Part 26 (1/2)

He was a natural chieftain He expected obedience and loyalty in the men who enlisted under his banner, but he felt in every corner of his being that it was the duty of the chieftain to succour, to help, and to advance those who stood by hireat to help a iven quite as readily to the ain as to hiht be expected

This quality of gratitude and devotion reatest of moral qualities, but it is certainly one of the most attractive--a quality which will always secure a love and veneration siarded, not only by his own people, but throughout the country Cool and pedantic political philosophersof his friends too far, but it was a generous fault and not likely to be resented in the workaday world Thehome hearts by dozens” when the virtuous and well-balanced awarder of the good-conduct prizes in life's school will leave his fellows cold

Because I have dwelt on this side of Mr Chaotten, or that I desire to minimize, the splendid public services done by hiion of municipal life--a priceless contribution--then in national politics, and last of all in the wider Imperial sphere In every part of our public life he lit a torch which will not be extinguished Men differ, and will continue to differ, as to his policy None will differ as to the spirit in which he acted, or deny that he gave what nations h endeavour

However, I do not want to speak too much of his politics, partly because my aim is to be uncontroversial, and still more because his personal character is far nosis of the politician

The qualities of heart and head, which I have described, were not learned by h a close study at first hand From the year 1887 or '88 till the Tariff Reform controversy, I was on very intimate terms, social as well as political, with Mr Chamberlain I think he was fond of ht I was a little too cool, or, as he ht him inclined to be too zealous a partisan,--too ready to push party conditions to the utter in friendshi+p, felt the sense of personal attraction

He was ahtful of companions To see him, as I so often did, in his house in the country set at the edge of a great city,--that best describes Highbury,--was a delightful experience The house-parties at the Whitsuntide and Easter recesses, which lasted double the length of ordinary Saturday to Monday parties, were ht people to meet each other, but if he had not been it would not havecharacter of his talk he would have turned a house-party of the purest ”duds” into a success As a matter of fact, however, he was the last hbury, were asked because he liked them, not for any conventional reasons

Another factor which htful was the hostess Mrs Chah social qualities as the host But I must not speak of Mrs Chamberlain as I feel, for to do so would break the rule of not writing about living people I will say, however, that even an interval of a quarter of a century--the date in her case sounds utterly preposterous I adracious young woed into the midst of a party crisis of a very bitter kind, she showed an unfailing instinct as a hostess She never said an unkind thing or ood-looks, and her charift of h she always made herself felt in her parties, she was never for or affected But I most sincerely ask Mrs Chamberlain's pardon for I cannot conceal from myself that she will not like to be written about in terularly fortunate in his fa His two sons, Austen and Neville, evidently enjoyed the house-parties as uests Both inherited a liking for good co or the little shbury was a house thoroughly well designed for entertainardens, or small park, whichever you like to call it, which surrounded the house, afforded plenty of sitting-out roo and good talks on the lawn on which the wicker chairs were set with brightly coloured rugs for the sitter's feet Guests worthy of that honour were taken through the orchid house by Mr Chae and love of his favourite floas no pose, but a reality

This absence of ”pose” was, by the way, one of the s about Mr Chamberlain He was an extraordinarily natural , froar, a new form of hat, or a new type of novel, because he was told it was the right thing to do, or because he thought it was expedient for a politician with a future to encourage this or that fashi+onable craze I have coination In the absence of ”pose” he was, however, the exact opposite of Disraeli For exabroke and talked about Lord Carteret, not because he really liked either of the statesht it sounded well, and also because it amused him to look more learned historically than he was You could no more expect Mr Chamberlain to do that than to wear a particular flower, not because he liked it, but because it had been ad

It must not be supposed from this, however, that Mr Chah he was not going to let himself be dominated by old traditions, he was as distinctly well read in political history as in poetry If he wanted to do so, he could quote freely and inti, or Matthew Arnold The latter was, I think, specially liked by hi to prove hi cannot be entertained for a moment He was much too sure of hiarded as a man of cultivation He liked what he liked, and he talked about what he liked There was no ”showing off”

Again, there was not the slightest touch of snobbishness in Mr

Cha hireat merchant prince, to be socially a kind of wild ood dinner every day of his life ”coars,”--in fact, to live exactly like men who had inherited their h the fact was unknown to the public and it never occurred to Mr Chamberlain to talk about it, he was not a self-ed to a very old City fahah His farown rich and not retired to the country, like so ot_ I re me that he had taken up his ht of inheritance His family had been connected with that company in tail male, so to speak, since the time of Charles II

This connection with the city co result In the '70s and '80s it was a mark of a Radical to demand the abolition of the Livery Cos about the Corporation and the City A Radicalwas hardly co Tories” When you were on a Radical platform you expected indeed as Shakespeare says:

” to hear the City Abused extremely, and to cry 'That's witty!'”

Mr Chamberlain, however, whether in the House of Coues to abuse the City Coave thehtly, the benefit of his support We should all be the poorer without the picturesqueness lent to London Municipal Life by its livery Some of them may still want a little reform, but for the most part their wealth is well spent

But Mr and Mrs Cha could have beenthan their London dinners The talk was always good and Mr Chamberlain was always the chief point of attraction He was never cross, or moody, or depressed

Instead, he was always ready to talk You could put up any game with him and he would fly at it with zest and spirit

Ti either for Austen or Neville Charet in respect of Miss Beatrice Cha the first year of the Peace She was a woreat ability and inherited no small share of her father's power of talk and fondness for social life Highbury house-parties owed much to her

CHAPTER XXV

FIVE GREAT MEN (_Continued_)

It was at one of Mr Chamberlain's house-parties that I first uished men who made a deep impression on my mind and so on my life That man was Colonel John Hay, some time Ambassador of the United States to this country I shall never forget going down, soha that the chief guest was the new A to a pleasant house, there is nothingat the side of a country-house o who are to be one's fellow-guests On that occasion it was not long before we discovered that they were Colonel and Mrs Hay and their daughter Helen It did not take one long to see what a memorable man Hay was It was indeed a case for h it only took, even in pre-hbury, I had beco before we reached the front door, a fervent adreatest man of un at Highbury ripened for both of us into a true friendshi+p I was deeply touched to find that Mr Hay h about him to know that his reputation was that of a very reticent, very fastidious man--a person by no means inclined to fall into the arms of the first comer But I don't want to flatter myself Perhaps the passport to Hay's heart in my case was my love of Lincoln, for that he soon saas real and not assureat deal of each other, and he paid hout the war between Spain and America He would have liked to avoid that war and did his very best to do so, but I knew that all the ti to me that the positions of the United States and Spain were like two railway engines on the saive way and both of which were advancing You ht delay the collision, but you could not prevent it, unless one train cleared out of the way of the other, and to this neither side in control would agree Therefore, a collision had to come,--and coland and greatly regretted that he had to accede to Mr McKinley's request that he should go back and become Secretary of State He knew the ould be too much for him, and told me so quite simply and unaffectedly, but he was never ahis term of office, he and I were constantly in touch with each other by letter Though Hay did not write long letters, he contrived in his short notes to say s,--often in the forent reader ofthat I must set it forth The War enablesinjury in the diplomatic sphere It concerns the memorable visit of Prince Henry of Prussia to the United States in the year 1902

The Kaiser was alar up between Britain and the United States He therefore ely in the hope of drawing off Aly he sent his sailor brother to Aust and Imperial satisfaction with the United States