engineers. 
 As an old friend was in charge of the traffic at the bridge, 
 and there was grand grazing for the horses, the delay was 
 not an unmixed evil. Once across the bridge, we pushed on 
 rapidly till we caught the Headquarter Staff up near Natal 
 Spruit. The Headquarter Staff halted for lunch, and we 
 received orders to move about 4 miles further on, to camp 
 and to join Colonel Henry's Mounted Infantry Brigade next 
 day. At about 4 in the afternoon we came over a high ridge, 
 opposite Jamestown, from which we had a grand view of 
 the Rand, from the suburbs of Johannesburg in the west 
 to beyond Boksburg on the east, 12 miles or more. . . . 
 
 June 2nd. Went into Johannesburg and lunched at 
 Heath's Hotel, where we had stayed last year. . . . 
 
 June yd. Marched from our camp at Orange Grove 
 at 6 a.m. Our brigade moved along to the west of the main 
 Pretoria road, and we had a long, dragging morning while 
 a possible Boer position at Leuwkop was being turned. 
 Camped about i o'clock. Putting out grass fires occupied 
 a good deal of the afternoon. 
 
 June qth. To-day we have seen our first battle. 
 Battle of Diamond Hill. We marched at 6 a.m. with orders 
 to seize Six Mile Drift, where it was expected the Boers would 
 make a stand. The four Yeomanry Companies Sussex, 
 2 Somersets, and Dorset covered i \ miles of front on either
 
 igoo] A NARROW ESCAPE 105 
 
 side of the Pretoria road, each company finding its own 
 
 scouting line, support, and reserves. When we got within 
 
 threequarters of a mile of the drift a patrol was fired upon, 
 
 and two of our sections opened the ball by firing on some 
 
 Boers retreating up the road from the drift at 2500 yards. 
 
 I, with the other two sections, was sent off to occupy a rocky 
 
 kopje to the right of the road. We could see men on the 
 
 top, and it looked as if we might have a ticklish job. But 
 
 they turned out to be officer's patrol of the i6th Lancers. 
 
 We stayed there about an hour, when, as there were no 
 
 Boers to be seen on our side of the spruit and most of the 
 
 Yeomanry had already crossed and were reaching the top 
 
 of the brow a mile beyond, I determined to move on, clearing 
 
 some woods on my way. We crossed the drift, and soon 
 
 got up to the front, the other sections being dismounted. 
 
 Colonel Henry, who commands our Mounted Infantry 
 
 brigade, ordered the C section (Wynn's), with which I was, 
 
 to occupy a low kpoje, about 400 yards away, from which 
 
 a few Boers were firing. The ground was very bare, and we 
 
 went ahead with short rushes, one or two bullets striking 
 
 the ground close to us ; but I didn't believe there were more 
 
 than about six of the enemy on the kopje, and they cleared 
 
 out before we got within 250 yards. Once on top we had 
 
 a grand view of the left half of the Boer position, right 
 
 up to the S.W. Pretoria fort. It was on a high ridge running 
 
 almost parallel to and completely commanding the main 
 
 road to Pretoria. We could see from fifty to one hundred 
 
 Boers on each kopje along the ridge, with their ponies in 
 
 many cases, building sangars and digging entrenchments. 
 
 While we were watching them the fort opened fire, and the 
 
 shells whizzed over our heads and dropped close to the road 
 
 between us and the led horses all except one, which fell 
 
 just between the section and me, as I was talking to some 
 
 Mounted Infantry a few yards away. We were ordered to 
 
 retire, mount, and move to the left with the rest of the 
 
 Yeomanry, leaving^ our place to be filled by the troops 
 
 coming up behind. I should have explained that we were 
 
 in advance of Lord Roberts' main army. Our move to the 
 
 left was over very rough ground, stony and full of ant-bear 
 
 holes, which are a cause of many falls. Crossing a hollow, 
 
 the bullets suddenly began to whistle around us, the ground 
 
 being commanded from the ridge I have already spoken of, 
 
 2000 yards away. My little Basuto horse suddenly fell and 
 
 rolled over on top of me. 1 thought he had tripped at first,
 
 io6 APPROACH TO PRETORIA [1900 
 
 but the blood gurgling from the wound soon showed what 
 was the matter. Two or three men had to dismount to 
 lift him off me. I had cut my head a little against a stone, 
 but was otherwise unhurt, and having taken the trumpeter's 
 horse, I overtook the Company within about 400 yards. 
 Half a mile further we were all ordered to dismount in a 
 hollow and extend. The ground was still in great measure 
 commanded from the ridge, which in this part was covered 
 with trees. The bullets flew whistling overhead, and 
 directly we showed near the skyline it seemed to us raw 
 soldiers as if we were under a tremendously hot fire, but I 
 made all the men crawl low, and only one was slightly 
 wounded. We got behind stones and tried to find some 
 one to shoot at, but 1 could not see the enemy with my 
 glass. After twenty minutes or so of this sort of thing we 
 were ordered to retire and try further to the left. When 
 we got back to the led horses McLean's section and Ashby 
 were missing. I took three sections with me, and meeting 
 the Colonel of Lumsden's Horse, with about thirty men, we 
 arranged to line the ridge as ordered, near one of our pom- 
 poms. However, before we could get into position, orders 
 were sent that the Yeomanry were to stay back in reserve, 
 the result being that our Company saw nothing more of 
 the fight. Some of the other Companies, and McLean's 
 section who did not get the order to retire told us later 
 that when our guns got up they made a great mess of the 
 Boer ridge. Towards evening the infantry arrived on the 
 scene, and some of them took our places. We camped about 
 a mile to the rear, but as no waggons had come up and we 
 had had hardly anything to eat all day, matters looked 
 rather gloomy. I met General Bruce Hamilton later in the 
 evening and dined with him. He commands a brigade in 
 General Ian Hamilton's division. It seems that their 
 Mounted Infantry had worked right round the extreme right 
 of the Boer position, and that at nightfall the enemy had 
 retired. The Dorsets got their waggon in the course of the 
 evening and entertained the others, including my men. 
 
 June $th. We started at 6 a.m. and encamped about 
 two o'clock on the outskirts of Pretoria. We are very glad 
 of a day to rest and clean up, and I sincerely hope the busi- 
 ness is pretty well over as far as we Yeomanry are concerned. 
 It has been real hard work getting up here, saddling up in 
 the dark with untrained men, and passing three or four 
 nights without waggons, which means very little to eat and
 
 1900] COMMISSIONER OF PRETORIA 107 
 
 only one blanket to sleep in no joke in a hard frost, such 
 as we have had frequently lately. I have felt almost like 
 a slave-driver at times, when it has been necessary to urge 
 my tired, hungry men along ; but we have attained our 
 object and have seen both Johannesburg and Pretoria 
 taken. It is a great thing to have been under fire too, with 
 only one casualty to the men and two to the horses. 
 
 June i$th. Many of our men (6gth Company I.Y.) 
 are enlisting in the Transvaal Police. A patrol of ours got 
 in a very tight place a day or two ago. One man dangerously 
 wounded, two horses killed, and three abandoned ; but they 
 killed and wounded two or three Boers, so they had the best 
 of it. 
 
 July ist. . . . We have no letters at all from home 
 yet. I expect many of ours were burnt by De Wet at 
 Roodeval, with our tents and heavy baggage. As there 
 is no chance of getting leave just yet I have been doing civil 
 work (nearly all our men having gone into the Police) and 
 have been helping to take over securities left in the various 
 departments of the late Government. I am now going to 
 act as Civil Commissioner of Pretoria interesting work, 
 as it is his duty to issue all licenses and collect all the 
 revenue. 
 
 While acting in this position as Civil Commissioner of Pre- 
 toria, T.A.B. received news of the resignation of the Govern- 
 ment and the prospect of an immediate election on the war 
 issue. After many doubtings and discussions with his 
 friends, T.A.B. asked for leave to return to fight the Christ- 
 church division. It seemed better to take this course than 
 to fight the division in absence, and he accordingly returned 
 to England in September, 1900. Lady Idina, who had done 
 a good deal of Red Cross work, returned at the same time. 
 
 The election address began as follows : 
 
 While all Liberals regret that domestic and social 
 reforms have, in recent years, received so small a share of 
 the attention of the Legislature, a Candidate, who on this 
 account thinks that the Liberal Party can ignore the fact 
 that this country is responsible for the rule of a world- wide 
 Empire, has no claim to a seat in the Imperial Parliament. 
 The time is, in my opinion, rapidly approaching if it has 
 not already arrived when a great change in the Constitution
 
 io8 SECOND CHRISTCHURCH ELECTION [1900 
 
 will become necessary. The assistance spontaneously given 
 by the Colonies to the Mother Country in this year of stress 
 and trouble in South Africa and China, points to the necessity 
 of establishing a Federal Parliament in which the Colonies 
 should be represented, and which would deal with all 
 questions affecting the Empire as a whole. On the other 
 hand, it is clear that the House of Commons must be left 
 free to devote more attention in the future than it has given 
 in the past to those matters which directly concern the 
 people of these islands. For ten years 1 have been an advo- 
 cate of Imperial Federation, and I believe now, as I believed 
 ten years ago, that the Home Rule problem can only be 
 satisfactorily solved as a part of the larger question. 
 
 Now that we are face to face with a General Election, 
 it is time for Liberals to drop difference of opinion as to the 
 War now dragging to a conclusion in South Africa. We 
 cannot undo what has been done. The conduct of South 
 African affairs during the past five years and more 
 especially in the year following the deplorable Jameson 
 Raid, is open to the severest criticism ; but at the present 
 moment it is the duty of every patriotic Liberal to support 
 a firm policy based on securing equal rights and equal 
 privileges for all white men in whatever part of South 
 Africa they may live, and just treatment of the Native Races, 
 and to put an end, once and for all, to any feeling of unrest. 
 The leaders of the Liberal Party have made it clear that a 
 change of Government cannot mean a reversal of the in- 
 evitable consequences of the War the annexation of the 
 Orange Free State and the Transvaal. 
 
 It then dealt with Land Reform, Elementary Education, 
 Veto of the House of Lords, Temperance Reform, and 
 Military Administration. 
 
 The result of the election was : 
 
 Balfour . . . . . . . . 3411 
 
 Brassey 3408 
 
 Majority 3 
 
 On a recount the majority was increased to eight. 
 The opinion of many of his friends on the result is 
 well expressed in the following extract from a letter of
 
 igoo] YEOMANRY GRIEVANCES 109 
 
 his friend " Dukker " McLean then serving in South 
 Africa : 
 
 I see that you have had a very close shave for your 
 election : for you personally I am very sorry, but on broader 
 grounds, with the election coming at the time it did, I cannot 
 regret the result. Any diminution of the Government 
 majority is taken out here to mean condemnation of the 
 war. My one ambition now is to get this job finished and 
 come home. Anybody or anything that tends to put off a 
 final settlement here is a personal enemy of mine. 
 
 There was much discontent amongst the men whom 
 T.A.B. took out because of the arrangements made as to 
 their future, and T.A.B. did his best to help them. 
 
 Krugersdorp, 
 November zgth, 1900. 
 
 MY DEAR T.A.B., 
 
 As you may remember the time for which our 
 men enlisted in the Police expired on September i7th. 
 Two or three came out then, but the rest extended their 
 term for another three months. 
 
 We at the rest camp were, at the beginning of October, 
 confidently expecting to get orders for home in the course 
 of a fortnight : the I.Y. Headquarters told us that we would 
 all have left before the end of October : the Roughriders 
 came down from Barberton, having given over all equipment, 
 and having been told by the G.O.C. that they were on their 
 way home. Suddenly, on Wednesday, October loth, we 
 were told that everything was altered : that all our men in 
 the Police were to rejoin and that we were to refit for service 
 and rejoin our battalions. The policemen rejoined on the 
 Saturday, on Monday the Devons and Dorsets left, on 
 Tuesday the Sussex, on Wednesday the W. Somersets. . . . 
 
 It is a crying shame that I can get no tents for our 
 Company, the others have a few, but we have none : the 
 wet season is on us, we are having heavy thunderstorms 
 every day almost without exception, and the poor fellows 
 are constantly wet through. As we have to stay out here, 
 we might at least get the same protection from the weather 
 that nearly all the other troops have. I see no prospect of 
 getting home. 
 
 Yours ever, 
 DOUGLAS H. MCLEAN. 
 
 i
 
 no END OF THE WAR [1901 
 
 T.A.B. took up the matter with the Secretary of State for 
 War, but it seemed impossible to remedy the state of affairs. 
 Finally the Company returned to England in June, 1901, 
 and were demobilised at Eastbourne. A brass tablet was 
 erected in Battle Church in memory of the officers and men 
 who had fallen. The writer of the letter of protest which 
 called for T.A.B. 's intervention did not live to join in the 
 rejoicings which greeted the return of the Company. He 
 was seized shortly afterwards with a severe attack of colitis, 
 and died in hospital after a short illness.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 ENGLISHMEN are, as a race, practical and reserved. But 
 there is a fine vein of idealism in their reserve. Most 
 Englishmen, consequently, at some time in their lives, have 
 visions of assisting in the establishment of the ideal state, 
 either in England or elsewhere. They will all confess, if 
 confession can be extorted from them, to a stirring of emotion 
 and a quickening of the pulse when they read the passionate 
 words of Blake, or any other lover of England. In all that 
 they do for this ideal state, they seek one thing, and one 
 thing only, the happiness of the greatest number. Few 
 Englishmen, nevertheless, have had, in any real sense, the 
 opportunity of realising such visions. To them Utopia has 
 never been more than Utopian. Their visions, too, have 
 disappeared like a mirage before that general progress along 
 the path of materialism, which comes with the passing of 
 the years and the disillusionment of middle age. So even 
 when opportunity arises, it is missed. When at long last 
 the dim shape of idealism is clothed with some prospect 
 of actual achievement, selfishness or lack of imagination 
 is in the seat of control, and there is no reply nor any that 
 answer. But the long thoughts of youth can sometimes 
 maintain their sway, when memory of them alone remains. 
 This is the Englishman's most cherished birthright. The 
 Empire and the Dominions overseas still remain the crown 
 of their idealism and the concrete expression of the spirit 
 of the public schools and the great family traditions. 
 
 Other tribes and other races cannot acquire the Utopian 
 method, which is at once England's glory and their despair, 
 and if men were chary about confessing their success in it 
 to others, they are forced in quiet moments of reflection to 
 acknowledge, however unwillingly, that the work is great 
 and that Utopianism, or the Sermon on the Mount, are 
 
 in
 
 ii2 A NEW UTOPIA [1899-1918 
 
 unequalled in their power over men. It is this life-giving 
 spirit of the new Atlantis which lifts a man out of the common 
 rut, with a shaking of the soul asserting itself in the wisdom 
 of supreme folly, to seize the chance of a lifetime. Regard- 
 less of all but the common weal, he fares forth to discover 
 the undiscoverable, to attain the inaccessible, to rejoice in 
 the search for the highest pleasure in a great task of public 
 service. 
 
 It was characteristic of T.A.B. that he should make his 
 own opportunity and not wait lor it to offer itself. It is the 
 mark of genius to see in the commonplace or the forbidding a 
 vividness and a glory of shining truth, and to give fierce or 
 exultant expression to the vision in curt, throbbing phrases, or 
 in mighty deeds. It is not for every man to behold in a hum- 
 drum story of a petty King and his three daughters the germ 
 of the tragedy of a Lear. So T.A.B. had a flash of insight 
 really akin to genius when he saw his Utopia in an Italian 
 mining centre, inhabited by semi-civilised, unprepossessing 
 Sardinians. For in Sardinia he found one of the greatest 
 joys of his whole life. From the turmoil of politics, from 
 the quiet and orderly ways of Sussex, from his " beloved 
 Letterewe," he constantly turned to the industrial problems 
 of Italian mining, to find for them new solutions, to devise 
 new panaceas for ancient pains, and in an Italian island in 
 the bosom of the everlasting hills to found yet one more 
 Utopia. 
 
 Sardinia, like Cornwall, was known to the Phoenicians. 
 When history was beginning to dawn at the Western end of 
 the Mediterranean, they began to extract the ore from work- 
 ings which are to-day more productive than ever. Their 
 kinsmen of Carthage surrendered to the Romans, amongst 
 other things, such rights as they possessed in the mines of 
 the island. The shafts which they drove, and the excava- 
 tions which they made, testify to their activities and their 
 skill. From time to time, as modern workings progress, 
 relics of their occupation are found, and the local museum 
 gives indisputable proof of their occupancy. 
 
 There are, in spring-time, few places in the world which 
 are more lovely than some parts of Sardinia. On his first 
 visit, the magnificence of the scenery and the profusion of
 
 i8 99 -j 9 i8] NATURAL BEAUTY OF SARDINIA 113 
 
 flowers appealed intensely to T-A.B.'s love of natural beauty, 
 of which his travels about the world had made him an 
 amateur. In this setting he did all the great work of 
 organisation and social service, which he accomplished 
 when he took over the mines, presently to be described. 
 
 There are two ways of approaching Sardinia from the 
 mainland. The longer route is from Leghorn to Cagliari, 
 and involves a journey of thirty-six hours in the boat. The 
 second way is from Civita Vecchia by the boats of the 
 Navigazione Generale to the Golfo Aranci. The conditions 
 are not sufficiently good to admit of any desire for a pro- 
 longed sea voyage, and the traveller therefore usually adopts 
 the shorter route and makes acquaintance with Sardinia 
 at the Golfo Aranci in the early hours of the morning. 
 Having left Civita Vecchia late on the previous day, he 
 awakens in a magnificent harbour, the finest at the western 
 end of the Mediterranean, large enough to contain the whole 
 of the British Fleet and to provide, in addition, the necessary 
 accommodation for its gun-laying tests. Around stand the 
 rocky heights of the hills of Sardinia, rising at the summits 
 to a height of 6000 feet and descending to the water's edge 
 by a gentle slope ending in a sandy beach. On landing, the 
 traveller continues his journey by the railway, which runs 
 the length of the island, and after some hours reaches San 
 Gavino, the nearest station to the mines. He must then 
 travel in a car, or on horseback, the remaining distance 
 to the Villa Ginestra at Ingurtosu, which T.A.B. made his 
 headquarters. 
 
 In the spring or early summer it will be a glorious journey. 
 Here is a hill covered from foot to summit with rock roses 
 in full bloom ; the hillside is a mass of white flowers, amongst 
 which the red blooms lie like splashes of blood ; by accident 
 the traveller lights on a valley which is a mass of peonies, 
 the gorgeous colours of which are relieved by fields of 
 cyclamen variegated with periwinkle. The countryside is 
 covered with the blue of the rosemary, and the hills with 
 the yellow flower of the ginestra ; the sea lavender, the 
 glorious pancratium lilies and the Mediterranean heather 
 provide a feast for the eye which make the journey a per- 
 petual delight.
 
 H4 UNSETTLED CONDITIONS [1899-1918 
 
 Presently the traveller passes the gardens at Bau, filled 
 with fruit trees, white with blossom, later to provide, in 
 extravagant abundance, apples and pears, oranges and 
 pomegranates, and all kinds of semi-tropical fruits. The 
 vineyards promise abundance of grapes, and in the autumn 
 arbutus berries cover the landscape with patches of red and 
 gold. 
 
 To add to the zest of living, there was always in the days 
 when T.A.B. was beginning his work, and for long years after- 
 wards, the chance of being murdered by brigands, anyone 
 of whom would be content to bargain with your enemy 
 whoever he might be, to remove you from the scene for a 
 little sum of five francs or so. This was the normal charge for 
 a knife in the back, and when T.A.B. 's reforms had induced 
 a more settled state of society in his own part of the island, 
 it became a common form of entertainment for visitors to 
 point out to them a swarthy-looking fellow amongst the 
 workmen at the mines, who had earned his livelihood in 
 other days at this pastime. The Sardinian is, as a rule, 
 it is only fair to say, mild in character, hard-working, simple, 
 and temperate in habits, and at the same time lively and 
 hospitable. 
 
 In earlier days it was necessary for T.A.B. and his friends 
 to be accompanied by an escort whenever they took excursions 
 about the countryside. It was sufficiently embarrassing to 
 be followed by a couple of carabinieri, and it did not in the 
 least appeal to our Utopians. T.A.B. used to describe with 
 great glee the alarm of his escort when with Pelham Papillon 
 he successfully " lost " them, and took short cuts home 
 across country. With many gesticulations he was warned 
 of the serious dangers which he had risked. With grave 
 and ominous shakings of the head his imminent passage of 
 the Styx was often prophesied. Those days have passed ; 
 Sardinia has entered upon a new era of prosperity and 
 peace ; in it T.A.B. had no small share. The contentedness of 
 his villages and the affection with which his men regarded 
 him became a steadying and an elevating influence through- 
 out the island. 
 
 There are two large mining centres with which T.A.B. 
 was closely connected, the Gennamari-Ingurtosu and the
 
 VILLA GINESTRA IN SARDINIA. 
 
 DISTANT VIEW OF VILLA GINESTRA IN SARDINIA.
 
 1899-1918] GENNAMARI AND PERTUSOLA 115 
 
 Pertusola. The mines in the former are all situated close 
 together, and were taken over from a company which had 
 been unsuccessful in working them. They are amongst the 
 oldest mines in Europe. 
 
 The Pertusola undertaking includes mines much more 
 scattered and came into the possession of Mr. Thomas 
 Brassey (T.A.B.'s grandfather) through one of the many part- 
 ners who helped him in some of his Continental contracts. 
 It embraced four separate and independently conducted 
 businesses : mines at Pertusola, a shipyard at Spezia, 
 smelting works at Spezia, and an accountancy department 
 at Genoa. On his death they passed into the hands of his 
 three sons, and in 1899 the whole of the property, hitherto 
 more or less unproductive through inefficient management, 
 was placed under T.A.B.'s control. As part owner and 
 managing director of a private company, in which all the 
 interests of members of the family were combined, he became 
 responsible for the general development of the undertaking. 
 
 The output of the mines is mainly lead ore and zinc ore. 
 The lead ore was smelted chiefly at Spezia, and the zinc 
 ore was either sold or sent to be smelted elsewhere. The 
 largest of the purchasing companies had its chief works 
 at Liege, a fact which led to the first of the complications 
 in connection with the business which the war brought in 
 its train. The smelting of the zinc is a much more com- 
 plicated and hazardous process than the smelting of the lead. 
 The output of lead from the mines was more than two-thirds 
 of the whole Italian supply of that mineral. The mines are 
 worked by headings which are driven more or less hori- 
 zontally into the side of a hill. The distance between the 
 headings is roughly thirty metres. At intervals in the 
 workings there are short connecting shafts from one level 
 to another, which shafts are scaled by means of ladders. 
 The common methods of support of workings by means of 
 pit-props are in use. There is little danger from bad air, 
 and although sometimes the lamps will not keep alight while 
 a tunnel is in process of being driven, proper ventilation is 
 soon secured when the connecting tunnel is finished, as it is 
 a simple matter to produce currents of air through the 
 workings. The method of extracting the ore from the
 
 n6 METHODS OF MINING [1899-1918 
 
 mines is to allow it to slide as much as possible, so as to 
 avoid unnecessary labour, but the greatest care is taken to 
 prevent any possibility of accident. In this respect the 
 Italian Government has taken action in advance of that of 
 many other countries. Its regulations throw all responsi- 
 bility for accidents upon the engineer in charge of the work- 
 ing in which they take place. Just as by English custom 
 a captain of one of His Majesty's ships is tried by court- 
 martial if she be lost while under his control, whatever the 
 circumstances of the loss may be, so the engineer is brought 
 to trial and required to show that the accident was un- 
 avoidable even by the exercise of the greatest prudence and 
 foresight. -*' 
 
 T.A.B. now, in the year 1899, became responsible for the 
 happiness and prosperity of thousands of men, who were 
 living under conditions of a very low order of civilisation. 
 The influence of his grandfather was strong upon him. 
 That grandfather's proudest boast had been that, in all his 
 vast enterprises, he had never had a strike amongst his 
 workmen. T.A.B. could say also, after many years of work, 
 that it was never by his fault that his workmen went out on 
 strike. At the same time he had no use for inefficiency ; no 
 mercy was shown to the man who had been given a fair trial, 
 and through laziness or vice proved incompetent. Every 
 inducement was given to men to produce of their best ; 
 suitable rewards and promotions were provided for merit, 
 a voice in the management of the business \vas in due course 
 to be offered to all who were engaged. In such ways, and 
 by the exercise of discretion, guided by the best technical 
 advice, a new era in mining in Italy was to be begun. 
 
 In such an enterprise it was necessary to get a fair start. 
 Accordingly steps were soon taken to sell the shipyard as 
 no longer of value, but rather a burden to the other depart- 
 ments without rendering any really effective assistance to 
 the main undertaking, and to co-ordinate the relationships 
 of the various heads of departments. 
 
 The people of Sardinia live a curiously self-contained life 
 with a narrow outlook. They are a homely and affectionate 
 people, and their family ties are strong. But the level of 
 education is very low, and the standard of living is primitive.
 
 1899-1918] CONDITIONS OF WORKPEOPLE 117 
 
 The mines at Gennamari and Ingurtosu required, when fully 
 working, about 8000 workmen, most of whom had families 
 dependent upon them. The numbers were much smaller when 
 T.A.B. began his work and he found the majority of them 
 living in rough wattle booths or wigwams, more like gipsies 
 than a settled people. No provision such as is common in 
 Christian countries was made for their welfare. Schools 
 were almost unknown ; hospitals, clinics, and dispensaries 
 were simply non-existent ; sanitation was of the Tertiary 
 period ; gardens were such as might have been expected 
 amongst a people who were leading practically a nomadic 
 existence ; while games and sports, of an unorganised kind, 
 existed by accident. Clubs were unknown. The religious 
 needs of the people were just as seriously neglected, and it 
 was a common matter for people to die without the Sacra- 
 ments or any ministrations of the priesthood. 
 
 The prospect was not very encouraging. But in such 
 conditions the driving force of a powerful personality has a 
 better field and greater prospects of advancement than in a 
 more developed environment. It soon made itself felt. 
 T.A.B. 's extraordinary energy and business capacity had the 
 result of increasing the annual output of the mines from 
 17,000 tons to 52,000 tons of lead and zinc. He provided 
 modern mills and machinery, organised the transport, and 
 effected economies of working on every hand by reducing 
 to system and to order the chaotic and pre-historic arrange- 
 ments, which had previously been accepted as inevitable. But 
 beyond and above all such reforms he set himself to improve 
 in every possible way the conditions of life and the habits of 
 his workpeople. He built and gave them good houses at 
 a fair rental, provided them with pure water, increased their 
 wages so that they might obtain decent clothing, established 
 canteens and kitchens where they might obtain good food, 
 and consulted in every possible way their best interests. 
 Thus he improved personnel out of knowledge, and multiplied 
 the productive capacity of his staff, while he made them 
 really happy. His righthand man was Signer Commendatore 
 A. Peloggio, who became more and more devoted to him as 
 he recognised the bearing of his reforms. 
 
 He inculcated kindness to animals, hitherto as unknown
 
 n8 A PRACTICAL UTOPIANISM [1899-1918 
 
 in Sardinia as in other parts of Italy, and effected in 
 particular a complete revolution in the treatment by the 
 Sardinians of their yoke animals. At one time covered 
 with innumerable scars from the goads of their drivers, 
 they were after a few months proudly displayed by their 
 admiring attendants as spotless and scarless. So easy is 
 virtue in the light of the influence of a great personality. 
 
 Perhaps no more need here be said about the material 
 results of his enterprise and initiative ; to the value of 
 his services to Italy at the moment of her trial in 1918, when 
 every ounce of lead was as precious to her as gold, reference 
 must be made hereafter. 
 
 He visited Sardinia frequently : it was rare that an 
 interval of six months was allowed to elapse without a pro- 
 longed inspection of the mines. With him went Leonard 
 Brassey, Pelham Papillon and many other friends, whose 
 enthusiasm he had aroused friends of Oxford days, friends 
 from the ends of the earth, business acquaintances, fellow- 
 idealists in political and industrial problems, all went, as 
 well as members of the family. Lady Idina, whose achieve- 
 ments in raising the standard and general tone of the dis- 
 trict were second only to his own, was often there. To 
 the untutored mind of the Sardinian workman and his wife 
 both of them appeared as something more than human. If 
 they were not gods, they were at the least divine. Perhaps 
 this is not to be wondered at. 
 
 Reforms of a philanthropic character often fail in then- 
 object because of the lack of a personal touch between the 
 benefactor and those on whose behalf his efforts are made. 
 That personal touch between T.A.B. and his workmen was 
 never wanting. They admired him because of his strength 
 and endurance. They were astonished at his perseverance 
 and capacity for work. They wondered that he should be 
 so unlike the employers to whom they were accustomed. 
 He taught them to play games, "he arranged sports in which 
 he himself took part, and just as he beat his Scotch gillies 
 in endurance, just as he won races against his Sussex tenantry, 
 so he defeated his Italian workmen amongst the Sardinian 
 hills. He proved over and over again that the best method 
 of getting the best work done in the best way was to lead
 
 1899-1918] MASTER AND MEN 119 
 
 those who had to share in the task, and not to drive them. 
 Co-operation in industry meant more to him than a platform 
 theory or a trading treaty. For this reason, the overwhelm- 
 ing force of personal influence, he was well served by 
 his workmen because they were well led. His men liked 
 him. 
 
 A letter written to him from Italy on the occasion of the 
 death of a Signer Lambert, who had worked for him for many 
 years, showed this relationship. The writer says : 
 
 Lambert was fortunate to have passed some of the 
 best years of his life in your service, and he very much 
 appreciated this. The very morning after you last saw him 
 he came to me, and quite broke down in telling me how very 
 kind you had been to him, and I can assure you positively 
 that this last conversation with you helped very much to 
 make him happier during the last months of his life. 
 
 In 1905 his men asked him to become President of the 
 Circolo Operaio (Workmen's Club), the object of which was 
 (i.) to advance education amongst the workmen; (ii.) to 
 prevent useless strikes ; (iii.) to establish a Mutual Provident 
 Association. They constantly received from him messages 
 of good wishes at festivals and on such occasions. 
 
 While he was constantly devising ways and means of 
 improving the physical and intellectual condition of the men 
 in his employ he was not unmindful of their moral and 
 religious interests. Throughout the latter part of his life 
 it was always a cause of complaint with him that the Church 
 of Rome should have an administrative system which allowed 
 her to spend large sums of money on attempts to proselytise 
 the adherents of other Churches while she neglected, and 
 neglected seriously, the claims of her own children at her 
 own doors. A friend of his once pointed out to him that it 
 was not only the Church of Rome which deserved reproof 
 for such conduct, and that the Church of England was not 
 without blame in the matter, a conclusion which he was 
 forced to accept ; but he lost few opportunities of expressing 
 his vehement dissent from the methods adopted in Sardinia 
 and in Italy generally. His workmen and their families 
 received the scantest kind of religious ministration, and he
 
 120 T.A.B. AND THE BISHOP [1899-1918 
 
 accordingly resolved to erect a church and to attempt to 
 provide for them that which they themselves demanded. 
 Many instances were brought to his notice of Roman 
 Catholics who died in sheer terror because of the absence 
 of any provision of the Sacrament. He took up the position 
 that, although as principal employer of the district, it was 
 his duty to contribute liberally towards the building of a 
 church, it was not less the duty of the Church of Rome to 
 make some kind of contribution also. Applications to Rome 
 had little effect. It required something more even than 
 T.A.B.'s resistless energy to move the Vatican. He was 
 not deterred, however, by the failure of a direct onslaught, 
 but finding that his representations were useless he turned 
 to his friend the Duke of Norfolk, who had served in his 
 regiment in South Africa, as we have already described in 
 a previous chapter. A letter from the principal English 
 Roman Catholic received attention, and a promise was made 
 that something should be done. There the matter ended. 
 It required further correspondence, and another letter from 
 the Duke of Norfolk before T.A.B. was informed that the 
 Bishop of Cagliari had instructions to deal with the 
 matter. Would the Viscount Hythe be good enough to 
 call upon him ? The Viscount Hythe did call upon His 
 Lordship, only to be informed by a suave Italian servant 
 that that reverend gentleman was unfortunately prevented 
 from seeing him for at least two hours because he was engaged 
 in his daily siesta. That Italian servant will probably 
 remain until the end of his life amongst the number of those 
 who think that the English are incurably mad, because he 
 was straightway informed that if he did not wake the 
 Bishop the Viscount Hythe would wake him himself. 
 This secured the interview hi a startled household, and 
 subsequently a contribution to the church, which was duly 
 built, and formed the centre of the religious life of the 
 place. 
 
 His own house he set high up on the hillside looking far 
 away to the South, and embowered it with the roses and 
 flowering plants which he loved. There, after a long day 
 spent in the mines, he would come with inexhaustible energy 
 to spend the eventide until dinner in getting a little
 
 THE CHURCH AT GENNAMARI, SARDINIA.
 
 1899-1918] HISTORY OF THE MINE 121 
 
 additional exercise. With the great wide prospect before 
 him, with a great expanse of sky about him, he and his 
 coadjutors devised the Sardinian New Model. 
 
 This New Model will be best of all described in his own 
 words. 
 
 A Committee of Inquiry, appointed by the Italian 
 Government to report upon the condition of mining areas, 
 made investigations in Sardinia as well as in other parts of 
 Italy. For this Committee of Inquiry T.A.B. prepared, 
 in 1908, a statement of his own efforts, intentions and 
 difficulties. This was drawn up in Italian, a language in 
 which he became in course of time proficient, and the transla- 
 tion now given follows the text very closely : 
 
 History of the Mine. The Mine was developed by a 
 German family named Bornemann. In 1899, when we 
 purchased the Mine, the Company had to encounter diffi- 
 culties owing to the low price of lead and to the excessive 
 bonus exacted by the Belgian founder, to whom the mineral 
 was sold, and who had advanced money to the Company 
 in order to enable them to continue operations. This 
 gentleman did not know this fundamental business principle : 
 " A contract must allow for profit to both parties if it is to 
 last." This bonus would have ruined the Company, as in 
 order to place the mine on a proper footing, it was necessary 
 to expend a great deal of capital. In 9 years we spent two 
 and a half millions on plant. More than half of this expendi- 
 ture was incurred in the years 1905-7, and up to now it 
 has not been remunerative. This expenditure of outside 
 capital has made it possible to increase fivefold the number 
 of men employed at the Mine, and to improve their conditions 
 of living, as will be seen from the report which follows. It 
 is the reply of a capitalist to those who always talk of capita- 
 list exploiters. 
 
 When the management of the mine was taken over, the 
 first thing to be done was to ensure its life, by providing it 
 with the necessary plant, washing installation, railways, etc. 
 Without this plant, the Mine would have been closed and 
 the workmen would have had to seek a living elsewhere. 
 The canteens were overhauled. When we came, the most 
 essential articles of food were lacking. A good hospital 
 was lacking. A good hospital was built. Having provided 
 for work, bread for the workmen and the care of the sick
 
 122 WORKMEN'S DWELLINGS [1899-1918 
 
 during the first three years of our management, we were 
 able in 1902 to tackle the problem of improving their condi- 
 tions of life, which were very similar to those of the population 
 of the poor Irish provinces, which I have repeatedly visited 
 in order to inspect the improvements brought on by the 
 work of the Congested Districts Board. Our workpeople 
 lived in very small houses, often without windows, to be 
 ruled out from the sanitary point of view. Many lived in 
 huts made of branches. Down in the valleys, many were 
 suffering from malaria. 
 
 Workmen's Dwellings. What is important, when it is 
 desired to improve the conditions of life of a population, is to 
 provide good dwellings. During five years we have continued 
 the building of workmen's dwellings, which are let to the men 
 who apply for them, at the rate of two lire per room and per 
 month. This small rent, deduction being made of the cost 
 of upkeep and taxes, yields from 2% to 3% on the capital. 
 I believe that the workman who pays a small rent takes 
 a greater interest in his home than the one who pays none 
 at all. The dwellings contain from six to sixteen rooms 
 each, and are erected on high ground to ensure good air, 
 which is more important for the health of the people, and 
 especially of the children, than the proximity of the water. 
 I have another reason for placing the dwellings on high 
 ground. By using quinine, purchased by the mining 
 concerns at a low price from the Government and distributed 
 among the workpeople, and by protecting the windows with 
 wire gauze against the mosquitoes, and by supplying good 
 water, we have to a great extent overcome malaria. At the 
 present time our workpeople at Gennamari suffer more from 
 lung trouble than from malaria. The man who comes out 
 of the gallery and finds his house (whose windows are always 
 closed) near the pit-head, will be more apt to contract 
 the above diseases than the one who is obliged to walk a 
 few hundred yards on coming out and will have breathed a 
 little fresh air before he reaches home. 
 
 The houses are spread out for sanitary reasons and to 
 allow each occupier to cultivate a piece of ground. 
 
 It would have been useless to provide good dwellings, 
 if means of encouraging cleanliness had not been provided 
 as well. For this purpose, we give prizes each year for the 
 best-kept houses in each section and in the whole of the Mine. 
 The result of this prize-giving has afforded us the greatest 
 satisfaction. The great majority^of the workmen's dwellings
 
 1899-1918] PARTICIPATION IN PROFITS 123 
 
 are now kept in good condition, and our Manager assures 
 us that this is so during our absence. The prizes are given 
 by my wife, and one of our lady friends. A number of 
 people compete for them. The judging occupies a whole 
 week. It is a well-spent week, and it has an indirect advan- 
 tage, but an important one. When visiting the houses, the 
 workpeople and their families become acquainted with their 
 employers, and we with our workpeople. We hear their 
 grievances and we see their difficulties. 
 
 Many prizes are given for the gardens : we particularly 
 encourage the cultivation of flowers. The care with which 
 the ground is treated and the taste displayed are extra- 
 ordinary in many cases. 
 
 Accidents and Sickness. The law provides for accidents 
 while at work. This is a heavy burden on the Company 
 as it amounts to from i % to i|% of the salaries. 
 
 For sick men and their families we provide the hospital, 
 the doctor and also the midwife. 
 
 Three years ago, the workmen themselves established 
 a Mutual Benefit Society, which now has a membership of 
 about five hundred. It is assisted by a contribution from 
 the Company to the working expenses, at the rate of one 
 lira per member. 
 
 Participation Fund. Four years ago, a Participation 
 Fund was established at Gennamari and at the Pertusola 
 Mine, and it is based on the principle that the workman 
 and the capitalist are both entitled to profits. The workman 
 who has served for five years and more receives a percentage 
 of salary in proportion to the interest paid on the capital 
 beyond 5%. For example, if the dividend is 10%, the 
 workman receives 5 % of the said salary. 
 
 The Participation Fund has various objects : (i) To en- 
 courage the workman (he being interested in the profits) to 
 further the interests of the Company by his work ; (2) To 
 create a fund which for a workman who commences work as 
 a boy and leaves at the age of 45, might amount to anything 
 from two to three thousand lire, a small capital which would 
 enable him to acquire a piece of land, etc. ; (3) To induce 
 him to take an old age insurance with the National Provident 
 Fund. 
 
 Two great difficulties prevent attempts being made at 
 improving the condition of our workpeople : (i) The lack 
 of education. The number of those who can read and write 
 and understand simple figures, is too smaD ; (2) The absence
 
 124 DIFFICULTIES OF MANAGEMENT [1899-1918 
 
 of thrifty habits. I think we may be well satisfied with 
 the progress made in overcoming this latter difficulty and 
 with showing our workpeople the possibility of helping 
 themselves. 
 
 As regards the former, as already stated in the reports on 
 the Pertusola Mine, it does not seem just to me that the 
 mining companies should be burdened with the major part 
 of the expense for elementary education. We pay about 
 15,000 lire to the Commune, while the Commune contributes 
 to the two schools maintained for 5000 inhabitants, the 
 ridiculous sum of 600 lire. When education is given to 
 adult or juvenile working people, this must, of course, be 
 at the expense of the Company. We have already tried 
 evening schools for workmen. 
 
 Another difficulty which is very discouraging in our 
 attempts to improve the conditions of life is the dilatoriness 
 of bureaucracy ; we will mention two examples : (i) In 
 1906 and 1907, we erected many workmen's dwellings on 
 the Bidderdi plateau. We acquired land containing a 
 spring in order to provide these houses with an abundant 
 supply of water ; the water mains were to pass under the 
 provincial high road. Several months elapsed before the 
 consent of the Province could be obtained, and the population 
 went through the whole of the summer of 1907 without the 
 necessary water. 
 
 (2) The insurance of workmen with the National Provi- 
 dent Fund gives the post office employees a great deal of 
 supplementary work, on account of the many certificates 
 and copies they have to issue. The employees, who are 
 already badly paid for their ordinary work, certainly do not 
 encourage the workmen to join, and it is even very probable 
 that they put obstacles in the way. In many cases, the 
 postal employees have not sufficient education to deal with 
 these formalities. We were obliged to send our postal clerk 
 to Cagliari to receive the necessary instruction. 
 
 T.A.B. was always alert for sound developments, and to 
 take one example, he embarked upon a great scheme of 
 afforestation, in which he planted hundreds of thousands 
 of trees, mainly for the purpose of providing the thousands 
 of pit-props which the workings required. He found that 
 wonderful results were obtainable from plantations of the 
 eucalyptus (blue gum) tree, which had originally been
 
 THE BEST MAN IN OUR WORLD 125 
 
 introduced to combat malaria, and he also planted thousands 
 of acacias 'and pines. He established a model farm and 
 introduced not only the best kinds of stock, but also the best 
 methods of handling it, to the great advantage of the whole 
 island. 
 
 The King of Italy bestowed upon him the Order of the 
 Crown of Italy, a distinction of which he was very proud. 
 But a much more honourable distinction was the place 
 which he occupied in the hearts of his people, a place from 
 which death itself could not dislodge him. As soon as the 
 news of their loss reached them, work ceased, and they 
 demanded of their priest a service of commendation for 
 him in his church at Ingurtosu, which was thronged. They 
 set on foot at once a fund to erect a great cross to his memory, 
 which should stand steadfast, for ever looking out from the 
 cliff top upon those waters which he had so often sailed. 
 And this was the message which some of them sent to Lady 
 Brassey, in their own English, " Deeply sorry for the unex- 
 pected and tragical death of our Master well loved Lord 
 Brassey, we beg your Highness to agree our hearty condo- 
 lences. He was the best Man in our world and we shall 
 always remember him with deep sadness." " The best Man 
 in our world " ; let us leave it at that. 
 
 From all that has been said, it will be quite clear that it 
 was not only the philanthropic motive which was strong in 
 T.A.B.'s character, but there was also in him, as was perhaps 
 only natural, when one thinks of the history of his family, 
 a very marked vein of sound commonsense and of acute 
 business instinct. While, on the one hand, it is quite certain 
 that in all the projects for the good of his workpeople, 
 which have been described in the early part of this chapter, 
 he was guided by the highest motives, which he had imbibed 
 in the course of his education, he himself would be the first 
 to acknowledge that he had satisfied himself that healthy 
 and sound conditions amongst those who laboured hi his 
 undertakings were productive of the best results, and econo- 
 mically were the best methods to be adopted by any com- 
 mercial undertaking. The soundness of this business 
 capacity of his appears in many other forms and in many 
 other departments of life, not only in Italy, but in London, 
 
 K
 
 126 ENGLISH COAL DISPUTES [1905 
 
 and in Sussex. In general, he gained the reputation of being 
 a man who combined in a very high degree the gifts of 
 initiative and soundness of business insight and business keen- 
 ness. It was this reputation which invariably elicited so good 
 a response to any appeal which he made for contributions 
 to objects in which he was interested. Men felt that 
 here was a man inspired with high motives and noble ideas ; 
 at the same time he could be thoroughly relied upon to see 
 that money was utilised to the best business advantage for 
 the best possible purposes. They knew that he was very 
 wealthy, that his motives were beyond suspicion, and that 
 he had no axe to grind. 
 
 In 1905 there had been a suggestion that he should 
 join the Board of a large railway company, but the sugges- 
 tion did not mature. He accepted, however, a position on 
 the Board of the Powell Duffryn Coal Company ; this posi- 
 tion he retained for some years, but he found that his co- 
 directors were out of sympathy with his ideals for the moral 
 and physical improvement of the miners in their employ ; 
 he was filled with anxiety to carry out on their behalf 
 exactly the same processes of co-operative profit-sharing the 
 value of which he had tested in Sardinia. He prophesied 
 serious disputes and difficulties in the coal area. He fore- 
 saw and foretold, to the great annoyance of some of his 
 associates, the ultimate result of the policy pursued by the 
 boards of directors of most of the coal companies. Many who 
 were interested in the trade thought him obsessed with the 
 value of an idea which, though possibly applicable to 
 Italian workmen, was wholly outside the realm of possibility 
 in English trade. They shut their eyes to the fact that they 
 had amongst them a man whose business instincts were 
 keener than their own, whose width of outlook would have 
 led him to adopt willingly any proposal to ameliorate the 
 conditions of life of workpeople which would have obtained 
 the same object as that which he had achieved in Italy. 
 They thought that his proposal of profit-sharing was eccentric, 
 and rejected it after insufficient consideration. He there- 
 fore withdrew from the Board because he refused to remain 
 associated with enterprises in which he thought that the 
 elementary principles of Christian Society were violated
 
 THE WAGES OF CAPITAL 127 
 
 and no regard was paid to vital principles of business fore- 
 sight. It is safe to say that had his proposals been adopted, 
 there would have been one area in which miners would have 
 found themselves satisfied with the conditions of labour. 
 While this is said, it is not sufficient to lay the blame for 
 the failure of his proposals solely upon the directors. The 
 trades unions, or the officials of the trades unions, were 
 strongly opposed to any scheme of profit-sharing such as 
 that which we have outlined in the early part of this chapter. 
 They felt, and felt rightly, that once the workmen were 
 given an interest in the financial prosperity of the mine, 
 once they were given a voice in the direction of its control, 
 once they began to see that increased production and 
 increased output meant higher wages and a greater degree 
 of prosperity for themselves and their families, the trades 
 union would be confronted with a serious competitor, and 
 its power of controlling the aspirations of labour would be 
 even less than it is at the present time. His own account of 
 what took place is contained in the following letter : 
 
 To the Rt. Hon. Sir W. Runciman, M.P. 
 
 November 23rd, 1916. 
 
 The only way of harmonising the interests of the miners 
 and the coalmasters is the plan which I urged on the Directors 
 of the Powell Duffryn Company some four or five years ago. 
 I resigned my position on the Board when they refused to 
 adopt it. 
 
 The miners claim a larger share in the profits of the 
 industry, which they consider are far larger than the coal- 
 owners admit, and there is a great deal to be said from their 
 point of view. Huge sums have been reinvested in the 
 South Wales coal pits' during the last ten or fifteen years in 
 sinking new pits and other betterments out of profits. 
 The plan I urged on my colleagues of the Powell Duffryn 
 Board, and which I have adopted for the past eight years 
 in my Mines in Sardinia with satisfactory results, is based 
 on the principle that capital has a right to its wages in the 
 same way that the workers have a right to theirs, and that, 
 after the wages of both have been met, both parties are 
 entitled to share in the profits.
 
 128 INTERNATIONAL BANKING [1910 
 
 The rate of wages on capital being fixed, the worker is 
 entitled to a bonus on wages equivalent to any percentage 
 above the rate fixed for capital distributed to the share- 
 holders. Thus if 5 % is agreed upon as the rate of wages of 
 capital, and the profits admit of a dividend of 10%, the 
 worker is entitled to a bonus of 5% on the wages earned 
 by him during the year. In the case of our Mines this 
 bonus is accumulated at interest and can only be withdrawn 
 when the man leaves the Company's service. If the bonus 
 is withdrawable each year it is only looked upon as an addi- 
 tion to the wages and does not have the desired effect, which 
 is to make the workman, by degrees, a capitalist. I went 
 through all our books in Sardinia the other day on the matter, 
 and the plan is working most satisfactory. 
 
 If not prevented by military duties I shall be in London 
 to-morrow night or Saturday and 1 will try and see some of 
 the interested parties on both sides. I am quite sure that 
 the plan of which I have given to you the bare outlines is 
 the only way of harmonising the interests of capital and 
 labour. 
 
 There is yet another experience of his business life which 
 remains to be recorded. In the year 1910, he and his life- 
 long friend the Rt. Hon. F. Huth Jackson, who had lived with 
 him in rooms in his Oxford days, and had recently acquired 
 the estate of Possingworth, in Sussex, only a few miles from 
 Normanhurst, had contemplated a close alliance in the large 
 mercantile and banking business of Frederick Huth & Co. of 
 Tokenhouse Yard. T.A.B. went into that office in July and 
 made the acquaintance of the various money-brokers and 
 stockbrokers, who were connected with the firm. The method 
 of his work was left entirely to himself, and the whole staff 
 combined to explain and to help him to understand the 
 business. He thus acquired information on international 
 banking which was of the greatest value to him, and he also 
 formed an opinion of the financial capacity of his old friend, 
 which was, if possible, higher than that in which he had 
 already learned to hold him. Those who knew him well 
 will remember the terms of affection and of high estimation 
 in which he was wont to allude to this friend and to this 
 episode in his career. 
 
 In December, 1911, other considerations were pressing
 
 1914] ITALY AND THE WAR 129 
 
 heavily upon him, and he foresaw the time (not then very 
 far distant) when he would be compelled to withdraw 
 entirely from his projected share in the business. He 
 communicated to the partners in the firm this development 
 which he could not conceal from himself, and he offered to 
 them the alternative of allowing him to withdraw forthwith. 
 After long deliberation and much hesitation, they felt that it 
 would be better for the interests of the firm that he should 
 take this course, which was accordingly adopted with the 
 greatest goodwill on both sides and with unbroken continuity 
 of friendship, which, like many other friendships of his, 
 happily remained with him to the end of his life. 
 
 The outbreak of war brought great anxieties and diffi- 
 culties to many English homes. The acute problems of 
 friendship, relationship, finance, and loyalty, which were 
 presented to thousands, are still vivid in the minds of English 
 people. A great chasm was cleft between life in the old days 
 and life in the new. All customs were changed, all conven- 
 tions abandoned, all barriers broken down in the outburst 
 of enthusiastic service which found spontaneous utteranc j 
 in the lives of the majority of honest English folk. After- 
 wards came the gaps in the family circle, the return of men 
 maimed, cruelly injured, and burning with the tales of 
 wickedness. For most of us, time is now reckoned as 
 " before the war " and " after the war." So it was with 
 T.A.B. In another place we must speak of the losses which 
 he had to bear, and now only allude to the serious position in 
 which he found himself by reason of his heavy commitments 
 in Italy. When the ultimatum was despatched to Germany, 
 the attitude to be $xpected of the Italian Government was 
 to the world at large, uncertain. T.A.B. got into touch at 
 once with his Sardinian manager, and was reassured by the 
 following messages : 
 
 Geneva, 
 August 8th, 1914. 
 
 I can give you the most categorical and positive 
 assurances that both the Government and people of Italy 
 are entirely in sympathy with England in the present conflict, 
 and it is my sincere opinion that there would be a revolution 
 in this country if the military and naval forces were ordered
 
 130 THE NEED FOR LEAD [1917 
 
 to act in favour of Austria, of which however, there is no 
 chance. 
 
 A. PELOGGIO. 
 
 Other troubles came upon his Italian undertakings as a 
 result of hostilities, among them being a strike amongst his 
 workmen, the dislocation of his smelting operations due to 
 the capture of Liege by the enemy, the loss of man-power by 
 the calling of men to the colours, the capital levy of the 
 Italian Government. But T.A.B. was fortunate in that he 
 was not thrown into the overwhelming disaster which would 
 have resulted from a decision by Italy to join Germany, 
 which would have meant for him partial ruin. 
 
 A mining congress of all those interested in Italian mines 
 was held in Rome in 1917, at which T.A.B. was the principal 
 speaker. He pointed out that they had tried for some 
 years to impress upon the Italian Government that they must 
 develop lead-smelting and establish zinc-smelting in Italy. 
 The war had enforced the lesson, which applied equally to 
 foodstuffs and to munitions. Germany's resistance had 
 been prolonged because she had learnt the lesson years 
 before. Italy could produce all the lead she wanted, and 
 zinc foundries could be established to the commercial 
 advantage of the country. The difficulty was coal, but it 
 could be surmounted. 
 
 The reply of the Hon. Cermenati, member of the House of 
 Deputies, is given in full as disclosing hi a way otherwise 
 difficult to convey to the reader the esteem in which the 
 house of Brassey, and T.A.B. in particular, were held in Italy. 
 
 I feel sure that 1 express the wish of all those present 
 at this meeting in tendering to Viscount Hythe a hearty 
 greeting and our best thanks for the most interesting 
 technical information which he has given us, and to which 
 we have listened with great deference. He represents at 
 this meeting the powerful friend of Italy and the great English 
 people who have always been attached to us, and who are 
 to-day our faithful and powerful ally. (Great applause.) 
 Colleagues, let us give to this generous and influential 
 representative of England the homage of our affection and 
 gratitude, returning him all the affection which he has for 
 us and for our beloved country, letting him know that he
 
 1917] ITALIAN FEELING FOR T.A.B. 131 
 
 is doubly dear to us inasmuch as he had favoured, above 
 the whole of Italy, that part which is the most forgotten 
 and the least known by Italians themselves our beautiful, 
 patriotic, heroic Sardinia ! (Great applause.) These hearty 
 cheers for the English representative and for Sardinia 
 express our frank satisfaction for all that Viscount Hythe 
 has accomplished for the mining industry of Sardinia, and 
 as explained by Comm. Ferraris, all that he has done for 
 Italian industry during the war. Our applause also shows 
 with what interest we mining men follow the fortunes of 
 the great and admirable nation to which Italy has been 
 bound from the time of her political restoration ; it expresses, 
 in fact, the solidarity of the Italians and the English and the 
 strength of the links which, in this tragic time, bind the 
 two nations fighting with their allies for justice and civilisa- 
 tion desiring a victory that will be undoubtedly complete 
 and decisive. (All present stand prolonged cheers.)
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 A FORMER Master of Balliol once said of the College that the 
 loyalty and attachment of its old members were its highest 
 distinction and the one in which the Masters and Fellows 
 took the most pride. That is a statement, made with due 
 deliberation and with the fullest knowledge of all the relative 
 facts, at first sight sufficiently surprising. During the 
 Mastership of the man who made it, Balliol men had obtained 
 8 out of 10 Ireland Scholarships, 20 out of 27 Craven Scholar- 
 ships, and 5 out of 10 Hertford Scholarships. The reputa- 
 tion of the College for scholarship, revealed by such statistics, 
 and its position in the University in all those departments 
 of life held of value to a University, were unsurpassed. The 
 most enthusiastic of its Fellows or Tutors could hardly have 
 demanded or secured for the College a greater fame as an 
 institution of learning. In other fields of activity its reputa- 
 tion was honourable and assured. And yet in spite of all 
 this it was to the loyalty and attachment of her sons that 
 the College pointed the finger of justifiable pride. 
 
 Nor was this attitude inexplicable. When the record of 
 TA.B.'s example of loyalty and attachment to the College is 
 stated, it must be admitted that there can be few educational 
 institutions which have been able to inspire such devotion. 
 Another Master, in writing to T.A.B., said that he was regarded 
 as the chief representative of old Balliol men, and the point 
 of the dictum with which this chapter opens becomes clear. 
 When such a spirit as his prevails and is representative of 
 the spirit of Balliol men, then the case for pride needs no 
 apologia. TA.B.'s interest in the College was constant and 
 personal, while his benefactions to it were munificent, 
 delicately conceived, and bestowed with a great heart 
 generously. His advice in financial matters was frequently 
 sought by the College and its members, and never refused ; 
 
 132
 
 igo 7 J T.A.B. AND BALLIOL 133 
 
 to suggestions involving outlay of time or money, he never 
 turned a deaf ear ; he had a store of kindly words and 
 pleasant recollections of the College and its members, which 
 he would often recount to his friends. 
 
 Balliol held him in high esteem, and in token of its respect 
 and gratitude, it elected him to an Honorary Fellowship in 
 1907. In conveying to him the news that this honour had 
 been conferred upon him, one of the Fellows wrote : " It is 
 the chief thing in our power to bestow ; nor will you under- 
 value it, especially as it means that we all desire as close and 
 intimate a connection with you as possible." And again, 
 " You have often heard that we are proud of our old members' 
 successes and distinctions, which reflect a kind of credit upon 
 us. But we are more proud still of their loyalty and gener- 
 osity, and therefore proud of you who embody these things." 
 And again, " The Fellowship you will, I trust, consider as 
 at any rate a recognition of the vast debt which the College 
 owes to you spiritually, even more than materially." 
 
 When T.A.B.'s earthly activities for Oxford had ceased, 
 and the members of his College were joined to the great 
 host of those who mourned him because they knew and 
 loved him, the gratitude of Master and Fellows found 
 expression in the Resolution passed at a College meeting by 
 unanimous vote of them aU, that the name of Thomas 
 Allnutt, Earl Brassey, should be inserted in the College 
 Bidding Prayer. That Bidding Prayer selects by name a 
 list of twenty-three of the chief benefactors of Balliol from 
 the days of John de Balliol and the Princess Dervorguilla 
 over a period of more than 630 years. It is the highest 
 honour which the College can bestow, and although it can 
 be in no sense a reward for the work which he did, which 
 was its own reward, it is a measure of the love, affection, 
 respect and gratitude which his kindly, generous, virile 
 personality had won in Balliol, as well as a vindication of 
 the character and extent of the benefactions which he had 
 poured upon the College. 
 
 The way in which T.A.B. 's passion of public service had 
 been inspired in early days has been made clear. His 
 Utopia in Sardinia was produced not without Oxford and 
 not without Balliol. The present Master of Balliol, who had
 
 134 THE BALLIOL ENDOWMENT FUND [1904 
 
 been his tutor, and knew much of his inner mind, sympathised 
 always and encouraged always in the great plans and schemes 
 which he devised and developed. It was Sardinia which 
 provided T.A.B. with much of his wealth. Apart from it, he 
 would not have been what he was in later years a man of 
 unusual wealth. It was, therefore, in accordance with the 
 essential fitness of things that the bread cast upon the 
 waters being found after many days, Oxford and Balliol 
 should alike partake of the store of which they had inspired 
 the provision. 
 
 The condition of the finances of Balliol had long been 
 unsatisfactory. The College was by no means insolvent, 
 and there were no great immediate difficulties. But unless 
 some action were taken, it could not hope to maintain its 
 position in the world of scholarship, which it had so honour- 
 ably gained. The financial margin was very narrow, and 
 consequently many of the Fellows were doing, be it pre- 
 mised with much gladness, a large amount of work for 
 comparatively small pay. They had been attracted to 
 Balliol by considerations of other kinds. But it would 
 have become increasingly difficult to secure the services of 
 men of outstanding ability in the University to staff the 
 College, who would naturally be attracted elsewhere by 
 work equally honourable, where the prospects of a per- 
 manently assured income of a more adequate character 
 were certain. The principal need was to supplement the 
 incomes of the Master and Fellows, or to provide that they 
 should be supplemented on vacancies occurring, and to 
 obviate the necessity of any voluntary sacrifices on patriotic 
 grounds by any members of the teaching staff. Increase 
 of fees and increase of numbers of undergraduates were, for 
 many reasons, alike rejected as impossible expedients, and 
 accordingly it was resolved that an appeal of a private 
 character should be made to old Balliol men for the pur- 
 pose of raising 50,000. This would produce an income 
 sufficient to raise the stipend of the Master to a sum approxi- 
 mating to that of the Heads of some other Colleges in the 
 University, to effect certain running repairs to the College 
 buildings and to provide what was needed for the teaching 
 staff. It was T.A.B. who undertook responsibility for this
 
 1904] THE BALLIOL FUND TRUSTEES 135 
 
 appeal, which obviously the Master and Fellows were unable 
 either to suggest or to make on their own behalf. 
 
 A meeting of old Balliol men was held in July 1904, at 38, 
 Queen Anne's Gate Lord Peel in the chair and an appeal, 
 signed by representative Balliol men, received the assent of all 
 those present. It was announced that 12,000 had already 
 been promised, and some resolutions were adopted, which 
 are given here because they summarise the proceedings : 
 
 1. That a Committee be and is hereby appointed com- 
 posed of the Hon. T. A. Brassey, Sir Clinton Dawkins, 
 Mr. P. L. Cell, Mr. A. Hall, Sir W. Lawrence, Mr. C. A. Reiss, 
 the Hon. M. Ridley, M.P., Viscount Morpeth, M.P., with 
 power to add to their number, for the purpose of making a 
 private appeal to old Balliol men for contributions to be 
 devoted to augmenting or maintaining the emoluments of 
 the teaching staff (including the Master), while any balance 
 available be applied to the upkeep of the College Buildings. 
 
 2. That out of the contributions so raised a Trust 
 Fund be formed to be called the Balliol College (1904) 
 Endowment Fund, the income of which shall be appro- 
 priated to the objects recited above. 
 
 3. That the Hon. T. A. Brassey, Sir Clinton Dawkins, 
 Lord Morpeth, Mr. C. A. Reiss, and Mr. R. Younger, K.C., 
 be appointed Trustees, with power to add to their number 
 and to elect successors to any vacancies that may occur in 
 their body. 
 
 4. That the Trustees shall be at liberty at any time 
 to resign their Trust and to constitute the Master and 
 Fellows for the time being Trustees in their stead under a 
 Trust Deed which shall restrict the application of the Fund 
 to the objects above recited. 
 
 The appeal was accordingly made and the amount 
 required was duly collected. The secretaries were T.A.B. 
 and Lord Morpeth, and the result was commensurate with 
 T.A.B.'s extraordinary energy and activity, coupled with a 
 magnificent gift as a lead to others. The moneys raised were 
 invested in securities approved by the best financiers of the 
 day. The Master wrote to the Trustees the grateful acknow- 
 ledgment of the College for what had been done, and con- 
 tinued : " The delicacy which has prompted you to take on 
 yourselves the arrangements for securing that your gift
 
 136 OTHER BENEFACTIONS [1904-18 
 
 shall tend to our direct and personal benefit is in keeping 
 with the generosity of the gift itself." 
 
 Lord Milner wrote to T.A.B. his appreciation of what had 
 been done. 
 
 It is glorious news about the Balliol Fund. I cannot 
 congratulate you sufficiently upon so brilliant a success. 
 The Fund will indeed make a great difference in the position 
 of the old College, and is far more than I ever expected to 
 see raised. 
 
 In 1917 T.A.B. offered to endow a scholarship in the College 
 for the study of Italian an offer which was gratefully 
 accepted. The important condition attached to it was that 
 the scholar should be required to spend three or four weeks 
 in each year in Italy. The endowment offered produced 
 an annual income of about 50. 
 
 At the end of 1918 a summary of possible new departures 
 was drafted and considered by the Trustees, who came to 
 the important conclusion that four Fellowships and two 
 Studentships should be founded at a capital cost of 35,000. 
 Towards this T.A.B. designed to make a great gift, which in 
 the words of an enthusiast, "left the College breathless." 
 His work for the College would doubtless have developed in a 
 thousand ways as opportunity offered, but this was not to be. 
 At the close of the war a movement was set on foot to 
 create some permanent memorial of the Balliol men who 
 had served and fallen in the war, and T.A.B. was, of course, 
 to the fore in this new departure. 
 
 The War Memorial Committee passed the following 
 resolution at T.A.B.'s death, and with it the Trustees of the 
 Balliol Endowment Fund associated themselves : 
 
 The Committee and Trustees desire to place on record 
 their profound sense of the irreparable loss which they and 
 the College have sustained through the sudden and tragic 
 death of Earl Brassey. 
 
 His death is to them that of a trusted leader, gifted 
 to inspire his followers with something of his own wonderful 
 enthusiasm, endurance and vision, and privileged to enoble 
 every cause with which he associated himself, by his own 
 highmindedness and singular honesty of purpose.
 
 i9o 7 ] OXFORD UNIVERSITY APPEAL 137 
 
 To the College his death is that of a generous benefactor 
 always instant to further its interests, extend its usefulness, 
 and enhance its fame, regardless of effort or trouble to him- 
 self, as the Endowment Trustees have special reason to 
 remember through their happy association with him in their 
 Trust during the last fifteen years. 
 
 To the Committee and Trustees personally, Lord 
 Brassey's passing is that of a reserved and beloved friend 
 to most of them one of long standing whose place in their 
 hearts will never be filled his memory an abiding possession, 
 his example an inspiration and incentive until the end. 
 
 This remarkable tribute of affection and respect is signed 
 by Sir Robt. Younger. None can expect affection except he 
 is prepared to give it. But T.A.B. loved Balliol, and Balliol 
 was not unmindful. 
 
 From his friend A. L. Smith T.A.B. had learned, to his 
 astonishment, something of the poverty of the University, 
 and thenceforward had had in mind the possibility of a 
 General Appeal for the University of Oxford. That 
 University was commonly reputed to be the wealthiest in 
 the world, and it was difficult to persuade people that it 
 was not so. The same misconception exists with regard 
 to the Church of England. Some of the constituent parts 
 may be rich, but the general corporation or the entity is 
 almost entirely without moneys of its own. Individual 
 Colleges might stand possessed of great endowments which 
 could be applied to the purposes for which the College was 
 founded, but the University chest might at the same tune 
 be empty. There is strength in a loose agglomeration of 
 bodies of varying degrees of wealth allied geographically 
 and not otherwise, but there is inevitable weakness. The 
 weaknesses of the University and its alleged inability to 
 supply higher education in the best possible way, had led 
 to the suggestion of a Royal Commission of Inquiry, but 
 the great majority of those connected with Oxford were 
 averse to such a course, fearing the outcome of the delibera- 
 tions of a body in the appointment of which political con- 
 siderations would undoubtedly be allowed to intrude. 
 T.A.B.'s correspondence reveals a general consensus upon this 
 point. On August 5th, 1907, he wrote to Lord Lansdowne :
 
 138 PRELIMINARY STEPS [1907 
 
 I only read yesterday the debate in the House of 
 Lords on the Universities. If I may say so without imper- 
 tinence, the debate was worthy of the House of Lords, and 
 I am very thankful that the Government have not decided 
 to appoint a Royal Commission for the present. This will 
 give us a chance with the Fund, the existence of which will, 
 I believe, lead directly or indirectly to better utilisation of 
 existing resources. 
 
 After a preliminary and informal gathering at A. L. 
 Smith's house in 1903, T.A.B. began to move in the matter 
 and by 1904 he was already in communication with the 
 Chancellor, Lord Goschen, on this subject. Lord Goschen 
 confessed that he had been struck by the difficulty of making 
 both ends meet, and by the shifts rendered necessary in 
 consequence, and that he would be very glad to consult 
 with T.A.B. and take his suggestions on the subject. The 
 time proved unpropitious, and the matter remained for some 
 months. The Bishop of Stepney was, from the outset, a 
 keen supporter and a prudent counsellor. " I shall be keen 
 to hear of your new Varsity scheme when we meet. What 
 a chap you are ! " A month or two later he wrote : 
 
 As to the University question I should really like to 
 have a talk with you when you come south again. There 
 is something really magnificent in the way you tackle these 
 big jobs, and you have an energy and persistence which 
 seem not only to deserve, but to command success. I wish 
 you a hearty godspeed in your present enterprise. 
 
 By the middle of 1906, T.A.B. had been to Oxford on 
 several visits of investigation, and after consultation with 
 those who understood the needs of the University, he drafted 
 a memorandum which was ready in June. In December, 
 1906, this was printed and issued with an Introductory Note 
 as the basis of a private appeal to wealthy Oxford men. 
 Before the end of the year T.A.B. had personally approached 
 a large number of people and had secured promises amounting 
 to upwards of 60,000 for the Fund. 
 
 The Introductory Note of the Appeal mentions Mr. T. A. 
 Brassey, the Vice-Chancellor, Sir William Anson, Professor 
 Miers, Professor Osier, as some of those primarily responsible,
 
 1907] THE PUBLIC APPEAL 139 
 
 and estimates that 250,000 is required. The most urgent 
 needs of the University were stated to be : i. The Bodleian 
 Library. 2. Science. 3. Additional Buildings. 4. Modern 
 Languages. 5. History. 
 
 The objection which had already been made in certain 
 quarters that it was unwise to try to develop scientific 
 teaching at Oxford was countered by the statement that in 
 providing for the endowment of new subjects of a scientific 
 or modern character, the object of the appeal was, while 
 bringing Oxford up to date, not to destroy, but rather to 
 conserve its old traditions as a University pre-eminently 
 of the humane studies and literary 'culture. These, indeed, 
 must run the risk of being lost if new funds were not forth- 
 coming and the old endowments were diverted to support 
 new and expensive equipments. 
 
 Meanwhile a new Chancellor was appointed, who took 
 up the scheme as an official University appeal, and called 
 a public meeting in London in May, 1907. The large theatre 
 at Burlington House was filled to overflowing by a most 
 representative body of people, and the speakers included 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Curzon (the new 
 Chancellor), Mr. Asquith, Lord Milner, Dr. Warren, Sir 
 William Anson, and T.A.B. The Chancellor sketched the 
 history of the present movement, doing justice to the 
 originator, T.A.B., whose name was received with a cordiality 
 which showed that recognition and gratitude do sometimes 
 fall where they are due. The meeting agreed unanimously 
 to a body of nine to twelve trustees, two-thirds of whom 
 were to be non-resident, and to a Committee of eight residents 
 and fifteen non-residents to collect subscriptions. It was 
 laid down that of all the needs of the University the Bodleian 
 stood first, and the Chancellor said that it was a fortunate 
 moment for the University when Mr. Brassey turned his 
 active mind and generous disposition to the matter. He 
 gave 10,000, which he hoped in ten years to increase to 
 25,000, and many of the leading contributors were relatives 
 and friends of his. 
 
 T.A.B. was, from the first, one of the non-resident 
 trustees and struggled hard to get the administration, 
 concerning which there arose certain points of controversy
 
 140 " THE LATE SIR THOMAS BODLEY " [1907 
 
 and some discussion in the Press, settled on lines 
 which would, in his judgment, be satisfactory to the sub- 
 scribers. By 1913 the Endowment Fund had reached 
 130,000, and no doubt had T.A.B. been spared for a further 
 period of activity after the war was over, the full sum would 
 have been raised. He left a very large and extensive 
 correspondence on this question, which exhibits his 
 characteristics of pertinacity and dogged determination to 
 secure reasonable ends. 
 
 The Fund was to be used primarily for the Bodleian, 
 in which he took the liveliest interest. The chief needs 
 were accommodation for storage, revision of the catalogue, 
 and reading places for staff and visitors. A reference 
 library and facility of access to learned periodicals were 
 also badly wanted. For storage T.A.B. guaranteed 10,000, 
 which was expended upon the two underground bookstores. 
 For the catalogue he gave several donations in consecutive 
 years. He gave also money as it was required for other 
 purposes. He regarded the Bodleian as the paramount 
 consideration and endeavoured to get the Trustees of 
 the Endowment Fund to reserve 20,000 capital for the 
 Catalogue. They actually allocated to the Bodleian 24,000 
 in all and gave a grant of 300 a year for eight years 
 to be used for revision and general maintenance. At 
 a dinner given in T.A.B.'s honour to himself and the 
 library staff, he was introduced as " the late Sir Thomas 
 Bodley." 
 
 He interested himself in all the objects for which 
 grants were made by the trustees, and took a leading part 
 in establishing the Engineering School for which he raised 
 4000. He supported the movements to establish the 
 Readerships in Japanese and in Military History and in 
 countless ways devoted himself to the prosperity of the 
 University. All this was done in the midst of countless 
 other activities themselves sufficiently absorbing to the 
 entire energies of any ordinary man. 
 
 In 1911 the degree of D.C.L. honoris causa was con- 
 ferred upon him by the University, and the President of 
 Magdalen, in writing to him some years later, gave expression 
 to the general feeling when he said, " Oxford, which was
 
 i9i9] CAPITAL AND LABOUR 141 
 
 proud and fond of your father, has certainly good reason 
 to be proud and fond of his son." 
 
 After his death a striking tribute to his work was recorded 
 in a memorial sent to Lady Brassey : 
 
 We, the undersigned, comprising original members of the 
 group who first met in 1904 to discuss the project for a 
 re-endowment of the University, resident Trustees of the 
 Endowment Fund, and Vice-Chancellors who have advised 
 as to its allocation, wish to express to the family of the late 
 Earl Brassey that we are well aware that it was due to him 
 more than to anyone that the Fund has such a successful 
 start and had already gone so far before it was taken up 
 vigorously by Lord Curzon. For his action in this matter 
 and for his generosity in many special ways and on several 
 critical occasions, the University is deeply indebted to Lord 
 Brassey, and will cherish the memory of him as a most loyal 
 son, munificent in his donations, and unlimited in his 
 affectionate devotion. 
 
 HERBERT WARREN, 
 
 President of Magdalen, Vice-Chancellor, 1906-10. 
 
 C. B. HEBERDEN, 
 
 Principal of Brasenose, V ice-Chancellor, 1910-13. 
 
 THOMAS B. STRONG, 
 
 Dean of Christ Church, Vice-Chancellor, 1913-17. 
 
 REGINALD W. MACAN, 
 
 Master of University. 
 
 WILLIAM OSLER, 
 
 Regius Professor of Medicine. 
 
 ARTHUR L. SMITH, 
 
 Master of Battiol. 
 HENRY MIERS, 
 
 Vice-Chancellor of Manchester University. 
 
 At a meeting of Congregation of the University, Dr. 
 Headlam, Regius Professor of Divinity, brought forward a 
 decree to add to the list of benefactors to the University 
 the name of Thomas, second Earl Brassey. Dr. Headlam 
 said that he was one of the most munificent and one of the 
 hardest working of all later benefactors of the University 
 and the decree was unanimously passed.
 
 142 CO-PARTNERSHIP SCHEMES [1909-19 
 
 It is impossible to deal adequately with T.A.B.'s relation- 
 ship to the University without reference to the great problems 
 of capital and labour in which he was so intensely interested. 
 The present Master of Balliol in this, as in many other things, 
 was a great inspiration to him. In his early years he began 
 by postulating better conditions for labour, and always took 
 an active share in all co-operative movements which came 
 within his range ; and any co-partnership scheme, or efforts 
 like the Hampstead Garden Suburb, or the Garden City 
 at Letchworth, were certain to elicit his help. From this 
 position he advanced to the profit-sharing scheme developed 
 in his Sardinian undertaking. During the last few years of 
 his life he endeavoured to get into close touch with all 
 organisations which had for their object the development of 
 mutual understanding and sympathy between the capitalists 
 and the workers, like that of the Association of Employers 
 and Employed, of which his friend, Mr. F. Huth Jackson, 
 was President. At the basis of all the considerations which 
 were involved in these things he set the religious principle. 
 He felt profoundly that the relations of capital and labour 
 were based on questions of right and wrong : that capitalists 
 would naturally exploit the workers and get every advantage 
 they could, and that the workers would retaliate at every 
 opportunity unless some religious principle were admitted. 
 But as a first step towards a newer spirit, he was convinced 
 that both sides must get to know and to understand one 
 another. 
 
 The record of the work which he did in all these fields is 
 far too lengthy to be described here. But mention may be 
 made of two important utterances, the former to the members 
 of the London Chamber of Commerce on December loth, 
 1912, when he spoke to a large and influential audience on 
 Industrial Unrest and the Remedies : and the second to 
 the Labour Co-partnership Association, of which he was a 
 Vice-President, on November 26th, 1918, when he discussed 
 Co-partnership in Mining. 
 
 It is now necessary to return to T.A.B.'s political activities. 
 In 1901 he was invited by Manchester Liberals, acting with 
 the concurrence of the President of the Liberal Association 
 and the President of the Reform Club, to contest a
 
 igo2] DEVONPORT BY-ELECTION 143 
 
 Manchester constituency on Liberal Imperialist lines, but he 
 declined. In 1902 he accepted an invitation to stand for 
 a vacancy at Devonport, caused by the death of one of the 
 two Liberal members. His father had been returned for 
 the same constituency in 1865, this being the first time he 
 had been elected to Parliament. In his address T.A.B. laid 
 stress upon the need for a strong Navy, and referred to the 
 special work which he had accomplished on the " Naval 
 Annual " and as Private Secretary to Lord Spencer when he 
 was First Lord. He emphasised the introduction of the 
 Education Bill of 1902 as the dominant issue of the by- 
 election, and asked that he should be given a mandate to 
 try to cut down the extravagant expenditure of the Govern- 
 ment which had increased by thirty-five millions per annum 
 while it had been in power. This was mainly due to in- 
 sufficient control and supervision of Government depart- 
 ments. He advocated Imperial Federation and the principle 
 of Devolution, asking for the speedy establishment of local 
 legislatures for England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. 
 " My sympathies are all on the side of freedom." 
 
 The campaign was a short one : the Liberal prospects 
 were ruined by acute dissensions in the local Committee, 
 and the result of the election, in which a small proportion 
 only of the electorate went to the poll, was : 
 
 J. Lockie(C.) 3785 
 
 Hon. T. A. Brassey (L.) . . . . 3757 
 
 Majority 28 
 
 Before the proposals from Devonport and from Man- 
 chester T.A.B. had tried to induce the Liberal Party, which 
 had now been out of office for several years and was a ghost 
 of its former self, racked by internal dissensions and wander- 
 ing without any real leadership into by-paths, to sink what 
 he regarded as the minor issues, and to adopt a " Policy on 
 which All Liberals may Unite." This, briefly, was that 
 which was called the policy of Home Rule All Round. The 
 Daily Chronicle pleaded the objections that there was 
 nothing new in this, and that it was not Liberalism, but for 
 all that a memorandum on the subject, signed by T.A.B.
 
 144 FEDERAL UNION COMMITTEE [1902 
 
 and sent to every Liberal member, agent, and association, 
 attracted much attention. It was not, however, adopted 
 officially by the party, and the work of the Committee 
 which was called into existence to promulgate it was rendered 
 hopeless until the official attitude should change. 
 
 After the election, T.A.B. went with Lady Idina to Sicily 
 and Sardinia and afterwards to Canada. They made a 
 pilgrimage to the Victoria Bridge, the great work of Messrs. 
 Peto, Brassey and Betts, and joined Lord Brassey at 
 Montreal for the opening of the Congress of the Chambers 
 of Commerce of the Empire. T.A.B. spoke for some 
 minutes in the Fiscal Debate, and his speech made a great 
 impression. They visited Sault Ste. Marie, the Michigan 
 estate, and then went on to Winnipeg, where a congress of 
 manufacturers was held. They went subsequently to Boston 
 and other cities in the United States and returned to England 
 in October of the same year. 
 
 However, the greater part of the years 1901-3 was 
 occupied in the work of expounding this policy of uniting 
 All Liberals through the Federal Union Committee which 
 consisted of the following : 
 
 Hon. T. A. Brassey (Chairman), Sir H. Gilzean-Reid, 
 Dr. W. L. Jacks (Glasgow), Messrs. J. A. Murray Macdonald, 
 G. R. Benson, H. de R. Walker, A. E. Forster Boulton, 
 Martin Fradd, H. Vivian (Labour Co-partnership Associa- 
 tion), B. T. Hall (Working Men's Club and Institute Union), 
 Norman Lament, G. H. Cox (Liverpool), Edwin Guthrie 
 (Manchester), and Professor Henry Jones (Glasgow). 
 
 A very large number of meetings was organised in the 
 great towns of England and particularly of Scotland, most 
 of which T.A.B. addressed. The most important of those in 
 England were held in Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, 
 Burnley, and at the National Liberal Club. At Manchester, 
 T.A.B. and Mr. Murray Macdonald were entertained at dinner 
 by the Political Committee of the Reform Club. At Liver- 
 pool, a large public meeting attended by 900 persons was 
 also addressed by Mr. Russell Rea, M.P., and T.A.B. , and a 
 resolution in favour of Devolution was unanimously carried. 
 Other meetings were held at Bolton, Bradford, Ipswich, 
 Sowerby Bridge, and Stockton-on-Tees. There were many
 
 1902] FEDERAL UNION COMMITTEE 145 
 
 political gatherings at which the policy advocated by the 
 Committee was discussed, and some deserve special mention. 
 
 The winter session of the Royal Colonial Institute was 
 opened with a paper by T.A.B. on " Steps to Imperial 
 Federation," in which he urged that the establishment of a 
 federal form of government for the United Kingdom was 
 an essential preliminary to Imperial Federation. The 
 subsequent discussion was chiefly noteworthy for a speech 
 by Mr. G. R. Parkin, C.M.G., generally supporting the 
 suggestion made in the paper. About three hundred 
 delegates of the Working Men's Club and Institute Union 
 met on December 3rd, 1902, at 24, Park Lane, by the 
 kind permission of Lord Brassey, and received, very 
 favourably, an address on the policy of the Committee. 
 On January 2oth, T.A.B. read a paper before the 
 Fellows of the Royal Statistical Society on " The Finance 
 of Federal Government for the United Kingdom." The 
 President (Major P. G. Craigie, C.B.), Sir Robert Giffen, 
 K.V.B., and Messrs. G. R. Benson, W. M. J. Williams, 
 R. Price Williams, Bernard Holland, Dr. B. W. Ginsburg, 
 F. Faithfull Begg, and J. A. Baines took part in the sub- 
 sequent discussion. On January 2ist, the Master of Trinity 
 presided over a conference of Oxford graduates, summoned 
 at the invitation of members of both political parties. 
 T.A.B. delivered an address on the subject of Federal Govern- 
 ment, and numerous questions were asked. The proceed- 
 ings were private. On January 2gth, Mr. G. R. Benson 
 took part in a debate at the Oxford Union, in which a resolu- 
 tion in favour of Federal Union was carried by 44 votes to 22. 
 Mr. H. de R. Walker and Mr. Forster Boulton opened dis- 
 cussions, the former at Toynbee Hall, and the latter at a 
 meeting of the Hardwicke Society. 
 
 But for the moment the attention of the country was 
 absorbed by the Irish Land Bill and by Mr. Chamberlain's 
 fiscal proposals, and consequently the question of Home Rule, 
 which was bound up with the scheme of Imperial Devolution, 
 fell somewhat into the background. The Federal Union 
 Committee were careful not to express any opinions about 
 Mr. Chamberlain's proposals. It was perfectly clear that 
 whether they were carried out or not, the necessity for a
 
 146 NON-PARTY MEETINGS [1902 
 
 large measure of devolution still remained the same. The 
 Irish Land Bill of Mr. George Wyndham which, if given 
 fair play, would have gone very far to provide a satisfactory 
 solution of the Irish difficulty, was before the country, and 
 here again the Federal Union Committee were careful to 
 abstain from committing themselves. 
 
 TiA.B. always held that the land question must be dealt 
 with either prior to or concurrently with the establishment 
 of self-government in Ireland. 
 
 The character of the meetings organised by the Federal 
 Union Committee is difficult to define. In the early days 
 there was always an aspect of unreality about them as 
 must inevitably be the case with non-party political meetings. 
 The local papers in reporting them invariably dwelt upon the 
 fact that all shades of political opinion are represented upon 
 the platform. In the room there were many prominent 
 Conservatives and many prominent Liberals, and there was 
 a general desire to discuss the question on its merits. Very 
 often the newspaper report goes on to say that the meeting, 
 as one outside the range of party, was not so well attended 
 as the importance of the question warranted. This constant 
 indication of the lack of interest on the part of the electors 
 in questions concerning which there was no probability of a 
 fight is indicative also of the tremendous vis inertia which 
 had to be moved by the pioneers of this new movement. 
 
 It is interesting to note that the Conservative papers 
 as far back as 1895 were claiming the first Lord Brassey 
 as a Tariff Reformer, a man who based his opinions on solid 
 facts and figures ; and the second Lord Brassey as getting 
 more and more into touch with Toryism in every speech 
 that he made and more and more out of touch with 
 Radicalism.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THERE are very few people who know anything about the 
 finance of the Church of England. And very few people 
 have hitherto cared to know. Those who were of an 
 inquiring turn of mind have been discouraged by those who 
 held control over the handling of the Church's moneys. In 
 parishes and in dioceses alike the power which comes from 
 the management of money has been centred in few hands, 
 and any interference has been vehemently resisted. 
 
 There was consequently, until quite recently, a universal 
 ignorance about the matter. This ignorance was exploited 
 by enemies of the Church. The clergy were said to be 
 paid by the State. The coffers of the cathedrals were over- 
 flowing with wealth. The ideal of the life of the priest was 
 to secure a fat living. Such fat livings existed everywhere, 
 and the fatness thereof was such as would make many rich 
 if it were shared. 
 
 With the ignorance went indifference. To know is often 
 to sympathise. To sympathise is the first step to effort. 
 Effort and work mean increased interest. Thus grows the 
 life of the Church : thus follows the welfare of Christian men. 
 
 Ignorance about the Church's needs in the great towns 
 and overseas would have smothered the Church of England 
 had it not been for the earnestness and enthusiasm of a few 
 men who endeavoured from time to time to organise Church- 
 men for the discharge of their responsibilities. 
 
 Such ignorance is being slowly and surely dispelled : 
 and not without necessity. The Church had forgotten almost 
 to act as a body and was lost amidst contending interests. 
 It was hampered at every turn by lack of money : who 
 would contribute when its needs were unknown and its 
 resources magnified through the mystery in which its income 
 was shrouded ? The completion of the reform had arrived 
 
 H7
 
 148 CHURCH FINANCE [1900-19 
 
 when the National Assembly of the Church of England 
 received its authority from Parliament at the close of 1918. 
 T.A.B. was an early worker in the cause, and particularly 
 on the financial side. 
 
 Now the problems of Church Finance are as intricate 
 as is the organisation of the Church itself. With the 
 financial question is bound up in the most extraordinary 
 way every conceivable subject about which Church people 
 may differ. Those who set themselves to work to remedy 
 the inefficiency, which is the outcome of the lack of fresh 
 money, soon find out that they have before them a problem 
 of no common kind. For the removal of ignorance is not 
 in itself sufficient to rouse in Church people the desire to 
 take a full share in the life of the Church. Much more than 
 that is wanted. Many begin to make excuse, because they 
 find that the Church authorities are unwilling to engage in 
 schemes which will foster ideals of their own devising. 
 Others make no excuses for their unwillingness to contribute 
 to Church Funds, but struggle to block the way of every 
 reform, and by frequent letters of complaint to the Church 
 and Daily Press, endeavour to enlist as adherents any who 
 are likely to be discontented. Nowhere is this felt so much 
 as in the general finance of the Church. 
 
 T.A.B. engaged himself in the early days, when he first 
 came down from Oxford, in Church questions, and as a 
 generous and constant contributor to Church funds, he 
 became gradually immersed in what may well be called the 
 modern maelstrom of Church administration. The attitude 
 which has just been described he found particularly hard 
 to tolerate. He could not understand the tone of mind 
 which would permit those, who presumably were actively 
 interested in the progress of the Church, to indulge in 
 vexatious opposition for such reasons as those which they 
 gave in defence of their conduct. With the same candour 
 of utterance, the same liberality of outlook, the same quixotic 
 tilting at fallacies, which were his marked characteristics 
 in other fields, he engaged in active war against these 
 opponents. When his mind was also occupied with the 
 progress of the great works in Sardinia, with the growing 
 attention secured for a federal solution of Imperial problems,
 
 i9o8] AUGMENTATION OF BENEFICES 149 
 
 with the solution of agricultural and industrial questions on 
 a co-operative basis, he joyfully engaged in this huge and 
 intricate subject as an addition to his already heavily 
 burdened life. As usual when he hit, he hit hard ; when 
 he organised, he organised well, and he has left his mark 
 on Church finance. 
 
 There are several villages on the Normanhurst estate, 
 and on its outskirts lie Hastings, a town which had already 
 reached the height of its development when he succeeded 
 to the estate, as well as St. Leonards and Bexhill, which were 
 both rapidly increasing, and thriving seaside resorts. With 
 Hastings and Bexhill both his father and he maintained 
 most intimate relations, and of the latter borough they acted 
 successively as Mayor. In the villages, T.A.B. found the 
 ordinary questions which emerge from parochial Church 
 finance ; questions of the maintenance of the non-provided 
 schools, the repair of Church fabrics, an adequate stipend 
 for the parochial clergy, a pension for such of them as would 
 retire when the work had become too much for them. In the 
 beginning of the twentieth century the growing increase in the 
 cost of living was impressing Churchmen with the responsi- 
 bility alike of the landowner and of the ordinary Church 
 member for the provision of a living wage for the clergy, 
 and he organised in his own rural deanery a scheme for 
 bringing up every benefice to a net income in perpetuum of 
 200 per annum with a house. A Committee of five clergy- 
 men and ten laymen was formed with himself as chairman, 
 which included such well-known local Churchmen as Pelham 
 Papillon, J. F. Danvers, Harvey Combe, and Edward 
 Mortlock. He headed the list of donations himself and 
 ultimately contributed much more than all other subscribers 
 put together. He was, however, active and energetic in 
 securing gifts and co-operation from his fellow laymen. 
 The method adopted was that now so well known to so many 
 Church people of eliciting grants from the Ecclesiastical 
 Commissioners, the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty, 
 and Marshall's Trustees to add to local benefactions, the 
 interest of which was secured to the benefice for ever. The 
 work of the Committee lasted from 1907 to 1910. 
 
 The function of the layman in the administration of
 
 150 ARCHBISHOPS' COMMITTEE ON FINANCE [1908 
 
 Church finance had been limited in most dioceses and 
 most parishes : the control of Church finance was still in 
 the hands of the clergy, and it was not until the Pan- Anglican 
 Congress of 1910 that a really new era began. Acting upon 
 representations, which were made to them at the time of 
 that Congress, the Archbishops appointed a special com- 
 mittee " to consider the position, administration and mutual 
 relation of the various funds which are raised for Church 
 purposes by voluntary subscription, whether Diocesan, 
 Provincial, or General, and the most effectual means of 
 using such funds to supplement the endowments of the 
 Church : further, to consider the best means of raising and 
 administering additional funds to supplement those that 
 are now raised : and to present a report thereon to the 
 Archbishops of Canterbury and York." The committee 
 was a most influential one, and was presided over by Lord 
 Barnard. T.A.B. was offered and accepted a place on this 
 committee. It was with much willingness that he accepted 
 this invitation, and he was an active and energetic partici- 
 pant in the deliberations of the committee. A member of 
 that committee has said that he could always be relied upon 
 to support the wide and sensible view, and that he would 
 invariably back up the secretary against attacks. Although 
 he did not fully agree with all the recommendations made 
 by the Committee, he signed the report without reservation, 
 and from that time onwards became one of the most active 
 and energetic reformers that Church finance has seen in 
 recent years. 
 
 He would not label himself with any party badge ; 
 Societies and Movements were generally too restricted hi 
 their outlook, too intent upon a limited objective, to secure 
 his adherence. He was unmoved by the common arguments, 
 whether destructive of the relationship between Church and 
 State, or critical of the slow, careful and steady reform 
 brought about by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, or con- 
 temptuous of the duty of the Established Church to minister 
 to every person in the nation. So, on some counts he would 
 support proposals for a liberalising movement, on other 
 counts would strongly defend the attitude of conservative 
 bishops, or again would read carefully the official statements
 
 i9io] THE VOICE OF THE LAITY 151 
 
 relating to the finance and administration of the Ecclesiastical 
 Commissioners, by which he satisfied himself of the soundness 
 of their conduct of affairs. In the end he always came back 
 to the very orthodox position " What is my duty as a 
 layman ? " " My duty as a layman is not to interfere in the 
 ministration of the Word and the Sacraments, not to dictate 
 to the Bishops or to the clergy my interpretation of doctrine, 
 but to make their work feasible and possible by clearing 
 the ground for them and providing them with the necessary 
 materials and support for then: spiritual work." Having 
 adopted this position he resented any attempt on the 
 part of the clergy to interfere in what he considered to be the 
 layman's province of providing the necessary material and 
 support. An excellent example of this attitude is provided 
 by the following letter which he wrote in the early days of 
 the establishment of the Central Church Fund. 
 
 A certain clergyman had made certain statements which 
 could have the effect of damaging the appeal of the Central 
 Church Fund to the laymen of the Church of England. 
 T.A.B.'s retort appeared in the Westminster Gazette in the 
 following words : 
 
 To the Editor of the " Westminster Gazette." 
 
 30.12.18. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 My attention has been called to the letter which 
 recently appeared in your columns. It is impossible for 
 an ordinary layman to comprehend the mind which inspired 
 such a letter, and it is not very encouraging to those who are 
 devoting time and money to the effort to place Church 
 finance on a sounder footing to have our motives criticised 
 in the way they are by . 
 
 A Central Church Fund is required to enable the work 
 of the Church to be effectively carried on. The raising and 
 administration of such a fund is mainly a question for the 
 laity. The most urgent needs closely affect the clergy, and 
 are as follows : 
 
 i. The clergy of the Church of England are now some 
 2000 fewer than they were at the beginning of the war, 
 owing to the fact that the ordination of men fit for military 
 service has been suspended. A large number of candidates
 
 A SHREWD HIT [1918 
 
 from the Services are now presenting themselves to fill the 
 gaps in the ministry ; some may have private means to 
 meet the cost of training, a large proportion will not. 
 It is estimated that at least 200,000 per annum will be 
 required to carry out the Archbishop's pledge that no suitable 
 candidates shall be debarred by lack of means from entering 
 the ministry. A candidate, during his period of training, 
 cannot live upon faith. It is not desirable that entry to 
 the ministry should be confined to the wealthier classes of 
 the community. 
 
 2. Even before the war a considerable proportion of 
 the clergy were receiving less than a living wage. Owing to 
 the rise in the cost of living the position is infinitely worse 
 to-day. The clergy, like all others with small, fixed incomes, 
 have been the heaviest sufferers from the war, and a large 
 proportion are now receiving less than the wages of an 
 ordinary artisan. 
 
 3. It is urgently necessary to provide pensions to enable 
 incumbents to retire when no longer capable of doing their 
 work, instead of hanging on to their posts to the detriment 
 of their parishes. 
 
 It is idle to suggest that these three purposes can be 
 provided for otherwise than by money. Different laymen 
 may subscribe from different motives. Most, I apprehend, 
 subscribe because they consider it their duty to do so. 
 
 They certainly do not imagine, as appears to suggest, 
 
 that a subscription will buy an entrance into Heaven. 
 
 The present condition of things is a disgrace to the 
 laity of the Church of England. It ought to be remedied 
 by us, and we are entitled to ask that clergy in receipt of 
 
 good emoluments, like should not thwart our efforts 
 
 to help their poorer brethren. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 BRASSEY. 
 
 At the end of the year 1911, when the report of the 
 Archbishops' Committee was about to appear, he interested 
 himself in the co-ordination of the funds in the Diocese of 
 Chichester. The new Bishop (C. J. Ridgeway), who had 
 come from the Deanery of Carlisle, after a long vicariate at 
 Christ Church, Lancaster Gate, had embarked on the task 
 of raising large additional sums for his diocese, and into this 
 task T.A.B. threw himself with enthusiasm. The two men
 
 153 
 
 were attracted to one another, finding that they had 
 much in common, and being alike men of inexhaustible 
 energy. 
 
 The arrival of Bishop Ridgeway in Sussex had been 
 thought to be the prelude to an era of drawing-room Church- 
 manship, but Church people were soon agreeably surprised. 
 Quite apart from the strong grip in questions of discipline, 
 which the new Bishop immediately displayed, he proved 
 himself an organiser of no mean calibre, and set to work 
 without delay to bring up the organisation of his large and 
 rather unwieldy diocese to a level which it had not reached for 
 the previous quarter of a century. The chief organisation on 
 the financial side was called the Chichester Diocesan Associ- 
 ation. This Society had existed for seventy-two years, having 
 been founded by Bishop Otter with the help of Henry 
 Manning, Lord Chichester, and George Courthope of Whiligh. 
 It was subsequently served by two secretaries, the first of 
 whom held office for forty years, and the second for thirty-two 
 years. Its income had fluctuated between 3000 and 4000 per 
 annum for many years, a sum quite insufficient to provide 
 the necessary Church equipment in a diocese the population 
 of which was increasing with greater rapidity than any other 
 rural diocese south of the Trent. From time to tune, by 
 special appeals, considerable sums of money were raised and 
 expended, but the normal diocesan income was considerably 
 less than that of many individuals resident in the diocese. 
 
 The work of the Association had been managed by 
 quarterly meetings of a general committee elected by the 
 subscribers. The first step towards the quickening of the 
 working of this organisation was the appointment of a 
 Finance Committee. Sussex was nothing if not exclusive. 
 After residence of twenty years in the county, a man was 
 reckoned a new-comer, and therefore to be admitted grud- 
 gingly to any participation in Church affairs. The formation 
 of the Finance Committee was accepted under the mistaken 
 notion that it was to be another close association as before. 
 But they reckoned without T.A.B. (now Lo\d Hythe) . When 
 he was approached in the matter, he consented to act as 
 chairman, provided that he was satisfied about administra- 
 tion of funds. At the first meeting of the new committee,
 
 154 APPORTIONMENT OF PARISHES [1912 
 
 held in one of the rooms at the Pavilion at Brighton, with 
 some heart-burning, he was elected to be chairman. 
 
 The first step taken was to put out a budget for the 
 ensuing year, estimated at 8000. An organisation was 
 built up in every parish of the diocese whereby a parish 
 secretary collected subscriptions and the communicants' 
 shillings for the Bishop's Shilling Fund. The Bishop 
 himself made frequent public announcements in all parts of 
 the diocese about the financial needs which he wished to 
 supply. The whole Budget figure, with 300 to spare, was 
 raised in the first twelve months. During this year the report 
 of the Archbishops' Committee was published, and after 
 careful consideration, the Finance Committee proposed 
 thaPlts recommendations should be presented to a special 
 diocesan conference for approval. The Bishop and the 
 Secretary, sometimes with T.A.B. in company, visited all 
 the R.D. conferences in the diocese and explained the bearing 
 of the proposals. 
 
 The most startling proposal contained in the report of 
 the Archbishops' Committee was that of the apportionment 
 of parishes. The opponents of the scheme were pleased 
 to call this an assessment and to talk of the methods of the 
 tax-collector and the evils which would follow. It was 
 obvious, however, that there was no real way in which pay- 
 ment of the sum required from each parish could be enforced 
 except by the exercise of the episcopal displeasure which, 
 on other occasions, most of the objectors had declared to 
 have little influence upon them. The atmosphere, however, 
 of the special diocesan conference of 1912 was electric, 
 which had certainly not been characteristic of the gatherings 
 of that body on previous occasions. When the proposal 
 to establish a diocesan board of finance to carry out the 
 principles of the Archbishops' Report was moved, an amend- 
 ment was proposed by a well-known incumbent to refer 
 the whole matter back for further consideration. It was con- 
 tended that the matter had never been sufficiently considered 
 by R.D. conferences, though as a matter of fact the proposer 
 of the amendment had attended an R.D. conference called 
 for the very purpose and had spent much of the time to all 
 appearance quietly asleep. There were present some very
 
 igi2] ADJUSTMENT OF CHURCH WORK 155 
 
 noisy supporters of the amendment, who made up by their 
 noise what they lacked in number and in influence. 
 
 Churchmen generally were with the Bishop, and the 
 motion was carried by a large majority. It was noted as a 
 rather curious fact that, on this occasion, the opposition 
 came mainly from the Low Church party. After the Diocesan 
 Conference was over, and the matter was settled, wiser 
 councils in that party prevailed. The more active and 
 energetic of the Evangelicals realised that the new finance 
 method was logically effective, and that it had come to 
 stay. With one or two notable exceptions, they gave the 
 scheme a fair trial, and worked it successfully. 
 
 T.A.B. was unanimously elected chairman of the first 
 Diocesan Finance Board and engaged whole-heartedly in 
 the multitudinous arrangements for bringing under the 
 one control the many small and overlapping funds which 
 had grown up in the diocese. The various bodies were 
 gradually won over, and before the end of the year the new 
 Bishop of Chichester's Diocesan Fund had been incorporated 
 and the regulations for its procedure formulated. 
 
 T.A.B. was insistent upon the method to be chosen from 
 the two courses which might have been followed. It would 
 have been possible to establish the Diocesan Board of 
 Finance as a mere collecting agency, to pay out its money 
 in block grants to a number of small societies, which would 
 administer it. This would have perpetuated the old system, 
 but would have made it more effective because of an increased 
 income, 
 
 The second course was to make the Board of Finance, 
 receiving authority from the Diocesan Synod, a controlling 
 body served by six committees who advised as to the expen- 
 diture of the diocesan moneys. Their grants were subject 
 to confirmation and revision by the Diocesan Board of 
 Finance, and without its consent no expenditure could be 
 incurred. The second of these methods was adopted. 
 
 Subsequent history has proved the soundness of T.A.B.'s 
 judgment in this matter, for dioceses which have in the main 
 adopted the latter alternative have been uniformly successful 
 in their financial arrangements. The degree in which in a 
 diocese the old system has been preserved is often an
 
 156 T.A.B. AS CHAIRMAN [1912- 
 
 indication of the measure of the failure which the Diocesan 
 Board of such dioceses has had to experience. 
 
 The way in which T.A.B. controlled this quite complicated 
 organisation was a revelation to those who were associated 
 with him of his capacity for co-ordinating detail and of 
 picking out the important issues from a mass of correlated 
 facts. His life was already fuller than that of most men, 
 and yet until the war claimed a much greater share of his 
 attention, he found time to supervise the whole of the working 
 of the Board. Mainly owing to his exertions and vigour, a 
 Diocesan Church House was established in Brighton, and 
 to this he paid frequent visits. He would also invite the 
 secretary to Normanhurst, where masses of correspondence 
 and large schemes were considered. 
 
 He remained chairman of the Chichester Diocesan Board 
 until his death. He was a capable chairman, though some 
 members were at times restive at the way in which he drove 
 the business through. Some of them felt that the business 
 had been settled in advance, and that they were called merely 
 to register the decrees of an inner circle of the Board. But 
 such occasional murmurings apart, the proceedings were 
 characterised by the greatest geniality and the most friendly 
 spirit prevailed. At the end of the first hour's business the 
 chairman would remark with a gleam of anticipation in his 
 eye, " Well, gentlemen, we've done a good hour's work : 
 I think on these occasions it is the privilege of the laity ..." 
 and out would come a pouch and a workmanlike pipe, to 
 the general satisfaction. 
 
 The proceedings were generally enlivened by criticisms 
 of the work and the methods of the Central Board of Finance 
 a form of relaxation which is not unknown in other 
 dioceses of the provinces of Canterbury and York. 
 
 As chairman of the Board, T.A.B. would stand no non- 
 sense. A parish in the diocese felt qualms, or said that it did, 
 about making contributions to a diocesan fund, on the ground 
 that grants were given by the Board to parishes where teaching 
 was given of which it could not approve. But the same 
 parish had received a grant of considerable amount towards 
 an extensive scheme of church repair and restoration from 
 the same fund, and contributions to this fund were of
 
 i 9 i8] CENTRAL BOARD OF FINANCE 157 
 
 course received from the parishes to which exception was 
 taken. T.A.B.'s retort was, " If the money you have given 
 is tainted, so also is the money you received, only more 
 so. Return your grant and we will believe your good faith." 
 No more was heard of the objection, and the amount 
 apportioned was raised. 
 
 In the same way he condemned emphatically the position 
 of Brighton and Hove, neither of them exactly poor towns, 
 which received in grants much more than they contributed 
 to the fund, and were constantly (the latter at any rate) 
 asking for reduction of apportionments. He told quite 
 bluntly a prominent resident that his contribution was 
 quite insufficient in view of the needs of the Church, which 
 was true enough but perhaps better said in another way. 
 But you always knew where you were with T.A.B. : he 
 never concealed his views. 
 
 All this administrative work was preparing his mind and 
 attention for the great central questions of Church Finance. 
 He was much disappointed in what he thought to be the 
 culpable delays in floating the Central Fund of the Church 
 of England. He refused to acknowledge the raison d'etre 
 of a Central Board of Finance which had no funds to admin- 
 ister. He argued that there was exactly the same relation- 
 ship between the Church as a whole, and the dioceses, as 
 between a diocese and the parishes which formed it. As 
 the diocese drew the bulk of its income from the parishes, 
 which it apportioned, so the Central Fund should be mainly 
 contributed by the Diocesan Boards of Finance in proportion 
 to the ability of their dioceses to contribute. The argument 
 that it would be well to allow the Diocesan Boards of Finance 
 to establish themselves firmly before any further action 
 was taken, he refused to accept as a reasonable proposal. 
 The Central Board was established in 1913 and incorporated 
 in 1914, on the eve of the outbreak of war, and it was not 
 until 1918 that effective steps began to be taken for making 
 a great appeal to all Churchmen. He had taken much 
 interest in the constitution of the Central Board, and it 
 was very largely owing to his intervention that the method 
 proposed for its formation by nomination of the Repre- 
 sentative Church Council was abandoned. 
 
 M
 
 158 CENTRAL CHURCH FUND [1918 
 
 The conception underlying all T.A.B.'s contentions was 
 that the Diocesan Boards are to contribute annually a sum 
 to form an annual central income for the Church. Unfortu- 
 nately, the conception was missed by many dioceses which 
 declared themselves unable to make any such contribution, 
 and sent representatives to the Central Board who not only 
 abstained from giving assistance in raising the necessary 
 funds, but actually set themselves to thwart the objects of 
 the Board. 
 
 The Board was constituted by election by the Diocesan 
 Boards, and after many delays attempts were made to set 
 the Central Fund going. On March I4th, 1917, T.A.B. pro- 
 posed the following resolution at the Annual Meeting of the 
 Board, which was seconded by the Archdeacon of Doncaster 
 and carried : 
 
 That the Board, while recognising the steps that 
 have so far been taken towards constituting the financial 
 organisation of the Church of England, desires to emphasise 
 its sense of the necessity of completing this organisation. 
 
 It is further of opinion that the Central Fund of the Church 
 of England has an urgent claim upon all Churchmen, and 
 that with the view of enabling the richer dioceses to help 
 the poorer, the Central Fund should be reinforced by contri- 
 butions from the dioceses on a scale fixed by the Central 
 Board, or in default of such arrangement, spontaneously 
 offered by the dioceses : and that the Executive Council 
 be asked to consider the question and report to the Board. 
 
 A year later, nothing having been done in the meantime, 
 except to promise to the Central Advisory Council of Training 
 financial assistance for men on active service who desired, 
 after hostilities had ceased, to take Holy Orders, and T.A.B. 
 being absent in Italy, Mr. (afterwards Sir )H. Trustram Eve 
 proposed and carried a resolution committing the Board to 
 an appeal to every Churchman on a fixed date for a personal 
 contribution to a Central Fund. 
 
 On his return he proposed that this plan be modified 
 so as to allow for a contribution from Diocesan Boards as 
 well, but the Central Board would not accept this. T.A.B. 
 was very much disinclined to take any share in the scheme
 
 I9i8] STATEMENT OF NEEDS 
 
 after this decision was reached, but personal appeals by the 
 Archbishops induced him to continue. 
 
 An Organisation Committee had been established, and 
 this was divided into two sections, the former presided over 
 by Sir Trustram Eve, dealing with questions of organisation, 
 and the latter under T.A.B. dealing with questions of finance. 
 He secured for this latter many prominent members : 
 Dr. Burge (Bishop of Southwark), Lord Selborne, Lord 
 Beauchamp, Lord Salisbury, Sir A. Griffith-Boscawen, Lord 
 Joicey, the Hon. Edward Wood, and not least, two old 
 supporters from Chichester, the Hon. H. B. Portman and 
 Mr. F. A. White. He drew up a document called the State- 
 ment of Needs, which was hammered out in the early 
 hours of the day in his room at 24, Park Lane. This was 
 adopted by the committee, prefaced by the Archbishops, 
 signed by a large number of representative men and issued 
 to friends of the committee. The interpretation of this 
 document in terms of figures was a further lengthy process, 
 and when it was completed, it gave rise to an acute con- 
 troversy with the Executive Council of the Board. The 
 document as originally drafted by T.A.B. showed that (i) a 
 capital sum, and (2) an annual income were required the 
 exact figures being stated under each head. On the ground 
 that the annual income, as shown, was larger than the 
 capital sum shown, the document was amended to an 
 appeal for a sum of 5,000,000. It was pointed out that 
 serious difficulties were consequent upon this action, unless 
 the whole sum were forthcoming without delay, but the 
 amended document was issued, and events have proved 
 that the original conception was financially the right 
 one. 
 
 The acute differences of opinion which were revealed 
 on this and other points made it impossible to continue the 
 work without some readjustment of personnel, and T.A.B. 
 on several occasions offered to give way. He was over- 
 whelmed with work, and only a strong sense of duty kept 
 him going. He was much misunderstood ; but his friends, 
 who knew him well, backed him to the utmost of their 
 ability, and one or two resignations cleared the air enor- 
 mously. He was not at his best at times of controversy.
 
 160 THE ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN [1918 
 
 He said and did violent things : said and did them indeed 
 for a purpose, but they were none the less very strong and 
 sometimes difficult to defend. The defence was that the 
 objective could not be reached in any other way, but all 
 were not of this opinion. 
 
 He was convinced that the Central Board and the 
 Executive were not sufficiently influential or representative 
 to command public support, and after some further con- 
 troversy, both were enlarged and reconstituted so as to 
 embrace men whose names gave confidence and whose 
 experience added weight to the administration. 
 
 The Appeal was finally launched in November, 1918, by 
 a series of advertisements in the newspapers of the value 
 of which T.A.B. was always doubtful, and to the publication 
 of which he obj ected in writing. Nearly the whole of the first 
 100,000 was produced by his personal letters, and he himself 
 promised to contribute 10,000. The Public Appeal was 
 followed by an organised effort on Rogation Sunday, and 
 further steps were well in hand to continue the personal 
 appeal in the winter of 1919, when his untimely end removed 
 from the Central Church Fund its most inspiring per- 
 sonality, and from the Church a son whom it seems almost 
 impossible to replace. The value of his work may be 
 tested by that very fact. Lord Selborne, speaking at the 
 first meeting of the National Assembly in June, 1920, called 
 vigorously upon Churchmen to do what T.A.B. had done. 
 He said that he was occupying T.A.B. 's place as head of the 
 finance of the Central Board, not because he had had any 
 training as a financier, not because he was particularly 
 fitted to do so, but because no great financier of the Church 
 of England could be found or would come forward. 
 
 T.A.B. only once offered himself for election on the elected 
 Representative Bodies of the Church. In 1917 he sought a 
 place on the Representative Church Council as an elected 
 member of the Diocese of Chichester, because he was con- 
 vinced that if the National Assembly should become an 
 actual fact, it was imperative that the control of central 
 finance should be in its hands. He had fought for the 
 insertion of a clause in the scheme of administration of the 
 Central Church Fund to secure this, which he regarded as
 
 i9i8J RITUAL DISPUTES 161 
 
 fundamental in the interests both of the Assembly and of the 
 Fund. He received the votes of a far larger number of 
 electors than any other candidate, but was second on the 
 poll for the seven vacancies, because of the " plumping " for 
 a party candidate who headed the list. 
 
 The future of Church finance is not yet settled, but the 
 main lines along which it must proceed have become clear 
 in the course of the last few years, and with patient, tactful, 
 and energetic efforts, the future will see great developments. 
 The lines are the clearer, and the prospects the brighter for 
 the shrewd common-sense and the self-denying generosity 
 of the second Earl Brassey. 
 
 Some extracts from letters are needed to illustrate what 
 has been said : 
 
 To an Incumbent in Sussex. 
 
 With regard to the article that appeared in the East- 
 bourne Chronicle I cordially agree with the point of view that 
 Romanising practices which are clearly illegal should be 
 made to cease (if possible) by the authority of the Bishops. 
 As Chairman of the Board of Finance I should oppose grants 
 being made to churches where such practices went on, and 
 I believe the other lay members of the Board would take a 
 similar view. It is not, however, the business of laymen 
 to decide whether such practices exist. That is for the 
 Bishop to decide, and 1 feel certain all we lay members 
 would support his decision. If this is the case, the Diocesan 
 Board of Finance should be a valuable help in securing the 
 object in view, and they ought to support us for this reason. 
 
 I am quite opposed to contributions to extra diocesan 
 organisations being treated as if they were contributions 
 to the Diocesan Fund. I shall probably make a public 
 statement after discussing the matter at the Board of 
 Finance, but I let you know my views privately, as I 
 feel you can use a good deal of influence in turning things 
 in the right direction. 
 
 (Signed} HYTHE. 
 
 To the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 
 I have had a square talk with Sir Trustram Eve this 
 morning, and I think we are practically agreed as to what 
 is necessary and how to reach the desired end.
 
 162 OBSTACLES TO PROGRESS [1918 
 
 The Central Board must be strengthened by the 
 addition of members who are competent in finance and 
 will carry weight in the country. We must have a number 
 of such people on the Organisation Committee if the appeal 
 is to meet with success. 
 
 To the same. 
 
 I have just been over the replies from dioceses to a 
 circular letter sent out by the Relationship Committee in 
 Jan. 1917 unfortunately two months before the resolution 
 of the Board in favour of the establishment of a Central 
 Fund was passed. From these replies it is clear that many 
 of the Finance Boards considered that the establishment 
 of a Central Fund was urgent. That was a year ago. 
 
 No serious attempt has been made to establish a Fund 
 or carry out the purposes for which the Central Board was 
 appointed, and it has now been decided to postpone for 
 another year any such attempt. I have the greatest re- 
 luctance to allow my name to be associated with the pro- 
 ceedings that have taken place and that are now going 
 forward and I should prefer you to nominate someone in 
 my place on the Executive Council, with whom the fault 
 lies. It has not carried out the resolution passed by the 
 Board in March of last year. 
 
 I regard the whole matter from a very different point 
 
 of view to and . We have been put on the Finance 
 
 Board to do a certain job, and we are morally responsible 
 for doing it. It seems to me that religion is being used as 
 a cloak for shirking our plain duty. 
 
 To the same. 
 
 Jan. 25th, 1919. 
 
 The newly appointed Executive Council and Finance 
 Committee considered the matter you brought before the 
 joint meeting. They were unanimous in thinking that the 
 first effort of the Central Church Fund should be devoted 
 to providing for the training of Service candidates. They 
 passed a resolution authorising the expenditure of 5000 for 
 the immediate requirements, and are prepared to do their 
 utmost to back the proposal you brought forward, of which 
 in its main outlines they approve. 
 
 For the proper conduct of the financial business of
 
 i9i9] DIFFICULTIES OF THE CENTRAL BOARD 163 
 
 the Central Fund it is important that we should have from 
 the Central Council of Training, at an early date, a full and 
 properly considered estimate of the whole requirements for 
 training for the current year, of which the most important 
 will be those for training ex-Service candidates, and I 
 should be grateful if you would use your influence towards 
 having this done. 
 
 To the same. 
 
 As far as I am concerned I have really not got the time 
 to devote to the work. I have to go abroad early next month 
 for several weeks to look after my large business in Italy, 
 I have got the "Naval Annual" to prepare for the Press 
 before I go, and the work on this is very much behindhand 
 owing to the time that I have had to give to Church finance. 
 The situation for me is most difficult, and but for the fact 
 that I feel bound to stand by Lord Selborne I should 
 withdraw from the position, which 1 do not wish to occupy. 
 
 To the same. 
 
 The result of the Rogation Sunday Appeal has, in my 
 opinion, been disappointing. We have not yet collected 
 the money necessary to meet the liabilities already incurred 
 for this year for Ordination candidates, and we have nothing 
 in hand to meet the liabilities for next year. We are 
 pressing the Service Candidates' Committee not to accept 
 candidates who require large grants for dependants. 
 
 I had before me yesterday a proposal for a hostel for 
 candidates at Manchester University. This hostel is, I 
 believe, necessary, but I hesitated to undertake this further 
 liability without any visible means of meeting it. 
 
 The situation is serious. If we knew for certain that 
 we should receive, from Government, grants for these can- 
 didates the position would be completely altered, but until 
 we do know this we must keep down expenditure as much 
 as possible. 
 
 I have a business reputation at stake which I cannot 
 afford to lose, and if you desire to have some one in my 
 position who would take a different view of his responsibility 
 I am quite ready to resign my post.
 
 164 LETTERS ON FINANCE [1919 
 
 To the Secretary of the Chichester Diocesan Board of Finance. 
 
 A further question which it would be well the Board 
 should consider in my absence is the following. I told the 
 Bishop some six months ago that now that I have so much 
 work in connection with the Central Church Fund as chair- 
 man of the Executive I think it desirable that I should 
 retire from my position of chairman of the Chichester 
 Board. A further reason for my doing so is that I do not 
 think it desirable for one man to remain too long in office, 
 and Mr. Portman would, I am sure, discharge the duties quite 
 as effectively, if not more effectively than I have been able 
 to do. At the request of the Bishop I held up my resignation 
 until you had got into the saddle, but I think the question 
 should be considered by the Board on Wednesday. 
 
 To the Chairman of a Committee. 
 
 I went through yesterday the new list of grants pro- 
 posed for University Ordination candidates. I note that 
 in several cases the grants proposed amount to 200 and 
 over, and in one case to 300 per annum. 
 
 I do not know what view the Executive Council will 
 take as regards these grants, but I hold a very strong opinion 
 that they are very much too high. It is quite true that the 
 average amount of the grants proposed remains well under 
 the average of 100, but the average is brought down by 
 a certain number of quite small grants which appear to be 
 hardly necessary at all. You cannot justify giving the large 
 grants proposed by the Ordination Candidates' Committee 
 when so many of the existing clergy are still receiving 
 stipends below these figures, and in my opinion it would be 
 a misuse of our funds if we pay them. 
 
 I was in Oxford the night before last for the Bodleian 
 dinner and had a long talk both with the Master of Balliol 
 and our bursar as regards students who required assistance, 
 of which we have a certain number at Balliol. These poor 
 students have to do with a good deal less than the figures 
 proposed by the Ordination Candidates' Committee. 
 
 What I have said is merely my personal 'opinion so far, 
 and it remains to be seen next WednesdayTwhat^view the 
 Executive Council will take of the matter.
 
 i9X9] BUSINESSLIKE METHODS 165 
 
 I gather that Partridge has already had some com- 
 munications on this matter. I sincerely hope that you will 
 use your influence in the right direction. It is useless to 
 take men into the Church who require so much assistance 
 in the period of training for ordination. They must be a 
 continuous burden later on. 
 
 To an offic-ial of the Central Fund. 
 
 I am obliged by your letter of the 24th and enclosure. 
 Promises should not be made without the certainty of being 
 able to make good those promises. 
 
 What you and everyone concerned must bear in mind 
 is that we have not yet raised for the Central Fund anything 
 like the sum sufficient to meet the liabilities undertaken. 
 There are people on the Board now and holding official 
 positions in connection with the administration who take 
 a much graver view of their responsibility in this matter 
 than has been taken in times past.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 As had been quite clear ever since T.A.B.'s adoption as Glad- 
 stonian candidate for the Epsom division, in 1891, the 
 inevitable was bound, sooner or later, to happen. The hour 
 was now ripe. He had contested Epsom, Christchurch, 
 and Devonport. Gamely he had tried to reconcile the 
 irreconcilable ; the two great forces were all the time 
 rending him asunder. From his father he had inherited 
 the principles of liberal thought, which made him stand 
 for an increase of popular control in legislature, for the 
 loosening of the grip of the House of Lords, for freeing 
 the land from many of its burdens, for popular control of 
 education, all of which were questions on which he held 
 the strongest opinions. In such matters he was still a 
 Gladstonian. But his loss of confidence in the ability of 
 Democracy to rule, as evidenced by the lack of grasp evinced 
 by the trade union leaders, had to a certain extent 
 weakened his attitude on such questions. No doubt, in 
 some matters, as he grew older, he would have been willing 
 to defer action until Democracy had been educated to a 
 better standard of political wisdom ; but by his principles 
 of liberal thought and policy he continued to stand. 
 
 But the one great principle for which he stood throughout 
 his career the Federation of the Empire and the improve- 
 ment of government and administration by a system of 
 Devolution outweighed all other considerations. There 
 were in the ranks of the Liberals some few Imperialists who 
 thought as he thought and supported his Imperialistic policy. 
 But the speeches and attitude of Sir Henry Campbell- 
 Bannerman, and particularly the Dundee speech of November, 
 1900, were a crushing blow to his aspirations. The Man- 
 chester Guardian indeed had said : 
 
 We are glad to find Sir Henry in full agreement with 
 our view, that the proposed party of Liberal Imperialism 
 
 1 66
 
 1903] THE CLAIMS OF IMPERIALISM 167 
 
 is nothing but a sham designed to reduce the opposition to 
 a nullity. The more honest course, we agree, would be for 
 those who make Imperialism their first principle openly 
 to join the Tories. These things needed to be said by the 
 responsible leader of the party, and we are glad that Sir 
 Henry Campbell-Bannerman has spoken out. 
 
 The comparative failure of his personal attempt to 
 reunite the Liberal Party on this policy the policy upon 
 which all Liberals might reunite had had its effect upon 
 him. He acknowledged sadly to himself that in the Radical 
 Party he never could secure any comprehensive adherence 
 to his proposals, or any real sympathy with Federalism or 
 Devolution. On the other hand, one of the vital principles 
 of Toryism, which in the days when he began his political 
 career was only a spark, had been fanned into a blazing 
 furnace by the upheaval in South Africa and the enthusiasm 
 which had been engendered by the South African War. 
 The Tories, now, were Imperialists in the fullest and broadest 
 sense of the word : they stood for the consolidation of 
 Empire ; they stood for unification of all the young nations 
 which were growing up, sturdy and strong, under the Empire's 
 flag. In such a party T.A.B. found on every hand evidence 
 of sympathy with his cherished and life-long hopes. It is 
 true that, as a party, the Tories had not arrived at the 
 stage of demanding either a federated Parliament for the 
 Empire or of extending the application to the United 
 Kingdom of those principles of Federalism which T.A.B. 
 regarded as of primary importance ; but the general atmo- 
 sphere was far different from that chilling blast of in- 
 difference which greeted his enthusiastic Imperialist utter- 
 ances in Liberal circles. 
 
 The end had really been in sight for a long time. T.A.B. 
 himself knew it quite well, although he had hoped against 
 hope that some change would come to redeem the Liberal 
 cause. He needed only the final impetus to drive him into 
 the arms of the Tories. That impetus soon came. In 
 May, 1903, Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, Secretary of State for 
 the Colonies, a politician for whom T.A.B. had the greatest 
 possible respect, and the soundness of whose judgment in 
 Imperial affairs he had already learned to recognise,
 
 168 TARIFF REFORM [1903 
 
 astonished the world and his own party by declaring that the 
 future of the Empire was in danger through the observance, 
 as guiding principles of policy, of those doctrines which 
 owed their origin to the School of Cobden and Bright. 
 Cobden had preached Free Trade, and the repeal of the Corn 
 Laws. The consequent storm in the country had ensured 
 repeal, and the revolution in the political world, which had 
 resulted from it, had succeeded, but Free Trade throughout 
 the world had proved a chimera. Nation after nation had 
 refused to adopt these principles, and Great Britain was left 
 alone as the one country willing to accept and practise them. 
 A temporary era of cheap living in England had followed, 
 but this would persist only until the other countries had 
 established their own industries on a self-supporting basis, 
 and were no longer compelled to buy the products of English 
 industries with foodstuffs. 
 
 Mr. Chamberlain stood for the consolidation of the 
 Empire. He averred that it could only be effected in one 
 way and that was by a system of Imperial Preference, which 
 involved a return in some degree to the methods of 
 Protection. Mr. Chamberlain resigned his seat in the 
 Cabinet in order to press his policy throughout the 
 country. 
 
 It is unnecessary in this place to follow the course of 
 the campaign which ensued. The controversy is still a 
 living controversy. The war against Germany has revealed 
 the practical insight of the great statesman who foresaw a 
 cataclysm of the character and magnitude which actually 
 supervened, and wished to make the Empire strong to meet 
 it. The questions of Protection, Imperial Preference, and 
 Tariff Reform have now to be considered anew in the light 
 of the hard-won experience of the last six years. 
 
 T.A.B.'s own plan of Tariff Reform was to erect a high 
 tariff wall round the Empire in the hope of developing the 
 mutual interests of the Colonies and Great Britain. He 
 had at once to face the obvious criticism that the facts were 
 against him. It was the Colonies themselves who feared 
 the Mother-country : theirs were the industries which were 
 as yet unformed, struggling, and unable to face competition ; 
 theirs were the Governments and theirs were the legislatures
 
 i 9 o 3 ] THE COLONIAL DIFFICULTY 169 
 
 which were demanding preferential tariffs, not merely and 
 not chiefly against Germany, or the United States, or any 
 other country, but against Great Britain the competitor 
 whom they feared and dreaded most of all. The erection 
 of the tariff wall, which he desired to see, could only be 
 brought about by the co-operation of all the Colonies, and 
 it was not in the least clear that the co-operation could be 
 secured. He was convinced, and argued that it was a mere 
 matter of time for the Colonial Governments to become 
 persuaded of the supreme importance of a compact and 
 consolidated Empire, a consummation which vastly out- 
 weighed the mere commercial considerations of the estab- 
 lishment of local industries. He hoped that gradually the 
 inter-colonial jealousies would be broken down, as men saw 
 the value to each individual part of a great corporate body 
 able to act and strike on behalf of the weakest portion of it. 
 The War may perhaps have convinced politicians that he 
 was right. The value of the War may be found to have 
 been in the convincing proof that it must have given to the 
 Colonies of the supreme value of the British Empire as an 
 entity ; but T.A.B. had to meet, from the start, this criticism 
 of and grave objection to his proposals. 
 
 T.A.B. wrote to Lord Rosebery, who had been his foster- 
 parent in politics, and that statesman's farewell message to 
 one who had been his ardent follower for many years must 
 here be quoted, as well as the letters from Mr. Joseph 
 Chamberlain addressed to him on the same topic. 
 
 Lord Rosebery said : 
 
 Aug. loth, 1903. 
 
 So you have taken the plunge and passed into Toryism ? 
 Of course, 1 am sorry, for you have been so staunch in your 
 Liberalism in old days, and have always insisted on its being 
 the true Imperialism. But I do not doubt that you have 
 taken this step from a conviction that Chamberlain's new 
 policy will tend to strengthen the Empire. I wish I could 
 think so, or believe that the raising of this question, before 
 there is any practicable basis, will do anything but harm. 
 
 There is only one point on which I venture to suggest 
 a doubt. Are you not somewhat hasty ? Are you sure 
 that the policy of the Zollverein is or will be the policy of 
 the Tory Party ? On this question I entertain the gravest
 
 i;o MR. JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN [1905 
 
 doubts. And, if my doubts are well-founded, may you not find 
 Toryism destitute of the very attraction you see in it at 
 present ? and certainly without the likelihood of its taking 
 up Federal Home Rule, or the other questions in which you 
 are interested. 
 
 However, 1 have no claim to offer observations. But 
 at this moment, when I am cut off from the prospect of 
 being associated with you in politics, 1 must write a word 
 of thanks to you for much loyal and friendly support in the 
 past, and another of hope that you may find in your new 
 party the elements and the spirit which seem to you wanting 
 in the old one. 
 
 Mr. Chamberlain wrote : 
 
 June 14, 1905. 
 
 When I see the avowed selfishness of some English 
 statesmen in regard to all Imperial matters I cannot wonder 
 that the younger country should be equally unmindful of 
 its responsibilities and obligations. 
 
 We have much to do before we can consolidate the 
 Empire, and the progress of time makes the task more and 
 not less difficult. This, however, is no reason for our not 
 doing our best in our time. 
 
 T.A.B. had sent to Mr. Chamberlain a long letter of 
 explanation and had asked his advice. 
 
 July I3th, 1905. 
 
 My friend Lord Lawrence has more than once suggested 
 that I should join the^Liberal Unionist Organisation. 1 
 saw him yesterday and have asked him to consider carefully 
 some papers and speeches which I have sent him and then 
 say whether a* person holding the convictions which I do is 
 eligible as a member of your organisation. He may possibly 
 consult you on the matter, and at any rate I should not join 
 unless I knew that I had your approval. It is useless to 
 join and then be told that I have no right to give expression 
 to my convictions while a member of the organisation. 
 
 The longer I live the more I am convinced of the im- 
 possibility of governing a great Empire, and dealing with 
 the domestic interests of the various countries of the United 
 Kingdom with our present machinery, and that the remedy 
 is that which you suggested in the debates on the Home Rule 
 Bill of '86, and which is treated with little courtesy and less
 
 T.A.B.'S POLITICAL CREED 171 
 
 justice in Morley's " Life of Gladstone," viz. Federal Govern- 
 ment for the United Kingdom on Canadian lines, as a pre- 
 liminary to the Federation of the Empire. The present 
 condition of things is a great danger to the Empire. The 
 election of 1900 was won on a great Imperial issue. At the 
 next election Imperial interests will be swamped by Educa- 
 tion, Licensing, and other domestic questions. If the two 
 were separated we could carry Colonial Preference to-morrow 
 and the country would never entrust the government of 
 the Empire to a party led by Campbell-Bannerman. His 
 strength rests on the feeling of a large section of the working 
 classes that their interests are subordinated in Parliament 
 to the interests of the Empire. The spirit of democracy 
 can only be reconciled with the imperial idea through 
 federation. As soon as the Land Purchase Act was intro- 
 duced, the agitation which 1 and others conducted from 
 1900-3 was dropped. Tune was needed for Land Purchase 
 to have its effect before taking any considerable step in the 
 direction we had advocated. The policy of the Government 
 in Ireland had my hearty support at the time I was adopted 
 in the Rye Division. But the sacrifice of Wyndham to the 
 threats of the Orange Members and their English friends, 
 and the wholesale condemnation of Dunraven and his friends 
 who had made the Land Purchase Act possible, so disgusted 
 me that I nearly threw up my candidature and politics two 
 months ago. I hesitated because 1 do not think any one 
 else has much chance of winning the Rye Division for 
 Tariff Reform, and I have deliberately raised the question 
 in the speech of which I enclose a copy. 1 have asked my 
 chairman to call a meeting of the Association to consider 
 my position as candidate and I am to meet the Executive 
 Committee as a preliminary next Tuesday. If I can tell 
 them that I am considered eligible as a member of the 
 Liberal Unionist Organisation, it will probably have some 
 effect, and if 1 can further say that you will come and speak 
 in Hastings, the effect will probably be decisive. As regards 
 the former there can, it seems to me, be no breach of the 
 understanding between the Conservative and Liberal Unionist 
 Organisations since I was adopted as a Tariff Reformer in 
 competition with a Conservative and the Conservative 
 Central Office have refused, not for the first time, to give us 
 any assistance. As regards the latter, I feel that I have 
 some claim on your consideration on the ground that I 
 initiated the movement which gave the T. R. League
 
 i;2 MR. CHAMBERLAIN'S ADVICE [1905 
 
 a large proportion of the funds by which it has been 
 carried on. 
 
 To conclude a rather long story, I do not wish you or 
 anyone else to understand that I commit myself to approval 
 of Dunraven's scheme, but I do sympathise with the lines 
 on which he and other moderate men in Ireland are working. 
 I am quite prepared to be told by you and by any association 
 that there is no place in English politics under existing 
 conditions for people like myself. I shall cheerfully stand 
 aside, though to do so means the closing of an important 
 chapter in one's life. 
 
 Mr. Chamberlain wrote : 
 
 July 14, 1905. 
 
 I am just leaving for Birmingham and do not return 
 till Tuesday. I agree that your position is a difficult one. 
 You are right, 1 think, in saying that what you now advocate 
 in regard to Federation was suggested by me in my speeches 
 in 1886, but whether or not these suggestions were reasonable 
 and practicable at the time, I have come to the conclusion 
 that they are quite impossible now and would not be accepted 
 by either party. The result is that in the importance you 
 give to them you practically put yourself in a position of 
 isolation so far as party politics are concerned. 
 
 There is, however, no reason that I can see why you 
 should not continue your candidature simply as a Tariff 
 Reformer, sympathising generally with the views of the 
 Unionist Party but with independent views in regard to 
 some other items of their policy. You know, perhaps, that 
 I have always kept a free hand as regards Disestablishment. 
 The question is not one of practical politics and is not likely 
 to come up with any chance of being dealt with during my 
 political lifetime. But, if it did, I should certainly hold 
 myself free to vote for it, if I thought the scheme a fair one. 
 Is not your position with regard to Federation something 
 of the same kind ? 
 
 As regards joining the Liberal Unionist Association, I 
 know of nothing in our rules that would prevent it, but I 
 doubt whether it is worth your while. If you feel bound to 
 continue a public propaganda in favour of your opinions on 
 the Irish question you are sure to clash with the present 
 party views. If, however, you agree with me that it is not 
 practical now and are ready to treat it as only a pious 
 opinion, then nobody could, I think, object.
 
 1905] THE TRAVAIL OF POLITICAL BIRTH 173 
 
 When Mr. Chamberlain had delivered his famous Bir- 
 mingham speech, T. A.B. at once took sides with him and the 
 Prime Minister (Mr. Arthur Balfour), and characteristically 
 became almost immediately one of the leading spirits of the 
 Tariff Reform League, to which he devoted much time and 
 attention. He wrote to the Times a letter defining his 
 estimate of the situation, and shortly afterwards accepted 
 an invitation from Colonel Frewen, the Chairman of the 
 Conservative and Unionist Association of the Rye division 
 of Sussex, to become the candidate of that party at the 
 forthcoming election. T.A.B.'s defection from the ranks of 
 the Liberal Party, of which he had been regarded as one of 
 the staunchest supporters, came as a thunderbolt. He 
 resigned all his positions on Liberal and Radical organisa- 
 tions, and an acute controversy raged in the Press as to his 
 action. His honesty was questioned : his sense of public 
 duty was challenged : some even said that he was so anxious 
 to get into the House of Commons that he would do any- 
 thing. But if there is one thing which is absolutely clear 
 about T.A.B. one thing which examination of his career or 
 knowledge of his character makes for ever plain it is that 
 he was always actuated by sincere, honest, and consistent 
 conviction. It was not the man who had changed, but the 
 political parties : it was not T-A.B.'s opinions which were 
 fluctuating, but the factors of the political situation. There 
 will rarely be found in all the history of British politics a 
 truer and a more honourable manifestation of integrity and 
 honesty in public affairs than in T.A.B/S treatment of his 
 acceptance of the Rye candidature and his subsequent 
 relinquishment of it. 
 
 It meant great pain and anguish of spirit to him. His 
 own father for once did not understand him. The Chairman 
 of his Executive Committee, who was a life-long friend, did 
 not grasp the point in his mind. Other friends could not 
 make out what he was driving at. All this made him appear 
 awkward and constrained and not at his best. 
 
 He had told Colonel Frewen that his political associations 
 in the past had been such that he must be allowed to explain 
 to the Executive what he stood for. If, after hearing his 
 creed, and finding that he would vote as they desired on all 
 
 N
 
 174 HONESTY OF STATEMENT [1905 
 
 the main issues before the country, but was still an inde- 
 pendent thinker and not a mere party follower, they sub- 
 sequently gave him a unanimous invitation, he would 
 accept it. His desire was granted and he told them how he 
 stood with regard to Tariff Reform and Federalism. They 
 adopted him unanimously. But subsequently statements 
 which he made in the division on Federalism were thought 
 heretical, and in order not to prejudice the chances of the 
 party winning the seat, he insisted that the matter should 
 be considered at once, so that they should not run the 
 risk of disagreement on the eve of an election, and asked for 
 a meeting of the whole party. His speech on that occasion 
 was a masterly one. " Pacincus " said of it : 
 
 Your speech is the best statement within short com- 
 pass which I have ever seen and I agree with it of course on 
 all the main points. . . . 
 
 My chief reason for suggesting the printing of your 
 speech is that it is such a convenient form in which to reply 
 to the question, " What do you mean by Federal Home 
 Rule ? " Now if I had a few dozen copies of your speech 
 beside me and anyone said to me, " What do you mean by 
 Federal Home Rule ? I don't understand," I should say, 
 " Well, a distinguished Liberal has made a memorandum on 
 the subject with which 1 am bound to say I agree on all 
 essentials. Here it is." . . . 
 
 The general trend of the speech and some of the more 
 striking passages are given as an example of real sincerity 
 of conviction allowed to dominate a man's action in public 
 life. Some called him an eccentric. Many begged him to 
 say nothing about Federalism or its application to Ireland. 
 " Just pass it by," said they, " and the election is safe." 
 They little knew their man ; they failed completely to 
 fathom the depth of his principles. He would no more 
 accept the votes of his Sussex friends by any suppressio 
 veri than he would try to seduce them by false statements. 
 This may be eccentricity, but there have been greater men 
 than TA.B. willing to be reckoned insane in that they clung to 
 the truth and would not deny it in any wise. So with many 
 headshakings and much searching of heart a meeting of the
 
 igo 5 l ADDRESS TO CONSTITUENTS 175 
 
 whole party was summoned. And T.A.B. spoke his mind 
 after this sort 
 
 He had been adopted unanimously by them as a Tailff 
 Reformer, pledged to support the party led by Mr. Balfour 
 and Mr. Chamberlain, but ever since he had been so adopted 
 there had been an undercurrent of criticism, and he felt that 
 unless they were absolutely united they could not expect to 
 carry the constituency at the election. It was therefore 
 far wiser to discuss the matter forthwith than to leave it to 
 the eve of the election and run the risk of losing the seat. 
 
 The Irish question seemed to be at the root of their 
 troubles. Mr. George Wyndham's attack on the proposals 
 made by Lord Dunraven, followed as it had been by the 
 attack made by Mr. Balfour on the policy of devolution, 
 had made it essential that he should explain to the con- 
 stituency the relationship of the Irish question to the whole 
 policy of Imperial Federation. It was quite clear that the 
 present system of constitutional government in England 
 was no longer possible. Statesman after statesman had 
 confessed that government by the House of Commons was 
 the merest farce. Mr. Balfour, probably the ablest statesman 
 in the country, had been violently attacked for his drastic 
 use of the closure, but Mr. Balfour had been compelled to 
 that line of action by the impossibility of transacting par- 
 liamentary business in any other way. He had explained 
 to them before the threefold character of the business which 
 the House of Commons had to transact and how, on the one 
 hand, vast questions of Imperial importance were sacrificed 
 to the needs of domestic legislation, and on the other, how 
 elections fought on questions which affected the British 
 Islands only, such as land valuation or education, placed 
 in power a party quite incapable of understanding or appre- 
 ciating the great Imperial interests in which both the 
 British Islands and their Dependencies were involved. 
 Could any of them agree that a party led by Sir Henry 
 Campbell-Bannerman, elected for the purpose of bringing 
 into operation some principle of Liberalism which affected 
 England only, could be trusted to renew our treaty with 
 Japan or to safeguard our other interests across the seas ? 
 Or why should the Disestablishment of the Church of England
 
 176 AN HONOURABLE ATTITUDE [1905 
 
 be brought about by the votes of Welsh Dissenters or Scotch 
 Presbyterians ? It was clear that the whole of our con- 
 stitutional fabric must be reformed ; and if they were not 
 satisfied that his attitude upon this question together with 
 his pledge to support the Conservative Party on all questions 
 of principle were sufficient grounds to support him unani- 
 mously, then he wished to retire in favour of some one who 
 could command their fullest confidence.' 
 
 T.A.B. concluded his speech with the following words, 
 which deserve to be recorded in full as one of the finest 
 expressions on record of political honesty in an age when 
 the principles of silch honesty are in danger of being 
 forgotten : 
 
 I have placed my resignation as your candidate in the 
 hands of the Chairman. If you want as your candidate, or 
 as your Member, a man who will always say " Ditto " to the 
 party leaders, who places party above all other considera- 
 tions, it would be folly for you to ask me to withdraw my 
 resignation. If you are not satisfied, after what I have 
 said, of the danger to the Empire through the government 
 falling into the hands of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, that 
 I would give my general support to the Conservative and 
 Unionist party ; if you are not satisfied that I would never 
 give a vote that would tend towards the separation of Ireland 
 from Great Britain, or would lead in the direction of the 
 independence which extreme Nationalists claim, and which 
 I am as determined as you to oppose ; if you do not think 
 the position I take on Tariff Reform is in the interests of an 
 agricultural constituency, let me stand aside. We cannot 
 hope to win the seat unless we are united. The decision 
 you have to take to-day is of great importance to the con- 
 stituency ; it is of some importance to the Conservative and 
 Unionist party, and it is important to myself. Consider 
 well what you are going to do. A resolution will be proposed 
 in a moment. Let me beg you to express your opinion one 
 way or the other. I shall not reconsider my decision unless 
 90 per cent, of those present ask me to do so. Many of the 
 Executive Committee of the Association, many of you 
 whom I am addressing, are personal friends whom I have 
 known from boyhood. Do not let your votes be actuated 
 by personal consideration for myself. I made up my mind 
 before I entered political life to give my best energies in the
 
 1905] IRISH REFORM ASSOCIATION 177 
 
 service of a great cause. I have sacrificed any political 
 prospects I may have had to that end, and I am prepared 
 to be told now that there is no place in British politics for 
 one with my convictions. I shall stand aside, and that 
 cheerfully, because, on the one hand, I am doubtful whether 
 the throat with which I am troubled will stand the atmo- 
 sphere of the House of Commons, and because much of the 
 work I have in hand can be done as well, or better, outside 
 Parliament than in it. And if your decision to-day closes 
 my political career, at any rate for many years, we can at 
 least part as friends. There will be no bitterness on my part, 
 and any feeling some of you may have as regards myself 
 will, I hope, be tempered by the recollection that you owe 
 to my initiative an organisation which places you in a far 
 better position than you were in two years ago to win the 
 seat with a candidate who has less strong convictions on 
 Imperial questions, and is, therefore, less open to criticism 
 than myself. 
 
 At the conclusion of this statement, T.A.B. left the 
 meeting. 
 
 The speech was received with round after round of 
 applause, and it was immediately moved that T.A.B. be 
 asked to withdraw his resignation. On the motion being 
 put, one hundred and thirty-one were for it, and thirty- 
 five against. The requisite 90% asked for by T.A.B. not 
 being forthcoming, he stood to his resignation, and Mr. G. L. 
 Courthope of Whiligh, a member of an ancient Sussex 
 family, was soon after adopted in his place. T.A.B. gave 
 Mr. Courthope all the support in his power, and he was duly 
 elected to the House of Commons and has represented the 
 constituency ever since. The relations between T.A.B. and 
 his principal supporters were somewhat strained, as was 
 only natural, but the old order of Sussex friendliness was 
 soon restored. 
 
 Ini9o5T.A.B. was closely associated with the Irish Reform 
 Association, the general object of which was the develop- 
 ment of the country. It had a strong political tendency, 
 even after its policy had been, at Lord Dunraven's request, 
 directed towards social and economic questions. T.A.B. 
 delivered addresses in several towns, including Dublin and 
 Deny, with the idea of inducing a settlement of the Home
 
 178 MAYORALTY OF BEXHILL [1909 
 
 Rule question along Federal lines, the Canadian model of 
 Federation being advanced as more suitable to local condi- 
 tions than the Australian. Col. Sir W. Hutcheson Poe 
 wrote to T.A.B. at the end of the year to tell him of the debt 
 of gratitude which the Reform Association owed to him, 
 and of the attention which his addresses had received. 
 
 In 1906 T.A.B. and Lady Idina visited Egypt and also 
 spent five days under canvas in the desert. They travelled 
 via Paris, Chambery, Modane, Rome, Naples, Messina, 
 Port Said, Cairo, Luxor, Wadi Haifa, Berber, Khartum, 
 Fayum, Omdurman and Bisharin. They saw a good deal 
 of the Sirdar and Sir Rudolph Slatin the latter of whom 
 explained the battlefields to them. For the desert they 
 went by train to Bidrashin. Camels met them there and 
 they passed through Memphis to the Libyan Desert, 
 returning after some days to Cairo and Naples, where they 
 joined the Sunbeam.' 
 
 The Council and citizens of Bexhill invited T.A.B. to 
 succeed his father in office as Mayor of Bexhill for 1908-9. 
 He was reluctant to do so, because he felt that he could not 
 give sufficient time to do justice to the work. He was, 
 however, prevailed upon to accept the position on the 
 understanding that he was to be considered more or less a 
 nominal Mayor and that the Deputy-Mayor would carry 
 out the greater part of the work. He was duly installed on 
 November gth, 1908, and after signing the usual declaration 
 of office, he appointed Mr. J. A. Paton to be his Deputy. 
 Mr. Paton writes : 
 
 I soon found out it was not in his nature to do things 
 in a nominal sense, and indeed that he at once took a keen 
 interest in the business of the Council and in the welfare of 
 the town. Altogether he was a delightful man to work with. 
 He presided over the majority of the Council meetings 
 during his year and often came to the Finance Committee 
 meetings, of which he was chairman, and gave us the benefit 
 of his ripe experience. He liked to have details of all the 
 more important matters discussed in committee so that 
 he might be well versed when these came before Council 
 and if it were impossible for him to attend (Council) he would 
 communicate his opinions to me.
 
 i 9 o8] HASTINGS INTERESTS 179 
 
 He was an excellent chairman, firm, just, and clear, 
 and though he seldom voted he would sum up at the finish 
 of the debate, and after fairly pointing out the pros and 
 cons, express his opinion with no uncertain voice. 
 
 During the mayoralty the Coastguard land at Bexhill was 
 purchased for 2350 which was the first step in a great 
 improvement to the sea front known as the Central Parade. 
 It linked up the East and West Parades and in the following 
 year the Colonnade was erected there. Previously this part of 
 the front was an eyesore to the town. An Entertainments 
 Association was formed consisting of certain members of 
 the Council with 8 representative citizens co-opted to 
 assist them. The question of a Municipal Golf Links was 
 very fully threshed out, but it was ultimately decided better 
 to leave sport to private enterprise. 
 
 Mr. Brassey and the Mayoress (Lady Idina Brassey) 
 attended many functions in the town. They entertained 
 the Council to dinner at Park Gate and during the summer 
 invited a large number of the burgesses to a garden-party 
 in their beautiful grounds. 
 
 T.A.B.'s connexion with Hastings was close and intimate 
 though naturally less close than that of his father, who had 
 represented the borough in Parliament for eighteen years. 
 He had made many gifts to it, amongst them a donation 
 towards the erection of a hospital, and a full-length life-size 
 oil painting of his father. His last gift to the town was 
 the famous " Lady Brassey " museum, which had been 
 housed at 24, Park Lane. The principal feature of the 
 museum is the Indian Room with the Durbar Hall, which 
 was one of the exhibits of the Indian Government at the 
 Indian and Colonial Exhibition in 1886. It includes curios 
 collected by the first Lady Brassey in all parts of the world 
 during the voyages of the Sunbeam. One of the last acts of 
 his life was the acceptance of the Presidency of the 
 Eversfield Chest Hospital in that borough. He had always 
 been interested in hospital work and had taken a leading 
 share in the reform of the administration of the Hastings, 
 St. Leonards and East Sussex hospital of which he was for 
 a time Chairman. He had also been President of the 
 Sussex County hospital in Brighton. Both institutions
 
 I 8o T.A.B. AS MASTER OF HOUNDS [1902-6 
 
 have reason to be grateful to him for the energy which he 
 showed in consulting their best interests. 
 
 T.A.B. was a good horseman, though not so fine a rider as 
 his sister, Lady de la Warr, and had ridden to hounds ever 
 since his boyhood. From 1899 to 1902 he was joint Master 
 of the East Sussex pack with his brother-in-law, Mr. Charles 
 Egerton : from 1902 to 1906 he was sole Master. During 
 the joint-mastership the country was hunted three times a 
 week, and subsequently five times a fortnight, which 
 enabled the principal coverts to be drawn frequently. The 
 records of these seasons show that very many long runs 
 took place, one or two of which are described at length by 
 T.A.B. in letters to his friends. T.A.B. also rode from time 
 to time in the Hunt steeplechases. He was known as a singu- 
 larly bold and reckless rider, and often took bad tosses. 
 It was one such fall which injured the sight of his right eye, 
 and another which gave him a bad concussion. Only one 
 comment on his Mastership need be quoted : " I am very 
 glad that you have consented to continue the Mastership, 
 and so is every member of the Hunt."
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE early part of the year 1914 found T.A.B. engaged in the 
 task of assisting to find some solution of the appalling 
 danger which threatened in Ireland, where civil war appeared 
 imminent. The Ulster Volunteers and the Nationalist 
 Volunteers were being armed, with entire disregard of the 
 inevitable consequences, and every sensible and far-sighted 
 citizen was aghast at the condition into which Irish affairs 
 were rapidly drifting. Engaged with all his characteristic 
 impetuosity in gathering meetings of those politicians 
 who were not so unmindful of responsibility as to be heedless 
 of results, he still found relaxation and pleasure in the 
 work of the Yeomanry. He was now fifty years of age, 
 and had come to the time when he must retire from the 
 command of his regiment of West Kent Yeomanry. This 
 he did with the very greatest regret : he had raised the 
 regiment to a high standard of efficiency, as the report of 
 Colonel H. Clifton-Brown, Commanding the South-Eastern 
 Mounted Brigade, dated the aoth of January shows. 
 
 The command of the West Kent Yeomanry will 
 become vacant on March 5th, 1914. Lord Hythe has been 
 a very good and keen commanding officer. His Regiment 
 is up to strength and is as efficient as a Yeomanry Regiment 
 can be. In order to encourage good horsemanship amongst 
 his officers he has always himself ridden in the team of four 
 officers who represent the West Kent Yeomanry in the 
 annual inter-Brigade Point to Point. He is anxious to 
 obtain an extension of his command for one month, till 
 the end of April, to enable him to ride this year. I recom- 
 mend that this extension may be granted. 
 
 One of his last undertakings as C.O. was to arrange 
 another staff ride for his officers from Battle northwards 
 to Maidstone, on March 22nd. The following officers 
 attended : Lord Camden, C. H. B. Marsham, B. Steward, 
 R. C. Simpson, A. R. H. Rycroft, C. E. Ponsonby, 
 
 181
 
 i82 THE FAREWELL ORDER [1914 
 
 H. A. Christie, R. V. Buxton, G. H. Benson, C. W. S. Whit- 
 burn, Colonel Clifton-Brown, and Captain Nixon. 
 
 His farewell order to his regiment was issued on April 
 3oth, from Maidstone, in the following terms : 
 
 OFFICERS, NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, AND MEN, 
 
 To my deep regret the time has come when, after twenty 
 years' service, I must bid farewell to you and the Regiment. 
 In doing so I desire to thank all ranks for the loyalty and 
 hearty good will with which you have supported my endeavours 
 to improve its efficiency. You have made the days I have 
 passed in command of this Regiment some of the happiest 
 in my life. I beg you to give the same support to my 
 successor as you have done to me. Major Whitburn, as 
 Second in Command, has been of invaluable help to me as 
 Commanding Officer, and I am confident that with your 
 support the Regiment will improve in efficiency under his 
 Command. I hope that the proposals I have put forward 
 for building up a reserve for the Regiment may receive the 
 sanction of the authorities and that many of us may in this 
 way still keep touch with one another and with the Regiment 
 which we love so well. Good-bye. 
 
 The zest and vigour which he infused into his later 
 Yeomanry work are well exemplified in a letter which he 
 addressed to Colonel Clifton-Brown at the end of the last 
 training with his regiment in the autumn of 1913. The 
 incident of the manoeuvres related in it, which was, so far 
 as could be foreseen, the last event of his military career, 
 was often discussed afterwards. Not many men have the 
 opportunity of claiming that their last military command 
 was " Charge." 
 
 To Colonel H. Clifton-Brown. 
 
 9th June, 1913. 
 
 I should like to thank you for all the trouble you have 
 taken to make this my last training, instructive. I am 
 afraid you were very much disappointed with the result, and 
 that you have formed a very low opinion of us and especially 
 of my regiment for failing to concentrate as you designed 
 on two occasions. On the first day I do not think we were 
 to blame. I was told to concentrate behind the Sussex,
 
 1914] BATTLE OF DUNCTON DOWN 183 
 
 S. of Up Waltham Hill. The S. of Up Waltham Hill is 
 covered for two or three miles by forest which none of us had 
 ever been in before. If I had been given a definite point I 
 should have been there at the time ordered. 
 
 I am perhaps to blame for my dispositions on the day 
 after the bivouac. I gathered from the Brigade-Major 
 that I was to let my enemy over the river and I inferred that 
 we were to put up a fight somewhere on the open Downs for 
 the benefit of the G.O.C. I hid myself in a central position 
 with the intention of attacking the enemy as he debouched 
 from the Burpham woods (if he crossed by Arundel Bridge) 
 and my troop at the Bridge was ordered to draw him in my 
 direction, and of attacking him more or less when I did if 
 he crossed by Amberley Bridge. He certainly could not 
 have got across the latter without artillery, and it is doubtful 
 whether he could have crossed the river at all, if I had wanted 
 to stop him. 
 
 Your criticisms on the last day's dispositions everyone 
 appreciated the justice of. I expected to find the whole of 
 the Sussex in reserve near Farm Hill or I should have only 
 put out two squadrons for the six or seven miles of outpost 
 line I was ordered to do. 
 
 The final incident of my military career requires a word 
 of explanation. I was told there were one or two troops of 
 the enemy hi front of us. I ordered Major Pott to dismount 
 one troop and to get the rest of his squadron into line on 
 the right of the road to gallop them off the ground covered 
 by the fire of his dismounted troop. No one was more sur- 
 prised than 1 was to see, as we came to the brow, the squadron 
 of the Sussex not 200 yards off coming straight at us. I gave 
 the word to charge, as the only possible thing to do, or, at 
 any rate, as the least of evils. If we had attempted to wheel, 
 the result would have been ever more disastrous, or, at 
 least, so it seems to the amateur soldier. What a professional 
 M.I. man would have done under the circumstances I do 
 not know. I should rather like to have your opinion on 
 this, my last word of command in the Field. 
 
 It has been a very sad two days for me since saying a 
 final good-bye to the regiment in which I have so many 
 friends. I think I leave it better staffed in every way than 
 when I took the command. I have as good a lot of officers 
 as you can wish for in a Yeomanry regiment. Nixon is an 
 excellent adjutant, a hard worker, full of tact, and deservedly 
 popular with all ranks. Our new R.S.M. is an acquisition.
 
 184 THE LAST COMMAND [1914 
 
 I am especially pleased with my M.G. section. It was 
 a wash-out last year and I promised General Briggs that I 
 would get it right this year. I put my best subaltern in 
 command and though far from perfect yet, the M.G. section 
 has done splendid work on most days we have been fighting. 
 I have never seen our machine guns of much use before. 
 
 I wish you could have seen my section competition. 
 I give cups and money prizes for each squadron and for the 
 whole regiment. I have always insisted on my officers and 
 men that if sections are efficient the squadrons will be efficient, 
 and it appears to me that it is most important that we 
 should be able to get on and off our horses quickly and move 
 our led horses well. I began to teach my people to work in 
 half section last year, especially on roads. Our new R.S.M. 
 tells me they were doing this a lot in India. 
 
 T.A.B. was so devoted to his military work that he began 
 to urge the formation of a Yeomanry Regimental Reserve, 
 to be attached to each Yeomanry regiment. These Reserves 
 would be of great value, in his opinion, in the event of the 
 outbreak of war, as a Home Defence Force composed of men 
 of experience, and would have the advantage of preserving 
 the spirit of comradeship and esprit de corps which their 
 service in the Yeomanry would have created. The proposi- 
 tion was very warmly taken up by the officers of the regiment 
 and commended by others, but was turned down by the 
 Army Council, who were of opinion that it might be of value 
 in the case of the West Kent, but that it might create serious 
 difficulties in other parts of the country where the same 
 favourable conditions were not to be found. Colonel Seely 
 proceeded to inquire of T.A.B. why it was that men would not 
 join the Territorial Force Reserve, and it was pointed out 
 that in spite of the regulation (Paragraph 16 of the Regula- 
 tions for the Territorial Force Reserve) which provides that 
 " officers, non-commissioned officers and men, who have 
 previously served in the Territorial Force, will, as a rule, 
 be attached to the unit in which they have already served," 
 this was too general to arouse the enthusiasm which the 
 new proposal promised. The scheme, nevertheless, came 
 to nothing. It was quite probably too much dependent 
 upon the personal influence and inspiration of the one man,
 
 1914] PROPOSED YEOMANRY RESERVE 185 
 
 and might have proved of little value when the personality 
 which inspired it was removed. 
 
 The words of General Grierson, written from Head- 
 quarters, Eastern Command, in June, 1913, may be given 
 here as summing up what T.A.B. had done for the regiment. 
 
 I am very sorry that I shall not see you again at the 
 head of the West Kent, for I know how the regiment has 
 improved under your command, and how good it is now. 
 I hope that your successor will keep it up, and especially 
 retain the same class and stamp of officers as you have now. 
 
 A few months after the last staff ride, the war broke 
 out. T.A.B. volunteered his services on August ist. He was 
 in his 5ist year, but his offer was made before most people 
 had begun to think about the necessity for service. He 
 wrote to the War Office to the effect that he was prepared 
 to take charge of the raising and training of a Reserve for 
 the West Kent Yeomanry and that he was prepared to serve 
 in the field for Home Defence, if required. The O.C., 
 South Eastern Mounted Brigade, reported that T.A.B. was a 
 thoroughly good man of business and a good organiser, 
 and that he was held in great respect in Kent and Sussex. 
 A few days later he volunteered for Foreign Service. After 
 some inevitable delays and the postponement of recruiting 
 until there had been a sufficient response to Kitchener's 
 appeal for 100,000 men, in the effort to raise which he 
 worked vigorously, T.A.B. was appointed to the command of 
 the 2/1 West Kent Yeomanry, and devoted himself almost 
 entirely to the task until the regiment was disbanded at 
 the end of 1916. During this time, in the face of the great 
 difficulties which confronted every such task in those critical 
 days, difficulties of clothing, equipment, horses, instructors, 
 officers and mismanagement, he turned out numbers of 
 well-trained officers and men. 
 
 They were in camp first of all at Maidstone, and subse- 
 quently at Hounslow, whence they were moved to Sturry 
 near Canterbury, where they remained until disbanded. 
 Everywhere this regiment won golden opinions for its steadi- 
 ness and good behaviour. 
 
 T.A.B. was not a particularly easy person to try tricks
 
 186 OUTBREAK OF WAR [1914 
 
 upon, and he had the greatest contempt for inefficiency 
 both during his work in command of the regiment and 
 subsequently in Italy. For this reason, and for his frank 
 and outspoken expressions of opinion, he was not particu- 
 larly liked by men who were " trying it on." The next 
 letter speaks for itself : 
 
 SIR, 
 
 With reference to enclosed I yesterday understood 
 that I was asked to supply 7 men from the Reserve Regiment 
 to take the place of 7 men who had obtained Commissions. 
 It appears from the enclosed that such is not the case and 
 that 6 men are to replace 6 men that the Active Service 
 Regiment do not like. 
 
 I have quite enough to do in the training of Officers, 
 N.C.O.s and 300 recruits, practically without a staff, and it 
 is not reasonable that I should be burdened, in addition, with 
 the wasters of the Service Regiment. I fully recognise that 
 it is the business of the Reserve Regiment to supply vacancies, 
 from Commissions, from casualties in the field or from 
 sickness ; but I desire to protest most emphatically against 
 what I am being now asked to do, not for the first time. 
 
 I have sent to-day a squadron, fully equipped, including 
 a proportion of foreign service men to fill casualties in the 
 Service regiment and I beg to request that any transfers 
 required take place between the Service regiment and the 
 squadron sent to Sturry. 
 
 I have the honour to be, 
 
 Sir, 
 Your obedient Servant, 
 
 Hythe, LT. COL. 
 Commanding Reserve Regiment, 
 
 West Kent (Q.O.) Yeomanry. 
 
 He was very popular with the officers who served under 
 him and with the men. The interests of all of them he was 
 very ready to serve, and in countless ways, which are hidden 
 in the hearts of those whom he helped as a treasured memory 
 of a good and kindly C.O., he advanced their opportunities 
 for work and development. Extracts from letters to him 
 show by the grateful terms, in which the acknowledgments 
 are expressed, how much his correspondents thought that 
 they were indebted to him.
 
 1914] T.A.B/S POPULARITY 187 
 
 From a Staff Officer, Eastern Command. 
 
 I have often thought of the splendid regiment you 
 made the 2/1 West Kent Yeomanry into. 
 
 From a Subaltern. 
 
 If the idea of leaving the regiment was hard, it is 
 infinitely harder now that I have actually gone, and realise 
 more than ever how much I am indebted to you for the 
 unceasing kindness and generosity you have always shewn 
 me and I shall never forget the many happy months spent 
 with the regiment. 
 
 From a N.C.O. 
 
 I could not have spoken to you in leaving your Regi- 
 ment, and I do want you to know what I feel. I am con- 
 vinced that there is not a man in the Regiment who does not 
 admire and respect you, and those who have, although 
 distantly, been in closer contact with and understanding 
 of you, have a genuine affection too. I want to thank you 
 for the kind interest you have taken in me, and to assure 
 you that my future conduct in the war wiU be guided by 
 the knowledge that you have recommended and expect 
 well of me. 
 
 He followed the fortunes of the regiment with the 
 keenest interest, and the announcement made to him 
 early in the war that the distinction of being the first to 
 provide an officer of the auxiliary forces to die for the country 
 he prized as the greatest honour to the regiment. 
 
 Early in the year 1917, after the disbanding had been 
 completed, T. A .B. was asked whether he would consider the 
 possibility of becoming an Assistant Director of Labour, 
 to take charge of the labour organisation at Headquarters 
 of one of the Armies in France. He found himself unable 
 to do this because of claims made upon him at the moment 
 by Sardinian business. 
 
 In April, 1917, T-A.B.'s experience in Italian affairs and 
 his position with the Italian Government were utilised by 
 Lord Milner for the organisation of a new railway route to 
 the East. At the beginning of the year, the activities 
 of German submarines in the Mediterranean had become
 
 i88 CHERBOURG-MILAN-TARANTO [1917 
 
 such a menace to shipping that it was a matter of the most 
 urgent importance to find a shorter route to Salonika, 
 Egypt and India. Plans were accordingly formulated and 
 arrangements made with the French and Italian authorities 
 for the organisation of a Cherbourg-Milan-Taranto over- 
 land passage, andT.A.B. was sent to Rome to treat with the 
 Italian authorities. He went, in the first instance, as Lord 
 Hythe, but after some two months, he was gazetted under 
 " Commands and Staff " as selected for a special appoint- 
 ment with the style of Lieut.-Colonel Viscount Hythe, 
 Yeo. T.F., graded for purposes of pay as a Staff Captain. 
 This particular arrangement was taken by him and by 
 others to mean that he carried the rank of Staff Captain, 
 a position which, he complained, placed him at a great 
 disadvantage in his negotiations with Major-General Fiastir 
 and other Italian officials. His position was afterwards 
 defined, in a letter from General Ford, as Liaison officer 
 between the British Expeditionary Force, i.e. the Q.M.G. 
 and D.G.T., and the Italian authorities, and as such he was 
 to be asked to help in any difficulties, or give any assistance 
 which these two branches might require. 
 
 No doubt (wrote General Ford), your services will be of 
 extreme value. On the other hand it should be clearly 
 understood that the G.O.C. Med. L. of C. and the D.G.T. 
 are both supreme on the line, under the orders of the 
 Commander-in-Chief, and that, therefore, should you at any 
 time wish or find it necessary to visit any part of the 
 line, you would notify the G.O.C. Med. L. of C., and keep 
 in touch with Commandants of Bases, through whom all 
 communications with the local Italian Authorities would 
 be conducted. It would be very undesirable that at a place 
 like Taranto you should communicate direct with officials, 
 except through the Base Commandant, and I am sure you 
 will see this point of view. 
 
 The fact of your being Liaison officer at Rome, where 
 you are so well known to the Italian officials, will be of 
 enormous help to us, and I am sure we can rely upon your 
 doing everything you can to help the G.O.C. Med. L. of C. 
 to carry out his work, which, but for your knowledge and 
 appointment, might be extremely difficult.
 
 i 9 i?] ITALIAN DIARY 189 
 
 He had also to make important arrangements with the 
 Italian Admiralty to establish a big rest camp for British 
 troops awaiting embarkation at Taranto, and minor arrange- 
 ments with the Italian War Office for the erection of smaller 
 rest camps and victualling stations along the route between 
 the French border and Taranto. He displayed such energy 
 during a particularly hot summer in Rome that by the 
 middle of September he was able to turn over the work to 
 a junior officer and return to England. He commanded 
 great respect and affection at the War Office in Rome and 
 was always warmly welcomed there on his subsequent visits 
 to the capital. 
 
 An appointment to be Liaison officer between two 
 independent British military authorities and the Italian 
 authorities was not exactly calculated to produce clear-cut 
 definitions of relationships. In his communications with 
 the Q.M.G., T.A.B. took the unwise step of sending him a 
 communication marked " Private," which went the round of 
 the War Office, and finally reached G.H.Q. In this account 
 T.A.B. said, " If I had been entrusted with the job you would 
 have had the service going for men two or three months 
 ago," at which the D.G.T. took umbrage and expressed his 
 feelings. This was a little regardless of T.A.B.'s services, 
 but it sheds a side-light on the way we made war. 
 
 Extracts from the letters, which he wrote home almost 
 every day during this work, give a general account of his 
 movements. 
 
 April jth, 1917. Lunched with Granet and had a long, 
 interesting talk with him. 
 
 April 8th. Colonel Macdonald met us with a car on 
 the quay. I was one of the first off the boat and we were 
 away within five minutes of landing. He had got me my 
 pass before we arrived so I had no bother over that. Barry 
 was meeting someone else and I had a few words with him. 
 He is off in the Verdun direction almost at once. Christopher 
 Heseltine, who was carrying despatches to G.H.Q. and 
 whom I saw on the boat, passed us on the quay. 1 had a 
 talk with Sir Eric Geddes, the Director-General of Transport, 
 after lunch and went for a ride with him after tea. We are 
 in a chateau, well situated in its own grounds, with all the 
 
 o
 
 ITALIAN DIARY [1917 
 
 railway offices and huts 200 yards away. To-morrow night 
 I go to dine with the C.-in-C. and stay in the guest chateau, 
 some few miles from where he is. 
 
 April 20th. We were hung up at Modane until 4 o'clock. 
 It was snowing when we got there and had snowed all night. 
 The trees were quite lovely with their snow covering. It 
 cleared up in the afternoon and was lovely on the Italian 
 side. No restaurant car after Modane and we reached 
 Genoa at 11.30 where I saw Campbell and Peloggio for a 
 few minutes. I lunched at the Embassy and have seen the 
 Ministry of Marine, the Chief of the Staff of the Navy and 
 the Assistant Director of Military Railways. The former 
 was most affable and had a copy of the " Naval Annual " in 
 his room and was very sorry that it was not to appear this 
 year. I expect we shall go to Taranto on Monday. 
 
 April 22nd. It is a lovely day but rather too cool. 
 Went to early service at the American Episcopal Church, 
 which is near the Continental Hotel. A fine church, but only 
 one person at the service besides myself. Peloggio arrived 
 last night. He seems pretty well, but not in the best of 
 form. I shall get over to England for a few days after 
 making my report to Geddes. I am going to lunch at the 
 Embassy and taking the Lambs an excursion to Tivoli this 
 afternoon. 
 
 April 2yd. Took Mrs. Lamb and the Morison's boy 
 in a car out to Tivoli and Hadrian's Villa. I was anxious 
 to see Tivoli. The copy of the Turner picture by the con- 
 servatory is not very exact. The town is on top of a rock 
 about 400 ft. above a gorge coming out of the Sabine Hills. 
 A fine waterfall, or rather waterfalls. There are willows by 
 the water in their freshest green and a Judas tree in blossom. 
 It is quite the most picturesque view I have seen in Italy, 
 or indeed anywhere. We must certainly go there next time 
 we are in Rome. I am very satisfied with the way I have 
 got on, having practically concluded the important part of 
 my business. 
 
 April 2^th. Went to Taranto Monday, and back last 
 night, arriving 9.50. I had no breakfast but black coffee 
 and a biscuit at the station. Admiral Mark Kerr sent his 
 motor to meet us. We went first to see the Italian Admiral 
 and his staff and discussed plans. Thence to lunch with 
 our Admiral on the Queen which is moored alongside the 
 dockyard. We then went in a launch up the harbour to 
 see the French camp and embarking place. The French
 
 1917] ITALIAN DIARY 191 
 
 Colonel who went with us was quite charming. A train 
 arrived whilst we were there with French soldiers. A fine 
 looking lot of men, not young. We then went to the opposite 
 side of the harbour where we are to be. A charming place 
 for a camp, with a good view and fine old olive trees. Had 
 tea with my old friend Palladini whom we used to see at 
 Spezia. He is now a commodore and his ship, the Velta 
 Pisani. 
 
 May 6th. Rome. Have been for a walk with Sir 
 Rennell Rodd this afternoon, after tea at the Embassy. The 
 garden is quite lovely. The irises are at their best and the 
 roses also are full out. 
 
 May i.oth. I arrived at Taranto yesterday at 10. 
 Lunched on board the Queen with the Flag Commander, 
 Pipon, whose home is near Cobham. 
 
 May nth. Had a wire saying Pelham would arrive 
 Genoa to-night. Peloggio arrived here last night so we have 
 wired to Pelham to come on here. Dined in a most curious 
 place last night in an old basilica, almost underground. 
 
 May isth. Pelham and I went to church at Via 
 Babuino this morning. Excellent sermon. 
 
 May I4th. The Maharajah of Bikanir, Sir James 
 Meston and Sir S. Sinha arrived this morning en route for 
 India. The two latter are dining with me to-night at the 
 Cesare. The Maharajah has asked me to dine with him 
 to-morrow. 
 
 May 1 5th. Had a wonderful talk last night with Meston 
 and Sinha about India, her relation to the empire, the internal 
 problems of India, its desire for Home Rule and Imperial 
 Preference. Sinha had a great breadth of view, very 
 remarkable. 
 
 May ijth. Old M. was here yesterday and worried 
 me to death all the afternoon helping to get his contracts 
 translated into Italian for Fiamberti to draft according to 
 Italian custom. 25 M.P.'s turned up yesterday for an 
 International Parliamentary Conference. I am to meet 
 them at a soiree to-night. 
 
 May 2oth. Went to early church at the American 
 Church. Fortunate that I did, as I had to go to the War 
 Office this morning and spent most of the afternoon decipher- 
 ing telegrams. The Italian D.G.T. was down from the 
 front. We discussed the terms of the Convention from 
 3.45 to 8 yesterday and failed to come to terms on it this 
 morning, so I have had to wire for instructions. H. E.
 
 192 CONDITIONS AT TARANTO [1917 
 
 agreed with me. The Rodds and the Monsons are dining 
 with me to-night at the Cesare. 
 
 May 2yd. Taranto. Very busy day. Interviewed 
 the Admiral Cerci for nearly an hour. Saw the Base Com- 
 mandant, Chief R.E. Officer and many others. They all 
 seemed to want me to help them in various ways and to 
 settle questions which are really not my business. Poured 
 with rain all the afternoon, and we had a very muddy visit 
 to the camp where the advance party had already arrived. 
 I lunched with my friend Palladini on board the Vetlor 
 Pisani. He has just become an admiral and may lose his 
 present post, which is a very important one, looking after 
 submarine defences, convoys, etc. Had quite a levee while 
 I was having some dinner at 6. R.E. Officer in charge of 
 camp, R.E. ditto in charge of construction, Base Com- 
 mandant, Sir Courtauld Thomson of the Red Cross and the 
 Flag Commander all came to talk to me. 
 
 May 24th. The discussion on terms is still proceeding. 
 I think we shall ultimately reach something which is fair. 
 
 If I can get my business on way to settlement 1 shall 
 get off to Sardinia for a few days. I had a letter from G.H.Q. 
 which said that my name had been put forward for Liaison 
 Officer after my job for D.G.T. is over. 
 
 May 26th. Yours of the 2ist reached me last night 
 with enclosure from Foulk. The dear little man's writing 
 is improving. I did not get off a letter to you yesterday, I 
 am sorry to say, as General Strick, the G.O.C. of the route, 
 arrived from Lyon at 9.50. I had to meet him at the Station 
 and spent the whole day with him discussing the terms of 
 the agreement, etc. Took him to lunch at the Cesare 
 restaurant and dined with him at the Station before he left 
 for Taranto. I also had to go to Ministry of War and 
 Ministry of Marine. The Minister of Marine a Vice- Admiral 
 is most friendly when I see him and very nice to deal with. 
 
 May 26th. Went to church this morn at Via Babuino, 
 the church we generally go to. Quite a nice service. Have 
 just been to see some officers and soldiers who were ship- 
 wrecked in the South off from the Station. They were 
 awfully crowded, poor men, as there were heaps of Italian 
 soldiers in the same train. 
 
 Admiral Troubridge and his Staff Officer dined with 
 me last night. He is on his way from Salonica to England. 
 He has been with the Serbians for over two years before 
 the Austrians crossed the Danube and was all through the
 
 i9i?] THE ITALIAN MINING CONGRESS 193 
 
 retreat. He was most interesting. He is a connection of 
 both the De la Warr and the Barclay families used to 
 know Munie well and stay at Old Lodge. 
 
 My negotiations are coming to a crisis in the next 
 2 or 3 days. 
 
 June qth, 4 a.m. Went to tea at Embassy and had a 
 nice chat with the Ambassador. Lady Rodd very busy 
 over her fete next Sunday. It is pretty hot in the day here 
 now. There is a Mining Congress here on Monday, for which 
 Parson, etc. have come over. Peloggio is coming for it, 
 and I shall probably speak. 
 
 June loth. It is hot again to-day, but it is nice and 
 fresh up to 8.30. I get out for a short walk in the morning 
 when I can. The Mining Congress began this morning at 10. 
 An excellent speech from Rayneri the Minister of Agriculture, 
 whom I know. It was over by 10.45 so I got to the service 
 at Via Babuino only a little late. 
 
 Galinga Stewart, that nice Italian M.P., who is half 
 English, came to lunch and we had a good talk afterwards 
 about Italian-British relations, the war, etc. The Russians 
 have fairly sold us and unless they pull themselves together 
 the war will last a long time. Our last offensive near Ypres 
 appears to have gone very well. 
 
 The Beaumonts and Lambs dined with me at the open- 
 air restaurant last night. It was lovely. My position here 
 has not been regularised yet. I am freer as I am, but it is 
 not satisfactory. In the work I have been doing I ought, at 
 least, to be a full Colonel on the Staff. 
 
 Lady Rodd has got another fete on at the Embassy 
 this afternoon. 
 
 June nth. I have been at the Mining Association this 
 morning and had quite a triumph. My speech as to a duty 
 on lead and zinc went off well, and the President made the 
 nicest speech afterwards as to my services in Sardinia and 
 as to Italy's relations with England, which was tremendously 
 applauded. 
 
 June I2th. I send herewith photo taken at the Castello 
 restaurant last night after our banquet, at which I was 
 given post of honour on the right of the Chairman Cessmonet, 
 M.P., a very able man, to whom much of the success of the 
 Congress is due he knows the subject and was able to secure 
 unanimous decisions and prevent people flying off at a 
 tangent. 
 
 June i$th. I have concluded my convention with the
 
 194 SARDINIA AND THE WAR [1917 
 
 Minister of Marine this morning. It has required a lot of 
 patience and manoeuvring to obtain a reasonably satisfactory 
 result. I think that the authorities at G.H.Q. should be 
 pleased. Lunched with young Biscay and his wife to-day 
 his father came in afterwards, quite an oldish man. He 
 told me that his father went to my grandfather two months 
 before the latter died and asked him to take the contract for 
 the Sardinian railways. 
 
 June 26th. Met General Fiastri at the State Railways 
 at Nion and after one and a half hours' time the Convention 
 had been signed. The General was evidently much gratified 
 and most friendly, gripped my hand on parting for about 
 five minutes and asked me to come and see him at the 
 Front. 
 
 June $oth. Have just met General Alfieri, an important 
 man at the War Office, with regard to the Peschiera troubles. 
 We leave to-day for Sardinia. Lunching at the Embassy 
 first. 
 
 I dined last night with Mounsey and Wilson, two of 
 the Embassy Staff, Lord and Lady Gerald Wellesley and 
 her sister, married to a Russian officer on the Embassy Staff, 
 whose name I did not catch. We dined on the roof of the 
 Embassy and had good views of the Sabine and Albanian 
 Hills. 
 
 July 8th. I felt better towards evening and am all 
 right to-day. Indeed, I am the better for my trip, and my 
 cough is much less troublesome. 
 
 The American and the old English churches are closed. 
 I knew about the latter, but tried the former and then went 
 on to a church nearer here. It had begun at 10, so I only 
 came in for the latter part of a good sermon. 
 
 Peloggio comes to-night to discuss the Grimaldi business. 
 Campanella arrived this morning. I have a heavy day's 
 correspondence on military matters and Pertusola, memorials 
 to write tor Ministers and agreements to draft about the 
 Taranto works. The transport of the men has begun and 
 is going on smoothly so far. 
 
 I am thinking of changing my quarters to a less noisy 
 and cooler hotel, but this is very handy to the Ministries 
 and Embassies. It was quite cool in the train yesterday, 
 and Campbell and I had the compartment to ourselves. 
 
 July nth. A General Grey, who has been running 
 transport in Mesopotamia, turned up this morning. He is 
 Deputy D.G.T. for the route, and big changes are in prospect.
 
 SARDINIAN DIFFICULTIES 195 
 
 I am glad to say that he agrees with the views I have taken 
 all along. 
 
 Am just off to see the Minister of Munitions about 
 Pertusola business. The difficulties and anxieties are 
 increasing daily and the financial situation grows more 
 serious. Interesting extracts from German newspapers are 
 published this morning which show that the tone in Germany 
 is changing and that the situation in Austria is getting 
 serious. They may make another effort to get satisfactory 
 peace terms for themselves ere long. Anyway it looks as 
 if peace were a lot nearer. 
 
 July i^th. Things, I am glad to say, are shaping well in 
 the new organisation as far as I am concerned, and generally. 
 I shall have a couple of officers under me, one as my under- 
 study and one for work at the Station, plus two sergeants, 
 shorthand writer and orderly for the office, and one sergeant 
 and two orderlies for the Station. 
 
 I have had a very interesting lunch with Fiamberti and 
 one of the heads of the Lega Italo-Britannica. He has been 
 much in England and abroad, studying, mainly, agricultural 
 co-operation. He was with Sir H. Plunkett in Dublin when 
 war began. Parliament closes to-day so all these people 
 are leaving Genoa, which is rather unfortunate. I had a 
 nice dinner with the Wrights and Peloggio at the Boston. 
 The view out of the room I propose to take, is one of the 
 most lovely I have ever seen of its kind. I spent most of 
 this morning with my new General and paid a visit to the 
 American Red Cross Commission, from whom we have hopes 
 of getting a good sum for the Consumption Hospital at 
 Cagliari. We asked for 100,000 lire and may get 
 more. 
 
 July 2 is/. I am certainly getting thinner. I had a 
 very jolly motor excursion yesterday afternoon with Larken 
 and the AUatrins, mother and daughter. I sat with the 
 mother behind. She is a nice old lady who knows so many 
 of our Admirals well. They entertained the Fleet a lot at 
 Salonica. I was thinking of father when suddenly she turned 
 and asked me whether I was the son of Lord Brassey, and 
 then said that Sir Michael had given her " A Voyage in the 
 Sunbeam." 
 
 July 22nd. Who should turn up this morning but 
 Cloudesley Marsham and Harold Lubbock on their way 
 back from Gaza, where they had been in the fighting. They 
 lunched here and it was very nice to have a good yarn about
 
 196 MEETINGS WITH FRIENDS [1917 
 
 the old regiment. I am taking Cloudesley out to Tivoli 
 after tea. 
 
 July 2yd. Very few official telegrams to deal with 
 to-day. One from General Grey to say that his proposals 
 have been approved and that the work of re-organisation 
 is going forward. He is on his way back here. They are 
 awfully short of food in Sardinia, especially at Carloforte, 
 where the sailors even do not have enough bread. 
 
 July 24th. Poor Col. Morgan has just turned up on 
 his way home, very seedy. He has been in bed six days at 
 Taranto with dysentry, a very common complaint there. 
 
 I heard yesterday that 50 of our Carloforte sailors 
 had been released so we shall be able to man many more 
 boats, a great help to getting away the ore at Gennamari. 
 The loss at Pertusola Smelting Works was enormous. 
 
 July 25th. Made the acquaintance of the new Minister 
 of Marine this morning who was very agreeable. Admiral 
 Wemyss called on his way back from Egypt with his Flag 
 Lieutenant, by name, Neville. He must be a son of Admiral 
 Neville of Australia, I think. 
 
 July 26th. The Rodds, the Hoares and Count de Salis, 
 whom I used to scull against at Eton, are coming to-night. 
 Find out whether Corrour is let. It would be nice to go 
 there for a few days and it is easier to get there than any- 
 where else. I have had rather a worrying time the last two 
 days. The man we have got at Taranto is impossible as 
 regards relations with the Italians. 
 
 July 2jth. Have just heard that I am appointed 
 A.D.G.T. for Italy and I trust that I shall have the control 
 of all the work in Italy in my hands under the A.D.G.T. 
 for the Service. General Grey has just written me to say his 
 proposals are approved. General Strick arrives to-morrow. 
 
 Have just been for a walk with the Ambassador and 
 Lamb, and afterwards had tea in the garden at the Embassy. 
 Lady Rodd is just back from Posilippo where they have 
 bought some ground on which to build a house. She is 
 very full of the situation and the lovely view. I met Lygon 
 this evening who is going to take charge of the Mission here. 
 I shall probably get over to Sardinia on Friday or Saturday 
 to cut down work at the mines. It is a beastly job but the 
 financial situation is getting serious. 
 
 July 28th. The new General, I hear, is at Taranto. I 
 suppose we shall see him here on his way back. 
 
 July 2<$h. General Strick turned up this morning
 
 1917] COMPLETION OF BUSINESS 107 
 
 from Lyon to see me and I have been discussing matters 
 with him a good part of the day. I had a few lines from 
 Ashton to-night to say that he was off to the Front in a 
 few days and that Reggie Field was wounded, but not badly. 
 
 You will have gathered that I am appointed A.D.G.T., 
 which is a very inferior position, in a way, to that which I have 
 occupied up to now, but the whole organisation is in the 
 melting pot and I do not know quite what will happen. 
 
 July y)th. General Strick, Larken, and the Allatrins 
 dined with me last night at the Castello and we drove along 
 the river afterwards. It was very delightful in the moon- 
 light. We paid a brief visit to the Pieta, in front of St. Peter's. 
 The colonnades looked grand. 
 
 My staff is growing. I started my R.T.O. at the 
 Station to-day. Generals have been pursuing me the last 
 few days with their journey difficulties. 
 
 August 2nd. A lot of officers are now passing through 
 Rome both ways, and we have had 150 nurses through in 
 the last few days, and more arrive to-day. 
 
 Your description of Park Gate garden makes my mouth 
 water. The Dorothy Perkins and Delphiniums together 
 must have been lovely. 
 
 August $th. A lovely day. I went to church at 10. 
 A very nice sermon. To the War Office afterwards, and 
 lunched here alone. Colonel Maude, the Purchaser of 
 Supplies for the B.E.F., whose headquarters are in Paris, 
 came in this afternoon and we had an interesting chat about 
 potatoes, etc. 
 
 Five sappers, three clerks and two cyclists turned up 
 to-day as an addition to my staff. It is a trouble to get them 
 quarters at a reasonable rate. 
 
 August 6th. Whether I shall be able to get away at 
 the end of September remains to be seen. Anyway I shall 
 have a good try and hope to succeed. General Grey has not 
 got back here yet and is not expected till Saturday. I 
 shall not know what my position is until he gets back and 
 whether it means any additional work. 
 
 August 12th. 1 spent a busy morning calling at various 
 offices. I met the new Italian D.G.T. as well as the old one, 
 Gen. Fiastri, who is going to take command of a brigade. 
 At the Ministry of Munitions they told me that they wanted 
 to increase the production of lead in Italy very urgently. 
 This means we shall have to exert ourselves at the mines 
 and at Pertusola and I shall have to give a lot of time and
 
 198 PROPOSALS FOR NEW WORK [1917 
 
 attention to the matter. I have wired Peloggio to come 
 here. 
 
 August i^th. George Peel, who went with us to S. 
 Africa, dined with me last night. He is on his way back 
 from Egypt and we had a very interesting talk about the 
 war and things in general. Lord Gerald Wellesley of the 
 Embassy also dined. You will remember that Peel went 
 with us to South Africa with the Maguires in '99. This 
 Service has passed over to the War Office now and I am 
 offered a very different position to that which I have held. 
 At present I am not inclined to take it. I have done most 
 of. the work in which my position in Italy enabled me to be 
 of real assistance. After the work at Taranto is completed 
 the work here will be really routine work, more of an ordinary 
 railwayman's job. I am writing to Milner to ask his advice. 
 If he says stay, I will. I am asking Grey to give me time to 
 get an answer from home. If he will not, I shall refuse to 
 accept the new post, so you may see me home sooner than 
 you expected, but first I may have to put in some real hard 
 work for Pertusola. The Italian Government wants to in- 
 crease the production of lead, which means a very big effort 
 on our part under present conditions. 
 
 T.A.B. was subsequently offered, on terms, the post of 
 A.D.G.T., Rome. This he declined. He wrote to Sir Guy 
 Granet subsequently in the following terms : 
 
 August 1 5th. 
 
 MY DEAR GRANET, 
 
 I received last night enclosed. 
 
 After giving of my very best here ; after using my 
 personal influence in Italy to the utmost in the service of 
 my country (I was not given the rank for the position and 
 for two and a half months I was not even gazetted) ; and 
 after the treatment I have received, I am naturally disin- 
 clined to accept the position offered. At the same time, if 
 I thought it was in my country's interests to do so, I would 
 put my pride in my pocket and accept. But honestly I 
 doubt it. I have done most of the work here for which 
 my special qualifications were of value. The work of 
 A.D.G.T. here will become mere routine work, and a rail- 
 way man's job, at which I shall be wasting my time. 
 
 Then after the recent conference at Paris on the lead 
 position, which is bad, the Italians are very anxious to
 
 i9i7] END OF ITALIAN WORK 199 
 
 increase the lead production in Italy, and unless I put my 
 back into this they cannot do it. From the war point of 
 view this work seems more important than the other my 
 business is in a critical position now, money locked up in 
 stocks, rise in costs, etc., etc., and to increase production 
 means more capital. 
 
 I have asked Grey for time to consult friends at home 
 before deciding. If I refuse I shall not do so on petty 
 grounds ; I want you to know. 
 
 In this he took the line which might have been expected 
 on the part of one whose only aim was the public service. 
 The whole incident was closed by the following communica- 
 tion from the Army Council : 
 
 ist October, 1917. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I am commanded by the Army Council to convey 
 to you their thanks for the services you have rendered in 
 the negotiations with the Italian Authorities, in connection 
 with the Mediterranean Line of Communication. 
 
 The Council are aware that the satisfactory results of 
 these negotiations are largely due to your care and attention. 
 It has been arranged that your appointment shall be 
 cancelled as you desire. 
 I am, 
 
 Sir, 
 Your obedient Servant, 
 
 (Sgd.) B. B. CUBITT. 
 
 T.A.B. was, throughout the course of the war, in close 
 and intimate correspondence with prominent statesmen, and 
 the chief military and naval authorities. He wrote frequently 
 on the burning questions of the moment, both to individuals 
 and to the Press, and he has left a very large number of 
 letters, many of them expressing his opinions with much 
 pungency and vigour. The comment made upon them has 
 been that while they display critical acumen, they stop 
 short of any constructive advice, and merely indicate evils 
 with little sense of the underlying causes and the impossi- 
 bility of rectifying them. This criticism is not quite fair. 
 T.A.B. had a very keen flair for abuses : his mission in life 
 was certainly to clear them up, and once he was really
 
 200 LETTERS ON THE WAR [1917 
 
 started on a good example of mal-administration, there 
 ensued such a spring-cleaning as raised a great deal of dust, 
 but left a sweet savour behind in the organisation concerned 
 for a long time to come. 
 
 A number of letters of interest are here given, some of 
 which will display both the strength and the weakness of 
 his position. They are chosen from a great mass written 
 during the years 1914-1918. 
 
 To the Head Gardener, Normanhurst. 
 
 Aug. zist, 1914. 
 
 EDWARDS. 
 
 I am arranging for the luggage car to take into 
 Battle, on every practice night, the men who have joined the 
 Rifle Club at Battle. Every able-bodied man should join 
 the Rifle Club either at Battle or Ninfield. I shall not keep 
 on in my employment any man of the age to go on active 
 service. 
 
 The houses will be reduced to what you and one other 
 (probably Allen) can keep going. 
 
 (Sgd.) HYTHE. 
 
 To Colonel Repington. 
 
 Sept. 24, 1914. 
 
 The high authorities have tried to swop horses when 
 crossing the stream, as you put it in the first days of the 
 war, to belittle Yeomanry and Territorials and the splendid 
 Territorial organisation which Lord Haldane had built 
 up, and the result has been a fiasco most discreditable to 
 the country. Lord K.'s army is already described as a 
 phantom army by soldiers, and so it will remain for some 
 time to come. If only Lord K. could be induced to treat 
 the Territorial organisation seriously we should get on to 
 sounder lines, and not have thousands of raw recruits 
 being sent to Aldershot and elsewhere without officers, 
 food, etc. 
 
 Ten days ago I was summoned by wire to a special 
 meeting of the Kent Association. We had been asked to 
 lodge, feed, officer, etc., some thousands of the new Army. 
 In three days the thing was arranged by strenuous work. 
 The Secretary of the Association told me to-day that we
 
 I9I4-8] MILITARY MUDDLES 201 
 
 were prepared to equip and clothe (the material, including 
 boots, was bought) 5000 men and that he had received inti- 
 mation that our assistance was not required at present. 
 
 A few days ago the 7th and 8th West Kent battalions 
 were at Shoreham Camp with one 2nd Lieutenant and a 
 few N.C.O's. to 2000 men. To go on like this is childish. 
 The W.O. cannot run the show. Why on earth not work 
 through the Territorial Associations in the early stages, 
 and when the men are clothed and equipped and have had 
 some preliminary training under retired officers, pass them 
 on to the divisional camps under the military authorities ? 
 The reason, I fear, is prejudice against the Territorial 
 organisation. 
 
 As far as my own work is concerned, after completing 
 the West Kent Yeomanry to full strength for foreign service 
 a fortnight ago, I raised the 300 odd men to complete the 
 Reserve Regiment in 8 daj^s and the officers in a few days 
 longer. The Regiment is now under canvas in Mote Park, 
 Maidstone. It is up to strength bar three or four officers 
 and a few artificers, saddlers and shoeing-smiths. The 
 material in the ranks is splendid. 
 
 To Sir Arthur Steel-Maitland. 
 
 Jan. 23rd, 1915. 
 
 My friend, Murray Macdonald, told me that the feeling 
 of dissatisfaction with the performances of the Government 
 is almost as strong on his side as on yours. We do not 
 deserve to win this war as long as we permit our affairs to be 
 run, as they are, by the lawyer politicians. We want a man 
 at the top who will lead and govern, instead of drifting along 
 without a policy and allowing himself to be governed by the 
 worst of trades union influences. 
 
 I have thought for some time that it would have been 
 better for the country if you and your leaders had not joined 
 the Government, and I think that the time will come ere 
 long, if it has not already arrived, when you will have to tell 
 Asquith & Co. that you can no longer share the responsibility 
 for conducting affairs on their methods. 
 
 The financial question alarms me most, and, as far 
 as I can gather from people who ought to know, the Govern- 
 ment will not face their liabilities and are living from hand 
 to mouth. L.G. never pretended to discharge the duties of 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the commitments he
 
 202 FINANCIAL CRITICISMS [1914-8 
 
 undertook to Allies in the early days of the war and his 
 extravagance as Minister of Munitions are a serious handicap. 
 
 The Government must take stock of the situation 
 and we must cut our coat according to our cloth. We are 
 trying to do more on the military side than our resources 
 will stand without seriously crippling the country, and more 
 than could reasonably be expected of us. The crowning 
 blunder of our foreign policy was Asquith's threat of Nov., 
 1914, to turn the Turks out of Europe. We have sacrificed 
 tens of thousands of our best from Australia and New 
 Zealand as well as from home, to kill Turks whom it is not 
 our interest to kill. They were and are badly wanted for 
 killing Germans. We have simply been playing Russia's 
 game and we should have confined ourselves to seeking a 
 free passage through the Dardanelles. It is certainly not 
 the interest of the British Empire that the Turkish Empire 
 should be crushed out of existence. 
 
 Then again you have got to face the Labour question 
 at home and put those who are working for the Government 
 under military discipline if strikes are threatened. Only 
 yesterday I got a copy of a decree issued by the Italian Govern- 
 ment putting all the dock labourers at Carloforte, in Sardinia, 
 under military discipline in the event of a strike. (Our 
 local M.P. was trying to prevent one.) It is not just that 
 men who join the Army should be liable to be shot for 
 dereliction of duty, while men who are working for the 
 Government at munitions etc. for enormous wages, and when 
 refusal to do their duty may equally cause disaster, should 
 be allowed to do as they please. 
 
 In spite of all our blunders we shall pull through, thanks 
 mainly to sea power, but we must have a Government with 
 a man at the head. 
 
 To Geoffrey Dawson, Esq. 
 
 January 24th, 1916. 
 
 Though mainly occupied with looking after my Regiment 
 I cannot help thinking of bigger things and 1 am very anxious 
 about the future, chiefly on account of the performances of 
 the Government and its nominal head. I am beginning to 
 doubt whether we shall pull through, unless we replace 
 and that very soon our lawyer politicians by men who have 
 no axe tp grind and who will lead and govern instead of
 
 I9I4-8J WEAKNESSES OF THE GOVERNMENT 203 
 
 allowing themselves to be dominated by trades union in- 
 fluences. I think, now, that it is a pity the Unionists joined 
 the Government, and the time will come ere long, if it has 
 not already come, when they will have to consider seriously 
 whether they will continue to share the responsibility of 
 conducting our affairs as they are now being conducted. 
 
 The financial situation is serious as far as I can make out. 
 The Government are making no attempt to face it and they 
 do not even know what their liabilities are. In my judgment 
 we are making a bigger effort on land than our resources 
 will stand and trying to do more than could reasonably 
 be expected of us. I suppose it costs us about three times 
 as much as it costs the Germans to maintain the same number 
 of men in the field. 
 
 Our Navy has done splendidly and the soldiers^far from 
 badly. It is our politicians who have failed us completely, 
 and this seems to be generally admitted on both sides in 
 Parliament as well as outside. Where is the man who will 
 pull us out of the mess ? Would Lord Derby be a possible 
 Head of the Government ? 
 
 To Lord Curzon. 
 
 Dec. 6th, 1916. 
 
 Whatever may be the composition of the new Government 
 I hope that the essential factors of the situation will be 
 appreciated by its members, (i) Unless the Navy succeed 
 in dealing with the new German submarines and in diminish- 
 ing the daily toll of shipping that they are destroying, we 
 shall be on our knees in a few months. Mobilising more 
 man-power and our national resources is useless unless 
 we can deal with the submarine menace, which has always 
 been, from the first, the most dangerous feature of the war, 
 as far as we are concerned. I hear that the Navy is hopeful. 
 (2) Unless there is a radical change in our foreign policy 
 and we succeed in inducing Russia to give up her demand 
 for Constantinople and content herself with a free passage 
 through the Dardanelles, and so detaching Turkey from the 
 Central Powers, we shall be beaten on land. We may hold 
 on on the Western Front, but in the East we shall be beaten 
 in detail, with what consequences to Egypt and India it is 
 terrible to contemplate. The crowning blunder of the war 
 is the quarrel with Turkey. We went to war for a noble 
 object, in fulfilment of our treaty obligations to defend
 
 204 DIPLOMATIC MISTAKES [1914-8 
 
 Belgium. When 2 or 3 months later we announced our 
 intention of turning the Turk out of Europe without rhyme 
 or reason, except that Russia wanted this, our noble profes- 
 sions about defending the weaker nations fell to the ground. 
 We put ourselves wrong with Turkey from the first by 
 seizing her two battleships which were completing in England, 
 and refusing to refund the hard cash she had paid for them 
 a contemptible proceeding. We could have made peace 
 with Turkey long ago by guaranteeing her Constantinople 
 in return for a free passage through the Dardanelles. It 
 will be difficult to detach Turkey from the Central Powers 
 now, but the attempt ought to be made, and the complete 
 change of Government foreshadowed in the papers this 
 morning should make for a radical change of policy. 
 
 We are bearing the main burden of the war financially 
 on the sea and as the furnishers of munitions and other 
 supplies to all the belligerents on our side. We are 
 entitled to a much bigger voice than we have had at present 
 in the direction of the policy of the Allies, and it is high 
 time we asserted outselves in a manner worthy of England 
 and the effort her people are making. It is not our interest 
 to crush Turkey out of existence. It is very much our 
 interest to have a buffer state in Turkey, provided German 
 influence is eliminated, which I don't believe would be 
 difficult. 
 
 To the Editor of the " Giornale d'ltalia." 
 
 August I5th, 1916. 
 
 I am really not competent to give an opinion of value 
 on the recent Italian victories. 
 
 It is quite evident that the Italian offensive on the 
 Isonzo has been very well prepared and that the Italian 
 Commander-in-Chief succeeded in misleading the enemy 
 as to the exact direction of his offensive. The success of that 
 offensive is likely to have a very considerable influence on 
 the course of the war. 
 
 I do not think that the great service rendered by Italy 
 to the cause of the Allies by declaring her neutrality at the 
 very outbreak of the war has ever been sufficiently recognised. 
 It enabled the French to divert troops from the Italian 
 frontier and undoubtedly contributed to the victory on the 
 Marne. 
 
 The military effort put out by Italy since she entered the
 
 I9I4-8] NAVAL QUESTIONS 205 
 
 war has surprised even her best friends and has been of 
 very great assistance to the Allied cause. 
 
 To Mr. Bonar Law. 
 
 Dec. 8th, 1916. 
 
 For many years, as you probably know, my father and 
 I have been in touch with naval matters. I was one of 
 Lord Spencer's private secretaries when he was First Lord 
 of the Admiralty and for over 20 years previous to the out- 
 break of the war edited the " Naval Annual," so you will, I 
 hope, not consider it an impertinence if I urge that it will 
 be the greatest possible mistake for Mr. Balfour to leave the 
 Admiralty at this crisis. The attacks on his administration 
 in the Daily Mail etc. we all know by whom inspired have 
 been scandalous and unjustified. Mr. Balfour possesses 
 the confidence of the Navy in a very high degree, and I am 
 told by those in a position to know is considered one of the 
 best First Lords they have ever had. His predecessor was 
 one of the worst. A First Lord must be guided by the 
 opinion of his Naval advisers. On the other hand, to put a 
 Naval Officer into the position of First Lord, as some wish 
 to do, would be a mistake and has always proved so when 
 it has been tried. 
 
 The submarine menace is very serious, (it has always 
 been the great danger in this war), and this makes people 
 impatient with the Admiralty. Unless we can find a way 
 of meeting it, whether by the arming of merchant ships, 
 which must take time, or in other ways, we shall be brought 
 to our knees before many months are out. That is one of 
 the essential factors of the situation. 
 
 The other is that unless there is a radical change in our 
 foreign policy we shall be beaten on land. We may be 
 able to hold on on the Western Front, but in the Near East 
 we shall be beaten in detail and deservedly. Our diplo- 
 matic blunders have been hopeless. We ought never to have 
 quarrelled with Turkey, our traditional friend. To seize 
 her two battleships and refuse to refund the money she had 
 paid for them was contemptible and we put ourselves wrong 
 with her from the start. 
 
 We could have settled matters with Turkey a year 
 ago. It will be very difficult to do so now, but it must 
 be done if we want to win. It is not our interest to see 
 Turkey crushed out of existence. England is bearing the 
 
 p
 
 206 ITALIAN DIPLOMATIC SERVICE [1914-8 
 
 main burden of the war and it is high time we asserted 
 ourselves in the direction of the policy of the Allies. 
 
 To the Editor of the " Times." 
 
 Jan. 4th, 1918. 
 
 Did you notice a violent attack on the Diplomatic Service 
 which appeared in one of your evening contemporaries (I 
 think in the Evening Standard) the day before yesterday ? 
 It seemed to me it was worth your notice in the Times. 
 
 The attack is certainly absolutely unjustified as far as 
 the British Embassy in Rome is concerned. I have had the 
 greatest assistance from the Embassy and its staff in all the 
 work I have had to do in Italy, not only during the past nine 
 months, but from tune to tune in my business in the last 20 
 years, and I know, from visiting the various industrial centres 
 during the last few weeks that the services rendered by the 
 Embassy in these difficult times are most highly appreciated 
 by British traders. 
 
 I have seen many attempts during the past nine months 
 to dispense with the services of the Embassy, but they have 
 not been very successful and people have found that they 
 can work much better through the Embassy than on their 
 own. 
 
 To Mr. John Leyland. 
 
 March 3oth, 1918. 
 
 I am considerably disturbed by what I have heard 
 during the last two or three months of the way things are 
 going on at the Admiralty. A friend of mine told me that 
 in the House of Commons they say that Admiralty officials 
 are treated like plate-layers. I have heard from other 
 quarters that Jellicoe was treated very badly. 
 
 I attended the Naval Architects' Annual Meeting and 
 heard there the greatest dissatisfaction expressed with the 
 Shipping Controller's Department of the Admiralty, and I 
 think it is certain that the bad results from the shipyards 
 in January and February were due to the vexatious inter- 
 ference and rough handling on the part of the officials of 
 that Department. I backed Lord Durham's speech in 
 urging that the best results would be obtained from the 
 shipyards by putting it up to the masters and men to do 
 their best, and by interfering as little as possible. Some
 
 1914-8] SHIP-BUILDING 207 
 
 control from the Department there must be as regards 
 supplying material and labour to the different yards. 
 
 The puff of Harland and Wolff is not fair to the British 
 shipbuilder. Harland and Wolff never built ships for the 
 Navy before the war and all their yard is laid out for mercan- 
 tile shipbuilding, and their workmen have not been subject 
 to conscription as have the British yards. 
 
 You have been keeping in close touch with these matters 
 and I should like to hear from you or better still have 
 a talk with you on the subject. I return to London on 
 Tuesday next and could see you at 24, Park Lane, on Wednes- 
 day morning if it would be convenient to you to call about 
 ii o'clock. 
 
 To Lord Inchcape. 
 
 April I3th, 1918. 
 
 I was much struck by what I heard at the Annual 
 Meeting of the Institute of Naval Architects as to the 
 proceedings of the Shipping Controller of the Admiralty 
 and their effects on shipbuilding. I also read your letter 
 in the Times with regard to the treatment of the company 
 which had in hand the new shipyard at Chepstow. 
 
 I have seen two of my principal collaborators in the 
 " Naval Annual " on whose judgment I rely, and discussed with 
 them, very fully, the proceedings of the Shipping Controller 
 of the Admiralty and I am clear that the shipbuilding 
 business has been very badly handled and that the action 
 of the Shipping Controller has produced much friction and 
 discouragement in the shipyards, with the most serious 
 effect on the output of new ships. For the Government to 
 use material and men which are badly wanted in the existing 
 shipyards for the creation of a new shipyard is all wrong. 
 There is nothing to be said against a private company 
 doing this if they can get the materials and men. 
 
 I feel very strongly on the whole matter. The position 
 of this country depends upon sea power, and the foundation 
 of our sea power has been the mercantile marine. Ship- 
 yards have suffered enormous losses from enemy submarines 
 and it seems to me that the action of the Government is 
 calculated to prevent them recouping these losses and re- 
 establishing the position of the British Mercantile Marine 
 after the war. In every previous war in which we have been 
 engaged our trade and shipping have increased in spite of
 
 208 SEA POWER [1914-8 
 
 the losses from enemy privateers. In the present war the 
 reverse is the case and that is the real seriousness of the 
 situation. 
 
 The question is whether any action can be usefully 
 taken now to put things on a better footing. I understand 
 from the gentlemen I have referred to that things are working 
 more smoothly in the shipyards now, although the result 
 of March is rather a fictitious one, obtained by the rushing 
 off the slips of ships which were barely ready for launching. 
 
 I shall be at 24, Park Lane, all next week and shall be 
 glad to hear from you or to see you. As you know I have 
 edited the "Naval Annual" for over 25 years and I feel 
 somewhat responsible in a matter which threatens our sea 
 power. 
 
 To Mr. Bonar Law. 
 
 April 23rd, 1918. 
 
 We super-taxpayers would face the budget a good deal 
 more cheerfully if we felt that there was any serious effort 
 being made to control expenditure, but during the three 
 or four months that 1 have been back in England I have been 
 absolutely aghast at the way money is being squandered, 
 creating new Government Departments, building new 
 Government offices, and employing vast armies of men and 
 women. 
 
 The amount that you propose to raise by additional 
 taxation could have been saved by reasonable care in the 
 administration of the Munitions Department alone. The 
 12 \ per cent, which has cost the country something over 
 70 millions a year, was a monstrous performance and very 
 discreditable to everyone concerned. 
 
 I have been making many inquiries into the working 
 of the Shipping Controller's Department of the Admiralty 
 and I am satisfied that it was grossly mismanaged last 
 year, and I am sure it is all wrong to spend public money 
 on starting a national shipbuilding yard in competition 
 with the existing yards. It is not the way to encourage the 
 shipbuilding industry. 
 
 If one only felt that there was someone really trying 
 to control the growth of expenditure and the evil spirit of 
 extravagance which permeates most of our public Depart- 
 ments, one would face the additional demands of the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer more willingly.
 
 I9I4-8] EXTRAVAGANCE AND WASTE 209 
 
 To the Italian Consul-General, the Marchese Faa di Bruno. 
 
 May 25th, 1918. 
 
 I have received from the British Chamber of Commerce 
 in Italy copy of a letter from a member of the Chamber, 
 Alberto La Maestra dei Santi, of Messina, complaining of 
 the confiscation of 900 cases of agricultural produce des- 
 patched by him via Gothenburg to Russia in April, 1916, also 
 of the confiscation of 305 cases of oranges at a later date not 
 given. 
 
 In the Memorial, a copy of which is attached to this letter, 
 it is stated that the matter has been placed in your hands. 
 Before 1 bring the matter before the notice of the Board of 
 Trade or other competent British Authority I should be 
 glad to know what action has been taken from your office 
 and whether you are satisfied that the claim put forward 
 is well founded. 
 
 T.A.B. did much effective war work along the lines of the 
 development of Italian trade, investigation of the character 
 of the trade in the hands of Germany at the outbreak of 
 war, and the formulation of a policy to capture for the 
 Allies as much as possible in the future. 
 
 In September, 1916, at the invitation of Lord Plymouth, 
 he became a member of the Executive Committee of the 
 Economic Branch of the British Italian League, of which 
 Lord Plymouth was President. Though an unofficial 
 body, it contained representatives of the Foreign Office 
 and the Board of Trade, as well as of the financial, shipping, 
 and principal industrial concerns interested in Italy. 
 
 Subsequently the League was transformed into the 
 British Italian Commercial Association, and after much 
 consultation with Sir Arthur Steel-Maitland and Sir Rennell 
 Rodd, T.A.B. went to Italy in October, 1917, as the 
 representative of this body, charged by the new Government 
 Department for pushing British commercial interests abroad 
 with the duty of inquiring into and reporting upon the best 
 lines on which the work for the development of British 
 trade could be carried on. A new department was also 
 attached to the Embassy at Rome for the same object of 
 developing British trade. The result, after a visit to Milan,
 
 210 WAR WORK AT HOME [1914-8 
 
 Genoa, Leghorn, Naples and Rome, was an exhaustive 
 summary of Italian manufactures and trade, cast after- 
 wards into the form of an address which was delivered to 
 the Chamber of Commerce in various Italian and English 
 towns. The Report, with an excellent introduction by 
 Mr. Robert Benson, Chairman of the Executive Council of 
 the League, was subsequently published, and has done 
 much to stimulate business between the two countries. 
 
 The work which he did for Italian Commerce was 
 recognised by the British Chamber of Commerce for Italy, 
 but the expression of their gratitude was interrupted by his 
 death. The medal intended for him was sent, however, to 
 his widow, with the following inscription : 
 
 To Idina, Countess Brassey. 
 
 In grateful recognition of great 
 services rendered to Anglo-Italian 
 Commerce by Thomas, 2nd Earl 
 Brassey. 
 
 Jan. i, 1920. 
 
 No account of the war work in which T.A.B. was engaged 
 could possibly be complete without a description of the part 
 which his three houses, Normanhurst, Park Gate, and 24, Park 
 Lane played in the great drama. At the outbreak of war 
 Normanhurst became the centre of a large hospital of which 
 Lady Brassey was Commandant. The covered tennis court 
 and adjacent buildings, to which allusion has been made in 
 the account of T.A.B. 's coming of age, were converted into 
 hospital wards, and so used until the end. Nurses, V.A.D.'s, 
 and all kinds of helpers were drawn from the country 
 round : some were lodged in the house, some at Park Gate, 
 and the whole place was a hive of active, bustling workers. 
 Men got well all too soon in the bracing south-country air 
 and passed on with many regrets. There was lots of fun, 
 as was usual in hospital life, and even the chaplain, the rector 
 of the parish, added to the general gaiety by a disappearing 
 trick on the gallery running along one end of the wards 
 which he used as a pulpit and reading-desk combined. It 
 was protected by a solid balustrade 3 feet high, and the
 
 I9i8] OVERSEAS CLUB 
 
 summons to prayer, followed by what was apparently com- 
 plete annihilation, was too much for his congregation. 
 
 The house in Park Lane was lent to the Y.M.C.A. as a 
 Club for Overseas Officers, the Dowager Lady Brassey 
 superintending the arrangements, and most of its beautiful 
 furniture and fittings were left intact. Just before the 
 club was closed Lord and Lady Brassey entertained at 
 dinner H.H. Princess Helena Victoria, and a number of 
 workers and others interested. 
 
 Shortly afterwards, T.A.B. was made a Knight of Justice 
 of S. John of Jerusalem. In writing to Mr. Evelyn Cecil, 
 to acknowledge the official intimation, T.A.B. drew attention 
 to the fact that the last effort which his mother made was 
 to push the S. John's Ambulance work on the coast of 
 Queensland before starting on her last voyage.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 IN the last years of T.A.B.'s life the Federal Question became 
 narrowed down to that aspect which bore more particularly 
 upon the problem of Ireland. His energies were directed 
 during the greater part of 1913 and the whole of 1914, and 
 again in 1917 and 1918 to renewed attempts for the con- 
 ciliation of the warring factions in the Houses of Parliament 
 and in Ireland and to an agreement to settle the long-vexed 
 question by the adoption of the Federal solution in one or 
 other of its forms. Very considerable progress was made 
 in the education of public opinion and in securing the 
 interest of a large number of prominent politicians and 
 men of affairs. 
 
 The dangerous moment which had been foreseen many 
 years previously had at last arisen in English politics. A 
 Radical Government had been returned to power, with a 
 minority of direct supporters, as against the Tories. Legisla- 
 tion and tenure of office were only possible by the support 
 of the Irish Nationalists, and Mr. Asquith was compelled 
 to purchase their support by introducing another Home 
 Rule Bill which had passed the House of Commons and was 
 about to become law in spite of the opposition of the House 
 of Peers. The sequence of events is sufficiently familiar 
 to the minds of Englishmen, the resistance of Ulster under 
 Sir Edward Carson, the " running " of the rifles and am- 
 munition, the enrolment of the Ulster and the Nationalist 
 volunteers, the abortive attempt of the Ministry to use the 
 forces of the Crown against the Ulstermen, and the pre- 
 cipitation of acts leading directly to Civil War. 
 
 Various attempts to reach a settlement were made, but 
 on the one hand the uncompromising attitude of the Ulster- 
 men and on the other the refusal of the Government in the 
 first instance to make any concession in the form of amend- 
 
 212
 
 1914-8] IRISH QUESTION 213 
 
 merits to their Bill led to a deadlock out of which there seemed 
 no possible escape. The position became very critical in 
 June and July, 1914, and a catastrophe was only averted 
 by the outbreak of war, and an arrangement to suspend the 
 operation of the Home Rule Bill until six months after the 
 signing of the peace treaty. Without any detailed examina- 
 tion of the questions which arose in the course of this pro- 
 tracted political struggle, it is possible to explain T.A.B.'s 
 unremitting attempts to contribute to a peaceful settlement 
 by quotations from his very voluminous correspondence of 
 this period. The general opinion of his work by those who 
 knew what was going on behind the scenes is well summed 
 up in a phrase |of Lord jSelborne's, written in a letter dated 
 Julyjuth, 1914, in which he deals with T.A.B.'s proposed 
 Conference or Convention. He says, " I do admire your 
 singleminded patriotism more than I can say." Mr. F. S. 
 Oliver, whose articles under the pseudonym of " Pacificus " 
 gained so much attention, wrote to say, " Although I don't 
 believe in the precise course which you advocate I fully 
 believe in the principle and am doing all I can in my own 
 way to help matters." 
 
 Lord Lansdowne gave very serious attention to T.A.B.'s 
 proposals, and as T.A.B. said, went out of his way to listen 
 to what he might urge. 
 
 To Lord Lansdowne. 
 
 Jan. 7th, 1913. 
 
 Mr. Bonar Law's speech on Monday of last week was 
 not one whit too strong in its description of the present 
 situation. " Under the conditions under which we are at 
 present working the House of Commons has ceased to be a 
 Legislative Assembly in any sense of the term." The obvious 
 remedy you Unionist leaders are prevented from considering 
 by your loyalty to the Irish Unionists. You are carrying 
 that loyalty too far. . . . Why should every British institu- 
 tion be liable to attack and overthrow by the maintenance 
 of the present log-rolling system of Government ? To 
 non-party men like myself the situation is absolutely in- 
 tolerable. Lloyd George finance is imposed on the country. 
 All sorts of socialistic measures are being carried by the 
 votes of men who are certainly not Socialists. The interests
 
 214 HOME RULE [1914-8 
 
 of the Country, and of the Empire as well as those of the 
 Conservative Party are being sacrificed by the maintenance 
 of the Union in its present form. It is the House of Commons 
 which needs reforming to enable it to transact its business 
 properly far more than the House of Lords. The only way 
 out of the impasse is to deal with the Home Rule question 
 on Federal or Conservative lines by the establishment of 
 subordinate legislatures in England and Scotland as well as 
 in Ireland. I am as opposed as any Unionist to the present 
 Home Rule Bill ; but 1 do urge upon you and other Unionist 
 leaders that while maintaining your opposition to the present 
 Bill you should seriously consider the alternative policy, and 
 that you should tell the Ulstermen that Home Rule in some 
 shape or other has become a necessity ; but that you will 
 resist the inclusion of Ulster with the rest of Ireland unless 
 the people of Ulster desire to be included. I am an Ulster 
 landowner and go there pretty often. 1 believe that if 
 Ulster were offered a separate show of her own she would 
 probably come in from the first, but would anyway not 
 stand out for long. 
 
 In any case no durable and satisfactory solution of 
 the Home Rule question can be reached except by consent ; 
 and the only way to arrive at agreement is to refer the whole 
 Constitutional question to a Convention on the South 
 African model in which all parties and all the nationalities 
 of the United Kingdom should be represented. 
 
 I am in hopes that some independent Peer will put 
 fonvard this suggestion when the Home Rule Bill is debated 
 in the House of Lords 'and that, if the suggestion is made, you 
 will treat it sympathetically. It would strengthen the 
 position of the House of Lords very much if they were to 
 point out the solution of the present crisis. 
 
 The apathy in the country generally (with the excep- 
 tion of Ulster) is extraordinary. I write strongly because 
 I care. 
 
 To Mr. William O'Brien. 
 
 Jan. 1 7th, 1914. 
 
 Mr. Sheehan will give you his own account of the two 
 gatherings he has attended. 
 
 At the dinner at Hythe his speech immensely impressed 
 the Unionists and several went up to him afterwards and 
 said that if that was what Home Rule meant they would be 
 prepared to give Ireland Home Rule to-morrow.
 
 1914-8] TORY ATTITUDE TO IRELAND 215 
 
 At the meeting at Bexhill, of which I will send you a 
 newspaper account, we had the chairmen of both political 
 parties, Mr. Murray Macdonald as well as Mr. Sheehan, a 
 Conservative farmer, who in supporting the resolution 
 announced that he was in favour of Home Rule for Ireland, 
 and the Archdeacon and the Mayor who moved a vote of 
 thanks and announced themselves in hearty sympathy with 
 the objects of the meeting. I think we made a good start. 
 
 Mr. Sheehan will tell you the further ideas I have in my 
 mind. I think it would be well if you would press Mr. Healy 
 to come to Brighton on February loth. In response to my 
 invitation he writes, " I believe such work as you are 
 engaged on must be beneficial, but it would take long to 
 explain why I am excluded from participation at present." 
 I gather from this that he would come if he knew you 
 approved of his doing so. 
 
 To Lord Curzon. 
 
 22nd Jan. 1914. 
 
 I read with the profoundest sorrow and regret your New 
 Year's letter to the Primrose League. It showed that the 
 Unionist leaders had returned to the old position a general 
 election to be fought on the Ulster ticket. I enclose report 
 of the first meeting of the Peace Campaign, which your 
 letter determined me to undertake, though all my friends 
 say the effort is useless. I do not agree. I lunched with 
 Edward Grey two days ago and I know that the Government 
 are reasonable enough. If you stick to your present line 
 you will put yourselves " out of Court." The interests of 
 England and the Empire cannot be sacrificed to Ulster. 
 Home Rule, in some shape or other, is a necessity to relieve 
 the congestion in the Commons and to restore Parliamentary 
 Government. And we want Home Rule for England if 
 every English Institution is not to be swept away by Irish 
 and Scotch votes. Englishmen are beginning to wake up 
 to the fact that we want Home Rule for England, and once 
 they do, a settlement on Federal lines becomes comparatively 
 simple. Charnwood sent me his proofs of a book on the 
 Federal Solution which he and Murray Macdonald are bring- 
 ing out at the end of the month. His survey of the whole 
 question, and especially of the Ulster difficulty, is really 
 admirable. 
 
 The object I am driving at is a Convention on the South
 
 2i6 FEDERAL SOLUTION [1914-8 
 
 African model, which must be appointed on the initiative 
 of the Government, which must include representatives of 
 all nationalities and all parties (say 30 or 40) and which 
 should sit with closed doors. The Convention would discuss 
 the amendment of the present Bill or the drafting of a new 
 measure to meet the Ulster difficulty and to make it the 
 first step in a Federal Solution. In such a Convention the 
 Ulstermen would be compelled to state their difficulties. 
 I don't think Home Rule with Ireland split into two Pro- 
 vinces would work, but I admit it may be necessary as a 
 temporary solution, just as you indicated in your speech 
 at Manchester. 
 
 To the Earl of Selborne. 
 
 3ist Jan. 1914. 
 
 Many thanks for your frank reply to my letter. You 
 put the case from your point of view very clearly. 
 
 First, as regards the general question, the comparative 
 advantages of a Federal v. a unitary constitution. Surely 
 it is evident that our present Constitution has completely 
 broken down under the strain imposed upon it. Bonar 
 Law said in the House of Commons on Dec. 3oth, 1912, 
 " Under the conditions under which we are at present 
 working the House of Commons has ceased to be a Legislative 
 Assembly in any sense of the term." His words were abso- 
 lutely true and he was only confirming what had been pointed 
 out by Liberal Statesman after Liberal Statesman from Mr. 
 Gladstone onwards. You cannot run a great Empire, do 
 the business of the United Kingdom as a whole, and attend 
 to the separate interests of each nationality of the United 
 Kingdom with the same machinery and one set of men. 
 I spoke of the danger from the Imperial point of view when 
 in Johannesburg, you will remember. Were there no Irish 
 question at all, devolution in some shape or other would be 
 necessary in order to restore the efficiency of Parliamentary 
 Government. Home Rule for England is more needed from 
 the Englishman's point of view (which is one that has been 
 pretty well ignored so far in this controversy) than Home 
 Rule for Ireland. Why should our Churches be disestab- 
 lished or our land system upset by Irish and Scotch votes ? 
 Englishmen are beginning to wake up to this need of con- 
 trolling their own affairs and to resent the whole question 
 being discussed solely from the point of view of Ireland.
 
 i 9 i 4 -8] FEDERALISM RE-STATED 217 
 
 As regards the present Bill I cannot agree with you. 
 The powers, apart from finance (and of that later), which it 
 is proposed to confer on an Irish Legislature under the Bill 
 are those which it would be necessary to confer on sub- 
 ordinate legislatures if established in other parts of the 
 United Kingdom. The finance of the Bill is hopelessly 
 complicated and would lead to endless friction ; and con- 
 stitutes the real objection to making it the step towards 
 Federation. The provision as regards customs is the fatal 
 objection. . . . 
 
 I believe that the Bill can be amended to make it the 
 first step in a Federal scheme and possibly also to meet the 
 reasonable objections of Ulstermen on the lines suggested 
 by Edward Grey. 
 
 To let this Bill pass with Ulster excluded (which I 
 gather is what you have offered) is the worst possible course. 
 The Bill is a bad one, either wholly as you think, or in part 
 as I think. It ought not to be allowed to pass as it stands 
 while any other course is possible. How can the Govern- 
 ment accept your offer and allow the Unionist party to be 
 reinforced by the Ulster Members, while the representation 
 of their friends is cut down ? 
 
 To divide Ireland into two Provinces, which is another 
 alternative, will make Home Rule well nigh unworkable, 
 but I recognise that it may have to be accepted as a tem- 
 porary solution of the Ulster difficulty. 
 
 The best solution is to insert provisions which will pro- 
 tect the administration in Ulster from being run by Devlin's 
 Tammany Hall organisation which is the curse of the whole 
 situation and does much to justify the Ulster attitude. 
 
 Which of these two courses is the better can best be 
 threshed out in a Convention such as you had in South 
 Africa, sitting with closed doors. Much better that the 
 attempt should be made at once before the Bill becomes 
 law, and this is what I am striving to bring about with all 
 the power at my command. The Government must take 
 the initiative, . . . but you must say (as indeed you have 
 already done) that you are prepared to accept the Federal 
 solution which involves subordinate legislatures with execu- 
 tives responsible to them, (the shibboleth in use), provided 
 that the Convention can arrive at agreement as regards 
 the solution oHhe Ulster difficulty. 
 
 At dinner at 24, Park Lane you would meet Charnwood 
 and Murray Macdonald, whose book is just published,
 
 2i8 NEGOTIATIONS [1914-8 
 
 Bernard Holland, F. H. Jackson, Lord Sackville, Laurence 
 Hardy, M.P., and one or two more, probably Professor 
 Adams, Sir Matthew Nathan. I am sure it will be useful 
 for you to thresh out the Federal Solution with people who 
 have really studied it and 1 hope you will come. 
 
 To Lord Lansdowne. 
 
 (From Sardinia). 
 April 4th, 1914. 
 
 The little meetings of which I told you on Friday week 
 led to a meeting held at my invitation at 24, Park Lane on 
 Friday last at which a basis for settlement was adopted and 
 committees appointed, of an equal number from each side, 
 to carry on the work which I had begun. The lines agreed 
 upon you already know, I expect, ere this, viz., the im- 
 mediate setting up of a commission for the purpose of 
 devising a federal scheme for the whole of the United 
 Kingdom, and the option to Ulster to stand out to be 
 continued until the establishment of such a scheme by Act 
 of Parliament. The all-important thing is to get the Com- 
 mission to work, and with you and Edward Grey as Chair- 
 man and Vice-Chairman, and reasonable men from both 
 sides and both Houses upon it as well as the Irishmen, a 
 workable scheme would not take long to draft. C. J. 
 Stewart (the Public Trustee) and his small committee have 
 a scheme in draft and they have accumulated a mass of 
 useful material. The scheme is to be published this week. 
 The pamphlet of which I spoke " The Way of Unity and 
 Peace " was only an introduction. 
 
 You are full of this Army business. As far as I can 
 judge it was a plot of Winston's and L. George's, using 
 Seely and Paget as their tools, to force the pace so as to be 
 able to raise the Army cry at an election, when it came. 
 Nine officers out of tenwould resign if the case were put to 
 them as Paget put it. I should have, certainly. I hope 
 the trouble over this will blow over. It is a disgusting 
 business, but it is a further evidence of the importance of 
 endeavouring to reach a settlement of the Home Rule con- 
 troversy and saving the country from disaster. 
 
 I beg you most earnestly to help forward the movement 
 I have begun. A heavy responsibility will rest on you 
 Unionist leaders if you play the party game too long. I 
 can conceive nothing more disastrous for the country and
 
 1914-8] OBJECTIONS TO FEDERALISM 219 
 
 the Empire than that, as the result of an election, you should 
 be returned to power on your present policy, the maintenance 
 of the Union in its present form. 
 
 In 1914 it was decided to use the word " Devolution " 
 instead of " Federal " in official papers : the reasons for 
 this cause are well summed up in a letter fiom Lord Salisbury 
 on the subject written four years later. 
 
 From the Marquis of Salisbury. 
 
 June isth, 1918. 
 
 ... I am particularly glad to read at the end of your 
 letter that in your view Devolution is a more accurate 
 description of what you desire than Federalism. Federalism 
 is a partial integration of sovereign independent States. 
 The old Executives and Legislatures therefore remain, only 
 that instead of keeping their independence they have a 
 limited autonomy. The movement is therefore from dis- 
 integration to integration. With us the movement would 
 be in precisely the opposite direction from integration to 
 disintegration and these semi-autonomous Executives and 
 national independence as a goal are full of peril. 
 
 There is indeed no case for semi-autonomous Executives 
 other than the differentiation between the Governments of 
 England, Scotland, and Ireland which already exists. There 
 is, however, a case for Legislative Devolution : that is not 
 on the road to disintegration, rather is it the development 
 of local self-government which is as old as English history. 
 
 If I have been fortunate enough to carry you with me 
 in this distinction I think you will find that the evolution 
 of Local Government as we know it is not in the direction 
 of separate parliaments which involve an organic statute 
 prescribing the limitation of powers as between the local 
 and Imperial Legislatures, nor in the direction of separate 
 Executives to the dangers of which I have already referred, 
 but rather in the direction of Provincial Councils which, formed 
 on the models of existing County Councils, import no Execu- 
 tives and require no organic statute as they will be in fact, 
 as well as in name, and in respect of all subjects without excep- 
 tion, subordinate to the Imperial Parliament as we know it. 
 
 At any rate I venture to hope that in your action at 
 this particular moment you will not exclude a solution on 
 the lines I have indicated.
 
 220 DRAFT SCHEME OF FEDERALISM [1914-8 
 
 To Lord Lansdowne. 
 
 June 22nd, 1914. 
 
 . . . You will note that the term " Devolution " has 
 been substituted for " Federal." It more accurately de- 
 scribes what we are driving at. We discussed the advisability 
 of dropping the word " Federal " at the conference of M.P.'s 
 which I got together in March, but the balance of opinion 
 there was in favour of sticking to the popular term. How- 
 ever, after discussing the matter with some of the most 
 active in the cause we agreed that it was better now to 
 substitute Devolution. I had a letter in Saturday's Times 
 giving the reasons. . . . 
 
 You have always asked to see a scheme. I will send 
 you to-morrow the outlines of one, giving the proposed 
 distribution of powers which commend themselves to me. 
 Oliver and the Round Table have also got a scheme I believe, 
 but I have not seen it. You probably have. 
 
 I shall be at 5, Aldford Street this week and shall work 
 in the cause of peace till the game is up, which it is by no 
 means yet, if the House of Lords will amend the Amending 
 Bill into a reasonable basis of settlement and urge the 
 appointment of a commission. 
 
 ALLOCATION OF POWERS OF LEGISLATION AS BETWEEN 
 THE IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT AND LOCAL LEGISLATURES. 
 
 CLASS I. 
 Retained by Imperial 
 Parliament as 
 being necessary to 
 Sovereignty. 
 
 CLASS II. 
 Retained by 
 Imperial Parliament 
 on ground 
 of convenience. 
 
 CLASS III. 
 Delegated outright 
 to Local 
 Legislatures. 
 
 CLASS IV. 
 Delegated subject 
 to conditions. 
 
 These are examples only. 
 
 Matters relating to 
 
 Empire 
 
 Currency Coin- 
 
 Private Bills. 
 
 Railways and 
 
 Oversea. 
 
 age. 
 
 Local Govt. 
 
 Canals. 
 
 Dominions. 
 
 Weights and 
 
 Legislation. 
 
 Industrial 
 
 Citizenship 
 
 Measures. 
 
 Poor Law. 
 
 Disputes. 
 
 Nationalisation, 
 
 Trademarks, 
 
 Highways. 
 
 Employers' 
 
 etc. 
 Army and Navy. 
 
 Patents. 
 Banking. 
 
 Licensing. 
 Education. 
 
 Liability. 
 Workmen's 
 
 Foreign policy. 
 Commerce. 
 
 Merchant Ship- 
 ping. 
 
 Lunacy. 
 
 (~\1 J rm 
 
 Compensation. 
 National Health 
 
 Imperial Revenue 
 
 Pilotage and 
 
 uid Age 
 Pensions. 
 
 Insurance. 
 
 and Taxa- 
 
 Lighthouses. 
 
 Criminal Law 
 
 
 tion 
 National Debt. 
 Post Office. 
 
 Marriage and 
 Divorce. 
 Criminal Law as 
 
 as far as sum- 
 mary jurisdic- 
 tion offences. 
 
 
 
 far as regards 
 
 
 
 
 indictable off- 
 
 
 
 
 ences. 
 

 
 I9I4-8] SETBACKS 221 
 
 It is proposed to specify i, 3 and 4 (4 to be as limited as 
 possible) Class 2 to be unspecified. 
 
 Power to be given to the Local Legislatures to initiate 
 legislation in Imperial Parliament for transfer to them of 
 any subject included in unspecified category. 
 
 The following circular was issued after a meeting of 
 members of all parties convened by T.A.B. at 5, Aldford 
 Street, Park Lane, W., on June 3oth, 1914 : 
 
 After an hour and a half's discussion it was generally 
 agreed that the main thing, if not the only thing, to press 
 for in the House of Lords is the setting up of a Commission 
 or Convention to consider the settlement from the point of 
 view of the United Kingdom as a whole, the Home Rule 
 Bill and Amending Bill being suspended pending the 
 result. 
 
 To Mr. Hazen* 
 
 July 3rd, 1914. 
 
 It may interest you to know something at first hand of 
 the movement going forward here for a settlement which 
 has at least borne fruit in the debate in the House of Lords 
 concluded yesterday. 
 
 At the end of March I got together members of both 
 sides in the House of Commons and they came to an agree- 
 ment on the 27th March at a conference held at my father's 
 house that the immediate setting up of a Commission for 
 the purpose of devising a federal scheme for the United 
 Kingdom as a whole was the only way of reaching a settle- 
 ment by consent. 
 
 At the time of the debate in the House of Commons on 
 the 3rd reading of the Home Rule Bill in May there were 
 over 100 members on each side who were adherents to the 
 proposal. The Prime Minister's reply to Mr. Balfour and 
 Sir Edward Carson knocked this movement on the head for 
 the time and produced much bitterness on the Unionist 
 side. I had to begin work all over again on my return 
 from Sardinia in May. 
 
 In June I got up two meetings, one at Oxford and one 
 at Hastings of which I enclose reports. They were attended 
 by leading members of both parties, and on the 30th June, 
 I got the Unionist and Liberal Chairman of the two groups 
 
 * Now Sir John Douglas Hazen, K.C.M.G. 
 
 Q
 
 222 PROPOSED CONVENTION [1914-8 
 
 in the House of Commons to meet a few Peers at my house. 
 The result of their deliberations I enclose. 
 
 Lord Grey, last week, made his speech and my old College 
 friend, the Archbishop of York, put forward the suggestion 
 of a Convention which was warmly supported from many 
 quarters of the House. 
 
 I think we are now on the road to a settlement of this 
 long-standing controversy. That it should have got to the 
 present pitch is a disgrace to British statesmanship. 
 
 To J. A. Murray Macdonald, M.P. 
 
 July 20th, 1914. 
 
 I am sorry that I just missed you on Friday and still 
 more sorry to hear what you tell me. Charnwood is coming 
 to lunch to-day. I am clear that the time has arrived when 
 we must start an organisation and carry on a campaign in 
 the autumn. Grey has undertaken to do some of the 
 speaking. 
 
 I am afraid we are beaten for the moment and unless 
 we keep our flag flying all our work will have been wasted. 
 
 You may care to see the enclosed from the Arch- 
 bishop. 
 
 To Lord Milner. 
 
 Dec. 26th, 1916. 
 
 . . . It is a real satisfaction to feel at last that I have not 
 spent in vain the thirty years since I left Oxford. I cannot 
 find the text of the telegram in the Times and the Times 
 leader is written in ignorance of the precise scope of the 
 invitation. They don't know all you tell me, which has my 
 hearty approval. To have got the Imperial side of the 
 problem of government on right lines is an immense step 
 forward. The next is to tackle the Irish question and 
 Home Rule. To get the Irish question in a fair way to 
 settlement would be an immense gain from the Imperial 
 the war and any other point of view. Pending agreement 
 between Ulstermen and Nationalists, the more I think 
 of it, the more I feel that the best thing to do is to 
 put a real strong man in Ireland assisted by a nominated 
 council in which there would be representatives of all 
 parties (but not necessarily politicians) who would pave 
 the way for self-government as you did in South Africa.
 
 I9I4-8] PRESIDENT WILSON'S MISTAKES 223 
 
 The political prisoners have been released* I should extend 
 conscription to Ireland and face the consequences and 
 above all I should govern the country. It is the failure to 
 govern by Birrell & Co., that has produced the present 
 and appalling state of things. 
 
 Wilson's note is a dreadful production. His statement 
 that the belligerents both declare they are righting for the 
 same object deserves all that Garvin says of it in the Observer. 
 Garvin has never written anything better. But the note 
 must be dealt with firmly and temperately by the British 
 Government. The Times suggestion of getting a prominent 
 British statesman to go over to the States has much to 
 recommend it. Carson is probably the only man who 
 could do what is needed in Ireland. 
 
 To the Master of BallioL 
 
 Oct. i4th, 1917. 
 
 Yours of the I3th with enclosures reached me this 
 morning. It is a gratification to have produced such a 
 letter as Cartwright's by my hastily-formed impression of 
 the Times articles. Mr. Cartwright's letter is an admirably 
 well-balanced opinion of the situation and I wish it could 
 be published. I shall take the liberty of sending copies 
 of it to one or two people, Geoffrey Dawson amongst 
 others. 
 
 I have been very busy the past week seeing Steel Mait- 
 land and others about my job in Italy, where I have given 
 some time to trying to form a sound opinion of the situation. 
 I had an hour on Friday morning with Henry Vivian and an 
 hour in the afternoon with Lansbury, who edits the Socialist 
 newspaper, the Herald. I also had a talk with Adams 
 too brief, but to the point. I have come to the conclusion 
 that Mr. Cartwright's is a much sounder view of the situation 
 than that taken in the Times articles. I am rather doubtful 
 whether one ought to be going away from England at this 
 moment when two questions in which one has taken such a 
 great interest are to the fore viz. Ireland and the relations 
 between capital and labour. One feels one could contribute 
 something to the right solutions of these questions if one was 
 on the spot. The great trouble is that nearly everyone is 
 doing Government work in some form of other and so few 
 people have time to think. I put in my oar in the Times
 
 224 ATTEMPTS TO SECURE PEACE [1914-8 
 
 as you saw on Friday on the Federal question, and I should 
 like to have written something on the Labour question, but 
 this would take time and study. It has been very interest- 
 ing to me to note the South Wales Commission Report and 
 to hear from Milner that the feeling in South Wales towards 
 employers is worse than in any other part of the country. 
 For this, as you know, I think employers are mainly to 
 blame. 
 
 To Sir H. Plunkett. 
 
 Jan. 23rd, 1918. 
 
 From what I have heard since I got back from Italy at 
 Xmas there seems little probability of the Convention coming 
 to an agreement. I hold more strongly than I ever did that 
 the only possible solution of the Irish question which will 
 bring the Ulstermen in and keep Ireland united is as part of 
 a general scheme applying also to England and Scotland 
 and possibly to Wales. I gather that Selborne and Oliver 
 worked away last year at a Federal scheme. Whether it 
 was properly put before the Convention or not I do not know. 
 Dunraven told me that he brought the matter up at one of 
 the earlier meetings, that he was in a minority of one and 
 did not pursue the subject. What line Carson is going to 
 take I do not know, but I sincerely trust that he will take 
 the same line as he did in the controversy of 1913-14 and 
 announce that he is prepared to accept Home Rule in a 
 form which will not place Irishmen in a position of inferiority 
 to Englishmen and Scotchmen in their relations to the 
 Parliament at Westminster. Carson was a Federalist then 
 and I hope he is still. 
 
 I have been immensely impressed during the few weeks 
 I have been in England by what I hear from all sides of the 
 working of the Government machine. The number of new 
 Departments that have been created is perfectly appalling 
 and there is no adequate control. Devolution is absolutely 
 necessary if any form of parliamentary government is to 
 be preserved and if a commencement is to be made in 
 restoring some sort of order to our Government machinery. 
 If the Irish Convention does not come to an agreement the 
 Government must be prepared with their proposal for 
 settlement of the question, and I am utilising all the influence 
 I can bring to bear to induce the Government to propose 
 an all-round scheme.
 
 I9I4-8] BACK BENCH MOVEMENTS 225 
 
 There is one important advantage which Home Rule 
 has now which it had not at previous stages of the con- 
 troversy, viz. that the opposition of the Unionists to Home 
 Rule in any form is gone and gone for ever. Unionists are 
 prepared to accept any reasonable settlement of the long- 
 standing controversy. What you in Ireland are apt to 
 forget is that in any settlement of the Irish question the 
 interests of Great Britain and the United Kingdom must be 
 considered. I am all for Irishmen having control of their 
 own affairs, but I am dead against allowing them to interfere 
 in purely English business. I am not prepared to support 
 any form of Home Rule for Ireland which does not secure 
 that Ireland is treated as a part of the United Kingdom. 
 If conscription is introduced for Great Britain it should 
 also be introduced into Ireland. The feeling against Ireland 
 over this matter especially in Scotland is, I hear, becoming 
 exceedingly bitter. I think that Redmond has advised the 
 Government very badly. From what I hear from Ireland 
 conscription could be introduced without much trouble now 
 that America has come in and the young Irishmen who went 
 to the States to avoid conscription have now found them- 
 selves roped in by the United States army. . . . 
 
 To Sir Edward Carson. 
 
 Jan. 23rd, 1918. 
 
 You may remember the correspondence which passed 
 between us over the Home Rule controversy in 1913-14. 
 I always regret that I have never had the opportunity of 
 talking the question over with you personally. For thirty 
 years, as you are probably aware, I have urged that the 
 only satisfactory solution of the Irish question is as part 
 of a Federal scheme embracing England and Scotland and 
 possibly also Wales. 
 
 In the spring of 1914 the " back bench movement " as 
 it was called, which included a large number of members of 
 both sides of the House who were in favour of the Federal 
 solution, was initiated in my office, and I was bitterly dis- 
 appointed when it led to no result, owing to Mr. Asquith's 
 attitude in the debate which took place in the House of 
 Commons about the end of May in that year. The Home 
 Rule Bill now in suspense I have always thought was a 
 futile attempt at settlement. Home Rule in Ireland is 
 unworkable unless all Ireland is included, and I hold now
 
 226 THE WAR CABINET [1914-8 
 
 more strongly than ever that the only hope of keeping Ireland 
 united and bringing the Ulstermen in is by a settlement on 
 all-round lines which, to use your words, will not place 
 Irishmen in a position of inferiority to Englishmen and 
 Scotchmen in their relations to the Parliament at West- 
 minster. 
 
 I was in Italy most of last year and from what I have 
 heard in the few weeks since my return I am more than ever 
 impressed by the necessity for devolution in some shape 
 or other if any form of Parliamentary Government is to be 
 preserved and if any sort of control is to be exercised over 
 the numberless Government Departments which have been 
 created. The Government of the country is in an appalling 
 condition. The strain on the War Cabinet, to -which I 
 referred in my letters to the Times in the early months of 
 last year, becomes ever greater. Devolution would relieve 
 this strain to some extent, and I think it should be carried 
 into effect now before the vast problems of reconstruction, 
 which will arise after the war, have to be faced. 
 
 There is much more that can be said from another point 
 of view, viz., the necessity of separating the control of 
 Imperial from Domestic affairs. A vast number of new 
 electors are going to be placed on the Register. How are 
 they going to vote intelligently when Domestic and Imperial 
 affairs are submitted to them in the same confused issue ? 
 
 Tariff Reform and Imperial Preference I look upon as 
 more necessary than ever and I was delighted to read what 
 you said at the Colonial Institute a month or two ago. How 
 is it possible to get a verdict on this vital question when it 
 is submitted to the electors along with questions such as 
 Education, Housing, and so forth ? 
 
 To Sir Walter Runciman. 
 
 Feb. 5th, 1918. 
 
 I hope you will read my letter in the Times to-day. 
 There is no more chance of settling the Irish question now 
 than there ever has been by a measure applying to Ireland 
 alone. You could have settled it easily enough in 1914 on 
 Federal lines if you had not submitted to Redmond's 
 dictation. Redmond has been a very bad adviser of Liberal 
 action in many ways. I look upon the last ten years as 
 one of the blackest chapters in England's treatment of
 
 i 9 i4-8] DUTY OF LABOUR PARTY 227 
 
 Ireland. Instead of sending to Ireland of our best to build 
 up a sound administration free from political jobbery and to 
 pave the way for Home Rule, we sent people like Aberdeen 
 and Birrell who let everything rip, and this is what L.G. 
 has done too. If I were an Irishman I should certainly be 
 a Sinn Feiner or rebel of some kind. No one could more 
 detest England's treatment of Ireland than I do. 
 
 As to the course to be taken now, I have no hesitation 
 in confirming what I say in my Times letter. Federal 
 Government for the United Kingdom is a necessity from 
 every point of view and it should be introduced at once, 
 whatever the Irishmen say. 
 
 The Convention should draw up the Irish part of the 
 scheme within the limits laid down by the Commission ; 
 whether they have two Houses or one, for instance, in Ireland 
 does not matter to us. 
 
 There is a chance of carrying federation through now, 
 such as there has never been before, and I hope you will 
 pull your powerful oar in the right direction. 
 
 To Mr. Geo. Lansbury. 
 
 Feb. 7th, 1918. 
 
 I am very much obliged for your long and interesting 
 letter of which I hope to make some effective use in the 
 quarter we spoke of. I agree with much of what you say. 
 The Labour unrest of which you speak not only requires 
 the conclusion of peace but also the setting of our Constitu- 
 tion in order. Much of the Labour unrest and distrust 
 of representative government and Parliament is due to the 
 fact that Parliament is overweighted. ... In an English 
 Legislature I conceive that the Labour Party would at once, 
 or very soon, have a majority and have the responsibility 
 of 'Government. I think that it is most desirable that they 
 should do so. At the same time there are a great many 
 workers in the country who are not comprehended under 
 organised labour and I always feel that the agricultural 
 interest is not understood and too often neglected by trades 
 unionists. 
 
 Thirty years ago, when I first had to manage the Norman- 
 hurst estate, I was face to face with a great period of agri- 
 cultural depression owing to the opening up of virgin land 
 in the States, the Argentine and elsewhere, and above all
 
 228 NEED FOR ECONOMY [1914-8 
 
 to the cheapening of the means of communication, which 
 caused a great fall in the prices of agricultural produce. 
 Landowners were hard hit. Farmers were ruined and 
 immense numbers of agricultural labourers were thrown 
 out of employment. These drifted into the towns, aggra- 
 vating the problem of unemployment already present there ; 
 and what steps were taken to provide a remedy ? None. 
 The interest of the consumer was held to be paramount, 
 as it is to-day in the mind of our Food Controller, and the 
 producer was left to take care of himself. In my judgment 
 the producer should stand before the consumer. 
 
 These last observations are only by the way, and these 
 are only hurriedly dictated lines in reply to your letter. 
 I hope we may meet again ere long to talk things over. 
 Meantime I am not idle. 
 
 To the Earl of Selborne. 
 
 Dec. 30th, 1918. 
 
 The Coalition Government have swept the Board and 
 are now in a position to deal with reconstruction. As far 
 as I am able to judge, we are face to face with the situation 
 which you pointed out might arise in your weighty words 
 at the Deputation to the P.M. Demobilisation, trade, 
 Ireland, etc., etc. are all pressing for attention, and the 
 people at the top are off to Paris for the Peace Conference. 
 Unless there is devolution and decentralisation, unless these 
 numberless Departments are reduced and brought under 
 effective Parliamentary control there will be (if there is not 
 already) confusion and probably disaster. 
 
 The first step to reconstruction is to set the Government 
 in order and enable it to carry on its business with some 
 regard to efficiency and economy. If you agree with me, 
 we must press as soon as Parliament meets, for the setting 
 up of a Commission to devise a scheme of devolution. 
 
 One of the questions which preoccupies me most is the 
 recovery of our shipping and our trade. We shall do neither 
 unless some of the Government Departments are suppressed 
 or their paralysing activities curbed. I heard yesterday 
 that the Italians have abolished their Ministry of Munitions 
 and transferred its functions to the control of the Treasury. 
 Incidentally this has placed my business in great difficulties, 
 but it was the right step, none the less. . . .
 
 1914-8] LABOUR DEMANDS 229 
 
 To the Marquis of Salisbury. 
 
 March 2 8th, 1919. 
 
 I could not manage to get a word with you yesterday. 
 I wanted to tell you that, after consultation with Lord 
 Kintore, I have decided to associate myself with your group 
 of critics of the Government. I think they are beginning 
 to do effective work in the House of Lords. 
 
 There are two important matters which I think ought 
 to be discussed, (i) Egypt, (2) Ireland. 
 
 As regards Egypt, the Times correspondent stated about 
 ten days ago that the Prime Minister of Egypt wanted to 
 come home and interview the Government as to the con- 
 dition of Egypt, and was told that they had no time to 
 attend to the matter, or something to that effect. One 
 cannot help feeling that the Government are much to blame 
 for the present outbreak in Egypt. 
 
 As regards Ireland, the present policy of drift is only 
 letting matters go from bad to worse and is absolutely 
 exasperating to all would-be loyalists. The Government 
 ought to be pressed to take action on the lines suggested in 
 my letter to the Times two days ago. . . . 
 
 I am going abroad for five weeks on the I2th and I am 
 afraid it is impossible, even if you approved, for me to 
 raise the question of Ireland before then. I am trying to 
 polish off the " Naval Annual" which is to reappear again 
 this year. 
 
 To Mr. C. B. Stanton, M.P. 
 
 June 2oth, 1919. 
 
 I should like to have the opportunity of a square talk 
 with you as regards the Labour question generally, and 
 especially as affecting the coal mines in which we are both 
 interested. 
 
 It seems to me, as I have said in the House of Lords, 
 that it is impossible for various Government Departments to 
 decree advances in wages to coal miners, railwaymen and 
 agricultural labourers quite irrespective of the capacity of 
 the industry to bear them. In my opinion there is no 
 justification for the advance in wages awarded by the 
 Sankey Committee. On the other hand, I think there is 
 every justification for the Government intervening to see 
 that the housing conditions are remedied in those mining 
 districts where they are notoriously bad. I think the
 
 230 MINING DISPUTES [1914-8 
 
 miners have every justification for claiming a substantial 
 share in the profits of the industry and some voice in its 
 control, but as regards the actual management of the pit 
 there can only be one man responsible. 
 
 As you know, I urged several years ago on my colleagues 
 on the Powell Dufrryn Board that we ought to take far more 
 trouble about the housing of the men we employed and that 
 we ought to give them a substantial share in the profits of 
 the industry. I failed to persuade them to adopt my view 
 and in consequence resigned my position on the Board. I 
 can therefore fairly claim to have shown effectively my 
 sympathy with the men's side of the question. 
 
 As far as I am able to judge I believe that the carrying 
 on of the industry by the State will be fatal to all concerned 
 and this is the matter, above all others, which I should like 
 to discuss with you, and would like to talk straight to the 
 miners about if they will listen. 
 
 To Major Leonard Brassey, M.P. 
 
 July ist, 1919. 
 
 Will you please express to the shareholders of the Powell 
 Duffryn Company my great regret that as I have to serve 
 on a Select Committee of the House of Lords to-morrow I 
 cannot attend the meeting as I intended ? 
 
 I am opposed to the nationalisation of coal mines, which 
 can only be the first step to the nationalisation of other 
 industries, because I believe it will be fatal to the prosperity 
 of the industry as well as to the best interests of the workers 
 themselves. 
 
 The carrying on of an industry by the State means, 
 probably, incompetent management and certainly gross 
 extravagance in administration. Wages may be increased 
 and hours of labour reduced quite beyond the capacity of 
 the industry to bear them. Workmen will certainly be 
 far more unreasonable in their demands when they know 
 that the loss, if they are acceded to, will be borne by the 
 State than they would if the loss fell on the firm by which 
 they are employed. 
 
 The regulation of wages is not the business of the State. 
 It should be left in the hands of Industrial Councils of the 
 employers and employed in each district. The present 
 situation is very serious, but I have confidence in the good
 
 igi4-8] DEVOLUTION CONFERENCE 231 
 
 sense of the vast majority of the workers in every industry, 
 provided that the situation is properly explained to 
 them. 
 
 I have always believed that it is possible to harmonise 
 the interests of capital and labour. This can only be done 
 by giving the workers a direct interest in the results of their 
 labour, whether by a bonus system such as I urged on the 
 Board some years ago or whether on the lines put before 
 the coal commission by Lord Gainford on behalf of the 
 Durham coal owners. 
 
 One of the main objections urged to the bonus system 
 I proposed is that miners employed in collieries belonging 
 to different companies in the same district, though doing 
 the same work, might in the one case receive a substantial 
 bonus on their wages and in the other case receive nothing. 
 This objection can be overcome by grouping all the collieries 
 in the same district and by giving the workers an equitable 
 share of the profits in some way or other. 
 
 I always feel that we coal owners are considerably to 
 blame for the conduct of the industry in the past. We of 
 the Powell Dufrryn Company have been dividing large 
 profits, which has naturally created unrest amongst the 
 workers. Labour as well as capital was, in my judgment, 
 entitled to a share in these profits. . . . 
 
 In October, 1919, the Government decided to appoint a 
 Devolution Conference, under the chairmanship of the 
 Speaker of the House of Commons to devise a scheme of 
 Devolution which might be applicable to Ireland. The 
 members included T.A.B., Lord Charnwood, Mr. J. A. 
 Murray Macdonald, and other convinced Federalists, but 
 did not include many who were obviously qualified to act. 
 The terms of reference were : 
 
 To consider and report upon a Scheme of Legislative 
 and Administrative Devolution within the United Kingdom 
 having regard to 
 
 (i) The need of reserving to the Imperial Parliament 
 the exclusive consideration of 
 
 (a) Foreign and Imperial Affairs ; and 
 
 (6) Subjects affecting the United Kingdom as a 
 whole.
 
 232 DEVOLUTION CONFERENCE [1914-8 
 
 (2) The allocation of financial powers as between the 
 Imperial Parliament and the subordinate Legislatures, 
 special consideration being given to the need of providing 
 for the effective administration of the allocated powers. 
 
 (3) The special needs and characteristics of the com- 
 ponent portions of the United Kingdom in which subordinate 
 Legislatures are set up. 
 
 This was a great step forward and T.A.B. received many 
 congratulations. 
 
 To Sir Thomas Whittaker. 
 
 October 25th, 1919. 
 
 I am exceedingly disappointed that neither you nor 
 Mr. J. W. Wilson nor any member of the Unionist Federal 
 Committee in the House of Commons is on the Federal 
 Devolution Conference, the composition of which has been 
 severely criticised, and not without justice, in the Times 
 and other papers. I cannot understand how all this has 
 come about unless the Government wished to make the 
 proceedings of the Devolution Conference as far as possible 
 abortive. There being so few of us in the Conference who 
 are really up in the subject makes our task a difficult one. 
 If there had been, as there ought to have been, ten or fifteen 
 of us who were in favour of the policy and knew what we 
 were driving at, the task of the Conference would have been 
 infinitely easier and much more likely to lead to a successful 
 result. 
 
 It is also unfortunate that several members of the House 
 of Lords whom we would have wished to have on the Con- 
 ference are engaged on the India Commission. 
 
 I enclose copy of resolution which Murray Macdonald 
 and I have submitted as to definition of areas. Will you 
 show it to Mr. J. W. Wilson and let me know if it meets with 
 your approval ? 
 
 I look upon Federal Devolution as infinitely more 
 necessary now than ever before. If we are to get back to 
 Parliamentary methods of government and to avoid labour 
 trying to force its wishes by strikes or threats of strikes, 
 Labour must be given the chance of getting its representa- 
 tives into Parliament. This they would have under Federal 
 Devolution when domestic issues would be submitted to 
 the electorate separately from Imperial issues.
 
 igi9] AN UNDISTINGUISHED CONFERENCE 233 
 To the Earl of Selborne. 
 
 Oct. 29th, 1919. 
 
 Though as the Times said, we may be an " un- 
 distinguished Conference," we have made, I think, a good 
 start. No one is out to wreck the whole proceedings. Even 
 my old friend, Ronald McNeill, who has been a vigorous 
 opponent of the policy in days gone by, is prepared to accept 
 Devolution in some form or other. 
 
 The weakness of the Conference is that none of the 
 Unionist Federal Committee and only one of the Liberal 
 Federal Committee in the House of Commons is on it. The 
 final appointment was made from the P.M.'s office. I have 
 no doubt that they threw over the list which was completed 
 for the House of Commons before the end of August, and 
 which must have included many members of the two Federal 
 Committees, and made a list of their own in order to be able 
 to say that the Report has not sufficient weight behind it 
 if that suits their book when the time comes. It is monstrous 
 treatment of the House of Commons and especially of the 
 Speaker, but quite in keeping with the P.M.'s method of 
 government. 
 
 I think that it will be necessary to consult the Unionist 
 Federal group in the House of Commons when the time comes 
 for making decisions. One wants to be sure that one has 
 their backing as they are unrepresented on the Conference.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE beginning of the year 1919 saw T.A.B. at the height of 
 his influence in the world of politics. The vantage ground 
 which he had gained through his seat in the House of Lords, 
 to which he succeeded on the death of his father, had made 
 him a force to be reckoned with by all serious politicians. 
 The long experience of Imperial matters which he could 
 summon to his aid, and the respect accorded to him by all 
 parties in the House of Commons, with which he had come 
 into close contact in his endeavours to effect a rapprochement 
 between back-bench men on the Irish question, lent to his 
 attitude an importance which the Government did not fail 
 to recognise. This feeling found expression in the caustic 
 comment made by a member in the Commons on the 
 announcement that the Government had decided to appoint 
 the Devolution Conference : " Oh, that's to keep Brassey 
 quiet ! " The reputation for honesty and for dogged 
 pertinacity which he had won for himself was felt in the 
 attentive hearing which his utterances in the House forcible 
 rather than eloquent gained for him on all sides. It was 
 commonly felt that there were other men and other politi- 
 cians who were eloquent but not candid, pertinacious but 
 self-seeking. T.A.B. lived in quite another world, a world 
 of complete disinterestedness. 
 
 A prominent Irish member could say of him : 
 
 A rare type in public life and a welcome one though 
 not greatly loved of the time-servers and the opportunists 
 who have their unholy grip upon the political and parlia- 
 mentary machines. When you hear him speak, you conceive 
 the impression of a man of independent convictions, straight 
 thinking and plain speaking. You may agree or disagree 
 with him, but you are at least sensible of the fact that here 
 is one who thinks for himself and who says things, not 
 
 234
 
 i9i9] T.A.B.'S ACCIDENT 235 
 
 because he seeks popularity, but because he believes in the 
 principles which he expresses. 
 
 This estimate was commonly shared by men of all schools 
 of thought, and T.A.B.'s position in opposition in the House 
 of Lords was growing in strength every week. 
 
 The war had dragged its length to a close and the country 
 was largely given up to an orgy of amusement and pleasure 
 the inevitable reaction from the strain which it had endured 
 for many weary months. In the midst of it all T.A.B.'s 
 energy found expression in ever-increasing work. Tilting 
 against Government extravagance, critical with the keen 
 criticism of the successful business man of the methods of 
 departmental amateurs, profoundly convinced of the dangers 
 ahead, he found a wide field for his activities. Conferences 
 and interviews with politicians and journalists, with over- 
 seas statesmen and travellers, filled busy days which often 
 ended with a dinner or reception of some kind at 24, Park 
 Lane. Visits to Sardinia and Scotland were worked in 
 with masses of other business, and especially with close 
 oversight of the methods of Church finance and the formula- 
 tion of all kinds of plans to improve them. In all the 
 undertakings with which he had had any connexion, he was 
 taking the liveliest interest, and everywhere he was making 
 the vigour of his personality felt. His days were filled with 
 the manifold duties which were involved by his Sardinian 
 work at 28, Victoria Street, his church work at 40, Gt. Smith 
 Street, only a stone's throw away, and by the business of 
 the Devolution Conference which, under the chairmanship 
 of the Speaker, was constantly in session in the House of 
 Commons. On November 6th he had been to the office of 
 the Central Church Fund, had gone to 28, Victoria Street, 
 and had left there soon after 5 o'clock on his way to the 
 House. When crossing the busy street between West- 
 minster Hospital and Westminster Abbey he avoided one 
 motor-car, and failed to notice another close by, with which 
 he collided and was thrown heavily to the ground. In 
 the words of one who knew him intimately and was a close 
 observer of the ways of men, " he was probably walking in 
 his usual way with head forward and that long lope of a
 
 236 HIS LAST HOURS [1919 
 
 stride of his, intent upon nothing so much as the business 
 of reaching his destination and of crumpling up something 
 ahead which deserved it." He was very badly shaken, 
 and was helped into the hospital where he received first- 
 aid. He insisted that he himself was responsible for the 
 accident, and it may be quite safely assumed that this was 
 so, for in spite of his characteristic sportsmanship, he 
 wouldn't have taken blame for the sake of taking it. He was 
 able to walk out to a taxi-cab, and was driven to his sister's 
 flat in Ashley Gardens, where again he was able to walk 
 to his room. He gradually fell into a state of coma, and 
 spoke again only a few words, at intervals. On the fifth 
 day it was decided to operate, and a large clot was removed. 
 His heart failed subsequently to respond to the demands 
 made upon it, and he passed away very quietly and peacefully 
 at about an hour after sunset. 
 
 He received the Blessed Sacrament of the Church, of 
 which he was so loyal and devoted a son, a few minutes 
 before the call came, and the words of one of his favourite 
 hymns, " Abide with me, fast falls the eventide," were 
 with him in his last moments. His own outlook upon the 
 new life which so opened out before him as he was called 
 away in the vigour of his physical strength and the prime 
 of his intellectual and administrative powers is best summed 
 up hi the words which he wrote a short year before to 
 Mr. Arthur Tapp about his father, " My dear old father was 
 so infirm and suffered such discomfort that no one could 
 have wished his life to be prolonged. He died very 
 peacefully looking forward to service, not rest, in a wider 
 sphere." To that service he himself looked forward also, 
 service fit for a man who was master of himself and therefore 
 able to serve ; service in which purity of motive and honesty 
 of purposes must needs be the basis of enrolment. 
 
 He was a man much loved of his friends, and his place 
 will long be vacant. He had learned the great secret of 
 swaying the hearts of others the secret of giving. Gifts 
 of courageous uplifting, gifts of friendly and cheerful inter- 
 course, gifts of the world's goods, gifts of joyful enterprise 
 he showered about him. Of all such things he had received 
 himself in large measure and he gave away with a free hand.
 
 i9i9] HIS PHYSICAL POWERS 237 
 
 He gave, as he said in a letter which is printed earlier in 
 the book, because he conceived it his duty to give, and he 
 usually was careful to conceal as far as might be possible the 
 nature, the amount, or the purpose of his gifts. 
 
 There are many givers in this world. Some give to 
 save themselves annoyance, and some to gain renown. 
 Some there be who give of loose temperament, and some who 
 give not at all. A man gives to the woman he loves because 
 he loves, and a woman to the child she bears because she has 
 borne it. But God gives because giving is in its nature 
 divine. So he who gives because his nature is to give has 
 within him a thing divine, and he is happiest of all. Of 
 such was T.A.B., who gave without stint and without ceasing. 
 
 It is always a pleasant thing to leave the description 
 of the tasks which a man performs in the public eye for the 
 more intimate search for the portrait of the man as he was. 
 What manner of man T.A.B. was may, perhaps, have become 
 clear through his work, and with much reticence and reserve 
 it needs only to draw aside the curtain a little way to reveal 
 more of the man in his inner self. 
 
 Physically he was immense. He seemed quite tireless. 
 He had the walk of the Red Indian, or the gipsy. It was 
 almost impossible to keep step with him. His long, springy 
 stride went on and on as if it never could stop. The tragedy, 
 which was a comic tragedy, of it was that he never realised 
 that others weren't quite up to the things which he did. 
 " What about walking back ? " he would say, without a 
 thought, to someone, who would gasp at the exertion 
 involved. He would leave Scotland or Sardinia for home, 
 travel as rapidly as was possible, and arrive at Normanhurst 
 after exertions which would leave most people tired out. 
 But he would transact business as soon as he arrived, spend 
 the evening with his secretary, and be out in the woods 
 next morning long before other members of the household 
 were stirring. 
 
 Mr. A. C. Campbell of Genoa relates the following 
 anecdote illustrative of this : Lord Brassey had been doing 
 a cure for throat trouble at Salso Maggiore. When it was 
 finished his doctor advised him to take a few days' rest 
 before returning to England : 
 
 R
 
 238 HIS IMMENSE ENERGY [1919 
 
 Lord Brassey's idea of a " rest cure " was very charac- 
 teristic. He wished me to join him at Salso. We motored 
 next day to Spezia and he inspected his works there in the 
 afternoon. Next day we motored on to Genoa where he 
 was entertained to dinner by the British Chamber of Com- 
 merce, and made a long and interesting speech on " Imperial 
 Federation." Next day we motored on to La Dhuille via 
 Aosta went over the Petit S. Bernard on foot, over the 
 Col de Bonhomme in deep snow (we were the first to cross 
 the pass that year) to the valley of Chamonix where we met 
 Lady Brassey. 
 
 I returned to Italy, but had a letter a day or two after 
 saying that he had started up Mont Blanc with Lady 
 Brassey slept at the Grands Mulcts, and had only been 
 prevented by bad weather from reaching the summit. 
 
 On the occasion of the opening day of the East Sussex 
 Hounds in November, 1900, " Merry Heart " in the Field 
 reports the meet at Normanhurst : 
 
 At this moment the Hon. T. A. Brassey arrived on the 
 scene, he having just detrained at Battle after crossing 
 from Belfast the previous night. Surely a leaf out of the 
 Boers' (with whom he has so lately been in touch) text-book 
 for mobility. With his co-M.F.H., Mr. Egerton, matters 
 were soon in shape, and in less than fifteen minutes hounds 
 had found. 
 
 This faculty of bodily strength enabled him to do a great 
 deal more work than ordinary men could compass, and 
 he won causes, or directed enterprises in the way he desired 
 by holding out when others were exhausted. Games came 
 easily to him, and he delighted in them all. Tennis, 
 racquets, skating were the same to him ; he would turn 
 to them all with eager anticipation : none came amiss. 
 He loved a paper-chase, and many a jolly hour was spent 
 in tearing paper for a run through the country round Norman- 
 hurst on a holiday afternoon. He delighted to turn out 
 with axe and bill-hook and cut out thickets in the huge 
 masses of rhododendrons in the park, and to sum all up with 
 a bonfire. In such excursions he was in later years often 
 accompanied by his wife's nephews and niece, who lived
 
 i9i9] LOVE OF NATURAL BEAUTY 239 
 
 with them, and by Lady Brassey herself. His hands were 
 frequently in a most disreputable condition from indulgence 
 in this pastime : they were cut and bruised in all kinds of 
 ways, to the amusement of his friends, but to his own supreme 
 indifference. The joy of Foulk, his youngest companion, 
 to whom he was greatly attached, was not greater than his 
 own at a successful bonfire. 
 
 In the house he always took the lead in after-dinner 
 games. Fives on the billiard-table, in which bruises on the 
 palm of the hands had to be borne with as much indifference 
 as the player could summon to his aid, provoked immense 
 enthusiasm, as, if he were more mathematically inclined, 
 did Tarocchi, a card game much affected at the Sardinian 
 mines. He was extraordinarily successful at such games, 
 and the more so where foresight and judgment were required. 
 On one occasion he was engaged solus against a number of 
 adversaries collaborating in a war game, when Colonel 
 Gathorne-Hardy said, " Anyhow, I'll give 10 to i on 
 T.A.B." There were no takers. 
 
 He had an intense perception of beauty in all its forms. 
 He revelled in the lovely Sussex country which surrounded 
 his home, all the living creatures of which he knew and 
 loved. Trees and flowering shrubs grew there in an endless 
 variety of forms, as planted by himself and his father, and 
 he was always adding, readjusting and retouching. The 
 glorious flaming colours of the masses of azaleas, rhodo- 
 dendrons, and other flowering trees and plants were a mag- 
 nificent sight, and he gloried in them. When he made his 
 home at Park Gate in 1889, soon after his marriage, he spent 
 many hours in the garden, which was entirely remodelled. 
 Edwards, who became a valued friend, came from the gardens 
 at Eridge Castle to take charge, and to be under T.A.B.'s 
 general orders, director of the alterations. T.A.B. himself 
 did much of the planting of trees and shrubs, and developed 
 an interesting collection of about eighty varieties of rhododen- 
 dron. He arranged some most effective herbaceous borders 
 from which he secured some wonderful colouring. At 
 Normanhurst, to which he moved in 1911, he improved many 
 of the beautiful trees by making clearings round them, and 
 he developed at the same time the delightful landscape
 
 240 LOVE OF MUSIC [1919 
 
 views, which were being more or less shut in. His old friend 
 Tom Wait, the bailiff, to whom T.A.B. always paid a visit on 
 Sunday morning after church, knew him from childhood, 
 and speaks of his love for natural beauty and for all living 
 things. No one, indeed, could see him walking about the 
 countryside without feeling it in every movement which he 
 made, and in the virtue which seemed to come out of him. 
 The cluster of pines on the skyline like a beautiful eyebrow, 
 or the glittering drops which shimmered on the silver of the 
 birch, or the clear shining after rain which brought Fairlight 
 many miles nearer, or the gleaming of the ploughland as 
 the sea birds dropped at the ploughman's heel all these 
 and all such things seemed to send a quiver through his 
 observant frame. 
 
 Music made the same appeal to him. He was absolutely 
 entranced by it. When someone played or sang in the great 
 hall at Normanhurst he became quite dead to the world and 
 to everything but the power of the music. This trait of his 
 was so marked as to be certain to attract the attention of 
 all who were not used to him, and even to provoke a mirthful 
 comment from others who were familiar with it. He loved 
 pictures, and had many beautiful ones of his own, to which 
 he added from time to time, for no other reason than that 
 he loved them. 
 
 He did not laugh very much. But he had a keen sense 
 of humour and delighted in a good story. He did not talk 
 very much. But he listened very attentively to what men 
 could tell him of things concerning which they had expert 
 knowledge. When he was laughing and when he was 
 talking there was always a certain reserve of power, which 
 showed that the man was master of himself, and was a 
 little disconcerting to strangers. A favourite verse of his, 
 which he tried to practise was : 
 
 Keep your face with sunshine lit, 
 
 Laugh a little bit ; 
 Gloomy shadows oft will flit, 
 If you have the wit and grit. 
 
 Just to laugh a little bit. 
 
 He was not what is called a great reader, for he did not 
 take delight in poetry as such or in belles lettres or in classical
 
 i 9 i9] PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 241 
 
 literature in any language. His favourite poem was " The 
 Sick Stockrider," by Adam Lindsay Gordon, the Australian 
 poet, which gives the reminiscences of the dying man. He 
 would often read this to the wounded men in the Norman- 
 hurst hospital, his voice, deep with the reality of the scenes 
 which it conjured up before his eyes : 
 
 The dawn at " moorabinda " was a mist rack dull and dense, 
 
 The sunrise was a sullen, sluggish lamp ; 
 I was dozing in the gateway at Arbuthnot's bound'ry fence, 
 
 I was dreaming on the Limestone cattle camp. 
 We crossed the creek at Catricksford, and sharply through the 
 haze 
 
 And suddenly the sun shot flaming forth ; 
 To southward lay " Katawa," with the sandpeaks all ablaze. 
 
 And the flush'd fields of Glen Lomond lay to north. 
 ***** 
 
 I've had my share of pastime, and I've done my share of toil, 
 
 And life is short the longest life a span ; 
 I care not now to tarry for the corn or for the oil, 
 
 Or for the wine that maketh glad the heart of man. 
 For good undone and gifts misspent and resolutions vain, 
 
 'Tis somewhat late to trouble. This I know 
 I should live the same life over, if I had to live again ; 
 
 And the chances are I go where most men go. 
 
 But he read steadily books and papers which other people 
 might find stiff and heavy. The latest publications on the 
 economics of agriculture, or a treatise on the housing problem 
 or the summary of Mr. Charles Booth's inquiry into London 
 conditions he would digest carefully, and in this sense he 
 was always reading. He liked to discuss what he had read, 
 and to talk about the solution of the great problems of the 
 day. To one who understood him well, he would say, 
 " Well now, . . . propound us a problem." Then when men 
 had well spoken, " Well, that's enough of that ; now then, 
 another." 
 
 He had a generous temperament, and although he wa$ 
 a most relentless adversary, whether in games or hi some 
 part of the great game of life, he played the game always. 
 When the contest was over, he was friendly with his 
 adversary. " The straightest man I ever knew. " " The most 
 generous man I ever knew." These two tributes from 
 entirely different quarters give a real picture of the man. 
 
 He was downright in attitude, when he felt strongly
 
 242 RELIGIOUS BELIEFS [1919 
 
 but men, as men, understood him. He could get along with 
 working men always, partly because of this understanding 
 and partly because of his accessibility. He liked to talk 
 to men about their work and their difficulties, and so long 
 as a man was working, he was sure of sympathy. Gillies 
 and gamekeepers, farmers and shipwrights, miners and 
 parsons were all alike. He could get along with them, so 
 long as they were workers and not talkers. 
 
 He used to say that his mission in life was clearing up 
 the muddles of other people. Once, a little bitterly, he 
 commented, " No : they won't want me until something 
 needs clearing up. Then they'll ask me." His look of 
 determination when such processes of clearing up were 
 started was only equalled by his look when stroking the 
 Balliol eight, or that which he has in the photograph taken 
 as with Lady Idina he won the Married Couples race at the 
 sports on his silver wedding day. A cartoon by " Pip " in 
 Mayfair exhibits him in a characteristic attitude of deter- 
 mination. 
 
 The Brassey family is renowned for its hospitality and 
 T. A.B. lived up to its reputation. He loved to have his house 
 full of friends, to entertain at the 'Varsity match at Lords, to 
 invite East London or Hastings or village friends to enjoy 
 his house and garden. He was a good friend : and more 
 than one was saved from financial difficulty by his timely 
 intervention. His private benefactions were many and 
 secret : their extent will never be known, because those 
 who know will not tell, for they know that he would be 
 grieved that they should be revealed. 
 
 Men to whom it is given to lead great causes, or to under- 
 take great public burdens, or to labour much in the interests 
 of their fellow-men are usually found to be sustained by a 
 strong sense of their own guidance by the hand of God. 
 T.A.B. had such a sense. He was inspired by the religion of 
 a real man, modest and unassuming : he had a firm belief 
 in the protection of the Almighty, and a strong desire to do 
 his duty to his God and to man. He was constant in his 
 prayers : whether at home, or on the high seas, in camp or 
 in London he did not forget them. There is a story of a 
 trooper who accidentally saw him on his knees in his tent,
 
 igi9] HIS FRIENDSHIPS 243 
 
 and burst out in surprise to his fellow with an exclamation 
 not usually associated with devotion, " Why, there's the 
 Colonel saying his prayers ! " So, also, he maintained the 
 practice of family prayers in his household, himself reading 
 them day by day. When at home he found his way early 
 each morning into the nursery wing to hear little Foulk 
 Myddleton say his prayers, and he liked to hear him recite 
 the hymns which he himself had learnt as a boy, telling 
 him how good he would find it when he grew up to be able 
 to say hymns by heart. He was a regular communicant, 
 and a regular attendant at the parish church. To each of 
 the rectors who served the parish he gave steady and 
 effective support. At times in his life he had had certain 
 doubts and difficulties about the form of his faith, but 
 experience had healed any wounds, and in the light of his 
 great knowledge of men in all quarters of the earth, his 
 faith had been transfused into a pure and unalloyed trust 
 in his God. 
 
 His Bible is a singular revelation of the man. It is 
 marked from end to end. Some passages are scored two or 
 three times, as they burnt themselves in upon him. Passages 
 so marked in the Old Testament are the blessing of Joseph, 
 the song of Moses, the prayer of Solomon, the curse of Job, 
 the Psalms passim, and parts of Isaiah, Joel, and Habbakuk. 
 The passage marked most heavily of all is " Whatsoever thy 
 hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." In the New 
 Testament, St. Matthew, St. Peter, St. John, and St. James 
 are the most marked, and generally every passage which 
 speaks of the need of self-denial, of work or of strenuous 
 effort. 
 
 He had some close friends, men for the most part of the 
 same stamp : God-fearing, resolute, self-sacrificing, honest. 
 Some of them like Douglas Haig and Alfred Milner have 
 made a great mark upon the Empire of their generation : 
 all have served their country in the vigour of their powers. 
 Beyond and beside these he had made numberless acquaint- 
 ances in England and in all parts of the earth. The number 
 of them is quite too astonishing. Their verdict upon him 
 and his ways may be varied : but from all there came the 
 greatest respect. To schoolfellows, close acquaintances,
 
 244 PERSONAL SORROWS [1919 
 
 and his relations he was always known affectionately as 
 "dear old T.A.B." The expression itself is in some sort 
 a revelation of the man : when the number of those who 
 used it, and the sense in which they used it are taken into 
 account, the man stands out vivid, respected, beloved. 
 
 He had suffered much in the war through loss of friends 
 and relations. The greatest of all his suffering was in the 
 loss of his nephew, Edward Egerton, whom he had regarded 
 as his eldest son, and had appointed to succeed to the estates. 
 He had followed his career with the most intense interest : 
 when Edward went to Eton T.A.B.'s advice to him was : 
 " Work hard, play hard, and never tell a lie." He had been 
 delighted at the happiness of his marriage, which took place 
 only too soon before his death, to Miss (afterwards Lady) 
 Rachel Butler, daughter of the present Marquis of Ormonde, 
 and on the news that Edward had died of wounds received 
 on the Western Front, he wrote to a friend in a burst 
 of anguish just one short sentence, " I am quite heart- 
 broken." 
 
 He was brought from his sister's house in Ashley Gardens 
 back to Normanhurst, and was buried on a Sunday afternoon 
 in the churchyard at Catsfield, close to the spot where his 
 father had been laid to rest a few short months before. His 
 own Sussex took on her fairest garb for his going. Snow 
 had fallen in the night with a sharp frost, and the whole 
 earth was white as for a bridal. The sun shone bright in a 
 cloudless sky but could not dispel the frost nor melt the 
 snow. It was as if Nature gave her benediction to one who 
 loved her well. The voice of the priest halted again and 
 again at the morning service as he drew the picture of the 
 worker who would rejoice in the work of a new world when 
 the power of God would make him tireless indeed, and in 
 the afternoon a vast concourse gathered to watch as the 
 Sussex wain with the guardian bearers in their smock-frocks, 
 men all who loved him, wended its way through the silver 
 trees to the upland which looks away to Normanhurst. So 
 he came for the last time to his Sussex home. 
 
 The last of the Brasseys of Normanhurst had inherited 
 a great tradition, borne a great name, received a great 
 trust. He had maintained the tradition, had kept the name
 
 i9i9] THE THREE BRASSEYS 245 
 
 untarnished, had been faithful to the trust. He had lived 
 a man's life, worked a man's work, played the man. In the 
 midst of human weaknesses, despite human frailties, he had 
 tried to do his duty. 
 
 The first Thomas Brassey by his labours made men's 
 paths about the world easy, the second Thomas Brassey by 
 his kindliness made men's paths in life happy, the third 
 Thomas Brassey by his public spirit and service made a 
 man's path in life an inspiration. 
 
 These were men of great service in their generations, and 
 the last was T.A.B.
 
 INDEX 
 
 ABERDEEN, Lord, at Epsom, 78 
 
 Aberdovey, 6 
 
 Abergavenny, Marquis of, 58 
 
 Adams, Professor, 218 
 
 Adelaide, 56 
 
 Aden, 86 
 
 Africa, South, Federal Government, 
 71, 72 ; memorandum on, 96-99 ; 
 War, 96, 101-107 
 
 Albanian Hills, 194 
 
 Albany, 57 
 
 Albatross, the, 44 
 
 Alfieri, General, 194 
 
 Allnutt, Anna, marriage, 8. See 
 Brassey. 
 
 Allnutt, John, 8 
 
 Amberley Bridge, 183 
 
 Anderson, W. C., runs in the Three- 
 Mile Race, 37 
 
 Anglo-Italian Commerce, Medal, 
 210 
 
 Anson, Sir William, 138 ; at 
 Burlington House, 139 
 
 Archbishops' Committee on Church 
 Finance, 150 ; report, 154 
 
 Arena, 86 
 
 Armstrong, Lord, 62 
 
 Arundel Bridge, 183 
 
 Ascham House School, 14 
 
 Ashtead, meeting at, 80 
 
 Asquith, Rt. Hon. H. H., I ; at 
 Epsom, 78 ; Burlington House, 
 139 ; Home Rule Bill, 212 
 
 Atlantic, the, 49 
 
 Attadale, 34 
 
 Australia, 55, 57 ; Federal Govern- 
 ment, 71, 72 
 
 BAINES, J. A., Fellow of the Royal 
 Statistical Society, 145 
 
 Baker, Mr., 56 
 
 Balfour, Rt. Hon. A. J., policy, 
 175 ; attacks on his naval ad- 
 ministration, 205 
 
 " Ballantyne, Memoirs of Sergeant," 
 9 
 
 Balliol College, Oxford, 29, 31 ; 
 
 sports, 33, 36, 40 ; regatta, 34 ; 
 reputation, 132 ; Bidding Prayer, 
 133 ; finances, 134 ; endowment 
 fund, 135 ; War Memorial Com- 
 mittee, tribute to T.A.B., 136 
 
 Balliol, John de, founder of the 
 College, 32, 133 
 
 Balliol, Master of, letter from 
 T.A.B., 223 
 
 Barclay, G. N.. runs in the Three- 
 Mile Race, 37 
 
 Barentin Viaduct, 7 
 
 Barnard, Lord, President of the 
 Archbishops' Committee on 
 Church Finance, 150 
 
 Barrow Docks, 7 
 
 Barton, H. S., rows in a race at 
 Colombo, 50-52 
 
 Battle, 1 8, 238 ; Abbey, 19 
 
 Bau, 114 
 
 Beatty, Admiral Lord, 66 
 
 Beauchamp, Lord, Member of the 
 Central Church Fund Committee, 
 
 159 
 
 Beauport, 18 
 
 Begg, F. Faithfull, Fellow of the 
 Royal Statistical Society, 145 
 
 Ben Alder forest, 82 
 
 Bengali, the, character, 53 
 
 Benmore forest, 82 
 
 Benson, G. H., 182 
 
 Benson, G. R., at Balliol College, 
 32 ; runs in the Three-Mile 
 Race, 37 ; Member of the Federal 
 Union Committee, 144 ; Fellow 
 of the Royal Statistical Society, 
 145 ; at the Oxford Union, 145 
 (see also Charnwood, Lord) 
 
 Benson, Robert, 210 
 
 Benula forest, 82 
 
 Berber, 178 
 
 Bexhill, 17, 149 
 
 Bickerton, 4 
 
 Bikanir, Maharajah of, at Rome, 191 
 
 Bingham, Mr., 24 
 
 Bird, Isabella, " Six Months in the 
 Sandwich Islands," 14 
 
 Birkenhead, 38 
 
 247
 
 248 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Birkett. Miss, 48 
 
 Bisharin, 178 
 
 Black Corries forest, 82 
 
 Blackburn, Mr. Justice, 9 
 
 Blackcap, 18 
 
 Bloemfontein, 101 
 
 Bodleian Library, 4, 139, 140 
 
 Boksburg, 104 
 
 Bologna, 86 
 
 Bolton, meeting at, 144 
 
 Bonhomme, Col de, 238 
 
 Booth, Charles, 241 
 
 Booth, E., rows in a race at 
 
 Colombo, 50-52 
 Boschrand, 102 
 Boulton, A. E. Forster, Member of 
 
 the Federal Union Committee, 
 
 144 ; at a meeting of the Hard- 
 
 wicke Society, 145 
 Bourne, G. L., at Eton, 27 
 Bournemouth, 14 
 Bowen, W. A., Member of the 
 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 Bowlby, Henry, at Balliol College, 
 
 32 
 
 Bracy, Robert de, 3 
 
 Bradford, meeting at, 144 
 
 Brancker, Mr. and Mrs., 14 
 
 Brassey, Albert, 8 
 
 Brassey, Anna, Lady, 8 ; mental 
 capacity, 9 ; letter to her son, 
 13 ; influence on him, 17 ; 
 collection of curios, 179 
 
 Brassey, Lady Helen, marriage, 8. 
 See Murray 
 
 Brassey, Henry, 8 
 
 Brassey, Lady Idina, 58 ; at 
 Colombo, 86 ; tour round the 
 world, 95 ; sails for South Africa, 
 100 ; Red Cross work, 107 ; 
 return to England, 107 ; at 
 Sardinia, 118; Montreal, 144; 
 tour in Egypt, 178 ; Com- 
 mandant of Normanhurst Hospi- 
 tal, 210 ; at Chamonix, 238 
 
 Brassey, John, 4 
 
 Brassey, Major Leonard, 118 ; letter 
 from T.A.B., 230 
 
 Brassey, Mabelle, 8 ; engagement, 
 33. See Egerton 
 
 Brassey, Maria, 5 
 
 Brassey, Marie Adelaide, 8 
 
 Brassey, Muriel, 8 
 
 Brassey, Richard, 4 
 
 Brassey, Robert, 4 ; letter from, 5 
 
 Brassey, Dr. Robert, Provost of 
 King's College, Cambridge, 3 
 
 Brassey, Sibyl, Lady, 8, In 
 
 Brassey, Thomas, apprenticed to a 
 surveyor, 4 ; marriage, 5 ; con- 
 
 struction of railways, 6 ; con- 
 tracts, 7 ; character, 8 ; sons, 8 
 
 Brassey, Thomas, 1st Earl, 4 ; 
 marriage, 8 ; career, 8 ; advice 
 to his son, 9-13, 39 ; character- 
 istics, 13 ; estates, 17 ; letters 
 to his son, 39 ; peerage con- 
 ferred, 77 ; Chairman of the 
 Royal Opium Commission, 86 ; 
 at Melbourne, 95 ; Montreal, 144 ; 
 death, 236 
 
 Brassey, Thomas Allnutt, 2nd Earl, 
 I ; characteristics, i, 8, 13, 27, 
 43. 125, 148, 234, 240-244 ; 
 grandfather, 5-8 ; parents, 8, 13 ; 
 advice from his father, 10-13, 
 39 ; at Ascham House School, 
 14-17 ; birth, 18 ; voyage in the 
 Sunbeam, 20 ; at Eton, 21-28 ; 
 extracts from his diary, 23-25, 
 48-50, 83, 87, 101-107, 189-198 ; 
 reports, 25 ; rowing, 26, 32 ; 
 elected to Pop, 27 ; at Paris, 
 28 ; Balliol College, Oxford, 29- 
 41 ; sports, 32, 33, 36, 40, 82, 
 
 ~ 238 ; Member of the Dervorguilla 
 Club, 32 ; cutter, the Norman, 
 33 ; coming of age, celebrations, 
 33 ; at Attadale, 34 ; awarded 
 the Royal Humane Society's 
 Medal, 35 ; wins the Mile Race, 
 36, 40 ; at Birkenhead, 38 ; 
 second in History, 39 ; tributes 
 to, 42, 81, 125, 130, 136, 141, 
 241 ; " Sixteen Months' Travel," 
 45 ; hunting in the Rockies, 45- 
 47. 59 ; at Michigan, 47, 95 ; 
 tour in America, 49 ; " Eighteen 
 Months' Travel," 50 ; rows in a 
 race at Colombo, 50-52 ; on the 
 government of India, 52-55 ; 
 tour in Australia, 55-58 ; mar- 
 riage, 58 ; in Italy, 59 ; attack 
 of typhoid, 59 ; secretary to 
 Lord Spencer, 59 ; editor of the 
 " Naval Annual," 59-61, 66, 205, 
 208, 247-249 ; work for the 
 Naval Volunteer Home Defence 
 Association, 61-63 Member of 
 the Company of Shipwrights, 67 ; 
 on the need of a reorganisation 
 of the political system, 68 ; 
 Member of the Committee on 
 Devolution, 68, 231-233 ; views 
 on the Irish question, 69, 213-218, 
 222, 224-227 ; " Problems of 
 Empire," 70-76 ; Member of the 
 Statistical Society, 76 ; candidate 
 for Epsom. 78-81 ; election ad- 
 dresses, 78, 107, 143, 175-177.;
 
 INDEX 
 
 249 
 
 political views, 78, 89-93, 166- 
 177 ; character of his speeches, 
 79, 91 ; deer-stalking, 82-86 ; 
 stalks "Wild Ben," 83; Secre- 
 tary of the Opium Commission, 
 86 ; at Colombo, 86 ; Vice- 
 President of the Royal Colonial 
 Institute, 88 ; candidate for 
 Christchurch, 89, 91-93, 107 ; 
 Imperialism, 89 ; on Disestablish- 
 ment of the Church in Wales, 
 92 ; interest in the work of 
 Oxford House, 94 ; tour round 
 the world, 95 ; interest in social 
 reforms, 95, 142 ; memorandum 
 on South Africa, 96-99 ; Captain 
 of the West Kent Yeomanry, 99 ; 
 raises a company of Yeomanry, 
 99 ; diary of the South African 
 War, 101-107 ; at the battle of 
 Diamond Hill, 105 ; Civil Com- 
 missioner of Pretoria, 107 ; return 
 to England, 107 ; visits to 
 Sardinia, 112, 118; management 
 of the mines, 114-124 ; relations 
 with his workmen, 116-119; 
 President of the Circolo Ope- 
 raio, 119; interview with the 
 Bishop of Cagliari, 120 ; scheme 
 of afforestation, 124 ; Order of 
 the Crown of Italy conferred, 
 125 ; on the Board of the Powell 
 Duffryn Coal Co., 126 ; system 
 of profit-sharing, 126, 142, 250 
 252 ; studies international bank- 
 ing, 128 ; at a Mining Congress 
 in Rome, 130, 193 ; attachment 
 to Balliol College, 132 ; elected 
 to an Honorary Fellowship, 133 ; 
 insertion of his name in the 
 Bidding Prayer, 133 ; Trustee 
 of the Balliol College Endowment 
 Fund, 135 ; memorandum on the 
 Oxford University Appeal, 138 ; 
 gifts to the Bodleian, 139, 140 ; 
 D.C.L. conferred, 140 ; Vice- 
 President of the Labour Co- 
 partnership Association, 142 ; 
 candidate for Devonport, 143 ; 
 at Montreal, 144 ; Chairman of 
 the Federal Union Committee, 
 144 ; " Steps to Imperial Federa- 
 tion," 145 ; interest in Church 
 questions, 148-161 ; letter to the 
 Editor of the Westminster Gazette, 
 151 ; Chairman of the Chichester 
 Finance Committee, 153 ; of the 
 Diocesan Finance Board, 155 ; 
 " Statement of Needs," 159 ; 
 letters to the Archbishop of 
 
 Canterbury, 161-163 ' joins the 
 Tories, 167 ; Tariff Reform, 168 ; 
 correspondence with J. Chamber- 
 lain, 170-172 ; withdraws from 
 the Liberal Party, 173 ; candidate 
 for Rye, 173 ; addresses on the 
 Irish Reform Association, 177 ; 
 tour in Egypt, 178; Mayor of 
 Bexhill, 178 ; gifts to Hastings, 
 179 ; President of Eversfield 
 Chest Hospital, 179 ; Master of 
 Hounds, 1 80 ; retires from the 
 Command of the West Kent 
 Yeomanry, 181 ; farewell order, 
 182 ; in Command of the 2/1 
 West Kent Yeomanry, 185 ; 
 relations with the officers and 
 men, 186 ; Liaison officer at 
 Rome, 188-199 ; at Rome, 190- 
 198 ; declines the post of 
 A.D.G.T., 198; letters on the 
 War, 200-209 ; Member of the 
 British Italian Commercial Asso- 
 ciation, 209 ; work of developing 
 Italian trade, 209 ; Knight of 
 Justice of St. John of Jerusalem 
 211 ; draft scheme of Federalism, 
 220 ; on the Labour unrest, 227. 
 229 ; opposes nationalisation of 
 mines, 230 ; in the House of 
 Lords, 234 ; manifold duties, 
 235 ; accident, 235 ; death, 236 ; 
 gifts, 236 ; physical powers, 237 ; 
 love of natural beauty, 239 ; 
 music, 240 ; keen sense of 
 humour, 240 ; hospitality, 242 ; 
 religious views, 242 ; friends, 
 243 ; funeral, 244 
 
 Brearley, S., Member of the Dervor- 
 guilla Club, 32 
 
 Bresci, Hamon de, 4 
 
 Brescy, John de, 3 
 
 Brescy, William de, 3 
 
 Bressie Green, 3 
 
 Bressy, Robert, 3 
 
 Bridge, Admiral Sir Cyprian, 
 66 
 
 Briggs, General, 184 
 
 Brighton, meeting at, 62 ; Diocesan 
 Church House at, 156 
 
 Brindey, Judge, 58 
 
 Brindisi, 86 
 
 British Italian Commercial Associa- 
 tion, 209 
 
 Brookfield College, 100 
 
 Broomham, 94 
 
 Brown, J. C., 49 
 
 Brown, Stewart, 48 
 
 Bruno, Marchese Faa di, letter 
 from T.A.B., 209
 
 250 
 
 Bucknill, Mr., candidate for Epsom, 
 
 80 ; elected, 81 
 Bulkeley, 2, 3, 4 
 Bulkeley, Roger de, 4 
 Burlington House, meeting at, 139 
 Burge, Dr., Bishop of Southwark, 
 
 Member of the Central Church 
 
 Fund Committee, 159 
 Burpham woods, 183 
 Butler, Lady Rachel, marriage, 244 
 Butser, 18 
 Buxton, R. V., 182 
 Buxton, Sydney, 78 
 
 CAGLIARI, 113; Bishop of, inter- 
 view with T.A.B., 120 
 
 Cairo, 178 
 
 Callao, docks, 7 
 
 Calveley, Sir George, 4 
 
 Camden, Lord, 181 
 
 Campbell, A. C., anecdote of 
 T.A.B., 237 
 
 Campbell-Bannerman, Sir Henry, 
 views on Imperialism, 166 
 
 Canada, 50, 144 ; Federal Govern- 
 ment, 71, 72 ; Grand Trunk 
 Railway of, 6 
 
 Canford, 36 
 
 Canterbury, Archbishop of, at Bur- 
 lington House, 139 ; letters from 
 T.A.B., 161-163 
 
 Capetown, 96, 101 
 
 Capital and Labour, relations be- 
 tween, 142 
 
 Carisbrooke Castle, 100 
 
 Carloforte, 196, 202 
 
 Carrington, Lord, 57 
 
 Carson, Sir E., 212 ; letter from 
 T.A.B., 225 
 
 Cartwright, Mr., 223 
 
 Casaubon, Alexandre, letter from, 
 28 ; at Attadale, 34 
 
 Catsfield, 95, 244 
 
 Cave, H. W., Member of the 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 
 Cecil, Evelyn, 211 
 
 Cerei, Admiral, 192 
 
 Cermenati, Hon., tribute to T.A.B., 
 130 
 
 Cessmonet, M., 193 
 
 Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. J., fiscal 
 proposals, 145 ; Secretary of 
 State for the Colonies, 167 ; 
 policy of Imperial Preference, 
 1 68, 170 ; resignation, 168 ; 
 correspondence with T.A.B., 170- 
 172 ; speech at Birmingham, 173 
 
 Chambery, 178 
 
 Chamonix, 238 
 
 ^ 
 
 Chauctonbury, 18 
 
 Charnwood, Lord, 68 ; on the 
 Federal Solution, 215, 217 ; Mem- 
 ber of the Devolution Conference, 
 231 (see also Benson, G. R.) 
 
 Charsley, W. R., rows in a race at 
 Colombo, 50-52 
 
 Chatham, 21 
 
 Cheam, meeting at, 79 
 
 Cherbourg-Milan-Taranto route, 188 
 
 Chester, 2, 38 
 
 Chicago, 49 
 
 Chichester, Diocesan Association, 
 153 ; Finance Committee, 153, 
 
 155 
 
 Chichester, Lord, 153 
 
 Child Labour, in factories, 80 
 
 Chitty, H., letter from, 30 ; Member 
 of the Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 
 Cholmondeley, Lady, 4 
 
 Christchurch election, 69, 89, 91, 
 107 ; result, 93, 108 
 
 Christie, H. A., 182 
 
 Church of England, finance, 147- 
 149 ; augmentation of benefices, 
 149 ; the Central Fund, 151, 
 157 ; constituted, 158 ; state- 
 ment of needs, 159 ; result of the 
 Appeal, 1 60, 163 
 
 Churchill, Lord and Lady Randolph, 
 at Attadale, 34 
 
 Civita Vecchia, 113 
 
 Clanmorris, Lord and Lady, 24 
 
 Clifton-Brown, Col. H., 181 ; letter 
 from T.A.B., 182 
 
 Clunie forest, 82 
 
 Coal miners' wages, 229 
 
 Coal Mines, result of nationalisa- 
 tion, 230 
 
 Coalition Government, 228 
 
 Cochrane, Major, 103 
 
 Cohen, B. H., Member of the 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 
 Coire Faroch, 83 ; Micdhe, 83 ; 
 Van, 83 
 
 Collinson, E. de L., runs in the 
 One-Mile Race, 37 
 
 Colomb, Admiral, 61 
 
 Colombo, 86 ; race at, 51 
 
 Committee, Chairman of a, letter 
 from T.A.B., 164 
 
 Combe, Harvey, Member of the 
 Committee on Augmentation of 
 Benefices, 149 
 
 Combe, Mrs. Harvey, letter from 
 T.A.B., 56 
 
 Compton, Earl, at Epsom, 78 
 
 Coney Island, 49 
 
 " Coomanchee," 45 
 
 Corbett, Vincent, 15
 
 INDEX 
 
 251 
 
 Corrour forest, 82 
 
 Corsair, the, 49 
 
 Cotopaxi, the, 21 
 
 Cottenham, Lady, 83 
 
 Coulthard, C. R., 20 
 
 Courthope, George 153 
 
 Major G. L., 69 ; elected M.P. 
 
 for Rye, 177 
 Cowes, 21 
 Cox, G. H., Member of the Federal 
 
 Union Committee, 144 
 Craigie, Major P. G., President of 
 
 the Royal Statistical Society, 145 
 Crawford, Mr., at Epsom, 78 
 Cross, F. J. K., runs in the Mile 
 
 Race, 40 
 Cubitt, B. B., at Balliol College, 
 
 32 ; M.P. for Epsom, resignation, 
 
 80 ; letter to T.A.B., 199 
 Cull, Mr., 51 
 Culme-Seymour, Admiral Sir 
 
 Michael, 66, 82 
 Currie, Capt., 88 
 Curzon, Lord, Chancellor of Oxford 
 
 University, 139 ; at Burlington 
 
 House, 139 ; letters from T.A.B., 
 
 203, 215 
 
 Daily Chronicle, the, 143 
 
 Daily Mail, the, 205 
 
 Dalnacardoch forest, 82 
 
 Damfino, 50 
 
 Danvers, J. F., Member of the 
 
 Committee on Augmentation of 
 
 Benefices, 149 
 Davenport, W. B., Member of the 
 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 Dawbarn, A. Y., runs in the Three- 
 Mile Race, 37 
 Dawkins, Sir Clinton, Trustee of 
 
 the Balliol College Endowment 
 
 Fund, 135 
 Dawson, Geoffrey, letter from 
 
 T.A.B., 202 
 De Aar, 101 
 Deakin, A., 57 
 Defiance, the, 23 
 Delphic, the, 100 
 Deniliquin, 57 
 Derby, Lord, 203 
 Dervorguilla Club, members, 32 
 Dervorguilla, Princess, 32, 133 
 Detroit, 50 
 Devitt, Sir Thomas L., 63 ; letter 
 
 from, 64-66 
 Devolution, system of, 144, 166, 
 
 219, 226, 228 ; Committee on, 
 
 68 ; Conference, 231-233 
 Devonport election, 69, 143 ; result, 
 
 143 
 
 Diamond Hill, Battle of, 104 
 
 Diocesan Church House, at Brigh- 
 ton, 156 ; Conference of 1912, 154 
 
 Diplomatic Service, attack on the, 
 206 
 
 Dodd, Mr., 98 
 
 Douglas, A., runs in the Three-Mile 
 Race, 37 
 
 Dovey, the, 6 
 
 Drake, Sir Francis, 18 
 
 Dreadnought, the, 24, 28 
 
 Dugdale, Sir William, Visitation, 4 
 
 Dunraven, Lord, 72, 177 
 
 Eastbourne Chronicle, the, 161 
 
 Ecclesiastical Commissioners, work 
 of the, 150 
 
 Economic Branch of the British 
 Italian League, 209 
 
 Edward I., King, 3 
 
 Edward III., King, 3 
 
 Edwards, 239 
 
 Egerton, Charles A., 8 ; engage- 
 ment, 33 ; Master of the Hounds, 
 180, 238 
 
 Egerton, Edward, marriage, 244 ; 
 death, 244 
 
 Egerton, Hugh, 3 
 
 Egerton, John, 3 
 
 Egerton, Lady Mabelle, sails for 
 South Africa, 100 
 
 Egypt, 178, 229 
 
 " Eighteen Months' Travel," 50 
 
 Election, General, of 1885, 77 ; of 
 1886, 77 ; of 1892, 77 
 
 Elk, herd of, 46 
 
 Employers and Employed, Associa- 
 tion of, 142 
 
 England, Home Rule for, 215, 216 
 
 Epsom, election, 69, 78-81 ; meet- 
 ing at, 78 
 
 Eridge, 58 ; Castle, 239 
 
 Etchingham Church, 18 
 
 Eton, 21 
 
 Eton and Harrow match, 24 
 
 " Eton College Chronicle," extracts 
 from, 27 
 
 Eve, Sir H. Trustram, appeal for 
 the Central Church Fund, 158 
 
 Evening Standard, the, 206 
 
 Eversfield Chest Hospital, 179 
 
 Ewart, Mr., Secretary of the 
 Colombo R. C., 51 
 
 Eyncourt, Sir Eustace Tennyson d', 
 66 
 
 FARRER, W., Member of the Der- 
 vorguilla Club, 32 
 Fayum, 178
 
 252 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Federal Union Committee, mem- 
 bers, 144 ; meetings, 144-146 
 Federalism, 166, 212, 219 ; draft 
 
 scheme of, 220 
 
 Ferguson, Munro, at Epsom, 78 
 Fiastri, Major-General, 188, 194, 
 
 197 
 
 Field, R., wounded, 197 
 Field, the, extract from, 238 
 Finance, Central Board of, 156, 157 
 " Finance of Federal Government 
 
 for the United Kingdom," 145 
 Forbes, W. H., Member of the 
 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 Ford, General, letter to T.A.B., 188 
 Forwood, Mr., naval policy, 82 
 Foyle, Loch, 17 
 Fradd, Martin, Member of the 
 
 Federal Union Committee, 144 
 France, construction of railways, 6 
 Frewen, Colonel, 173 
 Frewer, Rev. G. E., letter from 
 
 T.A.B., 96 
 
 Friendly Society, at Catsfield, 95 
 Futtyghur, Mahommedan College 
 at, 54 
 
 GAINFORD, Lord, 231 
 
 Garvin, Mr., 223 
 
 Gathorne-Hardy, Colonel, 239 
 
 Geddes, Sir Eric, 189 
 
 Cell, P. L., Member of the Balliol 
 
 College Committee, 135 
 Gennamari-Ingurtosu mine, 114 
 
 124 
 
 Genoa, 190, 238 
 German submarine menace, 187, 
 
 203, 205 
 Giffen, Sir Robert, Fellow of the 
 
 Royal Statistical Society, 145 
 Gillies, Mr., Premier of Victoria, 57 
 Gilzean-Reid, Sir H., Member of the 
 
 Federal Union Committee, 144 
 Ginestra, Villa, 113 
 Ginsburg, Dr. B. W., Fellow of the 
 
 Royal Statistical Society, 145 
 " Giornale d'ltalia," Editor of the, 
 
 letter from T.A.B., 204 
 Gladstone, Sir Robert, 62 
 Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W. E., Prime 
 
 Minister, 77 ; policy, 98 
 Glen Doll forest, 82 
 Glenelg, 57 
 Glenfernate forest, 82 
 Golfo Aranci, 113 
 Gordon, Adam Lindsay, " The Sick 
 
 Stockrider," 241 
 Gordon, H., runs in the One-Mile 
 
 Race, 37 
 
 Goschen, Lord, 138 
 
 Government Departments, expendi- 
 ture, 208 ; number, 224 
 
 Granet, Sir Guy, 189 ; letter from 
 T.A.B., 198 
 
 Grant, L. J., Member of the Der- 
 vorguilla Club, 32 
 
 Grey, General, 194, 196 
 
 Grey, Lord, 222 ; at Balliol College, 
 
 32 
 
 Grierson, Colonel, 185 
 Griffith-Boscawen, Sir A., Member 
 
 of the Central Church Fund 
 
 Committee, 159 
 Grootvlei, 102 
 Guthrie, Edwin, Member of the 
 
 Federal Union Committee, 144 
 
 HACHISUKA, Mr., 16 
 Haig, Sir Douglas, at Balliol Col- 
 lege, 32 ; friendship with T.A.B.. 
 
 243 
 
 Haldane, Mr., at Epsom, 78 
 Hall, A., Member of the Balliol 
 
 College Committee, 135 
 Hall, B. T., Member of the Federal 
 
 Union Committee, 144 
 Hamilton, General Bruce, 106 
 Hamilton, Lord George, naval 
 
 policy, 82 
 Hamilton, General Ian, at the Vaal, 
 
 102 
 
 Hampstead Garden Suburb, 142 
 Hannen, Hon. H., at Eton, 24, 27 ; 
 
 at the wedding of T.A.B., 58 
 Harbinger, the, 64, 65 
 Harcourt, L., 36 
 Hardwicke Society, meeting, 145 
 Hardy, Laurence, 218 
 Harvey, Mrs., 88 
 Hastings, 149 ; elections, 9, 76 ; 
 
 meetings, 62, 221 ; gifts to, 179 
 Havilland, R. S. de, 26 
 Hawaii, 14 
 Hawkins, Anthony Hope, at Balliol 
 
 College, 32 ; Member of the 
 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 Hazen, Sir John Douglas, letter 
 
 from T.A.B., 221 
 Headlam, Dr., Regius Professor of 
 
 Divinity, tribute to T.A.B., 141 
 Healy, Mr., 215 
 
 Helena Victoria, H. H. Princess, 211 
 Henry VII., King, 3 
 Henry, Colonel, in Command of the 
 
 Mounted Infantry Brigade, 104, 
 
 105 
 
 Herald, the, 223 
 Heberden, C. B., Principal of
 
 INDEX 
 
 253 
 
 Brasenose, memorial to T.A.B., 
 141 
 
 Herschell, Lord, at Epsom, 78 
 
 Heseltine, Christopher, 189 
 
 Hesperus, the, 64, 65 
 
 Hills, John, Member of the Com- 
 mittee on Devolution, 68 
 
 Hofmeyr, Mr., letter from T.A.B., 
 98 
 
 Holfontein, 102 
 
 Holland, Bernard, Fellow of the 
 Royal Statistical Society, 145, 
 218 
 
 Holland, E. R., runs in the One- 
 Mile Race, 37, 38 
 
 Home Rule All Round, policy of, 
 
 143 
 Home Rule Bill, Ireland, 77, 212- 
 
 218, 222, 224-227 
 Hounslow, 185 
 House, Colonel, 88 
 Hubner, Baron, 55 
 Hull, meeting at, 62 
 Huth, Frederick, and Co., 128 
 Hythe, Viscount, 153. See Brassey 
 
 ILBERT Bill, 52 
 
 Imperial Federation, 90, 238 ; 
 League, 68, 71 
 
 Inchcape, Lord, letter from T.A.B., 
 207 
 
 India, construction of railways, 6 ; 
 government of, 52-55 
 
 " Industrial Unrest and the Reme- 
 dies," 142 
 
 Ingram, Rev. A. F. W., Head of 
 the Oxford House, 94 
 
 Ingram, F. M., runs in the Three- 
 Mile Race, 37 
 
 Ingurtosu mine, 113, 117 
 
 lonides, C. A., Member of the 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 
 Ipswich, meeting at, 144 
 
 Ireland, 69 ; Civil War, 212 ; 
 Home Rule Bill, 212-218, 222, 
 224-227 ; Land Bill, 145, 146 
 
 Irish Question, n, 69, 73 ; Reform 
 Association, 177 
 
 Isonzo, the, 204 
 
 Italy, 59 ; policy in the war, 129, 
 204 
 
 " J ACKER," 32, 36 
 
 Jacks, Dr. W. L., Member of the 
 
 Federal Union Committee, 144 
 Jackson, Rt. Hon. F. Huth, 128, 
 
 218 ; at Balliol College, 32 ; 
 
 President of the Employers and 
 
 Employed, 142 
 
 James, M., report on T.A.B., 25 
 Jamestown, 104 
 Jellicoe, Admiral Lord, 66 
 Johannesburg, 97 ; Reform move- 
 ment, 97 ; capture of, 101 
 Joicey, Lord, Member of the Central 
 
 Church Fund Committee, 159 
 Jones, Professor Henry, Member of 
 
 the Federal Union Committee, 
 
 144 
 
 Jowett, Benjamin, 31 
 Julius, V. A., rows in a race at 
 
 Colombo, 50-52 
 
 KERR, Admiral Mark, 190 
 
 Khartum, 178 
 
 Kindred, the boatswain, 21 
 
 King, B., Member of the Dervor- 
 guilla Club, 32 
 
 King, W. J., runs in the Three-Mile 
 Race, 37 
 
 Kintore, Lord, 229 
 
 Kitchener's Horse, at Grootvlei, 102 
 
 Klip River, 104 
 
 Kronstadt, 102 
 
 LABOUR and Capital, relations be- 
 tween, 142 
 Labour Co-partnership Association, 
 
 142 ; unrest, 227 
 La Dhuille, 238 
 Lady Brassey, the, 62 
 Lahore, Chiefs' College at, 54 
 Lamb, Mrs., 190 
 Lambert, Signer, death, 119 
 Lament, Norman, Member of the 
 
 Federal Union Committee, 144 
 Lang, Cosmo Gordon, Archbishop 
 
 of York, 222 ; at Balliol College, 
 
 32 ; letter from, 41 ; tribute to 
 
 T.A.B., 42 ; anecdote of him, 85 
 Lansbury, George, Editor of the 
 
 Herald, 223 ; letter from T.A.B., 
 
 227 
 Lansdowne, Lord, letters from 
 
 T.A.B., 137, 213, 218, 220 
 Laramic, 50 
 Lavie, C. J., runs in the One-Mile 
 
 Race, 37 
 Law, Rt. Hon. Bonar, letters from 
 
 T.A.B., 205, 208 ; on the House 
 
 of Commons, 213, 216 
 Lawrence, Sir W., Member of the 
 
 Balliol College Committee, 135 
 Lawson, H. L. W., Member of the 
 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32
 
 254 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Lawson, S. E., letter from, 47 
 
 Lawson, Mr., 4 
 
 Leghorn, 113 
 
 Le Sage, M.. 28 
 
 Letchworth Garden City, 142 
 
 Letterewe forest, 82, 85 
 
 Leuwkop, 104 
 
 Leyland, John, letter from T.A.B., 
 
 206 
 Liberal Party, views on Federalism, 
 
 167 
 Liberal Unionist Organisation, 170, 
 
 172 
 
 Libyan Desert, 178 
 Liege, capture of, 130 
 Liesching, L. O., rows in a race at 
 
 Colombo, 50-52 
 Liverpool, meeting at, 144 
 Liverpool Mercury, the, extract 
 
 from, 62 
 Loch Carron, 35 
 Loch-na-Shellag, 86 
 Locke, Joseph, 6 
 
 Lockie, J., elected M.P. for Devon- 
 port, 143 
 Loder, G., rows in a race at 
 
 Colombo, 50-52 
 London Chamber of Commerce, 
 
 meeting, 142 
 
 Lords, House of, reform, 73 
 Lubbock, C. N., Member of the 
 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 Lubbock, Harold, at Rome, 195 
 Lucerne, 86 
 Luxor, 178 
 Lyall, Sir Alfred, 54 
 
 MACAN, Reginald W., Master of 
 University, memorial to T.A.B., 
 141 
 
 Macdonald, Colonel, 189 
 
 Macdonald, J. A. Murray, 68 ; 
 Member of the Federal Union 
 Committee, 144 ; at Manchester, 
 144 ; on the Federal Solution, 
 215, 217 ; letter from T.A.B., 
 222 ; Member of the Devolution 
 Conference, 231 
 
 Machynlleth, 6 
 
 Mahommedans, the, 54 
 
 Maid stone, 185 
 
 Maitland, W. F., at Epsom, 78 
 
 Malan, Mr., 103 
 
 Malbank, William, Baron of Nant- 
 wich, 3 
 
 Mallet, C. E., Member of the 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 
 Manchester, meeting at, 144 
 
 Manchester Unity of Oddfellows, 95 
 
 Manchester Guardian, extract from, 
 1 66 
 
 Mann, Tom, 80 
 
 Manning, Henry, 153 
 
 Maoll an Armuich, 83 
 
 Marne, victory of the, 204 
 
 Marquette, 48, 95 
 
 Marshall, J. H. A., runs in the 
 Three-Mile Race, 37 
 
 Marshall, W. A., runs in the Three- 
 Mile Race, 37 
 
 Marsham, Cloudesley H. B., 181 ; 
 at Rome, 195 
 
 Maude, Colonel, 197 
 
 Maudslay, Mr., 24 
 
 Mayfair, cartoon by " Pip," 242 
 
 Mayflower, the, 49 
 
 Me Arthur, Mr., at Epsom, 78 
 
 McLean, Douglas H., at Balliol 
 College, 32 ; rows in a race at 
 Colombo, 50-52 ; correspondence 
 with T.A.B., 57, 109; at the 
 Vaal, 103 ; death, no 
 
 McNeill, Ronald, 233 
 
 Melbourne, 56, 95 
 
 Memphis, 178 
 
 Messina, 178 
 
 Meston, Sir James, at Rome, 191 
 
 Meteor, the, 9, 13, 44 
 
 Michigan estate, 18, 47, 48, 95 
 
 Michigamme river, 48 
 
 Miers, Professor Henry, Vice-Chan- 
 cellor of Manchester University, 
 138 ; memorial to T.A.B., 141 
 
 Milan, 86 
 
 Milner, Lord, 187 ; on the Balliol 
 Fund, 136 ; at Burlington House, 
 139; letter from T.A.B., 222; 
 friendship with him, 243 
 
 Mining Congress, at Rome, 130, 
 
 193 
 
 Mirzapore, the, 50 
 MitcheU-Innes, E. A., at Balliol 
 
 College, 32 
 Modane, 178, 190 
 Mont Blanc, 238 
 Mont Cenis, railway, 6 
 Montreal, Congress of the Chambers 
 
 of Commerce of the Empire, 144 
 Morgan, Colonel, 196 
 Morley, Lord, " Life of Gladstone," 
 
 171 
 Morpeth, Viscount, Trustee of the 
 
 Balliol College Endowment Fund, 
 
 135 
 
 Mortlock, Edward, Member of the 
 Committee on Augmentation of 
 Benefices, 149 
 
 Munitions Department, administra- 
 tion, 208
 
 INDEX 
 
 255 
 
 Munro, H. A., runs in the Three- 
 Mile Race, 37 
 Murray, Lady Helen, 8 
 Murray, Lieut.-Colonel John, 8 
 Myddleton, Foulk, 239, 243 
 
 " NACADA Works," 7 
 
 Napier, Colonel, at Attadale, 34 
 
 Naples, 178 
 
 Nathan, Sir Matthew, 218 
 
 National Assembly, 148 ; meeting, 
 
 1 60 
 Naval Architects' Annual Meeting, 
 
 206, 207 
 " Naval Annual," 59-61, 190, 205, 
 
 208, 229, 247-249 
 Naval Volunteer Home Defence 
 
 Association, 61 
 Navy, training of seamen, 63 
 Nevill, Lady Idina, marriage, 58. 
 
 See Brassey. 
 Nevill, R. E., runs in the One-Mile 
 
 Race, 37 
 
 Nevill, Lord William, marriage, 59 
 Neville, Admiral, 196 
 Neville, Flag-Lieut., 196 
 New York, 49 
 Newcastle, meeting at, 62 
 Nineteenth Century, the, 55 
 Nixon, Captain, 182, 183 
 Norfolk, Duke of, joins the 6gth 
 
 Sussex Co. of Imperial Yeomanry, 
 
 loo, 101 ; letters from, 100, 120 ; 
 
 at Kronstadt, 102 
 Norman, the, 12, 33, 36, 38 
 Normanhurst, 17, 18, 33, 36, 227, 
 
 239 ; hospital, 210 ; meet at, 238 
 Normanhurst, Head Gardener, letter 
 
 from T.A.B., 200 
 
 O'BRIEN, William, letter from 
 
 T.A.B., 214 
 Observer, the, 223 
 Old Age Pensions, 95 
 Oliver, F. S., or " Pacificus," 213 
 Omdurman, 178 
 Omnibus conductors, strike, So 
 Opium Commission, 86 
 Orange Grove, 104 ; River, 101 
 Ormonde, Marquis of, 244 
 Osier, William, Regius Professor of 
 
 Medicine, 138 ; memorial to 
 
 T.A.B., 141 
 Otter, Bishop, founds the Chichester 
 
 Diocesan Association, 153 
 Overseas Officers, Club, 211 
 Owen, E. C. E., Member of the 
 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 
 Oxford, Conference of Graduates, 
 
 145 ; meeting at, 221 
 Oxford House, work in the East 
 
 End, 79, 94 
 
 Oxford Union, debate at the, 145 
 Oxford University, 29 ; appeal for 
 
 funds, 137-140 ; the Bodleian 
 
 Library, 139, 140 
 Oxford University Magazine, extract 
 
 from, 36 
 
 " PACIFICUS," extract from, 174 
 
 Pall Mall, the, 35 
 
 Palladini, 191, 192 
 
 Pan- Anglican Congress of 1910, 150 
 
 Pangbourne, Naval College at, 67 
 
 Papillon, Pelham, 114, 118; Mem- 
 ber of the Committee on Augmen- 
 tation of Benefices, 149 
 
 Paravicini, F. de, letter from, 38 
 
 Paris, 24, 28, 178 
 
 Parishes, Assessment of, 154 
 
 Park Gate, 210, 239 
 
 Park Lane, house in, lent to the 
 Y.M.C.A., 211 
 
 Parkin, G. R., at the Royal Colonial 
 Institute, 145 
 
 Parliament, dissolved, 77 
 
 Paton, J. A., Deputy-Mayor of 
 Bexhill, 178 
 
 Pease, A., at Epsom, 78 
 
 Peel, George, at Rome, 198 
 
 Peel, Lord, Chairman of the Balliol 
 College Committee, 135 
 
 Peloggio, A., 117, 190 ; letter from, 
 130 
 
 Pember, F. W. Member of the 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 
 Pemberton, J. S., rows in a race at 
 Colombo, 50-52 ; tour in Austra- 
 lia, 56 
 
 Pertusola mine, 115-124 
 
 Petit St. Bernard, 238 
 
 Peto and Betts, Messrs., 6 
 
 Pevensey, 19 
 
 Pipon, Flag Commander of the 
 Queen, 191 
 
 Plunkett, Sir H., letter from 
 T.A.B., 224 
 
 Plymouth, Lord, President of the 
 Economic Branch of the British 
 Italian League, 209 
 
 Poe, Colonel Sir W. Hutcheson, 178 
 
 Ponsonby, C. E., 181 
 
 Port Adelaide, 58 
 
 Port Darwin, 14 
 
 Port Said, 86, 178 
 
 Portman, H. B., Member of the
 
 256 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Central Church Fund Committee, 
 
 159 
 
 Portsmouth, 36 
 Possingworth, 128 
 Pott, Major, 183 
 Powell Duffryn Coal Company, 126, 
 
 230 
 
 Pretoria, 106 ; capture of, 101 
 Priscilla, the, 49 
 " Problems of Empire," 70-76 
 Profit-Sharing, system of, 126, 250- 
 
 252 
 Puritan, the, 49 
 
 Queen, the, 190, 191 
 Queensland, 55 
 Queenstown, 50 
 
 RADICAL Party, policy, 167 
 
 Railway, the Great Northern, 6 
 
 Railways, construction of, 6 
 
 Raitt, Mr., 97, 98 
 
 Rawlins, 50 
 
 Rayneri, M., 193 
 
 Rea, Russell, at Liverpool, 144 
 
 Reid, Mr., at Epsom, 78 
 
 Reiss, C. A., Trustee of the Balliol 
 
 College Endowment Fund, 135 
 Repington, Colonel, letter from 
 
 T.A.B., 200 
 Rhenoster, 102 
 Richardson, W. K., Member of the 
 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 Ridgeway, C. J., Bishop of Chiches- 
 
 ter, 152 ; organisation of his 
 
 diocese, 153 
 Ridley, Hon. M., Member of the 
 
 Balliol College Committee, 135 
 Rio, 21 
 
 Ripon, Lord, policy in India, 52 
 Roberts, Lord, at Kronstadt, 102 ; 
 
 Taaishbosch Spruit, 103 
 Robertson, Duncan, Head Stalker 
 
 at Corrour, 84 
 Rockies, the, 45, 59 
 Rodd, Lady, 193, 196 
 Rodd, Sir Rennell, 8, 191, 209 
 Rome, 178 ; Mining Congress, 130, 
 
 193 ; International Parliamentary 
 
 Conference, 191 
 
 Roscoe, Sir Henry, at Epsom, 78 
 Rosebery, Lord, 68, 71 ; at Epsom, 
 
 78 ; tribute to T.A.B., 81 ; defeat 
 
 of his Ministry, 89 ; letter to 
 
 T.A.B., 169 
 Rowing Club Dinner, at Hastings, 
 
 36 
 Royal Colonial Institute, 88, 145 
 
 Royal Humane Society, Medal, 35 
 Royal Statistical Society, meeting, 
 
 145 
 
 Ruggles-Brise, Harold, at Balliol 
 College, 32 ; Member of the 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 ; at Atta- 
 dale, 34 ; Normanhurst, 36 
 
 Runciman, Rt. Hon. Sir Walter, 
 letters from T.A.B., 127, 226 
 
 Runcorn Viaduct, 7 
 
 Russell, Sir Charles, i ; tribute to 
 T.A.B., 81 
 
 Russia, policy, 203 
 
 Rycroft, A. R. H., 181 
 
 Rye, 1 8 ; election, 69, 173 
 
 S A BINE Hills, 190, 194 
 
 Sackville, Lord, 218 
 
 Sailing vessels, diminution of the 
 number, 63 
 
 St. John's Ambulance, 211 
 
 St. Lawrence, the, 6 ; Victoria 
 Bridge, 7, 144 
 
 St. Leonards, 149 
 
 Salis, Count de, 196 
 
 Salisbury, 3rd Marquis of, Prime 
 Minister, 77 ; resignation, 77 ; 
 resumes office, 77 
 
 Salisbury, 4th Marquis of, Member 
 of the Central Church Fund 
 Committee, 159 ; correspondence 
 withT.A.B., 219, 229 
 
 Salso Maggiore, 237 
 
 San Gavino, 113 
 
 Sarampore, Jute Mill at, 87 
 
 Sardinia, 112-115; mines, 18 ; 
 system of management, 114-124, 
 250 ; character of the people, 
 116 ; strike of workmen, 130 
 
 Sault Ste. Marie, 144 
 
 Scron Loch, 83 
 
 Seely, Colonel, 184 
 
 Selborne, Lord, 213 ; Member of 
 the Central Church Fund Com- 
 mittee, 159; at the National 
 Assembly, 160 ; letters from 
 T.A.B., 216, 228, 233 
 
 Shanks, Mr., 97 
 
 Shaw. W. H., Member of the 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 
 Sheehan, Mr., 214 
 
 Shields, meeting at, 62 
 
 Shipping Controller of the Admir- 
 alty, 206-208 
 
 Shorncliffe, 100 
 
 Simpson, R. C., 181 
 
 Sinha, Sir S., at Rome, 191 
 
 " Sixteen Months' Travel," 45 
 
 Slanerds, Mr., 87
 
 INDEX 
 
 257 
 
 Smaldeel, 101 
 
 Smith, A. H., elected M.P. for 
 
 Christchurch, 93 
 Smith, A. L., Master of Balliol, 31, 
 
 J 37. 138 ' memorial to T.A.B., 
 
 141 
 
 Smith, F. E. J., runs in the One- 
 Mile Race, 37, 38 
 Smith, R. L., Member of the 
 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 Sowerby Bridge, meeting at, 144 
 Spencer, Lord, 59 
 
 Spender, J. A., at Balliol College, 32 
 Spezia, shipyard and smelting works 
 
 at, 18, 115, 238 
 Springfontein, 101 
 Stanton, C. B., letter from T.A.B., 
 
 229 
 
 Statistical Society, 76 
 Steel-Maitland, Sir Arthur, 209 ; 
 
 letter from T.A.B., 201 
 Stepney, Bishop of, on the Oxford 
 
 University scheme, 1 38. See Lang 
 
 C. G. 
 " Steps to Imperial Federation," 
 
 145 
 
 Steward, B. t 181 
 
 Stewart, C. J., Public Trustee, 218 
 
 Stewart, Galinga, 193 
 
 Stockton-on-Tees, meeting at, 144 
 
 Strick, General, at Rome, 192, 196 
 
 Strong, Thomas B., Dean of Christ- 
 church, memorial to T.A.B., 141 
 
 Sturgeon river, 48 
 
 Sturry, 185 
 
 " Sunbeam, Voyage of the," 9, 21 ; 
 voyages, 20, 44, 86, 179 ; hospital 
 ship, 67 ; at Naples, 178 
 
 Sunderland, meeting at, 62 
 
 Superior, Lake, 18, 48 
 
 Sussex, 1 8, 239 
 
 Sussex, Incumbent in, letter from 
 T.A.B., 161 
 
 Sydney, 56 
 
 TAAISHBOSCH Spruit, 103 
 
 Tahiti, 13 
 
 Talbot, Bertram, 94 
 
 Tapp, Arthur, 236 ; report on the 
 
 Michigan estate, 48 
 Taranto, 190, 191, 192 
 Tariff Reform, 75, 76, 168, 226 ; 
 
 League, 173 
 
 Tarocchi, a card game, 239 
 Tarver, Frank, 21 
 Territorial Force Reserve, 184 
 Teverton, 3 
 
 Thomson, Sir Cortauld, 192 
 Tillett, Ben, 80 
 
 Times, the, 68, 173, 223, 226 ; 
 
 extract from, 80 ; the Editor of, 
 
 letter from T.A.B., 206 
 Timmins, G. G., runs in the Three- 
 
 Mile Race, 37 
 Tinworth, rescued from drowning, 
 
 35 
 
 Tirpitz, Admiral von, letter from, 60 
 Tivoli, 190 
 
 Tomlin, Colonel at Eton, 27 
 Tory Party, policy of Imperial 
 
 Federalism, 167 
 Toynbee Hall, meeting, 145 
 Troubridge, Admiral, at Rome, 192 
 Turkey, policy to, 202, 203, 205 
 Turrell, W. T., runs in the Three- 
 
 Mile Race, 37 
 Twynam, T., rows in a race at 
 
 Colombo, 50-52 
 
 ULSTER, attitude of, 212, 214 
 United Kingdom, Federal Scheme, 
 
 218, 221, 227 
 Up Waltham Hill, 183 
 
 VAAL, the, 102, 103 
 
 Velta Pisani, the, 191, 192 
 
 Vere, Hon. Sibyl de, marriage, 8. 
 See Brassey. 
 
 Vereniging, 103 
 
 Vernon, Lord, at Epsom, 78 
 
 Verschoyle, Mrs., 88 
 
 Vian, H., Member of the Dervor- 
 guilla Club, 32 
 
 Victoria, 57 
 
 Victoria Bridge, 7, 144 
 
 Viking, the, swamped, 35 
 
 Vivian, Henry, 223 ; Member of 
 the Federal Union Committee, 
 144 
 
 WADI Haifa, 178 
 
 Wait, Tom, the bailiff, 240 
 
 Wales, Disestablishment of the 
 Church of, 78, 92 
 
 Waley, J., Member of the Dervor- 
 guilla Club, 32 
 
 Walker, H. de R., Member of the 
 Federal Union Committee, 144 ; 
 at Toynbee Hall, 145 
 
 Wallasey, Pool, 7 
 
 War, the, outbreak, 129 
 
 Warbleton, brass at, 19 
 
 Warr, Earl de la, 8 
 
 Warr, Lady de la, 180 
 
 Warre, Dr., 25 
 
 Warren, Sir Herbert, President of
 
 258 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Magdalen, at Burlington House, 
 139 ; memorial to T.A.B., 141 
 
 Waterhouse, D., Member of the 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 
 " Way of Unity and Peace," 218 
 
 Weald, the, 18 
 
 Webb, William, " Contemporary Re- 
 cords of the County of Cheshire," 
 
 3 
 
 Wellesley. Lady Gerald, 194 
 Wellesley, Lord Gerald, 194, 198 
 Wemyss, Admiral, 196 
 West, Dr., Master of Ascham House 
 
 School, 14 ; reminiscences of 
 
 T.A.B., 15; letter to Sir T. 
 
 Brassey, 20 
 Westminster Gazette, Editor of the, 
 
 letter from T.A.B., 151 
 Whitburn, Major C. W. S., 182 
 White, F. A., Member of the 
 
 Central Church Fund Committee, 
 
 159 
 Whittaker, Sir Thomas, letter from 
 
 T.A.B., 232 
 " Wild Ben," stalking of, 83 ; 
 
 killed, 84 
 
 William I., King, 2 
 Williams, Fred, 49 
 Williams, R. Price, Fellow of the 
 
 Royal Statistical Society, 145 
 Williams, W. M. J., Fellow of the 
 
 Royal Statistical Society, 145 
 Williamson, J. B., Member of the 
 
 Dervorguilla Club, 32 
 
 Willingdon, Lord, 8 
 
 Wilson, J. W., 232 
 
 Wilson, President, Note, 223 
 
 Winnipeg, 144 
 
 Wiseman, Lady, 88 
 
 Wistanston, 3 
 
 Wood, Hon. Edward, Member of 
 the Central Church Fund Com- 
 mittee, 159 
 
 Worcester, the, 64, 65 
 
 Worthington, P. S., runs in the 
 Three-Mile Race, 37 
 
 Wy burgh, Mr., 98 
 
 Wyndham, George, Irish Land Bill, 
 146 
 
 YEOMANRY Regimental Reserve, 
 184 
 
 Yeomanry, the 6gth Sussex, too ; 
 detrain at Smaldeel, 101 ; journey 
 to Johannesburg, 101-104 ; de- 
 mobilised, no 
 
 Yeomanry, West Kent, 99 ; effici- 
 ency, 181 ; at Hounslow, 185 ; 
 disbanded, 187 
 
 York, Archbishop of, 222. See Lang. 
 
 Younger, Robert, at Balliol College, 
 32 ; Member of the Dervorguilla 
 Club, 32 ; Trustee of the Balliol 
 College Endowment Fund, 135 
 
 ZAND river, 102 
 
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